This is a Premium SEO case study. Access the full library for £17 per month.
Note: This is a Premium case study. Subscribe here to read.
The case study I share below is more of a success than many of us can dream.
Expect to learn:
- ⚡ How to build a niche blog site around your passion that *actually* earns traffic and loyal followers.
- ⚡ How to build an organic content strategy that wins highly monetizable keywords (how Retro Dodo earns $50K in monthly)
- ⚡ Best practices for interlinking, backlink building, keyword choice, and many more SEO fundamentals.
![RetroDodo's Search Profile](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63c3d806b5e68a149c0a6b26/63cafd4149f02b82d0507b70_Scribe-1.png)
Case Study Background
Retro Dodo is an online magazine dedicated to showcasing the world's best retro gaming products. Founder, Brandon Saltalamacchia, began building the site as a side project with the first piece of content going live in June 2019.
![(Wayback Machine showing the site in June 2019)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63c3d806b5e68a149c0a6b26/63cafd1b06cb2cc4e38c551f_JONPS2_KPAer2uHR0fqGQZUm0ubeNKS-2-k7QQL3-ow4Nac7Qpbq8xR0zBZrlacNqRV3Qqwt_szXxrCK7BQI0a1WIlCnVWA_f58A9yU5YRymtdlvw7EPVhsMTLL7RKo1QShHQxUpiC6NettKyY2Hsz_sFnNPAF0zpYvyXZ-fsZliu9B841DzovWjCwGUwQ.png)
He initially published at a rate of one blog post a week, steadily moving up to two, four, and eventually hiring a writer in year two to go “all in” on the content.
![Retro Dodo homepage in December 2022](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63c3d806b5e68a149c0a6b26/63cafd2dabd0d8d779161984_Screenshot-2023-01-03-at-17.49.16.png)
Alongside the blog, Retro Dodo hosts a YouTube channel dedicated to retro console and game reviews.
Three years and 1,000s of bits of content later, Retro Dodo is a retro gaming brand that, in November 2022, pulled in:
- 1 million clicks from Google
- 270,000 total YouTube subscribers
- $50,000 in revenue
- 15,000 total Twitter followers
- 68,000 total Instagram followers
About the Creator
Brandon has been in the niche blogging sphere for over 10 years, and like many, blogged for years without knowledge of SEO as a distribution channel. He worked at Future, a publishing company with 220 brands like GamesRadar, TechRadar, PCGamer, most of which got most of their revenue from search.
He worked in the video production team—which explains his high-quality YouTube channel for Retro Dodo but learned Search alongside the content teams at Future.
Prior to Retro Dodo, he sold a niche blog for £100,000 which focused on Van Life (campervan living and automotive) which had 50,000 YT subscribers and 250,000 Facebook followers.
Monetization and Profit
- $45k through display advertising (via Mediavine)
- $8k through affiliates
- $2-3k through YouTube ad revenue
“I started something I’m genuinely interested in, which is Retro Dodo, and I went in with that to create a hybrid of video and SEO. That’s my personal key to success and how I’ve got a different route to many niche sites. Now, here we are 3 years later with a million clicks and $50k a month in revenue”—Brandon Saltalamacchia