05 Nov Case Study: How SEO Helped a Local Landscaping Company Scale: Ranking for High-Intent Keywords
You’ve heard the promises. “Rank on page one and watch your business explode.” But here’s the thing about SEO that most people don’t talk about: not every ranking actually moves the needle.
Most SEO tools will show you impressive traffic estimates and search volumes. They’ll tell you a keyword gets 2,400 searches per month and paint rosy pictures of what could happen if you rank. But those are just averages. The real test? Whether your phone actually rings.
That’s exactly what happened with a local landscaping company. Design Moves Marketing Studio presented an SEO opportunity to scale, and the company began closing three new customers every single month. All from ranking #3 for a primary local service keyword.
The Starting Point: A Business in Need of Growth
The company was already stable with steady projects and a small crew. The goal was to scale predictably and capture more of the right demand. Word-of-mouth was solid, but it was not always on. Social posts drove engagement, but they wanted clearer paths to booked work. They also tried Nextdoor and Facebook groups, but progress was too slow to hit their growth goals.
They had paid ads running, but the team wanted a more sustainable complement. They wanted something that worked while crews were on job sites instead of at a desk.
Design Moves Marketing Studio presented a focused SEO opportunity to capture ready to hire searches in their area. The company invested and moved forward. We retained the existing website, made targeted on site tweaks, and added a blog section to publish project stories and answer common buyer questions.
The 4-Month Strategy: Focus Over Everything
Instead of trying to rank for dozens of keywords right away, the focus was laser-sharp: one primary keyword that represented exactly what their ideal clients were searching for.
The target term was a high intent local service keyword aligned with their core offering.
Why this specific phrase? Because it combined three crucial elements:
- Geographic targeting (their city)
- High commercial intent (people ready to hire)
- Their strongest service offering (landscape design)
The strategy wasn’t complicated, but it was consistent:
Month 1-2: Foundation Building
- Overhauled the website with proper local SEO elements
- Created detailed service pages focused on the target keyword
- Optimized Google Business Profile with regular posts and photos
- Started building local citations and directory listings
Month 3-4: Content and Authority
- Published weekly blog posts about landscape design projects in their city
- Added before-and-after project galleries
- Collected and displayed customer reviews strategically
- Built relationships with local suppliers for backlinks
No fancy tricks. No keyword stuffing. Just consistent, focused effort on one primary target.
The Results: Real Numbers That Matter
After four months of steady work, the company hit #3 for their primary local service keyword. But here’s what really mattered: the phone started ringing.
The measurable impact:
- 14 phone calls per month directly from organic search
- 3 new clients closed monthly
- A steady stream of new work from one keyword ranking
- 85% of calls came from mobile searches
Even with periodic removals of their Google Business Profile which is common in landscaping due to the lack of a physical home base most new leads came from the regular Google organic link below the GMB section. This showed that organic link listings still work for local service businesses.
But here’s the kicker. Other broader terms they tracked showed higher search volumes in SEO tools. Yet none of those drove the same level of intent or results.
Why? Because the high intent local design term attracted people who were:
- Ready to invest in professional services (not DIY)
- Looking for comprehensive design work
- Specifically seeking local providers (ready to hire)
Why One Keyword Outperformed Everything Else
This is where most SEO software gets it wrong. Those traffic estimations are based on averages across different markets, seasons, and user behaviors. They can’t account for:
Local Market Dynamics
The city has a specific demographic that values professional landscape design. The keyword attracted homeowners planning full design projects, not just people looking for basic lawn maintenance.
Search Intent Clarity
Someone searching that high intent local design term knows exactly what they want. They’re not browsing casually. They’re ready to hire a professional for a substantial project.
Competition Reality
While the keyword showed “high competition” in tools, most competitors weren’t targeting it strategically. They were either too broad or too narrow in their approach.
Seasonal Consistency
Unlike general landscaping terms that spike in spring, design-focused searches stayed consistent year-round as homeowners plan projects in advance.
The Scaling Effect: Beyond Just More Clients
Those three new clients per month didn’t just add work. They transformed how the owner could run the business:
Predictable Pipeline
With a steadier pipeline, the owner could plan projects weeks in advance. This allowed the team to:
- Hire additional crew members
- Invest in better equipment
- Take on larger, more complex projects
Premium Positioning
Ranking #3 for a design-focused keyword positioned the company as a premium service provider. Clients who found them through search expected a professional experience.
Referral Multiplication
Those three monthly SEO-generated clients each referred an average of 1.2 additional projects over the following year. The compound effect meant that single keyword ranking was actually generating 6-7 total projects monthly when referrals were included.
The Reality Check: What the Tools Don’t Tell You
Here’s what the team learned that no SEO tool could have predicted:
Not All Traffic Converts Equally
They tested ranking for a budget-oriented local term and drove twice as much traffic. But conversion rates were terrible because these searchers were price-shopping, not value-seeking.
Timing Matters More Than Volume
The high intent local design term had lower monthly search volume but higher seasonal consistency. People searched year-round as they planned projects, unlike seasonal spikes for general landscaping terms.
Mobile vs. Desktop Behavior
85% of calls came from mobile searches, but desktop visitors spent more time on the site and often had larger project scopes. The keyword attracted both behaviors effectively.
Geographic Precision Wins
Adding the city name cut the search volume in half according to tools, but doubled the conversion rate because it filtered out irrelevant traffic from other cities.
Lessons for Other Local Businesses
The company’s success wasn’t about gaming the system or finding secret SEO tactics. It came down to understanding their market and focusing intensely on one high intent target.
Start Narrow, Then Expand
Instead of trying to rank for everything, pick one keyword that represents your ideal client search. Master that first.
Measure What Matters
Traffic numbers look impressive, but phone calls and closed deals pay the bills. Track conversions, not just rankings.
Local Intent Is Gold
Including your city name might reduce search volume, but it dramatically improves relevance and conversion rates.
Quality Over Quantity
Three ideal fit clients per month beats thirty tire-kickers who never buy anything.
The Bottom Line
Four months and one keyword ranking helped a local landscaping company scale into a thriving design-focused business with a steady pipeline of qualified inquiries.
But the real lesson isn’t about SEO tactics. It’s about understanding that not all rankings create equal results. The keyword that looks most impressive in your SEO tool might not be the one that actually grows your business.
Success comes from matching your SEO strategy to your business goals, not just chasing the highest search volumes. Sometimes the keyword with 800 monthly searches outperforms the one with 8,000 because it attracts the right people at the right time.
That’s the difference between SEO that looks good on paper and SEO that actually scales your business.
