You’re invited to the SMART IDEAS Summit 5: Reimagining Staffing.
SEO, PPC

From Slow Cycle to Surging Leads: 89% Increase in Contact Forms QoQ 

Workway Staffing leveraged SEO, PPC, and AI optimization to drive explosive lead growth despite a prolonged industry downturn—and closed a deal worth up to $800K in placement revenue.

Share this:

Case Study at a Glance

The Challenge 

A prolonged, historically slow staffing cycle made it difficult to generate consistent leads and maintain growth. 

The Solution 

HMG implemented a multi-channel strategy combining SEO expansion, PPC optimization, and AI-driven lead generation while maintaining consistent marketing investment. 

The Results 

  • +89% increase in contact form submissions quarter-over-quarter 
  • +60% increase in request employee forms 
  • 38% growth in keyword rankings (2,100 → 2,900) 
  • CPC reduced from ~$15 to $5.61 
  • Closed deal worth up to $800K in placement revenue 

Client Background and Challenges  

Workway Staffing specializes in administrative, finance, collections, mortgage, and real estate staffing. Like many firms in the industry, they faced a uniquely prolonged downturn—what co-owner Ashley Hoover described as the longest slow cycle of her career. 

While competitors pulled back on marketing, Workway made a critical decision: Stay the course. 

The real challenge was keeping visibility and leads steady while preparing for the market to bounce back. 

The Solution 

Haley Marketing deployed a strategic, multi-channel approach designed to build momentum over time—even in a difficult economy: 

SEO: Building Long-Term Visibility 

The team focused on expanding Workway’s organic footprint through: 

  • Location-specific landing pages targeting key markets 
  • Service-specific content for niches like mortgage, real estate, and collections 
  • Ongoing optimization for both traditional search and AI-driven discovery (AIO) 

After an initial lag period, these efforts began to “pop off,” driving highly targeted traffic to deeper pages—not just the homepage. 

Workway now ranks across: 

  • Google Search 
  • AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews 
  • Long-tail, high-intent queries 

PPC: Lower Costs, Higher Quality Leads 

We restructured Workway’s PPC campaigns and launched a new landing page strategy. 

Key improvements included: 

  • Removing job applicant pathways from lead forms to improve lead quality 
  • Streamlining conversion paths for employers 
  • Refining targeting and bidding strategies 

The result: dramatically improved efficiency and stronger lead intent. 

AI & Chat-Based Lead Generation 

Following Haley Marketing’s guidance, Workway leaned into emerging channels: 

  • Chat-based lead capture 
  • AI/LLM optimization (AIO) 

This paid off quickly, with measurable lead flow now coming directly from ChatGPT and similar platforms. 

As Ashley noted: 

“I’ve been getting leads coming in—it’s definitely from marketing. That’s just so awesome!” 

Consistency Through Uncertainty 

Perhaps the most important strategic decision: Workway never stopped marketing.  

Even during two challenging years, they maintained consistent investment—allowing all channels to compound and mature. 

We’ve had an outstanding experience working with Haley Marketing. Their team truly understands the staffing industry and, more importantly, how to drive real business results. Since partnering with them, we’ve seen a measurable increase in inbound leads, stronger brand visibility, and more meaningful client engagement. Erin, Linda, and Shaun are an absolute dream team. They are responsive, proactive, and genuinely invested in our success. It feels like they are an extension of our internal team rather than an outside vendor.

Ashley Hoover

The Results  

Workway’s persistence translated into measurable, multi-channel growth: 

Revenue Impact  

  • Closed a major account requiring 80 placements (~$640K–$800K potential) 
  • Engaged in a deal for 200 placements with a large mortgage servicer 
  • New niche demand emerging (e.g., collections staffing for unique industries) 

Lead Generation Growth (QoQ) 

  • Contact forms increased 89% 
  • Request employee forms increased 60% 
  • Average time on site grew 32%, reaching nearly 2.5 minutes 

SEO Performance 

  • Keyword rankings grew from 2,100 → 2,900 (+38%) 
  • Top-5 rankings increased from 266 → 286 
  • Competitive top-position keywords grew from 117 → 139 

Traffic is now more diversified, with users landing on high-intent service and location pages. 

PPC Performance 

  • Cost per click dropped from ~$14–$15 to $5.61 
  • Click volume increased 
  • Lead quality improved through better funnel design 

To her, the takeaway is clear: 

“It was a crappy two years, for sure. But the last thing you do—unless you’re literally running out of money—is stop your marketing and advertising.” 

Share this:

Want to know how we can do this for you?

Fill out the form below to request more information

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

You may also like