Blue Ridge National Heritage Area

The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area was created by Congressional and Presidential designation in November 2003 in recognition of the unique character, culture, and natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Foothills in Western North Carolina. Its mission is to protect, preserve, interpret, and develop the unique natural, historical, and cultural resources of Western North Carolina for the benefit of present and future generations, and in so doing to sustain our heritage and stimulate improved economic opportunity in our region.

RESULTS:
Total organic visits in 2013: 244,551

Project

JB Media was selected by the non-profit Blue Ridge Heritage Area Partnership through a competitive bid process for six months of search engine optimization consulting, training, and content editing in 2011. Two years later, JB Media suggested that the organization consider the Google Ad Grants program for free advertising on the Google AdWords platform to drive additional visitors to the BRHA website. JB Media provided consultation, strategy, set-up and management of the grant and subsequent advertising campaigns. In 2014, an extension contract was granted for management and optimization of the Google Ad Grant supported campaigns during peak tourism months.

Scope of Work

Keyword research
Technical website review
SEO strategy development
SEO training for BRNHA staff
Edit 20 existing web pages for SEO best practices
Apply for, set-up, and optimize a Google Grant for AdWords marketing
Google Grant AdWords campaign optimization

Results

BEFORE JB MEDIA

SEO

Total organic visits (2010): 41,946

Total keyword variations: 18,115

Best traffic month from organic SEO: 5,574 (October)

WITH JB MEDIA

SEO

Total organic visits (2013): 244,551

Total keyword variations: 47,989

Best traffic month from organic SEO: 37,779 (October)

Change: + 583%

Google Grant

Total free visits from Google Grant: 38,281 (Oct 2013 – March 2014)