2021 has been a whirlwind in many ways and still, there is a series of highlights that come to my mind when I think about this year. Big thank you to the people who have made it happen.
My gratitude goes to Flow SEO’s SEM specialists Rebecca, Hannes, David, and Christoph who manage our clients and SEO/SEA campaigns. Every happy client, referral, and upward pointing ranking, traffic, and pipeline chart is thanks to your strategy, commitment, and drive.
My big thank you goes to you, Angela, Boban, and Maja for your relentless effort and creativity in finding links for our clients. I am proud to say that your techniques today are radically different from two years ago and we are constantly innovating. Boban, Angela, thank you for giving it all since the start of Flow SEO.
Gabby, thank you for your flexibility and constant learning – from Pinterest to video editing to SEO. Our calls are always fun! Izaskun, welcome to the team, I am excited to have you and see what we can achieve next year.
So, with that said, in this post, I wanted to share Flow SEO’s special moments from 2021 with you.
Table of Contents
First Ever Online Summit With 1.142 Sign-Ups
In September, we hosted “Meaningful Marketing for Software Startups and Scaleups” – my first ever online summit. Our event had 1.142 sign-ups on LinkedIn. We streamed and reached 1.503 video views despite technical issues with LinkedIn live.
Our speakers were Hanne Vervaeck from Thrive Themes, Tim Soulo from Ahrefs, Agata Krzysztofik from Piktochart, Vukasin Vukosavljevic from lemlist, Rob Walling from Microconf, Greg Elfrink from Empire Flippers, Chris Koronowski from Business Paradise, and Rian Doris from the Flow Research Collective.
I am so deeply touched by every single speaker who supported me by sharing wisdom and practical marketing insights. All videos here are.
Big shoutout to Chris Koronowski who was driving the idea and strategy and was holding my hand throughout the entire process. Though more on this in an upcoming highlight.
Bonus of the summit: Flow SEO has reached a new high in newsletter subscribers: 1.486 people on our list. Thank you, everyone!
Our Blog Turned Into a Rich Resource Library
This year, we published 37 blog posts – doubling the amount of practical SEO guides and frameworks on this website. This is largely thanks to the talented Sofie Couwenberg who contributed the vast majority of articles. Sofie, it has been an absolute pleasure to collaborate with you.
All custom illustrations are thanks to Maks and Dominik from Wigo who compensate for my absolute lack of design skills by reading my mind and transforming it into something beautiful and stylish. Thank you!
7 Flow SEO Webinars Published
With live events still not on my radar this year, we have doubled down our online efforts and started launching monthly Flow SEO webinars via LinkedIn this summer.
You can watch the replays here. I am grateful for my co-hosts such as Andy Steven, Mary-Ellen Slayter, Craig Campbell and Alessio Pieroni.
+710% Views on LinkedIn
Speaking about LinkedIn… I have never put huge effort into the platform though it is one of my favorite social media networks. This changed in April 2021- enter Chris Koronowski’s 10 lesson LinkedIn intensive that led into on-going consulting, incl. the summit and webinars mentioned above.
Chris changed the way I think about LinkedIn marketing and business development. I could never get myself to do cold calls or cold email outreach to win prospects. I also have never been interested in becoming a huge influencer with millions of followers. I like to connect with communities and my peers.
Chris’ LinkedIn strategy is a perfect fit for me: Targeted, non-intrusive, based on content marketing and genuine networking. And already 10x ROI and more to come!
So, in 2021, my LinkedIn profile got +710% Views, +457% likes, +2.053% comments and +318% posts.
Chris not only has phenomenal knowledge but also an openness to make connections and share his network. Chris connected me to Dominik and Maks who are now designing the Flow SEO blog as well as Izaskun who joined Flow SEO in December 2021 to lead all SEO operations. Thank you for everything, Chris!
Big shoutout to Gabby, who has created all the social media videos and graphics we have been posting.
More Than 1.200 Links From Almost 500 Domains
Angela, Boban, and Maja have always had my back since the start of Flow SEO.
And this year, Boban and Angela developed some exciting new backlink strategies. The returns on automated outreach seem to be getting lower and lower every year and the amount of money asked for guest posts is steadily increasing.
I am proud to say that we are truly creative in how we meet the link goals for our clients. Thank you both for your commitment to meeting targets and finding new ways to be smarter and more effective!
We also got featured in some really cool publications: You can read Angela’s guest posts on Thrive Global (I recommend the one about her grandfather) or G2.
Personally, I am happy that I got to publish this guide on landing page SEO on the Ahrefs blog and four articles on Search Engine Journal.
And welcome to the backlink process, Rachel.
Focus and Alignment
Our internal theme for Q4 2021 was “Focus & Productivity”. Q1 2022 will be “Alignment & Productivity”. These themes have many layers: Refining our messaging, getting very clear about our ideal clients (software startups and scaleups, ideally HRtech and eLearning), reworking internal processes and doing more of what works well.
With that being said: I am extremely proud of some of the SEO success stories that we got to celebrate this year. Here are just 3 examples of ranking charts from our clients. Shoutout to Rebecca and Hannes for leading two of the projects to success.
In light orange, the overall amount of keywords the website is indexed for. In dark orange, the number of keywords ranking on Page 1 and driving organic traffic. Data from Ahrefs.
B2B SaaS, client since three years, growth through content marketing and links
B2B service provider, client since two years, consistent growth, even throughout complete migration
B2B SaaS, client since two years, breakthrough in 2021 after redesign
If you want to know what people have said about us, check the testimonial section here. And yes, feel free to reach out to us.
But back to the topic of alignment. Alignment for me also means remembering why Flow SEO is called Flow SEO, to begin with.
Flow is an optimal state of consciousness where we feel and perform our best.
Flow is a term coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1990. Here’s how he describes it:
“Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.”
“The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”
And with that: What does Flow SEO mean for our clients?
Focus
Flow SEO means we bring our A-game every day
Strategy
Flow SEO means futureproofing, not firefighting
Attention
Flow SEO means limited clients, so you get maximum attention
Growth
Flow SEO means using our skills to build your success
Shoutout to Harvey Hancock for bringing clarity to my thinking and turning it all into new, slick copy for our website, stay tuned for it.
Let’s do 2022.
Most importantly, I wanted to thank every client who decided to work with us and put their trust in Flow SEO for their organic growth.
Without the smart, talented marketers that we get to work with, none of this would be possible. 29% of Flow SEO clients have been with us for more than two years (Flow SEO is 3 years old). 42% more than 1 year. Making 2021 a year with 44% revenue growth. I am amazed and humbled.
So, after another rollercoaster year in 2021, I am looking forward to alignment, flow and even more ranking success in 2022. Let’s do it!
Cheers,
Viola Eva (founder and SEO consultant, Flow SEO)
