CASE STUDY

Barnacle’s Island Resort

THE CHALLENGE

Barnacle’s Island Resort is one of only a handful of rental resorts located on North Captiva Island, Florida, yet the company still found itself struggling to gain any traction in organic search results. The owner had just completed a successful redesign of her website and had all the pieces in place to embark on her first SEO campaign. The biggest challenge in the lodging/hospitality industry is the fact that the search results are dominated by “Goliath” aggregator sites like Trip Advisor and VRBO. Always welcoming a challenge, Nett Solutions eagerly accepted the invitation to partner with her in this quest to help David slay Goliath

THE "NETT" SOLUTION​

Case-Study-Barnacles-Island-Resort
Our goal was greater than increasing organic rankings alone. We set out to increase the amount of qualified organic traffic coming into the website, as well as the number of interested renters starting the online reservation process. From a branding perspective, we wanted to help make the Barnacle’s Island Resort name synonymous with North Captiva Island.

SEO WEBSITE AUDIT

We began with a thorough assessment of the website and provided detailed recommendations on how to fix issues and ensure the site was search engine-friendly.

TARGET KEYWORD RESEARCH & ONPAGE OPTIMIZATION

After extensive research, we had our target keyword set and were able to build a map for the on-page optimization. We implemented more readable and keyword-targeted copy, properly formatted and targeted page titles, added persuasive meta descriptions and implemented technical fixes to XML Sitemaps, URLs, and duplicate content.

CONTENT CREATION

The owner was not interested in blogging, so we pivoted to target offsite opportunities instead. We built an editorial calendar and assigned one of our college-educated, US-based writers, with an expertise in travel, to begin writing long-form content. Topics were generated based on feedback gained from outreach to various bloggers and travel websites. Placement on these other websites often came with a mention of the resort or a backlink. Some examples of our published work are below:
  • http://www.keysproperties.com/blog/beach-vacations
  • http://www.thatsnotcamping.com/general-category/five-ways-to-save-labor- day-with-last-minute-planning.html
  • http://beinginawe.com/what-to-bring-to-north-captiva-island-florida-the- essential-packing-list/

THE "NETT" RESULTS​

Barnacles Case Study

CONNOR D.

Meaning of picture:
I’m wildly influenced and motivated by the aesthetics of my environment and Simon Bailly’s retrofuture art style is a near perfect aesthetic.

People say I look like:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (or at least that’s what my coworkers said when I asked [I had to Google him])

When I call in “sick,” I’m really:
Sick. I would never fake an illness in order to stay in bed watching movies all day. Literally have never done that before…

I finally:
Quit hockey and moved back to sunny Southern California.

I will:
Try to stop passing off existentially charged and self deprecating commentary about my own existence as jokes.

Favorite joke:
Trying to find meaning in life while dealing with the banal repetition of day in, day out tasks. Oh no, I did it again…

Favorite pickup line:
Pointing to an empty part of the room and saying “My friend over there thinks you’re cute” and proceeding to indiscriminately sprint to the spot you were pointing at.

Favorite Movie:
Interstellar, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Django Unchained. Picking one isn’t happening. 

My parents always nag me about:
Leaving my lights on. It’s a bad habit. I’m working on it.

Favorite Quote:
“The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” – Albert Camus