SEO is a long game, and the challenge is even greater when working in competitive industries like freight and logistics. Over the past 16 months, I've optimised two national websites—one for a logistics service provider and the other for a SaaS product in the same industry. While these businesses differ significantly, the SEO fundamentals remain the same: strong technical foundations, high-quality content, and a strategic approach to authority and trust.
Through a combination of on-page optimisations, technical SEO, and content strategy, I've seen major improvements in rankings and traffic. The service-based site benefited from localised key terms, while the SaaS site, despite lower search volume, made significant gains in competitive SERPs. In this post, I'll walk through exactly what worked, how I approached SEO in a way that Google trusted, and the strategies that helped push these websites to the next level.
Starting with a Strong SEO Foundation
Every SEO campaign I work on begins with a comprehensive website audit. Without it, making optimisations is like shooting in the dark. I rely heavily on tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics to analyse performance, identify weak spots, and map a clear path forward.
Some of the first things I looked at were page performance, identifying which pages were ranking well and which weren't. I also flagged thin content—pages that needed more depth to provide real value. From there, I analysed technical errors, such as 404 pages, duplicate meta tags, and missing H1s. I also improved user experience by ensuring fonts were readable, images were optimised, and the website structure was intuitive.
One of the biggest surprises was discovering how many valuable pages were deleted without redirects. Some of these pages had 30-40 organic visitors per month—not a huge number, but significant when you consider the bigger picture. We could regain lost traffic with minimal effort by restoring and properly redirecting them.
Creating the Right Pages for SEO Wins
A common mistake I see in SEO is not having the right pages built. Many businesses try to rank for competitive keywords without dedicated, targeted pages. For example, a gardening business trying to rank for "lawn mowing" won't get far if it only mentions it briefly on a general "services" page. Instead, it needs a standalone page dedicated to lawn mowing.
I identified three to four high-value pages that needed to be created for these logistics sites. Once these were built, they started ranking almost immediately, leading to a measurable increase in traffic.
I also conducted competitor research to ensure we were targeting the right keywords. Instead of guessing what worked, I reverse-engineered what my competitors were doing—analysing their top-performing pages, internal linking strategies, and content structures. This gave me a clear roadmap of what Google favoured in this industry.
Google Loves Trusted Brands – And I Leveraged That
One advantage these businesses had was their long-standing reputation. With 20-30 years of history, these companies already had authority in Google's eyes.
When I started making small but impactful optimisations, Google responded incredibly well. There was no aggressive link-building, no shortcuts, just clean, white-hat SEO.
One standout result was a high-volume, competitive keyword (4,700 searches/month) that moved from position 31 to position 9. Another low-competition, high-intent keyword jumped from position 14 to position 4, landing the site on page one of Google.
The takeaway? Even small SEO tweaks can yield big results if a website already has a strong brand.
Scaling Content & Optimising for AI-Driven Search
Content has always been a core pillar of SEO, but I had to adjust my approach with Google's AI Overview (formerly featured snippets), which changed how users get information.
Over 16 months, we published 50+ long-form, high-quality blog posts on logistics and freight topics. However, quantity alone isn't enough. I refined the strategy to future-proof content against AI-driven search changes by pruning lower-quality content and keeping only the best-performing posts.
I also rewrote intros to provide direct answers upfront, which is crucial for AI-generated snippets. Enhancing formatting with structured tables, call-to-action elements, and supporting images further improved content engagement. Additionally, aligning content with LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) helped improve keyword relevancy and search rankings.
The goal was simple: if AI search results pull information, they should be pulling from our content.
Strengthening E-E-A-T for Authority & Trust
A huge SEO mistake I see often is publishing content without clear authorship. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust) is non-negotiable in today's SEO landscape.
To establish credibility, I added author bios featuring industry professionals, including the founders, managers, and logistics experts. I also created dedicated author pages linked to LinkedIn profiles and external citations, reinforcing credibility.
This simple but strategic move significantly improved rankings. Google now prioritises content written by real experts, and I ensured we demonstrated that expertise.
Google Ads & Competitive Targeting
While SEO was the main focus, I saw paid search opportunities.
To prevent competitors from stealing traffic, I launched defensive brand campaigns on Google Ads, ensuring that users weren't directed elsewhere when they searched for the company name. I also created competitive alternative pages, such as "Best [Competitor] Alternatives," to capture high-intent users considering competitors.
Additionally, we ran retargeting ads to recapture visitors who engaged with the site but didn't convert. This hybrid approach ensured we dominated both organic and paid search.
The Power of a Supporting Lead-Gen Website
One challenge with working on in-house websites is dependency on dev teams. To accelerate results, I built a third website—a lead-generation site that:
- Ranks for logistics-related keywords and passes SEO juice to both main sites.
- Acts as an industry directory, listing the main sites first.
- Builds high-authority backlinks through strategically placed blog content.
This site gave me full control, allowing me to move faster and execute SEO changes independently.
Final Thoughts: What This SEO Journey Taught Me
SEO is not about quick hacks or shortcuts—it's about consistent, strategic effort. Over 16 months, I focused on:
- Building the right pages to capture high-intent keywords.
- Leveraging brand authority to amplify Google's trust.
- Optimising content for AI-driven search to maintain visibility.
- Strengthening E-E-A-T to stand out in a competitive space.
- Using paid search strategically to complement organic growth.
- Enhancing technical SEO to improve overall site performance.
This multi-channel approach resulted in significant ranking improvements, increased traffic, and better lead generation.
If you're serious about SEO, the key is patience, persistence, and execution. Hope this helps!
