In a nutshell
At the end of December 2024, we got a call from Luke Simpson (son of Richard Simpson – director of South West Fires & Flues) asking if we could help him with a new Small Business Website for his family-run business, along with SEO services to get them found online and further boost their enquiries.
What Mikyla says about WDSEO
“We’re really happy with the website. Modern, clean and just really easy to use. You’re really easy to get hold of, so if we drop you an email, the response time’s really quick, you reply really quickly… We also get a monthly report… So that’s always really useful… We would definitely recommend the Web Design & SEO Company.”
Mikyla
About South West Fires & Flues
Established in 1990 by Richard Simpson, South West Fires & Flues have a fireplace showroom in Plymstock where they showcase a wide range of stoves, wood burners, fire surrounds, and gas and electric fires on display. Not only do they sell fireplaces, but their HETAS-approved & Gas Safe registered engineers also professionally install, service and repair them, plus chimney linings and flues, across Devon and Cornwall.
The challenge
South West’s Fires & Flues’ existing website was made by Yell; however, they weren’t happy with the service they were receiving – the content had been just copied and pasted from their old website, it wasn’t well laid out, and customers were having trouble using it, especially on mobile.
They had a pop-up contact form that said, “Thanks for popping back”, even when it was the first time you were visiting the website. Plus, they had a video which auto-played, so you’d hear it on your phone or computer with no idea where the sound was coming from before you scrolled down the page!
It was time to give their brand a much-needed upgrade.
What we did
Step 1: Designing a new logo to complement the new website
When South West Fires & Flues first approached us for a new website design, they hadn’t even considered designing a new professional logo as well. They’d had the same branding for so long that they hadn’t really noticed they were in need of a refresh.
Their old logo said South West F & F, with a flue on top, but to us it looked a little like an ice cube – and it didn’t make their brand instantly recognisable or clear what they do.
Before we started on their website, we needed to design a new professional logo to elevate their branding. After sending a selection of logos for them to choose from, we made tweaks as necessary until they were happy with the finished design.
Step 2: Building & writing a website to elevate their brand
Once we had new branding to work with, we could start designing South West Fires & Flues’ Small Business Website – all influenced by the colours and font of their new logo.
Whilst one of our copywriters (Claire) was researching what keyphrases or words their ideal customers were searching for, and then professionally writing all the content, one of our web developers (Will) was also working behind the scenes to design and build the website.
This included:
- Dedicated pages for each of their services
- A gallery to display examples of their work
- Reviews to show feedback from clients
- An about page so customers can learn about their history
- A showroom page so they know where to find them
- A suppliers page to showcase all the leading brands they work with
- A contact page to make it as easy as possible for prospects to get in touch
Step 3: Local SEO to help boost their Google rankings & AI visibility
The thing about websites is that they can’t just sit there and look nice – you have to keep them updated and keep working on them to rank high on search engines. Whilst they are based in Plymstock, South West Fires & Flues wanted to get found by customers across Devon and Cornwall – not just Plymouth.
After populating and optimising their online listings across the web, including their Google Business Profile, which is essential for local SEO, it was time to work on their website. This meant writing and building an ‘Areas we serve’ page along with geopages for various locations across the South West to target the priority areas they wanted to work in beyond Plymouth.
We’ve also written and uploaded blog posts, given them advice on requesting and replying to reviews, and much more behind the scenes.
Results in detail
Since South West Fires & Flues’ website went live, their rankings have absolutely soared, and with that, comes quality leads from customers.
They have consistently held top Google rankings for their priority services at the top of the local map 3-pack and ranked high on the first page of both Google desktop and mobile, including electric fires Plymouth, fireplace showroom Plymouth, fireplaces Plymouth, gas fires Plymouth, and wood burners Plymouth. (Up by a total of 117 places on Google local, 27 places on desktop and 35 places on mobile since their new website went live.)
Year on year, their website has experienced the following growth from organic search:
- 195% increase in organic Google search clicks
- 148% increase in leads, including clicks to call & email and contact form submissions
- 71% increase in engaged sessions
- 137% increase in conversions
In the last 12 months alone, their Google Business Profile has also seen impressive results:
- 19,350+ impressions
- 800+ direction requests to their showroom
- 590+ clicks to call
- 2,000+ website clicks
Want to gain the same online visibility as South West Fires & Flues with a new website design & SEO?
Established in 2015, and as an award-winning web design company recognised as one of the Three Best Rated Website Designers in Plymouth, we’re here to help small businesses like South West Fires & Flues grow with website design and monthly SEO services, getting you found not only on search engines like Google but also mentioned and recommended in AI search.
Not only will this help to increase your online visibility, but you’ll also win more leads for the type of work you want to do in your preferred area.
