Results
Weekly Increase in Visitors: 250+
Return on Investment: over 300%; repair contacts lifted by over 200% and part sales by over 150%
Search Engine Optimization: improved to top 3 in natural results on the first page within the first month across over 40 relevant search terms.
“The site’s new design and search engine optimization, coupled with the blog brought us new customers by the following week. We even had on more than one occasion owners from the Los Angeles area that would schedule to have their car repaired while in San Diego on another matter. The investment into the site has been the best piece of advertising we have ever done.”
Carl Nelson, Ph.D – La Jolla Independent
Background
With the downturn in the economy in 2008 came an opportunity in the business of automotive repair. Rather than purchasing new automobiles, consumers were keeping their cars longer and tuning them up regularly in an effort to steer clear of major issues and maintain fuel economy. To avoid the potentially high cost of dealer maintenance, car owners turned to private shops, such as La Jolla Independent. A specialist in BMW repair, restoration and parts, and La Jolla Independent grasped this opportunity with both hands.
Highly regarded throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and the South Pacific as a preeminent repair and restoration shop, La Jolla Independent’s website – BimmerDoc.com- was ready for a major overhaul.
Goals & Timeline
La Jolla Independent owners, Carl Nelson and Chris Keefer noted that they had an interesting issue in that they were very well known as a shop on a national level in the BMW enthusiast world, while the average local potential customer might not know they exist. Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO), exposure to local BMW owners was the primary goal, while shipping parts around the world was a second priority as most channels were already established.
According to Nelson and Keefer, “Obu Interactive understood this dynamic and executed it incredibly.”
Obu Interactive partnered with BimmerDoc.com in September of 2008 to redesign the website from both content and design perspectives, with the goal being to make it incredibly user (and search engine) friendly so that the local customer would easily find them. The site was re-launched in January 2009 and Obu Interactive continues to optimize the site for natural search results.
Implementation
After analyzing previous website statistics, reviewing local and statewide competition from other BMW repair shops, the social media outlets (there are some serious fans out there), and finally, the website programming itself, Obu Interactive developed a cost effective plan integrating the following elements to revamp the site:
- Relevant, user-friendly, content
- Modern design with Flash images
- Search Engine Optimization & blog
- eCommerce cart for parts
