How We Increased From 0 to 800,000(!) Visitors a Month in eCommerce

Are you tired of spending a fortune on paid ads to increase traffic to your site? Well, you'd better sit back and relax, because we’re about to tell you how we managed to go from 0 to 800,000 organic visitors per month without spending a dime on ads (EVEN WITH THE SUPPORT OF AN AWESOME TEAM – Marcin Czajkowski , ?ukasz Proszek , Damian Kowalik , Jacek Ku?akowski , Mateusz Skitek and the rest). We know it sounds like the worst slogan of an Internet Niche Coach, but we’re living proof that it can be done. And if we managed to achieve such a result, we’re sure that after reading this article you too can confidently try to repeat it at home. Good luck and have fun! ;)

STEP 1: Launching the project

It all started in January 2009, when the Internet was a very different place. Armed with an idea, my brother and we launched our eCommerce project. We built the first version of the project using PHP technology, which was hosted on a modest shared hosting server at OVH. With the help of a talented Developer friend (high five Michal Oleniec ), we implemented all the necessary modules and functionality. In the meantime, we took on the role of an online marketing strategist and so began our adventurous journey into the world of marketing (for seriously). Little did we know that it would eventually lead us to owning a Marketing Agency and providing top-notch services to clients.

STEP 2: Generating traffic to the site

The early days consisted of efforts to increase traffic to the site. We spent months, even years, diligently searching for places to promote the site. And this endless game of link building (it's been 14 years and still going on) paid off handsomely. In the first month, we achieved a modest 647 visitors. But by December of the same year, that number had risen to 83,963! But wait, wait, link-building was obviously not the only factor behind this remarkable growth.

Link building is not everything. Content is King!

Yes, you heard that right. :) While link building played a significant role, it wouldn't have been possible to achieve such amazing numbers without high-quality and engaging content. Each new piece of content published not only increased the number of phrases for which the site was positioned in search engines but also provided many opportunities to drive organic traffic via Google's long tail. Remember, it is the content on your site that drives your company's search engine positioning.

STEP 3: We have content, more and more links, and traffic to the site is growing rapidly, what's next...?

With the steady increase in traffic and the growing popularity of content, we realized the need for a comprehensive marketing strategy. So we rolled up my sleeves and applied our experience, developing a master plan. By carefully planning and executing our marketing efforts, we were able to maximize the impact of the content and attract even more traffic to the site. Big, important decisions also followed...

STEP 4: Why is Python better than PHP?

After digging into analytics using the old, tried-and-true Google Analytics, we decided: that we're upgrading the site to better meet the needs of a growing audience. That's when we took the bold step of switching from PHP to Python technology, with Django as the framework of choice (thanks to Artur Czepiel here). Why, you ask? Among the many benefits we discovered were better site performance (faster load times despite a surge in visitors), less load on the server, and less time creating new modules for the site. Managing the site became child's play, as we had more control over user permissions and the ability to customize each module. Shortly, Python and more specifically Django proved to be a breakthrough in our development for the project.

STEP 5: Continuous development of the project

To maintain momentum and continued growth, continuous development was key. We began a journey of refining and improving the site's architecture, incorporating new features, and increasing the overall speed and performance of the site. This required working closely with an army of talented developers and IT companies (Artur Sm?t, J?drzej Nowak, Kamil Wa?doch, and others). In addition, we invested a lot of time and resources in training the entire editorial team, ensuring that the site was optimized for SEO every step of the way (ah, those 10pm meetings on Hipchat – remember that still?).

STEP 6: The end result

What was the result of these tireless efforts? Hold on tight. The site reached as many as 800,000 organic visitors per month. But that's not all. The YouTube channel gained more than 200,000 subscribers, the mailing list numbered more than 100,000 email addresses, and the database flourished with hundreds of thousands of products, instructions, specifications, articles, video reviews, and prices from partner sites. Oh, and did we mention that this very site became the largest VIDEO test site in Poland? Gee, it was worth it!

Do you want to achieve such results too? Go ahead, leave us a message and we'll do great things together ;).