Building a Pipeline of Qualified Calls: 3,417 and Counting
How 20North built John's Sewer and Drain Cleaning's local search presence across more than 20 cities and towns, growing Page 1 keywords 2,400% and turning high intent searches into calls for the team.
Client
John's Sewer and Drain Cleaning
Services
SEO
Industry
Drain and Sewer Services
Platforms
Google, Google Business Profile
Top 10 Keyword Growth
2,400%
Google Business Profile Calls
3,417
Project Overview
John's Sewer and Drain Cleaning has served the greater Boston area since 1976 with full service drain and sewer solutions for residential and commercial customers. With 65 trained technicians averaging 10 to 15 years of experience and a goal of being on site within two hours of a call, the business had the capacity to grow. What it needed was a digital presence strong enough to put the company in front of customers at the exact moment a drain or sewer problem hits.
When a drain backs up or a sewer line fails, people turn to Google. They need someone local, available right away, and willing to show up, even at 2 a.m. John's Sewer needed to own those searches across more than 20 cities and towns, outrank larger regional competitors, and convert that visibility into direct calls to their team.
Key opportunities included:
- Expanding visibility across every service area in and around Boston
- Ranking for high intent service terms like drain cleaning, sewer line repair, water jetting, and pipe lining
- Capturing emergency search traffic around the clock
- Growing the Google Business Profile presence that drives direct calls and directions
- Building out service and location content that reflects the full scope of commercial and residential work the company handles
Project Execution
20North built an SEO program centered on local search intent and deep service coverage. Every page was mapped to how real customers in the Boston market search when they need drain and sewer help.
SEO Strategy
- Optimized the main service pages first, prioritizing the services with the strongest local search volume
- Built new pillar pages for services John's Sewer offers that previously had no dedicated page, informed by local keyword demand
- Added additional service pages that describe the same work in the different ways customers actually phrase their searches
- Created a full set of location pages for the 20+ cities and towns served, supported by an interactive service area map
- Produced keyword focused blogs and ongoing blog optimizations to grow non-branded discovery
- Used Google Keyword Planner at the Boston level to guide service and location page targeting
- Used Semrush for blog topic research and competitive keyword gap analysis
Google Business Profile
- Ran ongoing Google Business Profile optimizations to strengthen local pack visibility
- Kept business information, service lists, and attributes current and accurate
- Supported the profile with service and location content that reinforces the areas John's Sewer actually serves
Technical SEO and Site Health
- Technical SEO fixes supported by 10 dev hours per month
- Ongoing cleanup to keep the site crawlable, fast, and aligned with how Google ranks local service businesses
Project Results
After roughly one year of partnership with 20North, the account posted broad gains across organic search and local presence.
Search Visibility
- Total ranked keywords up more than 440%, now at 7,100 compared with 1,300 in July 2025
- Page 1 rankings up more than 2,400%, now at 2,021 top 10 keywords compared with 79 in July 2025
- Monthly organic traffic in Semrush nearly tripled, now at 36,400 visits per month compared with 13,000 the year before
Local Search and Google Business Profile (April through July 2026 vs the same window in 2025)
- Total Business Profile views up 32% year over year
- Google Search views on desktop up 65%
- Google Maps views on desktop up 92%
- Google Maps views on mobile up 28%
- Direct calls from the Business Profile up 16%, with 3,417 calls generated in the four month window
- Driving directions requests up 33%
Business Growth
- A stronger, more consistent pipeline of qualified calls from homeowners and businesses with real, urgent drain and sewer problems
- Full market coverage across the Boston service area, with dedicated pages for every city and town served
- A sustainable organic foundation that keeps producing results without the ongoing spend of a paid media program
The keyword and traffic gains show the search visibility John's Sewer built, and the Business Profile calls show that visibility turning into booked work.
Testimonial
“Our plumbing and drain cleaning company has been working with 20North for about six months to help with our website and keyword search. We have been very impressed with the results and have seen increased traffic to our website and a lower cost per click on our Adwords campaign.Sophie, Kaylyn and Katie are very easy to work with and always keep the project moving. I was nervous about outsourcing this work but they have made improvements that wouldn't be possible for me to make on my own.” - Scott McDonald
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