Local SEO
Treating the Root
Improving Visibility and Driving New Clients Through Local SEO
Client Snapshot
Treating the Root | Watertown, NY
Treating the Root is an independently owned wellness spa offering acupuncture, massage therapy, cupping, skin care, chiropractic care, and yoga & fitness classes. With a strong focus on holistic health, they proudly serve the Watertown community, including military personnel and veterans from nearby Fort Drum, with services designed to heal and restore.
When Treating the Root came to Rooted Rock Marketing, it was their first time working with a marketing firm. Their client base was already strong through word-of-mouth, but they recognized the need to elevate their online presence to match the reputation they had built in the community. With no prior marketing strategy in place, they wanted to improve how they appeared in local search and strengthen their online credibility to reflect the quality of care they provide.
A recent business move also complicated the situation. Inconsistent addresses across local listing platforms such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Apple Business were making it difficult for potential clients to find the correct spa location. Incorrect or outdated listings not only confused search engines but also eroded customer trust.
Additionally, the client wanted to stand out for specific highly competitive services in an urban location, particularly acupuncture and massage therapy. To do this, they needed more than just a stronger website; they needed to break into the competitive “local pack” rankings on Google, where most of their potential customers are looking for providers.
Ultimately, the challenge was two-fold:
Correct inaccurate business information and rebuild trust in local search listings.
Improve visibility for highly competitive search terms both organically and within the local directories within the Watertown, NY region.
The Challenge
We knew improving Treating the Root’s digital presence would require both technical optimization and local authority-building. Our team developed a dual strategy focused on website SEO improvements and local search optimization.
Rooted Rock Approach
SEO Execution
Analytics & Tracking Setup: Implemented Google Analytics with event configuration to provide deeper marketing insights into user behavior and conversions.
Comprehensive Audit & Fixes: Conducted a full technical audit to identify crawl errors, broken links, and metadata issues, ensuring the site was clean and easy for search engines to index.
Design & User Experience Improvements: Enhanced site design, user flow, and overall experience to improve engagement and ease of navigation.
Architecture Optimization: Refined site structure, including navigation and internal linking, to support both user accessibility and search engine crawling.
Authority Building with Practitioner Pages: Created detailed practitioner profiles to strengthen EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals and build credibility in the healthcare space.
Content Development: Refined and optimized service page copy to match search intent and highlight the client’s expertise.
Local Search Execution
Citation Management: Used a third-party tool to identify all citations and online references, updating those most critical for consistency and accuracy.
Competitor Audit & Spam Fighting: Audited local competitors and improved visibility by addressing spam tactics, including reporting and removing a national review ring within Google Maps.
GBP Optimization & Posts: Enhanced the Google Business Profile with updated descriptions, images, service details, Google Posts, and direct booking links via their online booking system (Jane App).
Review Management: Provided consultation on review generation and response strategies.
On-Page Local Relevance: Updated key landing pages to improve location signals and strengthen local SEO relevance, including integrating Google reviews into the website.
GBP Tracking: Added tracking parameters to links from GBP to measure how users engaged with the website from this source.
This combination of technical SEO, listings management, and content optimization gave Treating the Root the foundation needed to compete and win in local search.
Results & Impact
Rooted Rock Marketing’s strategic approach delivered a substantial increase in local search visibility for Treating the Root, driving measurable business growth. The most notable achievement came from conquering the highly competitive keyword “massage watertown ny.” This term posed a significant challenge due to its strong competition, yet through persistent on-page optimization, high-quality content development, and local SEO efforts, we successfully propelled Treating the Root to the top positions organically for this search. This win not only brings a consistent influx of new visitors to the site but also solidifies the client’s presence in a lucrative segment of the market.
While massage became the breakthrough success, our work also elevated visibility for the client’s core specialty: acupuncture. Treating the Root’s website, treatingtheroot.com, now ranks among the top results organically for “acupuncture watertown ny” and for their branded keyword “treating the root,” which captures the largest share of their organic traffic at 27.95%. This dual visibility reinforces their authority in both service areas—meeting current demand for massage while supporting long-term growth for their acupuncture practice.
Our local SEO strategy played a critical role as well. Before our intervention, Treating the Root’s Google Business Profile (GBP) did not appear in the coveted top 3 results (the “local pack”) for either acupuncture or massage searches. After optimizing their GBP and cleaning up inconsistent local listings, the profile now consistently appears in the local pack, including a top spot in ranking across the entire Watertown area on the local search grid for acupuncture.
These combined wins have had a direct, positive impact on client bookings. By earning top positions where potential clients are actively searching, we’ve driven a steady rise in inbound leads and appointments. The client has credited our work as essential in navigating a recent business move, where our SEO support ensured a seamless address transition without losing and ultimately strengthening their online visibility. Overall, our efforts transformed Treating the Root’s digital presence from an underperforming asset into a powerful engine for sustained business growth.
Mary Chiappone, LMT, L.Ac.
Owner, Treating the Root
“Rooted Rock was recommended by another spa owner who is a friend. He loved their work, and so do I. Rooted Rock was very helpful getting me a better spot on Google searches. They also helped me change by business address for everything online when I moved. I am so glad I had them through all of that because it definitely would not have been as smooth.”