Performance Foodservice worked with Workshop Digital to strengthen local visibility, bridging the gap between national reach and regional relevance to drive meaningful growth.
The Challenge
Performance Foodservice’s location pages were underperforming in organic search due to generic metadata that didn’t reflect how customers searched locally. As a result, competitors were capturing high-intent traffic that should have been driving conversions for Performance Foodservice.
The Outcome
After optimizing metadata across all location pages with localized, keyword-focused copy, organic traffic increased by 28% and conversions grew by 133% year-over-year, turning local SEO into a scalable driver of qualified customer growth.
The Story
Performance Foodservice, one of the largest foodservice distributors in the U.S., serves thousands of restaurants, schools, and institutions across the country. With a wide network of locations, their local presence is a vital part of their customer acquisition strategy. Each location page on their website provides contact details, service area information, and serves as a critical entry point for prospective customers to take action through “Become a Customer” calls-to-action.
By early 2024, it became clear that these location pages were not fully optimized for organic search. The metadata across pages was generic and often not aligned with the specific ways potential customers searched for foodservice distribution partners in their local markets. This misalignment meant Performance Foodservice was missing out on opportunities to capture high-intent traffic and drive conversions.
Recognizing this gap, the Workshop Digital team prioritized local SEO improvements as part of their broader digital growth strategy. In June 2024, keyword-focused metadata was implemented across all location pages. This was more than just a technical update; it represented a strategic investment in making local SEO a growth driver and ensuring Performance Foodservice’s online presence reflected its market leadership across regions.
The Opportunity
Despite Performance Foodservice’s national scale, their location pages weren’t performing to their potential in organic search. The structure was present, but the metadata was too broad, making it harder for the pages to rank for high-intent local queries like “foodservice distributor in [city].”
This gap meant competitors were often more visible, even in markets where Performance Foodservice had a stronger presence. With location pages serving as a key entry point for customer acquisition, every missed search impression or click was a lost opportunity to drive growth.
The challenge was to transform these underutilized pages into a reliable engine for both traffic and conversions by aligning them more closely with how prospective customers search.
The Strategy
To get the full potential of the location pages, we focused on local SEO improvements on the website:
Keyword Research: Identified high-intent, location-specific terms that aligned with how prospective customers search for foodservice distributors.
Metadata Optimization: Implemented keyword-focused metadata across all location pages in June 2024, ensuring each page was both relevant to search engines and compelling to users.
Measurement & Tracking: Monitored performance through the client’s fiscal year (July 2024–June 2025), with close attention to sessions, conversions, and YoY growth.
This focused strategy ensured the updates were scalable across locations while directly tied to their business outcomes.
+28%
Increase in Traffic YoY
+133%
Increase in Conversions YoY
+382%
Increase in Sessions by Location Pages
The Results
The impact of the metadata implementation was both immediate and sustained. Within a year, Performance Foodservice’s location pages saw YoY organic growth:
- Year-over-Year (July 2025 vs. July 2024):
Traffic grew by +28%
Conversions increased by +133%
- Full Fiscal Year (July 2024 – June 2025):
207 sessions driven by location pages (+382% YoY)
222 “Become a Customer” events (+405% YoY)
These improvements underscore how a targeted, scalable SEO initiative can directly influence customer acquisition. Beyond raw traffic, the lift in conversions highlights that the visitors arriving on location pages were more qualified and ready to take action.
Your customers are searching locally, even when your business operates nationally. The right local SEO strategy bridges that gap, helping every location show up and stand out where it counts.
Whether you’re managing ten locations or hundreds, we’ll help you strengthen your digital presence and turn local visibility into real growth. Let’s explore what’s possible together.