Content Updates
I’ve been developing and executing content strategies, doing SEO research, managing teams, and leading projects for my whole career. This particular project, launched in the latter half of 2023, is an example of all of these skills coming together in one, neat package.
Man Down
In the late summer of 2023, the editorial team at Gear Patrol found itself without a style editor immediately ahead of an essential time of year for the section, the fall. If I didn't find a way to update the section's key stories before September, the team would risk a large drop-off in traffic, as well as affiliate and direct revenue. Further complicating the issue, up until that point, Gear Patrol had only worked with freelancers on an individual story basis and did not have standard operating procedures for freelancing a high volume of stories over a short period.
Blazing New Trails
To solve this problem, I worked with the growth team, our SEO manager, and senior editors to identify key stories to update, reached out to and negotiated rates with respected voices in the space, and then managed the production & publishing of nearly 50 stories over a two-month window.
Rinse & Repeat
As a result of the effort, the updated stories saw a 136% increase in unique readers and a 286% increase in affiliate revenue. Additionally, the process I built to update these stories is now the standard by which the editorial team will freelance story updates at volume in 2024.