In January 2025, the owner of a small veteran-owned towing company received a brand-new website. It was sold as "SEO optimized."
By the time we met in August, his conclusion was simple:
"I don't think it did anything."
He wasn't frustrated. He wasn't angry. He was just stating what he was seeing.
What the Owner Was Experiencing
Here's how he described the situation:
- • If he paid for Google Ads, the phone rang
- • If he stopped paying, calls stopped
- • He was paying $250 per month for hosting and SEO
- • He averaged about 10 calls per day, but only 2 were actually relevant
- • Most calls were for services he does not provide: tire changes, jump starts, and similar
The website listed an email address that:
- • no one monitored
- • no one had access to
- • and no one expected customers to use
At that point, the website wasn't helping. It was costing leads.
Three Important Things the Owner Told Me Early On
Very early in the conversation, he shared three assumptions about how customers find him:
- Assumption #1: Most of his jobs are time-sensitive
- Assumption #2: People don't want contact forms. They want to call.
- Assumption #3: Most customers find him through Google Maps, not regular Google Search.
When we looked at the data, all three assumptions turned out to be wrong, and that changed how the business needed to be set up.
What the Data Actually Showed
One number stood out immediately: 64% of his Google Business Profile views were coming from desktop devices
Desktop searches usually signal something very different:
- • planned tows
- • long-distance recovery
- • insurance-related work
- • higher-ticket jobs
Those customers were looking for him. But the website and ads were quietly pushing them away.
What Was Wrong With the Website
Once we looked at the website itself, the picture became clear:
- Built on WordPress: Almost no real traffic since launch
- Wrong hours listed: Listed 24/7 service, while actual hours were 6:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Wrong services: Advertised services the business does not offer
- PageSpeed below 60: Slow and sluggish performance
- No structured data: Not properly connected to Google Business Profile
- Black-hat SEO: SEO audit showed black-hat backlinks and critical errors
This wasn't neutral.
It was actively hurting the business.
Why Google Treated the Site This Way
Google doesn't just look at keywords anymore.
It looks at:
- • website performance
- • accuracy of information
- • overall ranking signals
- • quality and trust
A slow website with inaccurate services sends bad signals. Spammy backlinks make it worse.
In this case, a previous SEO provider had built low-quality backlinks. Google detected them and quietly pushed the site down in rankings, what many people refer to as a shadow penalty.
No alerts. No warnings. Just lost visibility.
That also explained the flood of irrelevant calls.
The business wasn't unlucky.
It was advertising the wrong things.
One More Small Detail That Hurt Trust
The business had a Facebook page with a fair number of followers.
But the website link on Facebook?
It had a typo.
Another small signal lost. Another bit of friction added.
What We Changed (Without Overcomplicating It)
Instead of adding more tools, we fixed the basics:
- 1. Rebuilt as a fast, modern static website
- 2. Made all business information accurate and consistent everywhere
- 3. Removed misleading services and cleaned up keywords
- 4. Properly connected Google tools
- • Google Business Profile
- • Google Search Console
- • Google Analytics
- 5. Simplified the site so customers could call immediately
WordPress makes sense for content-heavy sites where owners actively publish.
For a simple service business, it often adds weight without upside.
This is where a business technology consultant or operational efficiency consultant brings real value - by simplifying systems, not stacking software.
Fixing the Ads (The Quiet Money Drain)
The Google Ads account was only partially optimized.
We found:
- • Ads running for services the business does not provide
- • No focus on local, high-intent keywords
- • Missing the most valuable searches for this type of work
He was paying Google to send him the wrong customers.
The Results After Fixing the Basics
Within weeks:
- 100+ website visitors in the first two weeks
- 10% Google Ads call-through rate (increased from 0.5%)
- $4 Cost per lead (dropped from $30)
- 0 Calls for tire changes and jump starts
- • Total call volume stayed similar, but call quality improved
- • Form submissions became rare, but high-value and intentional
Same phone. Better calls. Less stress.
The Real Lesson
There was no secret here. No proprietary software. No AI magic.
Just a website that loads fast, information that matches everywhere customers look, and Google's tools set up correctly. That's it.
When those basics work, Google stops guessing. Customers stop getting confused. And you stop losing money to problems you didn't even know existed.
Sometimes the best business process automation isn't about adding more.
It's about removing what's in the way.
Want to automate customer service?
Want to scale your ads?
Great.
Just make sure your foundation is solid first.