SHE WAS BUSY ON INSTAGRAM...
But Her Website Was Invisible: An SEO Growth Story
How A Minneapolis Accent Wall Artist Grew Her Authority, Visibility & Clients Using the SEO Growth Factors™
Sarah Berg
Brushstrokes & Timber
brushstrokesandtimber.com
Meet Sarah
Sarah is a Minneapolis-based custom wood wall treatment specialist and mural artist. She has a strong Instagram marketing presence, posts daily Reels, shares how-to tips, and has built a loyal micro-influencer following.
She was ready to grow her business, she wanted two things:
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More consistent website-generated clients (not just Instagram leads)
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To expand her positioning for more influencer and brand partner opportunities
That’s when she enrolled in The SEO-Powered Website™ online Course.
Step 1: Clarifying Business Goals (Before Touching SEO)
Instead of jumping into keywords or page speed, we started with this question:
What are your business goals?
Her answer:
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“I want my website to bring in more consistent clients.”
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“I want to expand more into brand partnerships and influencer opportunities.”
This is where most SEO strategies fail.
They start with traffic.
We started with positioning.
The Problem:
Google Only Saw a Fraction of Her Business
When we analyzed her business through the lens of the SEO Growth Factors™ Framework,
two factors stood out:
RELEVANT™ (Does this site match what people are actually searching for?)
Her website positioned her as:
A wall muralist for homeowners.
That was technically true — but incomplete.
When we talked deeper, we uncovered that she also:
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Regularly partnered with top local interior designers
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Created murals for small businesses
None of this was on her website.
The other factor that stood out was:
TRUSTED™ (Does Google and Al believe your site is credible and authoritative?)
She did have some Google Reviews on her Google Business Profile,
which is good.
But there wan't anything else that led Google to believe she was credible.
When we continued to talk, she mentioned she also:
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Collaborated with major brands like Sherwin-Williams and Home Depot
These partnership were in Instagram, but not on her website, so Google didn't know about them.
In Google’s eyes, she was small.
In reality?
She was expansive.
The SEO Shift:
Expanding Relevance Strategically
We restructured her site to reflect the true breadth of her expertise.
New Targeted Pages Created:
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Murals for Homeowners
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Wall Murals for Interior Designers
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Custom Wall Installations for Small Businesses
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Commercial Accent Walls & Lobby Murals
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Brand Partnerships & Collaborations
Why this matters:
Expanded Keyword Relevance
She became eligible to rank for:
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“muralist for interior designers Minneapolis”
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“commercial wall mural artist”
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“custom lobby mural Minneapolis”
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“brand collaboration mural artist”
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“accent wall installer for designers”
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And many more
Before?
She could only compete for homeowner-related terms.
After?
She became relevant to multiple search audiences.
The Authority Multiplier
Creating a page highlighting partnerships with:
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Sherwin-Williams
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Home Depot
Did two powerful things:
1. Built Human Trust
Visitors now see:
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Recognized brand collaborations
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Industry credibility
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Professional validation
2. Built Google Trust (SEO Growth Factor™: Trusted)
Google evaluates:
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Authority signals
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Brand associations
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Breadth of professional relationships
When your website clearly documents
brand partnerships and collaborations, it strengthens:
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Credibility
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Authority
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Topical depth
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Market positioning
Sarah isn't just a muralist anymore.
She's a regional authority in custom wall design and brand collaboration.
The Content Goldmine She Was Ignoring
Sarah was posting daily:
So she created:
A Resource Hub
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How-to tutorials
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Paint techniques
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Installation tips
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Wood treatment processes
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Behind-the-scenes content
But it all lived on Instagram.
Instagram content builds engagement.
Website content builds search visibility and evergreen traffic.
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Mural planning guides
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“How to choose a feature wall”
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Accent wall material comparisons
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DIY vs. professional mural guidance
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Commercial mural budgeting tips
This strengthened:
Relevant™
Now she ranks for informational search intent.
Trusted™
Educational content positions her as an expert
The SEO Growth Factors™ in Action
Seen
We structured the site so Google can quickly
crawl, understand, and rank it.
Trusted
She documented partnerships,
authority, and educational expertise.
Relevant
She clarified who she truly serves
and created pages to match.
"This framework and Mel's coaching helped me realize that my business is, and can be, so much more than I originally thought.
I thought SEO was just coding and keywords, and it's so much bigger than that. It's positioning and storytelling."
I'm so thankful!
— Sarah
Google’s systems look for a mix of factors that demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) — with trust being the most important, and the others contributing to it.
Source
What Changed in Google’s Eyes?
Before SEO Growth Factors™:
A homeowner-focused mural artist.
After implementing SEO Growth Factors™:
A multi-audience mural authority serving homeowners,
interior designers, small businesses, and national brands.
She went from:
Small niche service provider
To:
Multi-sector custom wall authority with brand credibility and educational depth.
That shift alone increases:
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Ranking potential
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Click-through rates
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Referral opportunities
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Partnership positioning
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Long-term brand equity
Why this isn't conventional SEO training
We didn’t start with:
Keywords
Backlinks
Blogs
Tech Checks
We started with:
Business goals
Audience clarity
Market positioning
Structured relevance
Then we aligned the SEO technical layer (Seen) to support it.
That’s how SEO becomes exciting and strategic
instead of stressful.
The Bigger Lesson for Business Owners
Old school SEO:
“Adding keywords”
“Fixing backend stuff”
“Trying to trick Google”
Modern SEO:
Positioning your business properly so you are relevant to the search
—
Earning trust across the web
—
Aligning your website with your real-world authority
—
Structuring it so search engines and AI can easily understand it,
reference it and recommend it