SEO Case Studies from NY: When SEO Works or Doesn't Work

Introduction

If you’ve ever Googled “SEO”, you’ve probably seen SEO advice everywhere. This might include checklists, blog posts, YouTube tutorials, all telling you what you should be doing. But here’s the thing no one talks about: SEO isn’t always the right strategy for every business. These two SEO case studies will walk you through real life examples from clients that I’ve recently worked with.

Before you spend time or money trying to rank on Google, you need to look at whether SEO makes sense for your specific market, your competitors, and your business model. If national SEO is going to be too competitive for your niche, the next step is to see if Local SEO could be a good fit for your business . In this post, I’ll walk you through two real case studies from businesses in the Long Island area: one where SEO didn’t make sense and one where it was a perfect fit.

Quick Comparison: Real Life SEO Case Study Examples

	Baby Clothing Ecomm Store	Custom Landscaping Company
Business Type	Online retail (low-margin)	High-end local service (high-margin)
Location	Long Island, NY (highly competitive)	Small town near Long Island (low competition)
Product/Service Uniqueness	Not unique; common product	Custom, specialized services
Local SEO Competition	High – many established competitors	Low – few optimized local competitors
Google Business Reviews	Competitors have 50+ reviews	Competitors have minimal reviews
Sponsored Ads Present	Yes – highly competitive ad space	No or very few ads in results
Exact Match Domains Present	Yes	No
Domain Authority of Competitors	High (30+)	Mostly low to mid range
Profit Margin	Low – requires high volume to profit	High – one lead can be worth thousands
SEO Strategy Fit	Poor fit – too costly for ROI	Excellent fit – high ROI potential

Table of Contents

The Reality of SEO: It’s Not One-Size-Fits-All

SEO can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool, but only when the conditions are right. I’m a big believer in SEO transparency, and the truth is that not every business will see a return on their investment.

The businesses that do well with SEO usually meet three key criteria:

• They have a high-margin product or service.

• They offer something unique or clearly defined.

• Their local competition isn’t completely saturated.

If your business checks those boxes, SEO can bring in qualified leads on autopilot. But if it doesn’t, you’re probably better off putting your marketing dollars somewhere else. That brings us to our first example.

SEO Case Study 1 – High Competition, Low Return Potential

Business Type: Online Baby Clothing Boutique
Location: Long Island, NY

This business came to me looking for help with SEO for their ecommerce store. They sold baby clothing through their website. The quality looking products, a clean brand, but nothing particularly unique or niche about what they offered.

The challenge? They were trying to compete in one of the most saturated ecommerce spaces on the internet. When we started searching keywords their prospective customers might be using, their competitors included giants like Gap, Carter’s, and Old Navy. All of these brands have massive national marketing budgets, endless product lines, and sky-high brand recognition.

We explored the idea of local SEO as a potential strategy (targeting Long Island or specific suburbs), but even there, the search space was crowded. And because baby clothing is typically low margin, they would’ve needed to sell a lot of inventory just to cover the cost of SEO, let alone profit from it.

Bottom line: SEO wasn’t a smart investment. Instead, I recommended they focus on short-term, lower-cost marketing strategies like social media, YouTube, and partnerships with local influencers. SEO might be something to circle back to down the road, but right now? Not worth it.

Example of a high competition SERP space with low traffic for “summer baby clothes”

SEO Case Study 2 – Low Competition, High ROI

Business Type: Custom Landscaping Company
Location: Smaller town just outside Long Island

This next client was a completely different story. They run a custom landscaping business that offers premium outdoor upgrades such as stone patios, fire pits, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, and more.

They serve a smaller, specific area just outside the core of Long Island, and when I checked the local search results for their services it was wide open. Barely any strong competitors, very little SEO investment in the area, and almost no one optimizing their Google Business Profiles.

On top of that, their average project size was in the thousands. That meant every single lead from search had the potential to bring in a high-ticket client. This meant their margins were strong enough to make a short term and long term SEO investment totally worth it.

Bottom line: This was a dream local SEO scenario. Low competition, high profit margins, and a defined service area with plenty of homeowners who do have the budget to invest in high-end landscaping.

What This Means for Your Business

So, what do these two case studies tell us?

SEO works, but only when the math checks out. Before you invest in content, keywords, or hiring an SEO expert, take a minute to evaluate your business:

• Are you selling a high-ticket service or a low-margin product?

• Do you have something that makes you stand out?

• Is your local search space already saturated with well-established competitors?

• Would one lead from Google be worth hundreds, or thousands, of dollars?

If you answered yes to most of those, SEO could be one of the best long-term investments you make. But if you’re in a highly competitive ecommerce space with tight margins, it might not be the right time or strategy for you.

Want to Know If Local SEO Makes Sense for You?

This is exactly why I created the Local SEO Competition Analyzer. This is a free tool that helps small business owners figure out whether SEO is a smart move before they spend a single dollar.

Just enter your business type and your location, and the tool checks five key factors in your local search results:

• Are there sponsored ads?

• Do top businesses have 50+ reviews?

• Are there exact match domains?

• Are 6–7+ actual local competitors on page one?

• Do the top sites have a high Domain Authority?

Based on that, you’ll get a clear recommendation on whether SEO is likely to pay off for you and how much you might need to invest to see results. It’s fast, it’s free, and it’s designed to give you clarity.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, SEO isn’t about following trends, it’s about making smart business decisions. The online baby boutique and the custom landscaping company both had great businesses, but only one was set up to win with SEO.

If you’re not sure where your business fits, that’s okay. Use the analyzer, or reach out to an SEO expert, get some data, and go from there. Whether SEO is a yes or a not-yet, you’ll be making the right decision for your goals and that’s what really matters.