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SEO Success Story: How a Small Independent Advisory Firm Hit it Big on the Web

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Company Name: Galecki Financial Management

 

Industry: Financial Services

 

City: Fort Wayne, IN

 

Total cost of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services: $1800*

 

*Galecki is a current client, so this is the amount spent as of January 2018

 

Case Study Background

 

Galecki Financial Management is a small fee-only financial advisor firm in Fort Wayne, Indiana that serves clients in all of Northeastern Indiana, including Indianapolis. The firm is a registered investment advisor regulated by the SEO.

 

Greg Galecki, owner of Galecki Financial Management, has served as NAPFA Midwest Region President and as a member of the Board of Directors, President and Treasurer of the Northern Indiana Society of the Institute of Certified Financial Planners, and Host of the “Financial Sense” radio show.

 

Even with these highly visible leadership positions, the firm received little-to-no new business from the web and was only ranked in top search engine results for its company name.

 

This changed when we started working with them.

 

SEO Success Summary

 

We began working with Galecki in October 2017. In less than 4 months, we were able to increase Galecki Financial Management’s traffic by 1409% and gained top-20 Google rankings for the majority of the firm’s most important keywords.

 

The firm is now receiving regular leads from the web and has closed new business and grown its assets under management. 

 

Before completing the SEO optimization, Galecki Financial Management’ monthly website traffic was around 107 visits. After optimization, it rose to 1,626 and continues to grow (1412% growth rate).

 

Unique Visitors

 

Unique visitors also grew during the same time period, from 341 U.S.-based visitors in June-September 2017 to 3,018 in October 2017 to January 2018 (785% growth). A growth in unique visitors is often indicative of search engine optimization success as opposed campaigns to boost client engagement through email newsletters and social media, which would often increase visitors to a website, but not necessarily unique visitors.

 

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Source: Google Analytics

 

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Source: Google Analytics

 

Similarly, the number of organic searches that brought visitors to the website grew from 81 to 852 (950% growth). 

 

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Source: Google Analytics

 

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Source: Google Analytics

 

The estimated value of this increase in website traffic if it were to be purchased via Google AdWords is over $3,550 per month (see cost-per-click data below).

 

Top Search Engine Keyword Rankings

 

At the time of the initial website optimization, Galecki Financial Management didn’t want to promote a particular service area niche, so we mostly targeted geographical keywords. While we recommend business owners expand their chances of success by also targeting niche keywords, in this case we were able to succeed in only targeting geographical and national keywords. Our top-15 ranking keywords are highly competitive as demonstrated by the high cost-per-click rates to purchase traffic for these keywords via Google AdWords:

 

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Source: Google AdWords

 

These estimates are based on the cost per click in areas where Galecki Financial Management serves clients, which includes these cities in Indiana: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Warsaw, Kendallville, LaGrange, Ligonier, Huntington, North Manchester, Wabash, Decatur, Bluffton, Berne, Columbia City, Auburn, Angola and Marion.

 

Here are the keyword rankings and number of average monthly searches as of 1/15/18.

 

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Source: Bright Local

 

Before SEO Optimization

 

Despite over 20 years in business, Galecki’s web presence was still in its infancy. The firm received nearly no new business from the Internet, and total traffic to the website averaged less than 110 visits per month. Occasionally, prospects found the firm through the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) website, but Galecki received no leads from search engines. The firm’s primary generator for new prospects was client referrals.  

 

After initial contact by email, the Galecki team decided to hire us to build and manage their online presence with SEO.

 

How We Helped

 

As one of our first clients, Galecki Financial Management received reduced rates for search engine optimization services. Here are the services that we provided.

 

Thorough Research

 

We began the engagement by adding Google Analytics to the website so that we could track the before-and-after website traffic, and later learn about visitor actions and improve call-to-action steps. We then moved on to keyword research. Using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, we compiled a list of a few hundred possible keywords to target and prioritized by traffic volume and competitiveness.

 

Focus on Targeted Website Content

 

We rewrote Galecki Financial Management’ website content around the most important keywords, being sure to use proper page titles, meta descriptions, and SEO-friendly markup and linking techniques.

 

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Local SEO

 

We also targeted local keyword phrases through city pages. We created city and town specific pages to target web searches in the geographical areas that Galecki serves. By creating profiles on a number of the top online business directories, we improved the firm’s rankings for local search terms both for its website and its Google MyBusiness listing.

 

Transparent Reporting

 

As we do with all client engagements, we began tracking and sharing the results of the SEO campaign. We regularly provided clear reports that highlight Google and Bing rankings for our keywords, website traffic growth, and competitor comparisons. Based on those reports, we tweaked our optimization to maximize our search engine rankings and push some of our top keywords into the first page of search results.

 

In addition to these reports, we also hold monthly calls to discuss the data and address any questions. 

 

Why You Can Expect Similar Results

 

Galecki Financial Management isn’t the only firm that we’ve helped to succeed in our first year of business. We are having similar initial success with our other clients. In fact, we have yet to have a client that didn’t land top-10 rankings within 3 months of optimization for at least one or two primary keywords that we’ve targeted.

 

The time frame for success will greatly depend on the level of authority that you already have on your website. Longstanding sites with a strong social media or blogging presence and/or a few high-quality inbound links may be able to land top rankings almost immediately following the initial optimization of the site. Less authoritative sites can take 6 to 8 months to obtain top rankings for moderately competitive keywords. But it’s important to remember that strong SEO won’t guarantee you new business. It will get you in front of new prospects, but it’s up to you to close the deal. Work on your initial presentation and make sure you have a strong value proposition. We’ll get you up to bat, but you still have to hit it out of the park.

 

Destiny Marketing Solutions

 

Leonard Parker

info@destinymarketingsolutions.com

(888) 846-4937

www.destinymarketingsolutions.com

 

Galecki Financial Management

 

A.T. Kohout

at@galecki.com 

(260) 436-8525

www.galecki.com