Washington Custom Closet Company Outranks Million-Dollar Franchises

Case Study: Creative Closets, closet installation company in Washington State

The Background

Tim Melton, the owner of Creative Closets, came to us with a problem that we’ve heard from many contractors: he felt scammed by his agency, and couldn’t attribute anything in terms of success to what the agency was doing.

Locked in a 12-month contract that wasn’t delivering what was promised, Tim was looking at a 30% penalty on top of the yearly charges if he wanted to get out of it.

We see a lot of contractors going with agencies that promise things they can’t deliver. That’s why we always tell people that SEO is a long-term game and every client is different.

It might take 1 month for your SEO to pick up…

Or it might take 7.

But we don’t promise the world and then leave you hanging.

We track the growth every month and keep you in the loop so you’re always aware of what’s going on with your account.

On top of that, Tim noticed some big problems with his online presence.

His website was slow to load on phones, which isn’t great in today’s world, where everyone’s glued to their smartphones.

The customer journey was bad, and we realized that the agency hadn’t even touched SEO for the past 10 months.

It also took forever for his old agency to do anything for him, such as setting up a simple call-tracking system.

He was paying more than $50k a year to stick with an agency that kept delivering headaches instead of reducing friction. You should be focused on selling and delivering great contracting work, not trying to figure out how to speed up mobile loading times.

Now, let’s pause for a second.

Tim’s story isn’t unique. Many contractors find themselves in a similar situation, with their marketing partners missing the mark like a rookie aiming for a bullseye.

These slip-ups aren’t just annoying.

They can cost you leads, which translates to millions lost in opportunity.

Slow mobile loading times? That’s frustrated potential customers and missed opportunities. That’s less money in your pockets.

Unclear customer journey? That’s users going on a wild goose chase trying to figure out what to click next to proceed.

Bad messaging? That’s users understanding that you’re just another Chuck-in-a-truck with nothing to set you apart from the other 30 competitors in your market.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “But how do we avoid falling into the same trap?”

The answer is simple: partner with someone who is invested in your success.

Spoiler alert: This was Tim’s reaction when we showed him a complete overview of how his business has grown since partnering with us. This is a unanimous feeling among clients who came to us from other agencies.

The Challenges

Invisible Unique Selling Proposition

Imagine this: You’re a contractor hustling day in and day out to sell the best closet systems in town.

You’ve got a killer offer—a 90-minute, in-home consultation in which a sales rep waltzes into your client’s house, sizes up their closet, and bam!

They’ve got a 3D design of their dream closet.

Financing is available, and there is a solid warranty and one-day installation that goes along with it.

That absolutely amazing selling proposition should be all over your website.

But it was nowhere on Tim’s.

A unique selling proposition grabs attention, sets you apart from the competition, and, most importantly, makes sure your customers know exactly what you’re bringing to the table.

As digital marketing experts, we understand a lot about consumer psychology, and we know that one of the reasons people buy from you is because you sell something others don’t.

It could be a lifetime warranty on windows, a fast warranty claim response, or a closet tailored to your needs in 90 minutes or less.

So, if you’re not shouting your unique selling proposition from the digital rooftops, you might as well pack up shop and call it a day. Because in this game, if you’re not standing out, you’re just blending in — and nobody remembers the guy who blends in.

P.S. This is now the first thing you see when you visit Tim’s website. Or at least at the time of writing this. We’re constantly testing angles and recording user interactions to understand what moves the needle.

Poor Website User Experience

Have you ever visited a website and had a difficult time navigating it?

You know the type – click here, scroll there, and before you know it, you’re lost in a sea of random information, wondering why you even bothered to visit in the first place.

This is common with a lot of contractor websites we see – the reader doesn’t have a clear navigation path, and they seem to be guided towards random actions that don’t warm them up enough to become a lead.

When it comes to building websites, we’ve got a method to our “madness” – a precise structure that’s been honed and perfected through years of consumer psychology research and user recordings.

We don’t just throw random stuff at the wall and hope it sticks; every element on that page is there for a reason, carefully designed to guide your customers through a funnel of conversion goodness.

From the moment your customers hit that homepage, we’re playing puppet master, pulling the strings and guiding them down a carefully crafted path.

With our method, you’ll have a website that not only looks good but actually works, guiding your customers through a seamless journey from curious browsers to raving fans. Contractors get super excited about “branding” and “glossy sites” with that magazine look. Let your competitors focus on that while you can focus on a contractor website system that converts users to leads.

Absurd Mobile Loading Times

Let’s address the elephant in the room: slow mobile loading times.

70% of Creative Closets’ website visitors were using their phones or tablets to browse the pages. When it takes too long to load the gallery, the visitors are likelier to leave and look for another closet installer.

That’s money down the drain.

We’ve got a talented team of website builders who own their domain when it comes to striking the perfect balance between beauty and speed.

See, here’s the thing: your website might be as pretty as a magazine picture, but if it takes an eternity to load, nobody’s going to stick around long enough to admire it.

That’s why we’ve made it our mission to ensure that every website we build is not only easy on the eyes but lightning-fast to boot.

A lot of people think websites are about flashy animations and fancy graphics, but these actually make your pages load way slower, which frustrates visitors.

It’s important to understand that big brands like Apple can do fancy stuff because they have insane brand awareness, recognition, and equity.

We conduct in-depth market research, analyzing everything from user demographics to browsing behavior, to ensure that every aspect of your website is optimized for maximum performance.

We’re talking about fine-tuning every last detail, from image compression to the amount of text users have to scroll through to be convinced to hire you.

The Strategy

When Tim first approached us to take a look at where his website and SEO were standing, we did something we always do during these initial calls – we showed him the truth in numbers.

His SEO looked far better than that of other clients, even though it hadn’t been touched in two years.

Could we have lied and promised Tim the world if he signed with us for our most expensive SEO plan?

Probably.

But that goes against one of our core values: transparency. It’s not what we stand for and not how we do things here.

Instead, we went above and beyond to provide him with recommendations that would move the needle for his marketing.

We talked about doubling down on his strengths, clearing up the messaging, fixing the keyword ecosystems, and capitalizing on every opportunity to maximize his ROI.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “But why would you do that? Aren’t you just leaving money on the table?“

We probably were. To everyone else, it may seem like we’re trying to convince clients out of the sale.

But here’s the thing: instead of trying to sell you services, we’d much rather tell you the truth, show you the data, and let you decide for yourself if we’re a right fit or not.

And most of the time, we won’t be. And not for the reasons you might think.

We’ve had countless prospects go with other agencies just to return a year later for us to help them because they’ve lost both money and time trying other strategies. The truth is that cheap rarely equals quality or results, and you can see that with your competitors, too.

We make recommendations based on what’s right for the client, not what will fill our pockets. We’re not here to nickel and dime you because if we can get you results and you make more money, we make more money.

We’re here to provide you with the guidance, support, and expertise you need to grow your business.

For most folks, SEO is nothing more than a mysterious acronym that gets thrown around like confetti at a parade. But here’s the thing: SEO isn’t just about slapping a few keywords on your website and calling it a day.

It’s a complex, ever-evolving beast that requires a deep understanding of your target audience, their search habits, and the unique challenges they face.

That’s why, when it came time to revamp Creative Closets’ online presence, we went above and beyond to create a website that’s as beautiful as it is functional.

Watch the video below to get a direct look into how much work it took to build out his website navigation and how we approach marketing.

To my knowledge, no digital marketing agency in our low price range does anything remotely close. These strategies are reserved for 9 figure businesses with million-dollar budgets.

And we didn’t stop there.

After launching the website, we went back to fixing his 200+ blog posts. Sometimes, it’s not about publishing more content but actually making the content that you’re ranking for better so you can capitalize on it.

At least once a year we take our websites, run an in-depth analysis and decide which pages to upgrade, what new pages to create based on insights and which pages to discard completely.

After that, we moved into Google Ads, where we now constantly generate at least 20 quality leads a month.

Then we diversified into Facebook ads that also generates at least 20 quality leads.

Little by little, we diversified his marketing omnipresence, set up retargeting for people who visit the site but don’t become leads, and created funnels that target both the people who are looking to buy now and the ones who get nurtured.

It’s quite a battle, especially when competing against nine-figure businesses, but we’re not afraid of a good challenge.

Alright, onward!

The Results

35-Page Website Launch

When it comes to dominating the digital landscape, it’s not just about having a pretty face; it’s about having the brains to back it up. And that’s where keyword ecosystems come into play.

A keyword ecosystem is like the beating heart of your website – it’s the engine that drives organic traffic, boosts search engine rankings, and ultimately puts you in front of the right people at the right time.

But nothing about this keyword ecosystem should be guesswork. As you’ve seen in the video above, creating an ecosystem that does the job requires extensive research, data analysis, identification of local searches, and knowledge of the market’s ins and outs.

We’re talking about a curated collection of keywords and phrases that are strategically chosen to align with your business goals, target audience, and industry trends.

Google’s main goal is to deliver the most relevant and useful search results to its users.

And how does it do that?

By crawling your website, analyzing its content, and determining its relevance to a given search query.

Now, imagine you’re Google for a second.

You’re sifting through millions of websites, trying to figure out which ones deserve to be ranked at the top of the search results.

What’s going to catch your eye?

A website that’s filled with random gibberish and irrelevant content with a weird structure or one that’s thoughtfully crafted with a clear focus on providing valuable, relevant information to its users? Or one that’s clear and to the point?

Above, you can see the pages that were launched together with Tim’s website. It’s impossible to encompass all the work we did in just one screenshot, so here are just a few things that went into creating it:

That’s exactly what we do with your website.

We craft a comprehensive keyword ecosystem that guides users through a logical journey that speaks to their hearts. From the moment they land on your homepage to the moment they submit a quote request, nothing is left to chance.

Pages That Sell For You

Creative Closets isn’t just selling a service. They’re selling an experience. Tim has an amazing way of taking care of his customers, and we wanted the website to reflect that fully.

But how could we encompass Tim’s entire business owner personality in a way that gives people what they want and strengthens his image as a caring contractor who thinks about everything?

With a digital catalog.

Say you’re a homeowner in the market for a new closet.

You stumble upon our custom catalog pages and suddenly find yourself immersed in a world of possibilities.

You can visualize exactly how different colors and finishes will look in your space and experiment with various hardware options.

But here’s the beauty of it all: even though users can’t make a purchase directly from these pages, they’re still getting immense value from the experience.

They’re able to make more informed decisions, visualize their dream closet in vivid detail, and feel confident in their choices – all of which ultimately lead to a higher likelihood of conversion down the line. Not only that, but when you’re out and about, doing an in-home appointment, you can show people options straight from your phone.

Top Rankings In The Area

All the moving parts of SEO, the research we did, the website we built, the optimizations we made, and the content we published all have one goal: to get Creative Closets at the top of the search results.

This way, when homeowners want custom closets in their area, they are the first company that pops up.

We use premium paid tools to track your progress every month. Instead of keeping you in the dark and only telling you to give SEO time to pick up, we show you exactly how much progress we make with your rankings.

Let’s take a look at the map below, which shows the average positions Creative Closets occupies for their closet systems service.

Every green dot you see above means that Creative Closets is in the top 3 search results for “closet systems” in the respective areas. The map you see above showcases a 15×15 grid with 3 miles between dots.

As you can see, Creative Closets is rocking Google’s top search results in an area of 150 square miles. Mind you, Tim’s business is in an area with huge competition, where some of the top contenders are national brands with local franchises.

He’s competing with closet giants that have million-dollar marketing budgets.

And he’s ranking in the top 3 spots for most of this map.

Below, you can also see Tim’s rankings for “custom closets” (on the left) and “closet designer” (on the right).

So what’s the outcome of this?

When Susan from Maple Valley, WA, is tired of a cluttered closet and decides it’s time for a change, she pulls out her phone and looks for someone who can make it happen for her.

And what’s the first thing she sees after searching for a solution on Google?

That’s right, Creative Closets!

What you see above is called the map pack. It’s made up of 3 local businesses that Google perceives as being the best choice for someone looking for custom closets.

Having your business listed there means the world’s largest search engine sees your value and shows your company to your potential customers. It’s one of the best ways to bring in qualified leads.

But nobody tells you about all the different things that need to happen for you to make it here.

And the list goes on.

This is the less sexy part of marketing and getting your business listed in the map pack.

But we love every second of it. And, according to results like these, we’re pretty good at it, too.

Even when homeowners are looking for the closest company that builds custom closets near their Washington area, we’re still there to dominate.

Key Takeaways

So, even if your business is going well, but you want to take it to a whole new level and dominate your local area, we have the know-how, tools, experience, and passion to help you get results like these.

Today, Creative Closets: