CASE STUDY – SEO
From Invisible to Page One
How AKMI Corporation Turned Google Into Their Best Sales Rep
A diesel engine parts manufacturer with a dated website and zero organic traction.
Here’s what changed, and the numbers behind it.
Organic Clicks in the Last 16 Months
Organic Impressions on Google
Keywords Ranking on Page 1
Years as a SEO Client of Brimar
THE CLIENT
A 40-Year-Old Business That Google Had Never Heard Of
A 40-Year-Old Business That Google Had Never Heard Of
Manufacturing
Hayward, California
Client Since 2018
Work in Progress
AKMI Corporation has been in business since 1981. For over four decades, they’ve supplied aftermarket diesel engine parts, flywheels, exhaust manifolds, EGR coolers, oil pans, turbochargers, to fleets, repair shops, and owner-operators across the United States.
They knew their products and relationships. What they didn’t have was a way for new customers to find them online. Their website hadn’t been updated in years.
Product photos had a heavy watermark stamped across the middle and sat against a loud green background that made everything look cluttered. And from a Google standpoint, the site practically didn’t exist.
When they came to Brimar, they weren’t getting meaningful organic traffic. They weren’t ranking for any of the key terms their buyers were searching for, except for their brand name. A business with 40 years of history was essentially invisible online.
THE PROBLEM
The Website Was Costing Them Customers Every Day
There were two problems happening at the same time, and each made the other worse.
First, the website itself. When someone finally landed on the site, what they saw didn’t inspire confidence. The product photos were buried under a large watermark text that covered most of the image. The background was a dark green diamond-plate pattern that made the whole thing feel dated. There was no clear reason for a buyer to trust that this was a serious, modern supplier.
Second, the SEO. The site had almost no optimized content, no proper page structure, and no keyword strategy. Important search terms like “aftermarket diesel engine parts,” “EGR coolers,” or “Cummins flywheel housing” were nowhere to be found in any meaningful way. Google had no reason to rank them.
The result was a business that had been around for four decades but was losing potential customers to competitors every single day, customers who would have been happy to buy from AKMI if they had just been able to find them.
BEFORE – OLD WEBSITE
AFTER – NEW WEBSITE
THE WORK
A New Foundation, Then a Consistent SEO Strategy Month After Month
The first thing we did was rebuild the website from scratch. Clean layout, fast load times, professional product photos with clean backgrounds and proper branding.
The old watermark that covered the products was replaced with a subtle, tasteful version that didn’t interfere with the buyer’s ability to see what they were actually purchasing. The site finally looked like a company that had been in business for 40 years and knew what it was doing.
Then came the SEO work, and this is where the long game began.
We identified the keywords that AKMI’s buyers were searching for. Terms like “aftermarket diesel engine parts,” “EGR coolers,” “Cummins flywheel housing,” “exhaust manifolds,” and more. Most of these had starting rankings above position 100, meaning AKMI wasn’t even showing up on the first ten pages of Google.
Every week, we worked on the fundamentals:
- On-page optimization,
- Content creation
- Link building,
- Google Business Profile updates
- Technical improvements.
No shortcuts and no tricks. Just consistent, structured work over time.
The strategy was simple: build content that answers what diesel mechanics and fleet managers are searching for, and build the authority to rank for it. It takes time. But the results compound.
THE RESULTS
16 Months of Data. The Numbers Don’t Lie
The Google Search Console data covers November 2024 through March 2026. In that window alone, the site accumulated over 34,700 organic clicks and 3.55 million impressions, from buyers who found AKMI through Google, without a single dollar spent on ads.
But the number that tells the real story is the keyword rankings.
Here’s where some of the most important search terms started and where they are today. (Data as of March, 2026)
| Keyword | Starting Position | Current Position |
|---|---|---|
| Aftermarket Diesel Engine Parts | Position 82 | Position 3 |
| Diesel Engine Parts Online | Position 85 | Position 3 |
| Diesel Engine Parts | Position 152 | Position 10 |
| EGR Coolers | Position 125 | Position 2 |
| Exhaust Manifolds | Position 31 | Position 3 |
| Cummins Flywheel Housing | Position 21 | Position 3 |
| Flywheel Ring Gears | Position 28 | Position 2 |
| Aftermarket Cummins Parts | Position 88 | Position 3 |
| Cummins Parts Online | Position 112 | Position 3 |
| Aftermarket Turbochargers | Position 108 | Position 6 |
The flywheel vs flexplate post: another 3,000. These are buyers doing research before they purchase, landing on AKMI’s site first.
3,124 clicks
“Exhaust Manifold Crack Problems” one blog post, ranking organically
3,025 clicks
“Flywheel vs Flexplate” buyers are doing research before they buy
1,312 clicks
“79 Years of Peterbilt” brand authority content that ranks
The Takeaway
SEO is a Long Game. But When It Works, It Works for You 24/7.
AKMI didn’t need to go viral. They didn’t need a massive ad budget. What they needed was for the right people, diesel mechanics, fleet managers, shop owners, to be able to find them when they typed a search into Google.
That’s exactly what happened. The work was consistent, unglamorous, and methodical. And now, more than two years in, AKMI has organic traffic that shows up every single day without paying for a single click.
Good SEO isn’t achieved overnight or through magic. It’s about a consistent, well-defined strategy executed week by week, gradually positioning you where your customers already are looking.
Want Results Like AKMI’s for Your Business?
We’ll start with a free 15-minute audit of your current online presence and show you exactly where the opportunities are.