Harvest Martial Arts is a traditional martial arts school based in Franklin, Tennessee. Owner Justin Martin is a Black Belt and trained instructor, certified from the World Han Mu Do Association. The school offers martial arts classes for kids and adults alike.
In addition to being an expert in martial arts, Justin has shown his guru-skills at SEO. Just six months after opening Harvest Martial Arts, the website is ranking higher than schools that have been around for over a decade! He told us that, “in our first couple of months our student base grew rapidly.” Justin launched their website four weeks before the grand opening of Harvest Martial Arts and the impact was instantaneous! “We immediately saw growth and attention because of our website!”
Meet Justin Martin: SEO Hero
Justin is passionate about teaching martial arts to children and adults alike. His goal is to offer classes at Harvest Martial Arts that help students develop mind and body through traditional martial arts training. In thinking about how to attract new customers, Justin told us he wanted to create a website that would “appeal to parents and potential students young and old.”
When it comes to SEO and online marketing, Justin sought to create a site that will allow users learn more about his business, sign up for classes and be in touch with him directly. While he didn’t have previous SEO experience, Justin has dived right into the challenge and is managing the website and SEO by himself.
A Hometown SEO Hero: Ranking Local
His efforts are paying off, particularly in local searches, and Justin says his SEO efforts are bringing people in en masse! Harvest Martial Arts shows up in the local pack for keywords including: center for martial arts, franklin TN martial arts, martial arts franklin and martial arts schools and his site ranks locally on the first SERP for the key terms: martial art classes, martial arts schools.
Meet Justin Martin,
Black Belt and SEO Hero
“We Have Been Open for 6 Months and We Are Ranked Higher Than Schools That Have Been Open For Over a Decade.”
Why Does Local SEO Matter?
For a business like Harvest Martial Arts, ranking locally is what matters! Justin isn’t looking for students or web traffic from people outside of his immediate geographical location. No one in Ames, Iowa or Tallahassee, Florida will be coming to his school to learn martial arts. Justin knows that attracting clicks from potential clients in his area of Tennessee is ultimately what will give his business a boost.
Justin’s Approach to Being an SEO Hero
We took the time to catch up with Justin and ask him how he worked his way to the top of Google and how he felt about SEO. He told us that while SEO “can be time consuming and tedious, once it is set up, it seems to mostly run itself.”
To boost his rankings, Justin has identified target keywords and used them throughout his website. He has taken advantage of Wix’s SEO tools including the Site Booster App and the Wix SEO Wizard and has picked up reviews in directories like Yelp and Google My Business. He is active on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and links from those social networks to his website. To keep his content and website fresh and current, Justin regularly adds pictures and updates dates and times of classes on his website. He also keeps a blog that he writes in from time to time.
Why Justin Loves Wix
Justin couldn’t be happier with the Wix platform and is thrilled at this SEO success. In his words, “We have done a great job getting ourselves on the map. We have been open for six months and we are ranked higher than schools that have been open over a decade.”
He said that in addition to getting hits on his website, his SEO efforts have translated into actual customers. “Honestly, I was surprised about how many people it pushed through our doors. I didn't think that I would see that kind of response from Google searches. In the past the martial arts schools primarily used word of mouth to draw in students. In a town where martial arts is a growing business I have been surprised about how much I have set myself apart.”
Meanwhile, his customers love the look of his Wix website and have told him that, “they like the simplicity, beauty and information” it provides.
