Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 07.11.2024 
It’s been an incredible journey for small-but-mighty Hertfordshire SEO agency Submerge – and we have plenty to celebrate! From hitting major milestones with our growing client roster to making waves in the world of SEO, we’re thrilled to announce our latest achievement – we’re shortlisted as finalists in the 2024 UK Search Awards.
Recognition for Best Use of Search – B2C (SEO) and Best Use of Search – Ecommerce (SEO)marks a defining moment for us, proving that great things really do come in small (but powerful) packages.
We’re also shortlisted for Best Use of Search – B2B (SEO) and Best SEO Campaign, all in the small agency categories. Each is a big step for us as we grow our team and our clients’ successes.
Where SEO means Small Effective Operation
The SEO team at Submerge bring a wealth of experience and expertise.
Submerge is a tight-knit team of SEO specialists dedicated to driving meaningful growth for global brands.
We’re an ecommerce SEO agency that provides technical, on-page, link-building, B2C and B2B SEO agency services.
Our smaller size gives us a key advantage – the flexibility to pivot quickly, collaborate closely and create bespoke SEO strategies tailored to each client’s unique business needs.
We take a ‘more bang, less buck’ approach, delivering tangible results without ballooning costs. Our success partly relies on collaborating with our client’s in-house teams and becoming an extension of their operations.
Think of us as your behind-the-scenes SEO crew – quick to act, easy to work with and focused on bringing your brand to the forefront of search. We collaborate with you to overcome challenges and transform opportunities into success stories.
Our agility helped us handle the complex challenges of Laithwaites’ SEO campaign. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished with the Laithwaites team – and the results speak for themselves.
The campaign that popped the cork on our UK Search Awards shortlisting
Our nominated campaign – Uncorking SEO Excellence – has been a 12-month journey packed with technical challenges, creative solutions and plenty of lightbulb moments. We focused on growing organic traffic and improving Laithwaites’ search visibility at scale across the globe.
As a leading global wine retailer with a major ecommerce operation in the UK, the US and Australia, Laithwaites presented a unique opportunity. The brand needed to grow organic traffic and resolve deep-rooted technical SEO issues. Embedding an SEO-first culture within their internal teams was another key challenge.
So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Over 12 months, we helped Laithwaites significantly increase their organic traffic and launched hundreds of SEO-optimised product listing pages and blog articles.
We also created bespoke content for wine buyers across all three territories, including helping in-house teams build and launch wine blogs in the UK, US and Australia.
But it wasn’t just about boosting traffic. We tackled substantial technical projects and built real-time dashboards in Looker Studio, pulling in data from Adobe Analytics, SEMrush, Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Screaming Frog. This allowed both our teams to track progress at every step.
Laithwaites is enjoying sustained growth, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved together.
Agility in action
What sets Submerge apart is our ability to move fast and think on our feet. Throughout the campaign, we faced legacy SEO challenges with Laithwaites’ bespoke ecommerce platform. But we were able to respond quickly, finding creative solutions to keep things moving smoothly – technical fixes were vital in preparing the site for better search performance and driving more organic traffic.
Content was a fundamental part of the strategy. Our in-house Submerge writers worked closely with Laithwaites’ content team, with Submerge creating hundreds of wine blogs and product listing pages optimised for high-volume keywords, including long-form product landing pages with FAQ Schema.
This content was designed to attract new audiences who had yet to discover the Laithwaites brand. By aligning the content with search behaviours in different regions and focusing on generic search, we could better target online wine buyers in the UK, the US and Australia.
Real-time collaboration was the backbone of this project’s success. We had weekly check-ins with Laithwaites’ development, content, and SEO teams to adapt strategies where needed and fast-track technical fixes, develop technical SEO roadmaps and content plans, and perform keyword tracking and performance monitoring.
A fast and flexible approach was vital in delivering results on time and meeting objectives.
Being shortlisted is a recognition that our approach works
For Submerge, being shortlisted for Best Use of Search – B2C (SEO) at the UK Search Awards proves our agile, collaborative approach works.
As a smaller agency, we can move fast and work closely with our clients, but more importantly, we deliver results that rival those of the bigger players in SEO and digital marketing.
Our success with Laithwaites proves that even the most technically complex brands can thrive when truly collaborating between in-house and agency teams. This is how we see the future of agency-client partnerships – smart collaboration and standout results.
Submerge co-founders Matt Bath and Lynn Wright
“Being shortlisted is a testament to the strength of our team and the close partnerships we’ve built with our clients. We’ve always been focused on delivering results that matter, and this recognition shows that our approach to search marketing is making a real impact.” – Matt Bath, Director at Submerge.
Learn more about Submerge, find us on LinkedIn and learn more about our SEO agency services.
