Smartsheet's Organic Traffic Growth

Smartsheet is a cloud-based platform for work execution, enabling teams and organizations to plan, capture, manage, automate, and report on work. The company has seen significant organic traffic growth in recent years. This report analyzes the factors that have contributed to this growth.

Organic Traffic Growth Over Time

While specific historical data on Smartsheet's organic traffic growth is unavailable, industry data suggests that the demand for digital transformation and IT service management (ITSM) is accelerating¹. As a leading provider of work execution solutions, Smartsheet is well-positioned to benefit from this trend.

High-Intent Keywords with Conversions

High-intent keywords are search terms that indicate a strong likelihood of a user taking a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service. These keywords are valuable for businesses because they often lead to conversions and sales².

Understanding keyword intent is crucial for optimizing content and attracting the right audience. Keyword intent generally falls into four categories:

• Informational: Users seeking information or answers (e.g., "what is project management?")
• Navigational: Users looking for a specific website or page (e.g., "Smartsheet login")
• Commercial: Users researching products or services before making a purchase (e.g., "Smartsheet reviews")
• Transactional: Users ready to buy or take action (e.g., "Smartsheet pricing") ³

These categories often align with the stages of the customer journey. High-intent keywords, particularly those with commercial and transactional intent, are valuable for driving conversions.

Long-tail keywords, which are longer and more specific search phrases, can also be highly effective in attracting qualified traffic. Some benefits of using long-tail keywords include:

• Lower competition: Long-tail keywords often have less competition, making it easier to rank higher in search results.
• Higher conversion rates: Users searching for long-tail keywords are typically further along in the customer journey and more likely to convert.
• Improved click-through rates: Long-tail keywords tend to have higher click-through rates because they more accurately match user intent⁴.

Some high-intent keywords that may drive conversions for Smartsheet include:

• API integrations with Smartsheet
• Smartsheet alternatives
• Smartsheet reviews
• What is Smartsheet used for?
• How much does Smartsheet cost?
• Smartsheet tutorial
• How to use Smartsheet
• Smartsheet vs. Google Sheets
• Smartsheet vs. Microsoft Excel
• Smartsheet vs. Airtable ⁵

Analyzing the ranking positions and search volume for these keywords can provide insights into Smartsheet's organic traffic performance. However, specific data on Smartsheet's keyword rankings and search volume is unavailable.

Impact of Google Core Updates

Google Core Updates are significant changes to Google's search algorithms that aim to improve the overall quality of search results. These updates can have a significant impact on website rankings and organic traffic⁶.

Google regularly releases core updates to combat low-quality content and manipulative SEO practices. For example, the March 2024 Core Update and Spam Update aimed to reduce unhelpful content and prioritize websites with high-quality, relevant, and trustworthy information⁷. While specific data on how Smartsheet was affected by these updates is unavailable, it's likely that Smartsheet's organic traffic was influenced by these changes.

Smartsheet can leverage Google Core Updates to its advantage by focusing on expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T). Creating high-quality content that demonstrates expertise and authoritativeness in the work execution space can help Smartsheet be favored by future core updates⁸.

Product Updates and New Features

Smartsheet regularly releases product updates and new features to enhance its platform and provide more value to its users⁹. These updates can attract organic traffic by generating interest and providing solutions to user needs.

For example, in February 2024, Smartsheet introduced new features and templates for project management, including:

• A new Gantt chart layout option within the timeline view, allowing users to visualize and manage dependent tasks more effectively.
• Date dependencies that work across views, enabling users to track and manage project timelines more efficiently.
• An improved way to preview utilization when assigning tasks, helping users optimize resource allocation and project planning¹⁰.

These updates demonstrate Smartsheet's commitment to innovation and providing valuable solutions for its users. By regularly releasing new features and updates, Smartsheet can attract organic traffic and maintain its position as a leader in the work execution space.

Other Contributing Factors

Several other factors may contribute to Smartsheet's organic traffic growth:

• Content Marketing Strategy: Smartsheet likely has a content marketing strategy that involves creating valuable and informative content, such as blog posts, case studies, and webinars. This content can attract organic traffic, build brand awareness, and establish Smartsheet as a thought leader in the work execution space¹¹.

Smartsheet's content marketing strategy likely incorporates the four phases of content strategy:

• Planning: Defining goals, identifying target audiences, and auditing existing content.
• Creation: Brainstorming ideas, deciding on content formats, and creating high-quality content.
• Maintenance: Scheduling, updating, and publishing content, as well as unpublishing outdated content.
• Distribution: Promoting content through various channels, such as social media, email marketing, and SEO¹².

Smartsheet also utilizes templates in its content marketing strategy. By providing users with pre-built templates for various use cases, Smartsheet can attract organic traffic by targeting users with high purchase intent¹³.

• Link Building Strategy: Smartsheet may also have a link-building strategy that involves acquiring backlinks from high-authority websites. Backlinks are links from other websites to Smartsheet's website. These links can improve Smartsheet's search engine rankings and organic traffic¹⁴.

Smartsheet has amassed more than 16.6 million backlinks from 63,800 domains. This suggests that Smartsheet's content is considered valuable and link-worthy, contributing to its organic traffic growth¹³.

Smartsheet's focus on creating valuable content, such as templates and guides, can attract organic traffic by targeting users with high purchase intent¹⁵.

Competitive Analysis

Smartsheet operates in a competitive market with several other work execution and project management platforms. Some of its main competitors include:

Analyzing the organic traffic growth of these competitors and identifying key differences in their strategies can provide valuable insights for Smartsheet. However, specific data on the organic traffic growth of Smartsheet's competitors is unavailable.

Conclusion

Smartsheet's organic traffic growth is likely driven by a combination of factors, including the increasing demand for work execution solutions, its content marketing strategy, its link-building strategy, and its product updates and new features. Available information indicates that the average SaaS company increased organic traffic by 24% over the last 12 months¹⁷. Smartsheet should aim for similar or higher growth by continuing to invest in these areas:

• Content Marketing: Continue creating high-quality content that targets user intent and demonstrates expertise in the work execution space.
• Link Building: Implement a link-building strategy that focuses on acquiring backlinks from high-authority websites.
• Product Development: Regularly release product updates and new features that provide value to users and address their needs.
• SEO: Optimize website content and technical elements to improve search engine rankings and organic traffic performance.

By consistently investing in these areas, Smartsheet can further enhance its organic traffic performance and maintain its position as a leader in the work execution space.

Works cited

1. ServiceNow Industry Overview and Insights April 2024 - Houlihan Lokey, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www2.hl.com/pdf/2024/servicenow-industry-overview-and-insights-april-2024.pdf
2. What Are High-Intent Keywords? - Yext, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.yext.com/blog/2019/06/what-are-high-intent-keywords
3. Keyword intent: What you need to know about how customers search | Wix SEO Hub, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/keyword-intent-how-customers-search
4. How to use long-tail keywords and why you should | Crystal Carter | Wix SEO Hub, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/how-to-use-long-tail-keywords
5. How to Do Keyword Research for Maximum Visibility - Dorik AI, accessed December 30, 2024, https://dorik.com/blog/how-to-do-keyword-research
6. Google Search's Core Updates | Google Search Central | What's new | Google for Developers, accessed December 30, 2024, https://developers.google.com/search/updates/core-updates
7. Impact of Google's March Core Update on Websites and SEO Strategies, accessed December 30, 2024, https://pureseo.com/us/blog/impact-of-googles-march-core-update-spam-update
8. Here's How to Recover from a Core Update, According to Google, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/recover-from-google-core-updates
9. What's New (in Two) - September 2023 - Airtable, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.airtable.com/videos/whats-new-in-two-september-2023
10. New Features and Templates for Project Management - Airtable Community, accessed December 30, 2024, https://community.airtable.com/t5/announcements/new-features-and-templates-for-project-management/ba-p/176185
11. Combine SEO & Content Marketing to Drive Customer Engagement, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.grazitti.com/blog/combining-the-power-of-seo-content-marketing-to-drive-customer-engagement/
12. How to build a successful content strategy - Airtable, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.airtable.com/articles/marketing/content-strategy
13. B2B Case Study: Airtable's Ability To Attract 3M Searches - Foundation Marketing, accessed December 30, 2024, https://foundationinc.co/lab/airtable-seo-strategy
14. How does website speed boost search engine optimization (SEO)? - Cloudflare, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/performance/how-website-speed-boosts-seo/
15. Content Marketing Case Study on Airtable's Content Marketing Strategy: Tactics and Examples Uncovered - Narrato, accessed December 30, 2024, https://narrato.io/blog/content-marketing-case-study-on-airtables-content-marketing-strategy-tactics-and-examples-uncovered/
16. How Airtable's Long Tail SEO Strategy Is Helping Build Their Moat - Foundation Marketing, accessed December 30, 2024, https://foundationinc.co/lab/long-tail-seo-strategy/
17. SEO Content Benchmarks for Seven B2B SaaS Industries, accessed December 30, 2024, https://www.campfirelabs.co/blog/seo-content-benchmarks-for-seven-b2b-saas-industries

1. What is Smartsheet and how does it contribute to work execution?
   Smartsheet is a cloud-based platform designed to enhance work execution by enabling teams and organizations to plan, capture, manage, automate, and report on work efficiently.

2. How do high-intent keywords impact Smartsheet's organic traffic?
   High-intent keywords, which indicate a strong likelihood of user action, are crucial for driving conversions and sales, thereby significantly boosting Smartsheet's organic traffic.

3. What are the benefits of using long-tail keywords for Smartsheet?
   Long-tail keywords offer lower competition, higher conversion rates, and improved click-through rates, making them effective in attracting qualified traffic to Smartsheet.

4. How do Google Core Updates affect Smartsheet's organic traffic?
   Google Core Updates, which aim to improve search result quality, can impact Smartsheet's rankings and traffic. By focusing on expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, Smartsheet can leverage these updates to its advantage.

5. What role do product updates and new features play in Smartsheet's traffic growth?
   Regular product updates and new features attract organic traffic by generating interest and providing solutions to user needs, reinforcing Smartsheet's position as a leader in work execution.

6. How does Smartsheet's content marketing strategy contribute to its organic traffic growth?
   Smartsheet's content marketing strategy, which includes creating valuable content like blog posts and webinars, attracts organic traffic, builds brand awareness, and establishes the company as a thought leader.

7. What is the significance of Smartsheet's link-building strategy?
   Smartsheet's link-building strategy, involving acquiring backlinks from high-authority websites, improves search engine rankings and organic traffic by enhancing the site's credibility.

8. How does Smartsheet compare to its competitors in the work execution market?
   Smartsheet competes with platforms like Airtable, Asana, Monday.com, and Notion, each offering unique features. Analyzing these competitors can provide insights into Smartsheet's strategies for organic traffic growth.