Case Study

Northwest Manufacturer of Industrial Equipment
Due to confidentiality issues, we’ll call this company Acme Equipment. (Actual company name withheld because we are privy to specific confidential information on their financial results). Acme has been around for 30 years, and manufactures commercial / industrial equipment, distributed only through authorized dealers – no direct sales. Acme has built brand recognition with their product line across the industrial and commercial sectors, and is known for durable, quality equipment.

Even though Acme’s original website was fairly basic, the brand name was well recognized by search engines, consistently showing well on Google naturally. The website was by no means optimized. We took on the task of giving the website a complete overhaul, using a goal-oriented approach. The two most important functions of the website were to point visitors to the dealers and to generate leads.

The first step was to reposition the dealer look-up. Once a visitor enters their zip code or postal code, the dealer name and contact information remains constant at the bottom of the screen, no matter what path the visitor chooses within Acme’s site.

Secondly, we offered several ways a visitor can self-identify. There is plenty of product information readily available on the site, however if the visitor wants a deeper look they must register. This allows them to view other literature, such as product specification sheets and catalogs. We also created a free white paper on what prospects need to know before buying the type of equipment Acme manufactures, but they must register to view it.

One final way a visitor could contact us is to take a 10 to 15 question survey, to assist them in determining the equipment best suited for their needs. If a visitor takes the time to properly fill out the survey, chances are they are a better lead, and are more open to a purchase. This has turned out to be one of our best lead generation tools.

All content for the new Acme site was re-written and the pages were optimized for search engines. The design was changed to add a bit more flair than the previous site, hoping to compel the visitor to stick around a while. We launched with little fanfare, and anxiously held our breath, knowing that an overhaul of a site can be detrimental, sometimes causing a severe drop in rankings.

Almost immediately, Acme began receiving leads in all categories, based completely on organic search. Acme went from zero leads per month to hundreds per month. We implemented lead tracking software for dealers to report the status of the leads. This allowed Acme to view those which resulted in a quote or a sale, and the associated revenue of each category. With monthly reporting, it’s easy to see the value of the lead tracking management system, as the number of sales climb.

The best success was that Acme began effective lead generation, while maintaining good search engine positioning. Proper optimization, good content and a lot of planning can boost rankings, as was made evident by Acme’s performance. One year later, the site generates over 1,000 leads per month, with quotes and sales in the millions of dollars.