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Case Study:

Transmission Shop Advertising

Case Study Compiled 2012

The Project

City Ranked was tasked by a brand new local transmission shop to develop a strong internet marketing plan that involved building a new website, implementing a local search strategy, and most importantly, getting the phone to ring from well-qualified prospects searching for the specific services the business provides.

Internet Marketing Challenges:

  • The business was not located in a high internet traffic city but was located near a major metro area. The challenge was to get the customer to rank organically for the keywords important to their business in the metro area over 10 miles away.
  • The business was brand new, as such the age of the URL and zero indexed information on the major search engines and local search sites was preventing them from appearing for any relevant search results.
  • The business offered much more than transmission repair. The customer wanted to appear for results such as timing belt replacement, scheduled automotive service, brake repair, and more.
  • The shop location was a perceived deterrent for many prospects due to its remote location from most of the metro area. We needed to determine a way to sell the customer’s services first, then let the prospect make a decision based upon what our client had to offer vs. their physical location.
Transmission Shop Advertising by City Ranked Media in Vancouver WA

“We couldn’t be more pleased with City Ranked and their hard-working team! They deliver what they promise and have helped our business SEO immensely! Thank you!”

Our Approach

At City Ranked, every decision we make is data-driven.

We focus on either increasing traffic to the website or increasing conversions from qualified leads.

 

Account Management Tool by City Ranked Media in Vancouver WA

Initial Website Development

First, City Ranked developed a starter website comprised of nine pages. This website was developed to achieve rankings for high-level keywords such as “transmission repair,” “clutch replacement” and “differential repair.”

Technical SEO

Second, we built out profiles and business listings on sites like Google, Yahoo Local, Bing, Yellowpages.com, Citysearch, Yellowbook and others. Particular attention was placed to make sure desired keywords, headings, services offered and cities serviced were the same for each profile. Coupon profiles were also created to entice prospects on services offered by the client. Coupons were and are currently used as a closing technique to secure service appointments with the prospects.

Reporting & Call Tracking

Third, exhaustive keyword research was completed to identify prospects’ searches that resulted in inquires for the business. This exercise was completed using website analytics and call analytics, paying particular attention to bounce rates, call duration/quality, and form submissions.

Content Development

Fourth, additional content was built out targeting new keyword strings identified through the keyword research. This is an ongoing exercise of adding 2-3 new pages of content per month, each time targeting a separate list of keywords and services. Along with ongoing SEO for these targeted keywords, a targeted and precise SEM Campaign was built and launched targeting these high conversion rate keywords. This campaign was built and operates at an extremely low cost per month, but with extremely high conversion rates between 30-60% monthly.

The Outcome

Within the first 3 months…

  • This local transmission repair facility generates 88.5% of its traffic through SEO. The remaining traffic has been driven through high-quality pay-per-click traffic that converts between 30-60% monthly.
  • Our client’s website ranks on major search engines and has achieved first-page placement for over 149 keyword strings.
  • This activity produces an average of 69 tracked calls per month, and 4 form submissions. This activity tracking does not account for calls generated off of local search from sources such as Google, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other local search engines.
0%
Organic Search
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1st Page KWs
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Phone Calls
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Form Entries

**Update – 2013 (Roughly 7 months after compiling this case study):

With ongoing SEO work, website development, and a small increase in Google AdWords, this client is now tracking an average of 126 calls per month and has received 18 form submissions.

Their average cost per call is $8.45.

**Update – 2019 (7 years later):

We’ve had the pleasure of working with this transmission company for nearly a decade. With a few website rebuilds along the way and updated SEO tactics both onsite and offsite, we’ve continued to drive results.

This client’s Organic traffic has grown roughly 370% and they have hired two R&R Techs to support their Master Builder. Because of their success, the client was able to shift to higher-dollar jobs and now focus on luxury German and Asian imports and transmissions for racing applications, exclusively.

Graph Showing Web Traffic by City Ranked Media in Vancouver WA

Transmission Shop Advertising in Vancouver WA - Portland OR - Nationwide

City Ranked is a Full-Service Digital Marketing Agency with Clients in Oregon, Washington & Select Industries Nationwide:

Portland OR | Gresham | Beaverton | Hillsboro | Tigard | Oregon City | Vancouver WA | Seattle WA | Bend OR