Account Review & Turnaround Strategy — 2026-04-05

Overview

Weekly call between Ben San Fratello and Mark Hope diagnosing Exterior Renovations as a neglected account and defining a two-pillar turnaround strategy. The account shows critical underperformance across SEO, Google Ads, and local search — but the low baseline means measurable improvement should be visible quickly. Mark tasked Ben with owning the turnaround and building it into a case study.

Attendees: Ben San Fratello · Mark Hope
Recording: Fathom

Account Diagnosis

Google Ads

• Logo rejections: Two logos flagged — one for low resolution (blurry), one for excessive blank space. The client sent a PDF logo, which cannot yield a high-res image. High-res files must be obtained from the client (Melissa).
• High CPC ($9): Driven by an AI-managed Target CPA set to $67. For a siding contractor where only ~10% of leads may convert, the effective cost per closed job becomes ~$670. Target CPA needs to be lowered.
• Messy conversion goals: Current goals include ambiguous entries ("contact," "converted lead") and a useless one ("get directions" — the business has no public office). Anouk needs to clarify and consolidate. The "submit a form" goal shows "needs attention" status.
• Single campaign: Only siding is being advertised despite the client offering decks, roofing, and windows. Seasonality may justify this in winter, but should be confirmed with Chris.
• Optimization score: Below 70% at time of review.

SEO & Organic

• Domain Rating: 2. Competitors range from 0.9 to 25+. Infinity Roofing (a regional competitor with a Madison office) sits at DR 25. This is the single largest structural weakness.
• Organic traffic declining since July. Likely a mix of seasonality and content gap. Keyword count has also dropped over the same period.
• No competitor tracking in Ahrefs. Competitors were not added until this call. Key competitors identified: Infinity Roofing, The Exteriors Company, Madtown Siding.
• No visitor tracking. Ahrefs tag was not installed on the site prior to this call.
• Wrong traffic. Google Search Console shows the top-performing content is a "level beam" article (a roofing structural topic the client doesn't sell) and gutter content. There is effectively zero traffic for high-intent siding keywords ("exterior siding," "siding contractors Madison," etc.).
• Thin on-page content. The homepage has minimal siding copy — a few sentences and images. The siding services page has almost no text. Google will not rank pages without substantive content.
• Unindexed blog posts. Several existing articles (e.g., "The Importance of a Good Gutter System," "Garage Bump-Out Project") have so little traffic they are not indexed.

Local SEO (Moz Local)

• Exterior Renovations is present in Moz Local but Google Business Profile and Facebook are not connected.
• The business does not appear in the Google Maps local pack for "siding contractors Madison." Competitors with worse websites rank above them.

Turnaround Strategy

Pillar 1 — Technical SEO: Domain Rating Boost

• Mark initiated a $200 backlink service (resold at $250) targeting a DR increase from 2 → 30 within 30 days.
• Ahrefs updates DR monthly, so the jump won't be visible immediately.
• Mark added an Ahrefs visitor tracking tag to the site during the call.
• Key competitors (Infinity Roofing, The Exteriors Company, Madtown Siding) were added to Ahrefs for ongoing monitoring.
• Ben should run a Madison-localized competitor search using a VPN or browser location spoofing, then cross-reference competitor keywords in SpyFu.

Pillar 2 — Content & On-Page SEO

• Homepage: Add 300–500 words of siding-focused copy. Break the services section into distinct subsections with expanded text for siding. Create a staging version (homepage-new in WordPress) for client review before going live.
• Blog: Commission 2–3 long-form articles (2,500+ words) on siding topics from Gavin. Use Surfer SEO to guide keyword density. Suggested angles: how to pick siding, weatherproofing, signs your siding needs replacement.
• Content promotion: Boost each new article on Facebook ($25–$100) targeting Madison. This drives social traffic signals to Google alongside paid and organic, creating a more diverse traffic profile.
• Email: Consider adding a newsletter send linking to new articles (not currently being done for this client).

Google Ads & Local Fixes

• Logo: Get high-res files from Melissa; replace blurry and blank-space-flagged logos in Google Ads assets.
• Goals: Email Anouk to clarify "contact" and "converted lead" goals; remove "get directions"; consolidate form goals; resolve "needs attention" flag on form submissions.
• Target CPA: Lower from $67 to reduce the $9 average CPC.
• Moz Local: Connect Google Business Profile and Facebook to the existing Moz Local listing.

Key Decisions

Action Items

• [ ] Email Melissa requesting high-res Exterior Renovations logos; replace flagged logos in Google Ads — @Mark Hope
• [ ] Email Anouk to clarify "contact" and "converted lead" goals; remove "get directions"; consolidate form goals; resolve "needs attention" flag — @Ben San Fratello
• [ ] Connect Exterior Renovations GBP and Facebook in Moz Local — @Ben San Fratello
• [ ] Run Madison-localized competitor analysis via VPN (Ahrefs + SpyFu); update Ahrefs competitor list — @Ben San Fratello
• [ ] Verify exterior renovations URL and confirm $250 backlink service order; monitor DR in Ahrefs over 30 days — @Ben San Fratello / @Mark Hope
• [ ] Analyze Exterior Renovations GSC in depth; brief Gavin to write 2–3 siding articles (2,500+ words each) — @Ben San Fratello
• [ ] Draft homepage-new in WordPress with expanded siding content; send preview link to Chris for client approval — @Ben San Fratello
• [ ] Lower Google Ads Target CPA from $67 to reduce CPC — @Ben San Fratello

Context & Notes

"You should make this your purpose in life — make this thing a case study. Just do whatever you got to do. Spend whatever time you got to spend. Just make this thing an icon." — Mark Hope

Mark used Citrus America as a benchmark for what a well-managed account looks like: DR 28 (rising to 50), competitors tracked, visitors monitored, organic traffic up. Exterior Renovations is the inverse on every metric.

The low baseline is actually an advantage: any meaningful action will produce visible results quickly, making this a strong candidate for a before/after case study.

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