Customer case studies are the most versatile marketing asset you can have. 

And that versatility even extends to adding extra juice to your SEO. 

Because you can use case studies—and the inputs, outputs, and byproducts of the case study creation process (such as social media cards, video testimonials, audiograms)— to attract new eyeballs online through thoughtful SEO practices. 

(For more specifics on how to implement SEO strategies and practices, check out these resources from Moz.)  

Here are just some of the ways you can use case studies for SEO: 

1. Target [service] + [customer]
2. Target “how to” phrases
3. Target prominent brand names
4. Target thought leaders
5. Link to related services, products or offers
6. Use as link building material
7. Create additional assets to target long-tail search phrases

1.   Target [service] + [customer]

Typically, case studies tell the story of how your product or service helped your customer solve a specific problem. 

So try targeting those keywords in combination in your SEO.

For example, say your case study describes how a crypto exchange company (let’s call it “ABC Company”) is using your crypto platform to scale. You can try to rank for that combination of keywords: “crypto platform” + “ABC Company.” 

This strategy may catch the attention of people who’re trying to figure out who provides that service (i.e. crypto platform) to that company (i.e. ABC Company.). 

2.   Target “how to” phrases

Case studies naturally lend themselves to “how to” keyword phrases. In fact, many of our case study headlines use the “How Company A helped Company B achieve XYZ” format. With just a few tweaks, you can change that format to match a “how to” keyword search phrase. 

So a headline such as:

“How Company A Achieved 100% ROI With Service X” 

becomes the keyword phrase… 

“How to achieve ROI with Service X” or “How to achieve ROI with [non-branded description of service].”

Let’s look at another example. 

The headline “How Company A Stops Cyber Attacks with Product X” can be tweaked to target these keyword search phrases:

“How to stop cyber attacks with Product X” or

“How to stop cyber attacks with [non-branded description of service].”

3.   Target prominent brand names

If the company or product featured in your case study has brand name recognition, you can use that name as a keyword to capture the attention of people searching for that brand. 

In this case study example, SearchLab Digital (our client) helped Panama City Toyota triple its organic traffic. 

Here’s a screenshot of the cover page:  

Given its expertise in SEO, you can bet that SearchLab Digital will take steps to benefit from the authority of the Toyota brand name. 

4.   Target thought leaders

Similarly, if your case study includes a quote or two from a thought leader who garners search traffic, then that’s another keyword term you can target in your SEO. 

So, for example, if you’re fortunate enough to have a thought leader speak about the benefits of your product/service—you’ll absolutely want to put their names front and centre in your keyword list.

5.   Link to related services, products or offers

Case studies also provide excellent linking-off points. 

So if your case study describes how you provide Service A to your client, you can link from that case study to the page of your website that describes Service A.

This kind of link allows readers to learn more about your service, product, or offer—immediately after learning how you used that service/product/offer to solve a pain point for a company just like them. 

6.   Use as link building material

You can go further with this linking approach and use your case study as link building material, especially if it’s a great story with a prescriptive angle that you can leverage.

7.   Create additional assets to target long-tail search phrases

As hinted at above, case studies don’t just deliver a single sales and marketing asset. You also get all the inputs, outputs and byproducts of the case study creation process. 

And you can use these for SEO purposes too. 

For example, say you work with our team to create a powerful video testimonial stemming from the same customer success story. You can use that video asset to rank for long-tail search phrases that go beyond those contained in the written case study. 

Put the power of case studies behind your SEO

It’s astonishing how much value you can derive from a single case study—including pumping up your SEO. 

So don’t let those valuable assets languish on your website. Wring out every drop of value by targeting related search terms and building quality links. 

Want to create powerful case studies that will help improve your SEO?

Contact us to start the conversation and learn more.