The Brand
The New International Version (NIV) is the most-read English-language Bible translation worldwide and the number one selling Bible translation. Key marketing objectives are to support the translation’s leadership position, its use, and sales. Communications speak to a broad audience comprised of all potential Bible readers, novice to scholar.
SEO Optimized Blog Articles Drive Web Traffic
A program of posting weekly articles to the NIV site started in January 2018. Traffic from organic search grew from 19% in the base year to 62% of traffic five years later. The digital marketing program has been the driving force of the site’s traffic growth increasing 4,465% vs. 577% increase for all other sources (direct, social, etc.). Each new article provides an opportunity to drive people to the site on a different topic of interest and is the digital marketing tool primarily driving awareness to new users.
New articles are created for the website blog weekly. These are optimized for SEO and driven to by social media on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and X, as well as to email subscribers. The articles offer Scriptural insights on popular topics and practical support to encourage Bible reading. Categories in the blog — Devotionals and Deeper Study — support the translation’s position as both easy to understand and good for study.
The Results
• 338% increase in overall site traffic after one year, 1,159% increase after 3 years and 9,701% increase after 9 years.
• Organic traffic grew from 19% of site traffic to 62% five years later.
• Over 5,400 keywords ranking in the top 10 of Google search and over 49,500 keywords driving organic traffic to the site after 7 years.
• Backlinks increased from 5.6K in 2018 to 32.2K in 2025, reinforcing long-term authority growth rather than short-lived link acquisition.
• SERP features including AI Overviews grew from zero to 2,700+ in seven years and 11,235 after nine years.
• Growth has been sustained across multiple Google core updates, industry shifts, and the rise of AI-assisted search.
“… fabulous to work with from strategy, design, content, and web development. You know the digital marketing space and deliver incredible results!”
– Helen Schmitt
Sr. Marketing Director & NIV Brand Manager, Zondervan
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