Dana Bodnar | Bodnar Boat Works
January 2016 – Present
Marketing & Consulting Expertise
- Keyword Research & SEO
- Website Design (on-page SEO)
- Google Ads (pay-per-click advertising)
- New Products & Services (dealer for pontoons, aluminum boats, and new outboard motors)
- SEO Management (Monthly On-site Package)
Introduction
Dana & Kathy Bodnar have a family-owned business called Bodnar Boat Works that specializes in boat repair and fiberglass/gel-coat work for boat owners in Phoenix. Arizona.
In 1991, Dana started the business in his garage doing fiberglass work for boats at local marinas. For about 25 years, he had a hard time scaling his business after the internet boom because he lacked technical knowledge for internal marketing efforts.
Through hard work and new ways of marketing, by 2017 he began doing more boat mechanic work and fabrications, and started dealing with pontoon and aluminum boats, and later Mercury outboard motor sales.
Today, Dana owns the commercial building and property he once leased and has turned his boat shop into a multi-million dollar marine business with a 4.4 Rating on Google with 50+ reviews.
Problem: Google Search Results
In January 2016, Dana and I met at the boat shop for a free expert consultation and discussed how his company could generate leads and business on Google search for the marine services the company offered.
Dana said,” the fact is, we are not showing up online anywhere for anything since we moved to our new shop. We never had a great online presence but now it’s like we disappeared.” Dana needed some help.
Solution: SEO
Dana asked, “So what does it cost?”
I said the cost is about $12,000-35,000 for the first year, based on your budget, competition, and other barriers to entry.
Here is Dana’s SEO Execution Plan::
- Keywords research (all main boat services/products offered)
- WordPress website migration (if the website is not created in WordPress)
- An SEO website with 5 keyword SEO pages using handful or two of keywords for your boat services (boat repair near me, boat service near me, fiberglass repair, boat technician near me, and boat gel coat repair)
- Google My Business, Google Maps, and Google Analytics (website traffic) setup
- Social setup and posting
- Google Ads or Adwords pay-per-click (PPC) setup and management for 10-12 months
- Website On-Page SEO management for 10-12 months
- Half-day monthly on-site management in the morning or afternoon for 12 months
I advised him that the website and online setups are a one-time investment and will solve the problem of not showing up online for your boat services on Google search and will ensure he starts generating online sales for the business. I also stated we would restore his presence on local Google Maps.
I told Dana, that once the website is completed, he should consider budgeting $200-600+/month on Google ads to drive website traffic to the new company website pages. I stated this will help to jumpstart the Google search process and that he should continue to budget this amount monthly while having our experts monitor the ad and search performance on-site monthly.
In total, I said for SEO Management you should budget $1000/month for ad spending and our services for the first 10-12 months.
Later, I informed him we would also like to set up a time to look at company financial data to determine the proper targeting for ads and marketing efforts.
Dana said, “Okay, I’ll need 2 jobs a week.”
SEO: Performace Results
Jan. 2017 (Approx. 1 year after website completion)
Performance: 17065 PEOPLE FOUND YOU ON GOOGLE
Keywords: Jan 2017
- boat repair – used by 237 people
- fiberglass repair – used by 109 people
- boats for sale – used by 88 people
Monthly Actions: Jan 2017
- 230 calls to your business |
14% FROM DEC 2016 - 117 asked for directions | 58% FROM DEC 2016
- 360 visited your website | 21% FROM DEC 2016
Jan. 2022 (Approx. 6 years after website completion)
Performance: 31165 PEOPLE FOUND YOU ON GOOGLE
Keywords: Jan 2022
- boat repair – used by 477 people
- fiberglass repair – used by 179 people
- boat shop – used by 188 people
Monthly Actions: Jan 2022
- 479 calls to your business | 19% FROM DEC 2021
- 209 asked for directions | 8% FROM DEC 2021
- 884 visited your website | 16% FROM DEC 2021
Google Ads: Performance from January 2017 – August 2022
Note: In this chart, a conversion is a cost to turn an “ad click” into a “customer call”, “direction request”, or “form on the website” (customer action).
The average cost-per-click (CPC) is approx. $1.75 USD ($23,100 / 13.2 total clicks = $1.75) for the life of the campaign. The CPC is the cost of an ad click (customer action or not).
If you do the math, it took about 9 clicks to convert a customer (9 clicks x $1.75/click = a conversion at $15.86. If you had a $600 budget, at $15.86/conversion, you can expect to generate 38 leads a month or approximately 2 leads every business day — That’s cheap!
Surely, with Dana’s sales skills, he will take the 38 leads a month and turn them into 10 sales appointments.
Conclusion: Hire a Trustful Expert
In conclusion, SEO and website development are beneficial only when keywords are being integrated into your company’s website pages. Otherwise, your website doesn’t work and won’t develop sales on Google search because no one will find it in search results.
Many customers, like Dana, also did not realize websites must be built in WordPress for SEO reasons.
Important: Wix, Weebly, Shopify, GoDaddy, Squarespace, a free Google website, or other DIY website builders will not get you the search results, leads, or new sales you’re looking for in a website investment.
Lastly, business owners’ time is valuable and you should research companies so you are sure to hire a trustful web developer, SEO, and digital marketing expert to do the job and so you can spend your time on the important things — like growing your business.
Today, Dana Bodnar now owns the commercial building he operates out of and continues to grow by 21% or more annually(2019-2022).
He contributes much of his company’s growth success from quality boat service and Internal Profits marketing efforts. He is still a business friend and client, today.
Dana’s Testimonial
“We have used Patrick at Internal Profits for the past 6 years. He has brought massive gains to our boat shop from his knowledge and experience with local search engine optimization on Google, website development, and strategic digital marketing execution to meet our goals. Since we’ve hired him, we’ve been able to add additional services dealing with bass boats, pontoons, and Mercury motors. In the past year, we’ve been able to purchase the building we operate out of and continue to grow. Thanks Pat.”
Dana Bodnar
SEO LinkedIn Recommendation