Case Study: How I Scaled a Music Instrument Brand From $5K to $70K in Monthly Sales With SEO
If you’re running an online store, you might know the feeling:
You’ve invested in a nice website. Your products are high-quality. People who buy from you love what you offer.
Yet, when you look at your analytics, the numbers don’t match your effort. The traffic is low, sales are stagnant, and the dream of growing your business through organic search feels out of reach.
That’s exactly where a U.S.-based music instrument company stood before working with me. Based in Nebraska, this family-run guitar brand had loyal customers, but their website was invisible in search results.
Eight months later, their story looked completely different. With a tailored SEO strategy, I helped them scale from under 2,000 visitors a month to over 25,000 visitors, and from $5,000/month in sales to $70,000/month. They went from relying on branded searches to ranking for more than 7,000 keywords — with over 3,000 on page one — making them discoverable to thousands of new customers.
The business owner, an older craftsman, finally saw his life’s work thrive online. His son, who hadn’t been invested in the digital side, now had hope that the brand could scale for the future. That’s the power of SEO done right.
The Challenge: Why the Site Was Stuck
After running my in-depth audit, I found a mountain of issues that explained why the brand wasn’t ranking or growing:
- Massive Technical Problems: Over 22,000 URLs were bogging down the site with duplicate content, crawl traps, and messy sitemaps.
- Indexing Failures: Important product and content pages weren’t being indexed at all, meaning Google simply wasn’t aware of their best offerings.
- Brand-Only Visibility: Nearly all traffic came from branded searches — no discovery from new customers searching for “guitars” or “music instruments.”
- Poor Navigation & UX: The site was clunky, confusing to browse, and didn’t guide customers toward making a purchase.
- Weak Conversions: Even the small amount of traffic they got wasn’t converting well because the user experience was broken.
- Thin Content: No real topical depth. They didn’t have supporting blogs, guides, or landing pages to educate and capture search demand.
- Weak Authority Profile: Few relevant backlinks. The site lacked authority signals Google needs to rank competitive product terms.
Put simply, the website was invisible in the places that mattered most.
My Strategy: A Complete SEO Rebuild
I knew this wasn’t about a “quick fix.” It needed a holistic SEO transformation — fixing technical debt, building authority, and creating a powerful content engine that positioned the brand as a leader.
| Focus Area | Actions Taken | Why It Mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | Fixed 22K+ URLs, cleaned sitemaps, crawl issues, improved site speed. | Gave Google clean, fast access to the site. |
| Indexation | Solved indexing issues, ensured all priority pages were crawled, added schema markup. | Put their best products/content in front of Google. |
| Content Strategy | Built a keyword map (7K+ terms), topical map for authority, mapped content to funnel stages. | Ensured every page had a clear SEO role. |
| Content Production | Published up to 100 human-written blogs/month, targeting high-volume queries. | Built topical authority and captured new traffic. |
| Link Building & PR | Acquired industry-specific backlinks, ran digital PR campaigns, influencer collaborations. | Boosted domain authority and trust. |
| UX & Conversion | Restructured navigation, optimized product pages, added reviews and strong CTAs. | Turned visitors into buyers. |
| AI-Assisted Optimization | Used AI for clustering, content briefs, and re-optimizations. | Scaled strategy efficiently. |
Execution & Timeline
I rolled out the strategy in phases, focusing first on fixing what was broken, then scaling growth.
| Phase | Timeline | Key Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Months 1–2 | Fixed technical issues, cleaned URL mess, solved indexation, improved site speed. |
| Phase 2 | Months 3–4 | Launched new content strategy, published blogs, optimized product pages. |
| Phase 3 | Months 5–6 | Built backlinks, ran PR campaigns, collaborated with influencers. |
| Phase 4 | Months 7–8 | Re-optimized based on performance data, expanded content clusters, improved conversions. |
Each stage compounded the gains from the last, creating momentum that continued to build month after month.
The Results: From Invisible to Industry Leader
The transformation was incredible. Within just 12 months:
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Traffic | ~2,000 visitors | 25,000 visitors | +1,150% |
| Organic Sales | $5K/month | $70K/month | +1,300% |
| Indexed Keywords | ~500 | 7,000+ | +1,300% |
| Page 1 Rankings | <100 | 3,000+ | Massive Visibility |
| Backlinks | ~600 | 1,600+ new | +167% |
| CTR & Position | CTR 1.6%, Avg. pos 15.5 | CTR 1.9%, Avg. pos 18.6 (with far more keywords indexed) | Improved visibility & engagement |
**Screenshots from Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and GA4 confirmed what the client could already feel: traffic, sales, and brand visibility had skyrocketed.
Client Transformation
For the client, this wasn’t just a numbers story — it was deeply personal.
The founder, an older craftsman with decades of experience building guitars, had long relied on word-of-mouth and loyal repeat buyers. But as the digital era advanced, his brand was falling behind. His son wasn’t fully engaged in the business, and it seemed like the company might never compete online.
Once this SEO strategy took effect, everything changed. Suddenly, their guitars weren’t just being bought by past customers — they were being discovered by thousands of new musicians worldwide.
The founder told me:
“You’ve given me hope. For the first time in years, I can see a future where this brand continues to grow.”
That’s the true impact of SEO: not just more clicks, but renewed confidence and a sustainable future.
Takeaways for You as a Business Owner
If you’re running your store on Squarespace (or any platform) and feel like you’re invisible, here’s what this case proves:
- Fix the Foundations First – Technical SEO and indexation issues can kill growth before it even begins.
- Content is More Than Blogging – A topical map and customer journey mapping are essential. Every piece of content must serve a role.
- Authority Matters – Backlinks, PR, and influencer collaborations separate “just another site” from an industry leader.
- Consistency Wins – Publishing consistently, optimizing, and refining month after month is what drives compounding results.
- Honesty & Focus Drive Success – No shortcuts. No tricks. Just high-quality work aligned with business goals.
A Final Note
I share this case study not to brag, but to show you what’s possible when SEO is done right.
If your Squarespace site feels stuck — low traffic, poor visibility, weak sales — I want you to know there’s a way forward. The right strategy can transform your site from a “digital brochure” into a growth engine that brings consistent traffic, sales, and confidence back into your business.
👉 If you’d like to explore how I can do the same for your brand, let’s connect. Your story could be my next case study.
