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Canva's marketing strategy helped the Australian startup reach 300 million monthly visitors, 75 million active users across 190 countries, and attain a $40 billion valuation. But this success didn't happen overnight. It's been years in the making.
So how did they do it?
In this article, we will quickly cover some of the marketing tactics that have helped them become the go-to DIY design destination for people around the world.
Contents
Canva's Marketing Strategy Matches Search Intent
Canva uses two key landing page types based on search intent:
1. Create landing pages for those who want to design something
2. Template landing pages for those looking for templates
Both kinds of searchers are trying to find a solution like Canva, but the way they view their problems is different.
Understanding Search Intent
Even though search intent is the goal a person has when they type a query into a search engine, some content creators overlook this. Maybe they focus on keyword volume when they should think about the intent behind those keywords.
There are four fundamental types of online search intent:
- Informational: Looking for information
- Navigational: Looking to get somewhere specific
- Commercial: Looking to investigate a brand, product, or service
- Transactional: Looking for an asset to buy, use, or download
Canva has done a great job of growing its brand into a household name by creating and ranking for a mix of branded and non-branded content.
The Power Of Backlinks & Directories
A powerful strategy Canva has used is the use of content directories focused on various use cases and long-tail keywords.
For example, in the create pages, they use longer-tailed keywords, and in the template pages, they use directories. Directories are filing systems that direct you to other files, domains, or other directories.
Across the entire site, Canva has over 55 parent pages, each with up to 78 child pages.
Each of these child pages has captured many backlinks and generates a significant amount of traffic.
How do Backlinks Help the Canva Marketing Strategy?
Search engines use backlinks to determine the trustworthiness of your content. The more links your page can get from trusted pages, the better that page will look to search engines. The anchor text associated with these backlinks is also great for SEO purposes.
Now apply this same approach across 57 parent pages and over 300 child pages that are niche versions of their parent pages.
All these landing pages compound the effects of Canva’s great internal linking and allow the brand to rank for very niche / long-tail keywords.
How does Canva Do It?
Well, one of the big ways is by investing in a big, strong team to create a strong content culture.
New Demand, New Landing Pages
The rise of remote work because of COVID-19 led to a massive increase in the adoption of Zoom. Because people were looking for cool zoom backgrounds, Canva created a template for you to make your own background.
They also made landing pages to go along with this, and they all rose in the rankings.
Using Blog Content to Get More Results
The brand has generated a significant amount of traffic through their blog.
In 2015, the former head of growth at Canva wrote about the techniques that helped them increase blog traffic by 226.47% in 60 days:
- Longer posts
- Inspirational posts
- Varied content types
- Free resources
- Proactive list building
This all has compounded to make them a massive authority in online design.
But again, Canva’s success did not happen overnight. It took a lot of time and strategizing. The best organizations will recognize that it all comes down to creating a culture that understands and truly believes that content is a key factor in driving success.
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