AUWC Grows Business 114%
One year ago, business owner Mike Wright didn’t believe in Web sites. He wasn’t sure his nuisance wildlife control company – Arkansas Urban Wildlife Control – needed one to be successful. That was in part because the small, brochure-like site he had was dull. It just sat there, unused and unnoticed. Much like his business.
Then Mike went to Softwyre to see what Web professionals had to say. Once the egagement was formalized, Softwyre launched a marketing campaign promoting AUWC and Mike himself as a fun-loving, kid-friendly wild animal expert. This involved freshening up his company logo and designing an array of supporting print pieces. All this was strategically planned around the new, interactive Web site. The new site used a content management system, Newswyre, so AUWC staff could easily update the content themselves and get their message out without relying on a third party.
And just five short months after launching arkansasurbanwildlife.com in March 2007, Mike’s company has enjoyed growth in ways he never thought possible. He’s now a firm believer in the power of a well-executed Web site rollout.
“Softwyre has taken us from a sheltered business to a publicly recognized entity,” Mike said about the measurable impact of his Web site.
Most notably, AUWC’s billings have increased by more than 114 percent. Mike estimates that his company will surpass its entire 2006 gross sales by the end of July 2007. His phone rings constantly with new customers requesting wildlife removal services, and more than a dozen service requests funnel through his Web site each week – often from people who live hours away from Little Rock.
“People call us from all four corners of the state to help them now,” Mike said about the state-wide and even national visibility his Web site has created. “We got home last night at nine o’clock after removing a raccoon from someone’s attic in Springdale.”
Mike has had so much new business that he hired a new full-time employee to help handle the influx of e-mailed service requests. His new employee also keeps the Web site content fresh by updating blogs, news listings, photos and the calendar of events on a weekly basis.
So what’s driving AUWC’s success online? The answer is simple. High visibility in the search engines. Because Mike keeps his content current and uses relevant keywords throughout the site, arkansasurbanwildlife.com has been ranked on the first page of Google and Yahoo search results for terms like “arkansas nuisance wildlife,” and “little rock wildlife removal services.” Such positioning allows people looking for wildlife removal services to find AUWC online, even if they’ve never heard of the company before.
That’s exactly how a medical doctor at Baptist Medical Center found AUWC and got in touch with Mike. He needed the advice of a credible wildlife professional on whether to administer a rabies shot to a boy who had been attacked by a raccoon. So he did a quick Google search for “little rock wildlife experts” and found arkansasurbanwildlife.com near the top.
“Softwyre has gone miles above what I expected,” Mike said about the enormous impact of his Web site. “The Web site has grown our business exponentially. It is the strongest part of our marketing campaign. One year ago I never would have believed it.”
