TNHS Helps MSP 10x Traffic, Expand Market Share

In today’s post, we’re going to be walking through an MSP marketing case study and looking at how we help this regionally focused MSP 10x their organic traffic, more than double in size, and capture significant market share in the area they compete.

NetTech Consultants is a Jacksonville-based managed service provider or MSP. We initially established contact with NetTech at a trade show where they were looking to toe the waters of digital and expand their marketing efforts but were unsure of how to proceed. We offered to take a look at their website and look for any opportunities for improvement they might be missing out on and they decided to take us up on the offer.

Initial Audit Findings

We took a look at the online presence and spotted several opportunities for improvement. Their website was loading quite slowly, was not search-optimized, and needed a design update. Their social media pages and business listings were out of date and needed a more professional look and some updated copy in the descriptions.

NetTech also didn’t have any sort of active digital marketing plan and was relying heavily on referrals and outsourced appointment-setting services. Since NetTech wanted to get more aggressive with their growth we also took a look at the options available, timelines for a return, and budgets and decided that establishing a pay-per-click investment would be most prudent.

Marketing Website Updates

Since a website often serves as the cornerstone of other digital marketing efforts and is the main place prospects are driven to and leads are generated, we started with an update to the website.

Tortoise and Hare Software started by creating a new design in Photoshop that NetTech was able to provide feedback on before beginning work on the new site. Designs were created and approved quickly and work began shortly thereafter.

After some technical changes and code updates, we were able to significantly improve the user experience by reducing page load times and implementing the new design. Below is a screenshot of the above-the-fold home page, but you can view the full site here. We also updated the site to be a more graphical and engaging and updated copy in certain places.

Behind the scenes, Tortoise and Hare Software also installed several tools. Firstly we installed Google Tag Manager to help deploy small JavaScript tags that social media sites and other related marketing technology require without having to re-deploy new code. We installed Google Analytics and configured their analytics setup so that NetTech could get a better understanding of how their website was performing. We also installed a conversion rate optimization tool to measure scroll depths, capture heat map data, and look at screen recordings of how users were interacting with the site.

We also registered the site with Google and Bing, created an XML sitemap, and submitted it for indexing so that the site would be better understood and generate more relevant search engine traffic.

As part of the website update package they purchased, we also moved them over to a business-grade web hosting platform with properly configured caching, a content delivery network, and a streamlined development workflow to make ongoing updates.

These changes laid the foundation for developing an effective IT company digital marketing program and allowed them to start advertising in the Jacksonville market.

Advertising Their MSP

The next step in the journey was to start advertising and bringing more traffic to the website to increase brand awareness in the marketplace. After looking at available options and weighing other considerations we decided to advertise with a budget spread across Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads.

Tortoise and Hare Software started by defining and installing conversion tracking to measure the success of ads using the conversion tracking tags from each platform and deploying them through the previously installed Google Tag Manager. The identified conversion events for the business were:

• Phone Calls
• Contact Form Submissions
• Inbound Email Clicks

We installed and configured the conversion tracking and also installed the re-marketing tags for each platform, the Google Remarketing Tag, and the LinkedIn Insights Tag.

Campaigns were set up on Google to generate traffic for searches like:

• IT Company
• Tech Support
• Managed Service Provider
• IT Consultants
• Managed IT Provider
• IT Outsourcing
• IT Support

These campaigns were supplemented by display and search remarketing campaigns and a LinkedIn-sponsored content campaign to keep searchers engaged.

Digital advertising was a new venture for NetTech and a gentle approach was taken by sending traffic from campaigns directly to relevant pages on their website to establish a baseline performance, with plans to set up dedicated landing pages for high-performing keywords and expand efforts in the future.

Over a 1 year period Tortoise and Hare was able to help them generate leads via PPC, expand their ad budget and grow their MSP to the point where it was time to diversify investments into new channels and reduce dependence on advertising.

See Related Case Study: How We Helped This South Florida MSP Generate 5-15 Lead Per Month Via PPC

Adding In Blogging And Social Media Marketing For Their MSP

After we initially established success with an advertising program the conversation shifted on how to increase the budget and scale up further. Tortoise and Hare recommended launching an SEO program with blogging as the cornerstone of the efforts with the distribution of blog content on social media to augment performance.

Tortoise and Hare began producing a monthly blog post, a monthly landing page to expand the website, a monthly text/image-based social media post, and a monthly video social media post. We used social media automation to re-post content and build up a content marketing engine for their MSP.

NetTech started with roughly 300 visits per quarter. Despite being in business since 1995 the website was in such a poor state before the rebuild that there was very little organic traffic and it was almost invisible to search engines.

Adding In SEO For Their MSP

After roughly one year of posting content regularly and sharing it on social media Tortoise and Hare recommended they add SEO into the mix. As part of this service, we conduct a monthly site audit to identify and repair broken links, technical issues, missing meta descriptions, unoptimized titles, and a whole host of other minor but important changes that send positive signals to search engines.

We also maintain business directory listings with premium directory management solutions, submit annual press releases, and maintain their Google Business Profile. Lastly, we would go back through and optimize content at a rate of one optimization per month. A post or page’s journey doesn’t end after hitting publish, it’s important to regularly review content for optimization opportunities, changing business conditions, and new keywords. Keeping a regular cadence here helps to grow traffic.

Advisement Services

A key portion of working with NetTech has been providing advisement services. We’ve examined competitors, discussed ways to improve the website, talked about content strategies, discussed adding live chat functionality, what implementing marketing automation tools might look like, and what the impact of dedicated landing pages for high-volume keywords could be. Tortoise and Hare provided monthly reports and helped the client interpret the reports.

Business conditions change regularly and so does the conversation about how to best invest available resources. Tortoise and Hare Software have served as a trusted adviser to NetTech throughout the relationship.

Results Generated

Fast forward and NetTech is now generating more than 5,000 visits per quarter for their MSP. They have grown from a bottom-tier online competitor to number 3 in the market in terms of search engine visibility in an area with at least 30 direct competitors including strong national brands.

NetTech has been able to generate a stable monthly lead volume ranging from 5-10 leads per month. Through this, they have been able to grow revenue, more than double in size, and expand into new markets including the Gainesville FL, and St. Augustine FL markets.

Wrapping Up The MSP Marketing Case Study

NetTech and Tortoise and Hare have been working together since 2019 and have accomplished a lot together. They started with a website that was badly in need of a refresh and were able to launch an updated site, create an advertising program, and bootstrap the success of the advertising program into a content engine and organic growth through SEO and social media.

With the help of Tortoise and Hare, they have captured more market share and increased their business’s durability and ability to absorb economic shocks from macro events like the pandemic and inflation. Their growth has allowed them to reduce dependence on key customers and position their brand for long-term success to the benefit of all the stakeholders involved. We look forward to supporting their continued growth.

Are you ready to turn your brand into the next MSP marketing case study? Reach out to Tortoise and Hare today and learn more about how we can help you.