Ekstrom Carlson Grows Revenue with PPC & SEO Strategy

Ekstrom Carlson provides specialized industrial products and services, including endmills, form tools, spindle repair, and custom motors. Operating in a niche, technical market, they needed a more strategic approach to scale.

After experiencing stagnant performance and limited innovation from their previous agency, they partnered with Black Propeller to drive growth through more advanced paid search and SEO strategies.

The account was complex, with over 15 campaigns and years of historical data to work through. The existing strategy relied heavily on broad match keywords, leading to wasted spend and inefficient targeting.

Conversion tracking was also incorrectly implemented, limiting visibility into true performance and making optimization difficult.

Additionally, the niche nature of the industry required a deeper understanding of search behavior and intent. Organic visibility for high-value, long-tail queries was limited, creating missed opportunities to capture qualified demand.

We implemented a phased approach focused on efficiency, control, and alignment with user intent across both paid and organic channels.

First, we restructured keyword targeting using a hybrid approach – maintaining broad match for volume while introducing tightly controlled long-tail keywords based on proven converting searches. This allowed us to reduce wasted spend while maintaining lead flow.

Search query mining and ongoing negative keyword expansion helped eliminate unqualified traffic and improve overall efficiency.

We then introduced conversion rate optimized landing pages tailored to key services. These pages were designed with a clear user journey and a single conversion focus, while still reinforcing Ekstrom Carlson’s broader expertise to build trust.

From an SEO standpoint, we aligned landing page content and keyword targeting with high-intent industrial searches. This helped improve relevance for both paid and organic traffic, supporting stronger visibility and long-term growth.

The impact was immediate and continued to build over time.

Within the first month, revenue increased by 30%. By year-end, the client saw 20% overall revenue growth, reversing the previous plateau.

Improved targeting and landing page experience led to higher quality leads, increasing customer lifetime value and overall efficiency.

With stronger performance, we were able to scale campaigns across both Google and Microsoft Ads, uncovering additional opportunities in high-value audiences.

The result was a more controlled, scalable strategy – driving immediate revenue gains while building a stronger foundation across paid search and SEO.