SEO Case Study #1

Local SEO for Horse Stable in Central New York

Increased total site traffic 75% in 3 months

Customer Goals & Expectations:

A local horse stable wanted to increase their internet presence and generate more sales leads from their existing website. Prior to search engine optimization, the horse stable’s marketing initiatives included word-of-mouth, print advertising and joining industry-related associations/groups. They updated their website only a few times per year.

They expressed a limited budget, but had a willingness to learn and implement SEO techniques on their own in the future. They signed up for our Do-It-Yourself 3 Month SEO Plan.

Understanding the Industry & Market:

The horse stable’s services include English riding lessons, horse boarding, horse sales/lease, horse clinics, summer pony camps, and horse shows. There are several competitors in the Central New York area. They have positioned themselves as the leading horse facility in the area with professional instruction, consistent care and modern accommodations that set them apart from the competition.

Their target market includes riders of all ages and experience levels, college students, horse owners, potential horse buyers and parents/grandparents looking for summer camp opportunities for their children in the Central New York region.

Keyword & Competitive Analysis:

After meeting with the client to discuss their industry and target market, we did some keyword research and a brief competitive analysis.

We determined that in order to develop an effective internet marketing approach, we needed to:

  • Focus on keyword combinations that include industry-related terms (horse boarding, horse stables, etc.), and geographic modifiers (Syracuse, NY, Utica, NY and Central NY).
  • Their competitors had a very limited online presence, so the client could capitalize on this opportunity.
  • A combination of local search, video, social media, website updates and industry-related directory inclusion will be the key to getting this client’s services in front of its target market.

    • Develop Initial SEO Report for Performance Baseline:

    Before we could start driving qualified traffic to the site and making any revisions to the site’s content and structure, we needed to establish a baseline so we could fully understand how the site was currently performing. Gathering information about the current site traffic (visitors per month, time spent on site, traffic sources, bounce rate, page views and lead generation) up front allowed us to quantify the effectiveness of the site optimization plan. We set them up with Google Analytics to understand and analyze site statistic information.

    Plan of Action:

  • After researching keywords, we integrated them throughout the site’s content, as well as throughout the site’s HTML coding to enhance searchability.
  • There were many industry-related and business directories that the site was not currently listed on. We created site listings that included a URL to the site to create backlinks, as well as keyword-rich descriptions of the business.
  • We enhanced the site’s content by frequently updating the news section of the site with clinic and horse show information, as well as incorporating video of the horses that were available for sale/lease. We branched out the news via press release websites to create backlinks, and added the horse videos to interactive media sites like YouTube for added exposure.
  • We assisted them in setting up and participating in social networking via Facebook to interact with current and potential customers.
  • We focused on local search as the business has a regional focus, and added and enhanced their local search listings on Google, Yahoo, MSN and Syracuse.com.

    • Measuring Results:

    We analyzed site statistics from Google Analytics on a monthly basis and reported the information to the client. This allowed us to track site information such as bounce rates from the home page, page views and time spent on the site to target effective/ineffective pages and make adjustments accordingly. Our goal was to drive as many prospects as possible along a conversion path to the goal pages (contact us, visit us, maps).

    Results:

    Over a 3-month period, total site traffic increased 75%. The total pages per visit increased 13.74% and the average time spent on the site increased 37.84%. The Bounce Rate decreased 27.51% and there was a 70.7% increase in keywords searched that brought visitors the site from search engines. We provided them with the tools to continue to implement SEO techniques on their own.