How we got Hi-Tec from outside the top 100 search results to top of page one in 12 months;

• with such visibility driving vastly improved brand awareness in the outdoor market
• and increasing traffic to Hi-tec.com almost 700% through Google natural search

Discover.

Through brand and customer insight we understood that outdoor footwear was a key focus for Hi-Tec and that increasing awareness for ‘walking boots' and ‘hiking boots' through natural search would have the greatest impact on traffic. We benchmarked the current awareness of the brand by reporting on natural search positions, current social media conversations, and in-store customer research and by interviewing a core set of ‘outdoor influencers' on their views of the brand. The findings from the research fed into a thorough 12 month search campaign

Conceive.

We conducted rigorous SEO audits and provided a comprehensive list of on-page recommendations to Hi-Tec, which were implemented and generated immediate success. We then set to work on creating a comprehensive creative link-building strategy to drive Google positions for the terms ‘walking boots' and ‘hiking boots'. Building on the relationships we had formed with the outdoor influencers in the initial ‘Discover' phase we created content and cultivate plans that would engage with both outdoor enthusiast customers and online influencers.

Deliver.

As well as providing on-going technical support to the Hi-Tec online team to ensure maximum exposure to Google we also worked closely with the Hi-Tec product and marketing teams to set up our SEO PR activities. They included:

Walking Clubs Advocacy/Badge Scheme
We invited members of the UK's top walking clubs to become ‘Official Hi-Tec Boot Reviewers' and sent them free boots to review, in return for hosting a clickable badge on their site containing ‘walking/hiking boots' ALT text. Their insightful reviews will also provide compelling content for the new Hi-Tec.com site. The scheme is generating an army of Hi-Tec advocates across the UK, generating powerful links back to Hi-Tec.com and creating great user-generated content.

Here's just one of the comments we received from an advocate:

‘When I first saw the Hi-Tec V-Lite Altitude Boots I was impressed. They are a very good looking boot. They look great, have good vibram soles and have good laces.'
Rebecca Hurst, Leeds University Hiking Club

National Trust boot launch online amplification
By working closely with the PR team we were able to amplify a national press launch of the new Hi-Tec & National Trust boot by selling in the story to key online walking, lifestyle and national newspaper sites. This generated 18 pieces of coverage reviewing the new boots, all with links, on sites such as Independent.co.uk, Guardian.co.uk, iVillage.co.uk and Handbag.com.

In addition to launching the new National Trust / Hi-Tec boot to online media we also used the partnership to create features that would target more of a beginners & lifestyle market. We created in depth written features which included National Trust recommended walks and linked them to seasons such as ‘where to spot bluebells in spring' and ‘best walks for a summer staycation'. This again generated coverage on key lifestyle websites which engaged with a new style of customer for Hi-Tec and generated anchor text focused links back to Hi-Tec.com

Walking bloggers
Utilising the strong relationships we built during the ‘Discover' stage of the campaign we kept up regular contact with various outdoor bloggers on their adventures and sent Hi-Tec walking boots for them to review on their hikes and walks. This resulted in in-depth reviews on their blogs with strong links back to Hi-Tec.com. It also generated much debate on the technology of the products with other readers commenting on the development of Hi-Tec walking products. This has since been fed into a future product research and design project.
For any coverage achieved, we always made sure to negotiate anchor text links where possible. In the first year of working with Hi-Tec we achieved more than 50 pieces of online coverage which had an advertising value of over £186,000. From this coverage 76 authoritive links were generated back to Hi-tec.com.

Prove.

And the campaign worked. Here are some killer facts and stats, resulting from the above SEO tactics:
• Hi-tec.com went from being outside the top 100 positions for ‘Hiking boots' to position 5 in 12months
• The story was similar for ‘Walking boots' going from 100 to 10 in the same time
• There was a 684% growth in non-brand natural traffic in 2010 compared to 2009
• The rise in natural search positions has meant Hi-Tec has been able to achieve greater brand exposure on some of its online retailer sites