Small business owners dream of setting up a system that automatically brings in new customers and leads. Optimizing a business website for search engines helped take Bellville business, Ohio Valley Reclaimed Wood, to the top. It also gave owners Gary and Lisa Smith a “rainy day” fund that would propel them through some very hard times.
“Over 12 years ago, I was doing homebuilding and putting new foundations in houses and barns,” Gary Smith said. “Lisa and I had an idea together, seeing the old structures decaying. We decided to salvage them and reprocess the wood. We take pride in preserving as many precious pieces of pioneer structures when we dismantle them. Most of our barn purchases are barns that do not coincide with modern-day farming practices. We prevent historical structures from being burned or placed in a landfill.”
Eventually, the reclaimed wood business gained momentum.
“It was a slow start. We kind of were doing both [reclaimed wood and homebuilding],” Smith said. “In 2004, we decided to do [processing reclaimed wood] fulltime. It started out good.”
And then, the recession of 2008 hit. After making it through the economic turmoil without the business folding, the Smiths decided to build a website for the business in 2012.
“It worked well for us,” Gary Smith said. “It took about six months for people to get to know us. We set up the website using SEO, and the keyword “ohio valley reclaimed wood.” With that alone, we got most of the business from Ohio.”
In 2012, business started trickling in again, and the Smiths decided to revamp their website and update it.
“Business picked up incredibly well,” Gary Smith said. “We purchase barns locally. Ideally, from within a 50-mile radius. There are lots of reclaimed wood businesses that sell pieces and parts, and only wholesale. We’ve been praised for the cleanliness and the character of the wood we sell. It’s top quality. We do retail selling throughout Ohio, and from coast to coast now.”
In fact, a Google search of “reclaimed wood” results in Ohio Valley Reclaimed Wood showing up on the first page, in the number two spot.
“Our leads have tripled just from the work we did with the website, compared to the business ad we used before,” Gary Smith said.
But it’s not just leads and increased revenue that the Smiths are thankful for.
“The investment in the business and the website helped us through difficult times,” Gary Smith said. “A few years back, I was having stomach and digestive issues.”
After seeing several doctors who could’t figure out what was going on, a professor from Ohio State stopped by the business in search of some reclaimed wood. Through this happenstance meeting, the professor connected Smith to a gastrologist in Columbus, who eventually diagnosed Smith with a rare form of thyroid cancer.
“Only 3 percent of people get that cancer,” Smith said. “It was possibly growing for 20 years, and we didn’t know it.”
After a 13 and a half hour surgery to remove the 20 pound tumor in Gary Smith’s chest and neck, the doctors didn’t make any promises as to the outcome. They also prepared the Smiths for the probability that he wouldn’t be able to speak.
“After I came out of the surgery, we didn’t think I would be able to speak,” Smith said. “I came out and could whisper.”
After the surgery, Smith attributes his ability to recover to the team he has around him, and one other factor.
“The website kept us in business,” Smith said. “Emailing also helped in the first three months [after the surgery] when I could barely speak.”
Along with relying on incoming leads and business established through website SEO strategies, Gary Smith’s team took over the reins.
“A 21-year-old man is my foreman. He has been with me since he was a freshman in high school,” Smith said. “My wife also took over the business while I was down. Our website consultant helped us with the site and my wife helped keep things rolling. I have been very blessed. I appreciate my life completely.”
Full disclosure: Anita Alvarez has done freelance work for a company involved in the building of the Ohio Valley Reclaimed Wood website. She has not worked for the individuals listed in this article.
