--- title: Growing OTTplay from 386K to 9.86M organic users, and turning search into a subscription channel - Aman Jha url: https://amanjha.co/case-studies/ottplay/ author: Aman Jha --- [Home](/)·[Case Studies](/case-studies/)·ottplay MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT # Growing OTTplay from 386K to 9.86M organic users, and turning search into a subscription channel Sr. SEO Manager · HT Media Group · Mar 2024 – Mar 2026 386K BASELINE → 24 months 9.86M RESULT Organic users, OTTplay 41.8K Discover sessions 12,000 Subscriptions from organic 113K AI answer appearances ~2,000 Pieces published monthly ROLE Sr. SEO Manager, in-house DURATION 24 months SCOPE Full organic ownership: technical, content, Discover, and the search-to-subscription funnel TEAM Editorial and SEO analysts ## The starting point OTTplay had 386,000 organic users and a content strategy that wasn’t one. The technical foundation was broken — crawl issues, indexation gaps, site architecture that scattered authority instead of concentrating it. Publishing more content into that environment would have been expensive and useless. ## Recovery first, growth second Crawlability. Indexation. Site architecture. Page speed. None of it is glamorous and none of it is optional. We fixed the foundation before publishing a single new piece. Most content-led growth projects skip this step and wonder why traffic doesn’t compound. ## Ranking the terms that matter — "OTT" and beyond We didn’t chase volume. We went after intent clusters that sat closest to a streaming decision — OTT availability pages, regional language content, release calendars — the queries where someone is actively choosing what to watch and where to watch it. ## Scaling to roughly 2,000 pieces a month The hard part of volume isn’t producing it — it’s holding quality while you do. We built content frameworks, editorial guidelines, and quality gates that kept E-E-A-T standards intact at scale. Most sites that try to publish at this volume degrade within three months. The gates are the only reason this one didn’t. ## Google Discover as a growth channel Most SEO teams treat Discover as unpredictable. It isn’t — it’s a content format problem. We optimised for the right content format, imagery, and topical momentum, and produced 244,000 impressions as a result. ## Search → subscription: the funnel that paid Traffic was an input, not the goal. We built a funnel where organic users moved from discovery content to free-tier access to paid subscription. Free-tier content pages kept users engaged. Conversion pages closed. Editorial and product finally spoke the same language. ## AI visibility as a by-product of good SEO By the time AI Overviews launched in India, OTTplay was already the authoritative source for OTT queries. 113,000 AI answer appearances weren’t a separate strategy. They were a direct result of building content that answered questions better than anyone else. Want the same playbook for your brand? I now work with growth teams directly as an [AI SEO consultant](/), helping them rank on Google and get cited in AI answers. ![OTTplay organic traffic trajectory from the 386K baseline](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ottplay-results.webp) Organic traffic trajectory - the baseline and what followed ![OTTplay ranking on Google for high-intent OTT queries](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ottplay-ranking-ott.webp) Ranking for high-intent OTT queries ![OTTplay ranking on Google for Gujarati regional language queries](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ottplay-gujrati.webp) Regional language - Gujarati ![OTTplay ranking on Google for Malayalam regional language queries](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ottplay-malayalam.webp) Regional language - Malayalam ![OTTplay cited in Google AI Overviews](/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ottplay-ai-overviews.webp) AI Overview citations - organic result of content depth Traffic was the input. 12,000 subscriptions was the output that actually mattered. 386K BASELINE → 24 months 9.86M RESULT Organic users, OTTplay 41.8K Discover sessions 12,000 Subscriptions from organic 113K AI answer appearances ~2,000 Pieces published monthly 25.5x organic growth over 24 months, and a search channel that produced subscriptions rather than sessions. Your brand next ## Want OTTplay-style growth for your brand? Tell me about your brand. I’ll show you where your organic growth engine is stalling, and how AI engines see you today. [Let’s talk →](/contact/) You work with me directly · Reply within two working days CASE STUDIES ## More case studies --- Contact: hello@amanjha.co | https://linkedin.com/in/iamamanjha | https://x.com/iaamaman