The Challenge
What SteelCraft Industries Was Up Against
SteelCraft Industries had been fabricating structural steel components for the Indian market for over 15 years. Their workshop in Surat produced high-quality beams, columns, and custom fabrications, but the company faced a critical growth ceiling:
- Website only in Indian English – used metric units, Indian terminology ("MS angles", "TMT bars")
- Zero presence on Alibaba, Made-in-China, or global B2B directories
- No hreflang tags – Google saw the site as India-only
- No export documentation or compliance pages
- Previous attempt at international trade shows generated only 3 leads in 2 years
Their owner, Mr. Rajesh Mehta, told us: "We know our steel is world-class. But nobody outside India knows we exist. Every inquiry we get is from Mumbai or Delhi – never from New York or Dubai."
The core pain points were clear: technical SEO barriers, content that alienated international buyers, and zero trust signals for export markets.
🔍
Our Diagnosis
The root issue wasn't budget — it was strategy. Same spend, smarter allocation.
The Strategy
How We Approached Manufacturing & B2B
AK Network Solutions deployed a 3-phase international SEO strategy combining technical optimization, localized content creation, and targeted paid acquisition to jumpstart organic rankings.
01
Diagnostic First
150-point audit across technical, content, competitive, and channel layers before any execution.
02
Intent Mapping
Buyer journey mapped to actual search patterns — not just volume data, but intent and conversion likelihood.
03
Channel Prioritisation
Budget allocated to channels with the fastest, clearest path to ROI first. No vanity spend.
04
Measurement Framework
Revenue attribution set up from day 1. Decisions driven by real data, not activity reports.
Execution
Month-by-Month Breakdown
Here's exactly what we did month by month:
- Month 1: Technical audit → Fixed 47 on-page issues (duplicate meta tags, missing alt texts, slow images) → Implemented hreflang → Set up Google Ads with $2,000/month budget
- Month 2: Launched 20 product pages for US market → Created 5 blog posts → Submitted to 10 B2B directories → First international inquiry (from Texas) arrived on Day 45
- Month 3: Added UK and UAE product pages → Published 3 export guides → Optimized for "steel fabrication near me" in target cities → Ads generating 35 clicks/day
- Month 4: Backlink outreach to 50 sites → Secured 12 links → Started Display retargeting → Organic traffic crossed 1,000 visitors/month from USA
- Month 5-6: Added Germany and Australia targeting → Published 4 case studies → Video testimonials from Indian clients → Organic leads reached 60/month
- Month 7-8: Phased out Google Ads (cost per lead was $48, too high) → Organic traffic from UK grew 180% → Pipeline reached $1.2M
- Month 9-10: Focused on content refresh and link building → Added 8 more product categories → Organic leads hit 120/month → Pipeline reached $2.4M
Tools used: Ahrefs (keyword research), SEMrush (competitor analysis), Screaming Frog (technical audit), Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, and our proprietary AI content engine for localization.
Month 1
Technical Foundation
Full technical audit, critical fix resolution, analytics/tracking setup, conversion baseline established. Zero live campaigns until foundation was solid.
Month 2–3
Content & Campaigns Live
Priority content published. Campaigns launched with conservative budgets. A/B testing started across messaging, creatives, and landing pages.
Month 4–5
Scale & Optimise
Winners scaled. Budget shifted to highest-ROAS activities. Rankings begin moving meaningfully. CPL starts dropping below target.
Month 6+
Compound Growth
Results compounding. Organic authority builds without proportional spend increase. SteelCraft Industries targets consistently exceeded.
The Results
Before vs After — 6 months
120
International B2B Leads/Month
240%
Export Revenue Growth
18
Countries Reached
$2.4M
International Pipeline
Detailed breakdown:
- Organic traffic from target countries grew from 47 visitors/month (Month 1) to 4,200 visitors/month (Month 10) – an 8,836% increase
- Google Ads contributed 35% of leads in first 3 months, but organic overtook by Month 5
- Top converting countries: USA (42% of leads), UK (22%), UAE (15%), Germany (8%), Australia (7%)
- Average deal size from international leads: $18,500 (vs $4,200 domestic average)
- Email open rates from international prospects: 38% (industry average: 21%)
- Bounce rate on country-specific pages: 32% (vs 68% on old India-only pages)
Mr. Mehta shared: "In 10 months, we got more international inquiries than we had in our entire 15-year history. The $2.4M pipeline includes a $600K order from a German construction firm. This changed our business forever."
Before
Baseline
Pre-engagement
→
After 6 months
+300%
Primary KPI
“
★★★★★
“The results went beyond what was agreed at onboarding. AK Network Solutions combines genuine AI capability with senior human judgement — they make data-driven decisions, not assumptions. The organic results in particular continue compounding well after the initial engagement.”
S
Senior Leadership
SteelCraft Industries — Manufacturing & B2B
FAQs About This Engagement
Questions We Get About This Case
What was the first action AKNS took?
+
We started with a comprehensive diagnostic — not guesswork. Every technical issue, content gap, and competitive opportunity was documented before a single campaign went live.
How frequently did you report progress?
+
Weekly ranking/performance updates via dashboard, plus monthly video calls with data walkthrough. Zero fluff — we showed what moved and what we changed.
Was the result sustained after the campaign?
+
Organic SEO results compound. 12 months post-campaign, the core rankings held and continued improving with minimal maintenance spend.
What was the client's team involvement?
+
Minimal. We handle strategy, execution, and reporting end-to-end. The client reviewed monthly reports and approved content — typically 2–3 hours/month total.
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