Case Study: Transforming Flight Training International Through Digital Marketing
About the Client
Flight Training International (FTI) is a Part 142 flight training school based in Denver, Colorado. FTI specializes in advanced flight training for commercial pilots, offering type rating certifications and currency training across multiple aircraft platforms.
With a reputation for high-quality instruction and experienced instructors, FTI plays a critical role in preparing pilots for career advancement. However, their digital presence and lead generation were not keeping pace with the quality of their services.
The Marketing Challenges
FTI had previously worked with a local Denver-based marketing agency that did not have any prior aviation experience to manage their digital marketing. After nearly two years, the relationship had yielded disappointing results. Key issues included:
- Lack of aviation industry expertise at the agency resulting in long learning curve.
- Frequent staff turnover, requiring FTI to repeatedly tutor new agency personnel.
- Persistent errors stemming from poor understanding of FTI’s business and target audience.
These problems led to several serious marketing challenges:
- Declining web traffic and visibility.
- Reduced volume and quality of inbound leads.
- Falling rankings on major search engines for critical keywords.
Given that FTI’s website served as its primary lead generation tool, addressing these problems was a top priority.
Flight Training International Case Study
| Process | Case Study Analysis |
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| Challenges |
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| Solutions |
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| Results |
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| Client Comment | “It is a pleasure working with an agency who understands aviation; they were able to help us from day one, without much of a learning curve.” |
Our Approach
Aviation Marketing Consulting was brought in to audit and overhaul FTI’s digital marketing efforts. Our process included a deep dive into the existing web infrastructure and campaign performance. Key findings included:
Website & Content Issues
- Outdated site architecture with broken navigation and obsolete software.
- Duplicate or thin content across many pages, damaging SEO performance.
- Stale website with no content updates in months, including inactive forum pages still linked in navigation.
Technical SEO Shortcomings
- Duplicate and missing meta-tags.
- Poor on-page keyword optimization.
- Over 3,000 inbound links from low-quality websites, hurting credibility.
Design & Mobile Usability
- Built on a WordPress theme from 2009.
- No responsive design, making it difficult to use on mobile devices.
Ad Campaign Performance
- Higher-than-average cost per click (CPC).
- Paid ads were attracting irrelevant or low-quality leads.
- No conversion tracking in place to evaluate ad performance.
Our Solutions
To turn things around, we implemented a comprehensive digital marketing strategy:
- Website Redesign
- Built a fully responsive, mobile-friendly website with a modern aesthetic.
- Fixed structural issues and updated the backend for better SEO performance.
- Content Strategy
- Consolidated and rewrote website content to eliminate duplication.
- Streamlined navigation to improve user experience.
- SEO Overhaul
- Corrected technical SEO errors.
- Added high-quality content and images.
- Removed or disavowed toxic inbound links.
- Optimized Google Ads
- Refined targeting parameters to attract qualified leads.
- Reduced cost per click and added robust conversion tracking.
The Results
The transformation was swift and impactful:
Search Rankings:
- Within one month of launching the new website, FTI’s average Google ranking improved from position #55 to #11—a 500% improvement.
- Today, all major keywords rank on page one.
Lead Generation:
- The number of inbound leads increased dramatically.
- So much so, FTI had to hire additional sales staff and flight instructors to handle the influx.
What the Client Said About Our Work
“We noticed that our rankings in the major search engines were dropping and the number of leads from our website had slowed to a trickle.
The local agency that was managing our SEO and Google AdWords campaign really did not understand our aviation business and did not provide an effective solution to improve our website lead generation.
We decided to make a switch and retained Aviation Marketing Consulting. They developed a great looking website for our company, were able to get our search rankings higher, and subsequently the number and quality of leads from our website has greatly improved.
I am very pleased with our decision to retain Aviation Marketing Consulting – they are real pros when it comes to web development, SEO and digital marketing. It’s also a pleasure working with a marketing agency who understands the aviation industry; they were able to help us from day one, without much of a learning curve.”
– Mike Medley, President, Flight Training International, Inc.
