Isaiah Clark House Bed and Breakfast Inn
We knew Steve and Philomena were happy with our new "site-lift" and SEO work, but the letter I received blew my socks off, it even made me a little verklempt! I have re-printed it in its entirety because it explains the path that Steven and Philomena have been traveling, and where they are now:
"Our journey into web sites started in October 2006 when we purchased our Inn. The site was a 3 pager at best with all communication toward the innkeepers.
We had no idea what to ask for. We got what we asked for ….nothing to attract new clients.
We did not get a site that was appealing to our guests or that our guests would see us on.
Cost $5000.00
So along came website # 2.
We learned some along the way………we added “key words”. The idea of “branding” came about.
It was a more picturesque website but not a Google attractor. The cost was astronomical; as we would later find out from Acorn’s prices.
Our current clientele loved the new site; however we were trying to attract more guests and still we were on page 10 of Google.
In 2 years on 2 very different websites and we are only experiencing single digit increases; we are at out wits and budget end.
Cost: $18000.00
What do we do now? How much more do we waste on this? We needed HELP in a big way!!! We scoped the web for ideas; when we had time. We saw what we wanted but were afraid to go through this again. We spoke to Paula at The Carriage House in Chatham. We complimented her new site and asked whom did she get to do it.
We found Acorn Marketing on the web and finally found a site with similar ideas to what we wanted.
We called Marian and got the ball rolling…….thank God! The project was determined to be a Site Lift that was needed immediately.Lisa and her staff got to work right away.
They all explained every detail in depth, we were shown what changes would be made to our current site.
They all explained what was needed, how to get there and what the time frame would be.
The site lift cleaned up our “copy and pasted mess of a website” so that we could finally attract more guests.
The site lift has been a strong success so far; we went live in August of 2009.
Within 3 weeks our site showed up on page 3 of Google for Cape Cod Weekend Getaways.
Wow! This is what we had expected from the beginning by the other so called "experts".
With Acorn and its staff we finally got what we paid for! We have entrusted them with our livelihood and they have delivered!!! Reservations and Revenue have both increased this year. We saw a spike soon after the site went live.
As of 10/2009 we are on the high side of page 2 of Google, how cool is that!
Our relationship did not end there.
We are blogging, Facebooking, Twittering as well as social networking!
Acorn is showing us how to compete in this very congested market; we finally have hope for our Inn business.
We no longer feel lost and insecure. We have hopes for a better tomorrow with our site lift.
We know we may need another site lift or complete do over of our site in the future and we are not afraid because we know who to call now.
Thank you Acorn. "
Annie back: For the search term "Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast", the site is now on page 2 for Google organic listings. This is so wonderful! Acorn's mission is to help Innkeepers handle their businesses, by not only providing quality products and services at fair prices, but also by educating innkeepers and showing them how to "DYI".
Steve and Philomena, thank you! You have taken what we taught and flown!
A final note from Lisa Kolb, Acorn IS Owner and Co-Founder
When we first began working with Steve and Philomena on their web site, their site's organic placement for Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast was on Page 7. I have to commend both Steve and Philomena for embracing our suggestions and running with then. SEM / SEO is only the beginning. Site freshness and blog posts that create both web page content and links are what makes the SEO foundation take wings!
Tracking of Organic Placement for "Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast"
July 2009 - Page 7 # 1 (Before Acorn IS SEM / SEO work)
August 2009 - Page 3 # 9 (After Acorn IS SEM / SEO work)
September 2009 - Page 2 # 8 (Customer Blogging and Keeping Site Fresh)
October 2009 - Page 2 # 1 / Page 1 # 10 (shifting occurs dependent on the Google server your ISP accesses)
Annie Buck
Acorn Marketing
