All Work

How Oak Park Built a 675% Growth Engine Through Search

The challenge

In the wake of COVID, Explore Oak Park & Beyond was rebuilding. Funding had just been restored, but the pandemic had made one thing clear: relying on big agencies or paid media wasn’t sustainable. During COVID, marketing budgets were frozen and visibility stalled—along with the ability to reach future visitors. Coming out of that disruption, the DMO needed a new approach—one that could work 365 days a year, regardless of campaign cycles or ad spend.

The goal was long-term: build visibility that grows over time, not visibility that disappears when the budget does.

{Concise version: After COVID, Explore Oak Park & Beyond faced a challenge: relying on agencies and paid media wasn't sustainable. When pandemic budgets froze, so did visibility. The DMO needed a new approach—one that worked year-round, regardless of ad spend}

Our insight

By prioritizing strategic action over spend, we focused on the moves that would deliver the highest return. That meant targeting high-intent searches—the moments when travelers were actively planning or ready to convert. Instead of casting a wide net, we built content that earned trust and drove results. Each piece compounded over time, reinforcing visibility across topics. The result: a scalable strategy with lasting impact.

{Concise version: We prioritized strategic action over spend, targeting high-intent searches when travelers were ready to convert. Instead of casting wide nets, we built content that earned trust and compounded over time.}

What we did

We built a strategic playbook designed to grow long-term visibility—not short-term traffic. The approach focused on:

  • Targeting high-intent keywords tied directly to the destination’s most compelling, search-worthy assets
  • Creating content for visibility, not just storytelling—structured to rank, convert, and reinforce authority
  • Publishing consistently, with a commitment to posting three new pieces per week
  • Improving site structure so search engines could better recognize and prioritize key pages
  • Earning traffic, not buying it—investing in assets that would continue delivering value over time

Rather than depending solely on paid ads, we built a sustainable system—one that turned consistency and content alignment into compounding digital returns.

Results

Year 1 (FY23): Foundation Set

  • Monthly search traffic more than doubled, growing from 15,200 to 32,500 visitors
  • We went from showing up on page one of Google for 485 searches to nearly 1,900—a visibility increase of more than 280%.

Year 2 (FY24): Growth Accelerates

  • Monthly search traffic more than tripled, growing from 32,500 to 118,000 visitors.
  • Page-one Google results expanded from 1,883 searches to more than 6,300—a visibility increase of over 230%.
  • Overall growth since launch:
    • Monthly traffic: +675%
    • Page-one visibility: +1,203%

Why it worked

Because it was never just a campaign—it was a shift in strategy. By focusing on search behavior and content that works year-round, this visibility engine continues to grow stronger over time. Each post reinforces the destination’s authority, driving organic visibility without the need for constant spend or outside support. Now in its third year, the strategy isn’t just holding—it’s accelerating. What started as a recovery plan has become a standout success story for a small bureau that continues to punch above its weight.

This is what modern search strategy looks like: intent-matched, self-sustaining, and wildly efficient.

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