Misco Refractometers Case Study

Keyword Research Is Critical

Client: Misco, Cleveland Ohio

Services: Web Design & Search Engine Optimization

Product: Digital Refractometers

URL: www.misco.com

Report Date: April 2005

Misco Refractometers, a Cleveland based industry leader, had an existing Web site that was not performing as well as they would have liked. While their site had high rankings for the primary keyword “refractometers,” the majority of the market was searching for the singular term “refractometer.” When the decision was made to re-design the site, we placed a priority on maintaining existing rankings, as well as targeting important new rankings. Maintaining current rankings was important because the primary keywords resulted in the majority of conversions on the site.

Strategy:
The first step was to identify the Web pages on the site with the most keyword rankings. Through log file analysis, we discovered these and related key phrases.

The second step was to implement a new site design. The new design was necessary to improve the flow of content and to accommodate the ecommerce database which required a change from static HTML pages to dynamic PHP programming. In addition, the large amount of scientific information needed to be coordinated and consistent from page to page while maintaining readability.

Finally, in changing from an HTML site to a dynamic site, questions arose about changing page extensions from HTML to PHP. There were concerns about long query strings with dynamic characters (such as question marks and equal signs) that could affect the search engines and lower the existing rankings. By implementing a mod-rewrite in the PHP code and other server modifications, we were able to rewrite the PHP query string into an understandable, search-engine friendly URL with an HTML extension. By accomplishing this, the same page names and extensions were maintained and Misco experienced a seamless transition to the new Web site.

Tactics:
We recommended doing a Research Report prior to beginning an SEO Campaign, as it outlined what the competitors were doing, and precisely what was necessary to get results. The report showed that Misco needed services in four areas: site optimization, link building, pay-per-click, and analytics.

Results:
This strategy resulted in more rankings, more leads and more sales. Misco went from ten Top 10 rankings (Google, Yahoo & MSN) to 35 number one ranked keywords, 90 top five rankings, 100 top 10 rankings, and a number one ranking for most popular keyword on Google, Yahoo and MSN. The site now has a search engine referral rate of 78 percent and has over 8,000 monthly referrals from search engines.