Big Beard Boats
Mobile marine mechanic site for the Upper Florida Keys — Yamaha & Suzuki certified service with Netlify Forms, Google Analytics, and local SEO that dominates.
The Challenge
Big Beard Boats is a mobile marine mechanic operation serving Key Largo, Tavernier, and Islamorada. The business had no web presence — all leads came through word-of-mouth, marina bulletin boards, and business cards stapled to pilings. Competitors with websites were grabbing every search-engine lead for “boat mechanic Key Largo” and similar queries, which meant Big Beard was invisible to every tourist, snowbird, or new Keys resident who didn’t already know someone.
The brief had three specific pain points:
- Zero local search visibility — no Google Business Profile, no structured data, no mentions on local directories.
- No lead capture on the owner’s phone — inquiries were lost between voicemails, text messages to a personal number, and the occasional scribbled note at a marina.
- Service area confusion — customers didn’t know whether Big Beard came to them or required boats at a shop. The answer is mobile-first, but the old “offline” presence never communicated that.
The Build
Built a fast, professional Astro site with Tailwind CSS designed to convert. Service request form powered by Netlify Forms so leads hit the inbox instantly and text a notification to the owner’s phone. Structured data markup for local SEO, dedicated service area pages for each Upper Keys town, and Google Analytics tracking to measure what’s working. Mobile-first — because boat owners are searching from the dock, not a desk.
Specific implementation details:
- Service area pages (/service-area/key-largo, /service-area/tavernier, /service-area/islamorada) with town-specific copy, landmarks, and LocalBusiness schema so each page can rank independently.
- Lead capture via Netlify Forms with spam protection, instant email, and a webhook to a Twilio SMS notifier so the owner sees leads in real time.
- Yamaha and Suzuki certification badges prominently surfaced (these brands actively look for certified independent mechanics, and boat owners trust the logos).
- Google Business Profile setup and optimization — hours, service area polygon, categories, photos, and weekly post scheduling as part of launch.
- Google Analytics 4 + Search Console connected on day one, with conversion events for form submissions and phone taps.
The Result
The site loads fast, ranks for local marine mechanic searches across the Upper Keys, and puts the phone number and service request form front and center. Every page is built to turn a search into a service call. The owner reports that a meaningful share of new bookings now open with “I found you on Google” — which is exactly what success looks like for a trade business that previously lived entirely on word-of-mouth.