This is the case study of a European transport & logistics company providing freight services within the UK, and from the UK to mainland Europe. A very traditional business, they were sceptical about the idea of generating new business via their website. All their new business was generated through word of mouth, and from their network of salespeople working out in the field. The MD went as far to say 'it'll never work' about the idea of digital marketing - but nevertheless, was prepared to give it a try.
5 years on, their web presence is transformed. They are now getting more than 5,000 people visiting their website every month mostly through their high Google rankings. This is resulting in dozens and dozens of new customer enquiries every month - in fact, they have had a massive 1,933 online/website enquiries since we started work with them.
'It'll Never Work'
When we first met this client, it is fair to say their website had not been treated as a priority. They had a home page, an about us page, a services page, and a contact page - and that was it. With a head office in mainland Europe, the website was a very basic copy of the head office site. They got 0 enquiries, and just a handful of visitors to the website each month (around 40 a month) - mostly from staff and suppliers.
No Enquiries, No Traffic, No Online Presence
Our first step was to complete a full analysis of their marketing and their current website and we produced a full marketing report detailing all the issues we found:
- There was no marketing strategy - no SEO/keyword strategy, no content strategy and no website conversion strategy.
- There was no social media presence - no Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn business profiles.
- There was no way of measuring marketing results - they had an industry-specific CRM system but it was disconnected from their website.
- The website was outdated - the branding on their company vehicles looked fantastic, but the website simply didn't give the same professional impression.
- The website consisted of just 4 pages - with no news or regular content - so there was very little information for visitors and meant that...
- They were not found in Google at all - if you searched for the company name you could find them, but that was all. Any searches for the specific services and the specific transport routes they offered (e.g. shipping services to X), and they were nowhere to be found in the Google results.
- No Google Ads - or any form of online advertising.
The overall picture was that this large, growing company that was providing transport services for some of the UK's largest brands was essentially invisible online.
The Marketing Programme
Following on from this report, we put together a tailored marketing programme for them. Our role was to implement a more comprehensive inbound marketing programme which would ensure consistent marketing activity, and with expertise. The programme included:
- Marketing Strategy - we created an SEO strategy, developed target personas, and developed a conversion strategy.
- Website Design - we created a custom design to modernise the look, feel and user experience of the site.
- SEO (search engine optimisation) - we optimised the new website and began an ongoing SEO campaign.
- Google Ads management - we set up and managed Google pay-per-click advertising for them.
- Content marketing - regular blog articles written, published and promoted across social media.
- Lead generation - we applied several conversion rate optimisation strategies to the website, and also created a PDF guide to use as part of online lead generation.
- HubSpot CRM (customer relationship management) implementation - we set up HubSpot to measure their sales and marketing results and track each and every enquiry.
This is all managed by one of our campaign managers, providing reporting and analysis each month to help steer the results - results which have been fantastic:
Website Traffic Hits 6,000 Visits Per Month
As the months and years have gone by, website traffic levels have climbed spectacularly. This once-invisible website is now regularly getting more than 6,000 visits a month. As you can see from the graph above, the main source of these visitors is 'Organic search' - in other words, traffic generated through their SEO.
Outstanding SEO Results - 860 Keywords Found In Google
Within just a few months of the marketing programme, this client started seeing their website featuring on page one for relevant search terms. As time has gone on, they have started featuring on page one of Google for more and more keywords. At the time of writing, they are ranking in the top 100 for a massive 860 keywords. Below is the graph showing how that has led to more and more people finding their website in Google each month, with SEO now driving 3-4,000 visits every month.
1,933 Online Enquiries
Customers can enquire in multiple ways through their website, including email and phone. They can also fill in an online quote request form - and as you can see from the graph above they are getting 40+ online quote requests each month, and have had 1,933 in total since the programme started. If you were to add all the phone calls and emails to this list, then there will have been thousands and thousands of new enquiries, many of which have now become regular account customers.
A Modern, Professional Website They Can Control
We designed a new website for them, planning a new design layout and then building it in WordPress. Not only does the new website represent the brand far better than the original basic 4-page website, it is also a a website they can make changes to in-house (with the previous website they relied on their European office to organise any changes).
A Stronger Overall Web Presence
We have seen the growth in enquiries and traffic, but there are other ways we can see the progress being made. In our original inbound marketing audit, we could see this client was behind large competitors like DFDS and DSV. They have now made up significant ground - and are not far away from catching them up in terms of website visitor numbers.
Their website score has gone from 54/100 up to 86/100, and their domain authority has risen from 16/100 to 29/100.
They have also built a presence on social media, with over 1,000 followers on their business Facebook page now.
Measuring Marketing Results
HubSpot CRM was introduced as a way to fully measure all of the sales and marketing to help get better results. With HubSpot we can track each and every enquiry, and see where they came from. Learn more about HubSpot in this video 'What IS HubSpot?'
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