Update 2024
In 2022, Pluscrates Ltd entered administration, partly due to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which impacted many businesses. The intellectual property and website of Pluscrates were acquired by The Hill Company. While my SEO services were no longer needed following this transition, I was involved in the migration, updating, and modification of their websites. I have also begun working on another website project for them, with SEO being the only area in which my services are no longer required.
Pre-update
Background
Pluscrates is the UK’s largest independent crate hire company. It was founded in 2008 by Neil McGuigan and John Mitchell, both well-known figures in the industry. Neil McGuigan’s parents founded the first crate rental company in the UK, Rentacrate, in the 1970s.
The founders’ goal in 2008 was to reintroduce “quality crate hire” to the commercial relocation sector, leading to the creation of Pluscrates. Today, the company supplies crates across the UK from depots in London (Wembley), Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, and Livingston, Scotland.
Challenge
Initially, Pluscrates relied on an external SEO provider to manage their website’s search engine performance. However, they lost contact with the provider over time, and their search rankings declined. Despite being one of only three major crate hire companies in the UK, Pluscrates saw their rankings slip from the first page of Google, which was particularly problematic given the company’s significantly lower pricing than competitors like Rentacrate and PHSteacrate (both owned by PHS). For example, the industry-standard L3 crate costs £0.70 per week from Pluscrates, whereas Rentacrate charges £1.43—an almost 100% price difference that wasn’t reflected in search engine visibility.
Objective
I was hired to restore Pluscrates’ position on page one of Google, focusing exclusively on organic search optimisation (SEO). As they were not interested in paid search (PPC) campaigns, my task was to evaluate their on-page SEO, address any issues, and enhance the overall health of their website.
Approach
Given that a previous SEO provider had worked on the site, I anticipated there would be a foundation to build on. However, with Google’s algorithm updates (notably Panda and Penguin), there was a risk that previous SEO practices had fallen out of favour. My initial steps involved a comprehensive audit of their on-page SEO, content strategy, and technical SEO.
On-Page SEO & Content Optimisation
I thoroughly reviewed the website’s existing content and copywriting, aiming to satisfy Google’s algorithm and improve the overall user experience. While some keyword-based landing pages had been effective in the past, they were now losing visibility. Rather than removing these pages, I optimised them to align with modern SEO best practices.
Identifying New Opportunities
I also explored opportunities to expand Pluscrates’ keyword reach by identifying untapped search terms. This involved optimising existing content and creating new, targeted pages to drive more organic traffic.
Technical SEO & Website Health
During the health check, I implemented several technical improvements to enhance the site’s search engine performance, which included adding favicons and touch icons, verifying HTML, refining title tags and metadata, and ensuring the website was fully SSL-compliant with HTTPS. These updates are increasingly critical for search engine rankings and overall user trust.
Results
We significantly improved Pluscrates’ search rankings, moving from pages two and three of Google to consistently ranking within the top three positions for their most profitable keywords. These results were a combination of both short-term and long-term strategies.
We secured some immediate wins through my expertise in technical SEO, which addressed foundational issues that had been holding back their visibility. Longer-term success came from strategic content optimisation, effective copywriting, and thorough competitor research, which helped refine and expand their keyword targeting.
As a result of these improvements, Pluscrates regained its competitive footing online, and the company was delighted with the outcome. Recognising the importance of a modern, user-friendly website to sustain their growth, they entrusted me with a complete overhaul to further enhance their digital presence.
