Case study · Professional services
A regional service firm that fixed its own name search
Went from owning 2 to owning 7 of the first 10 results for its name.
Who: A regional professional firm of about forty people with two offices, winning most of its work by referral and by name search.
- Owned results in the first ten
- 7from 2
- Enquiries from name searches a month
- 31from 18
- Negative or misleading results on page one
- 1from 3
- Weeks in a quarter a rival's ad showed on the firm's name
- 3 of 13from 11 of 13
- Pages with a correct title and markup
- 100%from 20%
- Owned profiles with matching details
- 6from 1
What changed
Most of the firm's new work started with someone typing its name into a search box. What they saw first was a directory, a rival's ad and an out-of-date listing, with the firm's own site in third place.
We fixed the page titles and the structured data that tell search engines who the firm is, built out five profiles the firm controls, and set alerts so any change to the name results is seen the day it happens.
Three months later the firm owned seven of the first ten results, the rival's ad appeared far less often, and enquiries from name searches were up by more than two thirds.
- Start2
- Month 13
- Month 25
- Week 106
- Month 37
The situation
A professional firm's name search was led by directories and a rival's ad, and its own site sat third.
What they wanted
- Own the first page when someone searches the firm's name
- Stop a rival's ad taking the top of that page
- Make sure assistants describe the firm correctly
What we found
- The firm had no consistent profiles
- A rival bid on the firm's name
- The site's title tags did not include the firm's name
What we did
- Fixed titles and structured data
- Built out five owned profiles
- Set alerts for changes in the name results
How the engagement ran
Weeks 1 to 2
1. Map the name results
We recorded the first three pages of results for the firm's name, for each partner's role and for the main services, and noted which results the firm owned.
Weeks 3 to 5
2. Fix the site
Titles, organisation markup and the contact and about pages were corrected so the firm's own name and details were unmistakable.
Weeks 6 to 9
3. Build owned profiles
Five profiles were created or completed with identical details and links back to the site, each chosen because it tends to rank for a name.
Weeks 10 to 13
4. Watch and respond
Weekly alerts flagged new or changed results. Two misleading listings were corrected through the sites that hosted them.
What surprised us
- The rival's name-bidding fell away on its own once the firm's own result became more relevant
- One of the five profiles needed a postal verification that took three weeks
What they keep
- Five completed profiles with matching details
- Corrected titles and organisation markup across the site
- Weekly alerts on changes to the name results
How we measured it
The first ten results for the firm's name, recorded every week from a neutral location with personalisation off. A result counts as owned when the firm controls the page. Enquiries are those that the firm's own form and phone log attributed to a name search.
Our name now brings people to us instead of to a directory.
What is next: A review programme and local press mentions.
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