A North East Business Owner’s Turning Point
When people ask me when I should’ve started taking SEO seriously, I have a blunt answer: about three years earlier than I did.
Back in 2020, my business was doing okay. We were getting decent local work, word-of-mouth was steady, and honestly, I didn’t see the point in all this “digital marketing stuff.” I was running a growing operation, margins were tight (aren’t they always?), and spending money on something I couldn’t immediately see felt like a risk I couldn’t take. Besides, I had a website. Wasn’t that enough?
Spoiler: it wasn’t.
The Wake-Up Call
By late 2022, we started losing tenders to smaller competitors who seemed to be everywhere online. Prospective clients would say things like “We found someone else who came up first on Google” or “That other firm had more reviews.” Meanwhile, I was wondering why our phone wasn’t ringing like it used to.
The frustrating bit? These weren’t better companies. They were just more visible.
That’s when I had the conversation every business owner dreads: I was going to have to invest properly in marketing. But I was terrified of getting ripped off by some agency promising the world. I’d heard horror stories, thousands spent with nothing to show for it. I also wasn’t keen on the hype. Every agency I spoke to made everything sound miraculous and vague at the same time.
Then someone local recommended Thickrope, an SEO agency in Newcastle. What struck me wasn’t their pitch, it was how honest they were about the timeline and the work involved.
What I Actually Signed Up For (And Why It Mattered)
Here’s what nobody tells you about SEO: it’s not sexy or quick, and it’s not a product. It’s a process.
When we kicked off in January 2023, they were straight with me. Real pages typically take 3–6 months to start ranking meaningfully, they said. Depending on competition in our space, we might not see serious lead movement for 6–9 months. And we’d need to commit to ongoing work, this wasn’t a one-off project.
The cost was £2,800 a month. That felt reasonable for what they were offering: keyword research tied to what actual customers were searching for, technical audits of our website, new content creation, and link building. But here’s the thing, I was still nervous. That’s nearly £34,000 a year. What if nothing happened?
What actually happened surprised me.
Months 1–3: The Uncomfortable Waiting Game
Not much changed visually, which is the point where most business owners panic.
Behind the scenes, though, they were optimising our website structure, fixing old technical issues I didn’t know existed, and creating content around the keywords our customers were actually typing into Google. They started building links from relevant local and industry directories. It felt invisible.
By month three, we’d moved on maybe 10–15 keywords, mostly lower-competition stuff. Nothing dramatic. My monthly lead volume was still about the same. But the quality was shifting, fewer “just browsing” enquiries, more people who actually needed what we offered.
Months 4–8: When It Started to Click
Around month five, I noticed something: we were getting inbound calls from people mentioning specific services we’d only recently written about. The local review volume started climbing. Our Google Business Profile visibility improved, people searching “our service + Newcastle” were finding us.
By month eight, our organic traffic had doubled. Not tripled, not quintupled, but doubled. More importantly, the type of traffic was changing. Conversion rate went up. Cost per lead from organic search was dropping because these people had already self-qualified.
That’s when the maths started to feel less like a gamble and more like an investment that was paying back.
What Really Changed (Beyond the Numbers)
Here’s what surprised me most: it wasn’t just about ranking position or traffic volume. It was about how prospects perceived us.
When someone finds you organically on Google, especially when you show up consistently for the searches that matter in your industry, they assume you’re established, trusted, and credible. Compare that to someone who only knows about you through a cold email or a referral from a mate. There’s a psychological difference.
We also stopped losing tenders to smaller competitors. In fact, we started winning some against bigger fish because our online presence suggested we were serious, invested, and knowledgeable. That’s not a coincidence.
The Honest Bits (Because It Wasn’t Perfect)
SEO isn’t magic, and I don’t want to pretend it was all smooth.
There were fluctuations. Google updates happened. We’d climb 3 positions on a keyword, then drop 2 the next month. Some content underperformed. We had to be patient, which is hard when you’re a business owner used to quick wins.
And yes, we’re still paying Thickrope £2,800 a month. That’s an ongoing cost. But here’s the reality: we’ve replaced that cost many times over with qualified leads that convert. The ROI is real, but it took about eight months to properly prove it.
Would I have felt better with faster results? Absolutely. But would I trust an agency that promised them? Not a chance.
What I’d Tell My Younger Self
If I could go back to 2020, I’d tell myself three things:
1. You’re not marketing. You’re just invisible.
Your website sitting there doing nothing isn’t enough. Your competitors are already ranking for the searches that bring qualified customers. If you’re not in the conversation, you don’t exist.
2. The cost of doing it isn’t the monthly fee, it’s the lost leads while you wait.
Yes, SEO costs money and takes time. But not doing it? That’s costing you money in lost enquiries every single month. Compound that over two years and you’re looking at tens of thousands in missed revenue. The agency fee is often the smaller number.
3. Pick an agency that tells you the truth, not the dream.
If someone promises you results in six weeks, laugh and hang up. If they can’t explain why they’re doing what they’re doing, or if they can’t give you a realistic timeline, that’s a warning sign. You want partners who are as invested in your success as you are.
Where We Are Now
It’s been just over two years. Our organic traffic has grown 4x since we started. We consistently rank in the top three for our core local searches. Lead volume from organic search is our second-biggest channel after referrals, and unlike referrals, we can actually scale it.
Do we still work with Thickrope? Yes. The relationship has evolved; they’re not doing as much heavy lifting month-to-month, but they’re maintaining what we’ve built and pushing into new areas. That ongoing investment is worth it because the foundation is solid.
The biggest change, though? I’m no longer one of those business owners sweating the monthly invoice. I know exactly what’s happening and why. I check the metrics, I see the leads coming in, and I understand that investing in long-term visibility isn’t optional anymore, it’s just how modern business works in the North East.
If You’re in the Same Position I Was
If you’re a business owner reading this and thinking “Yeah, that sounds like me, I’ve been ignoring this stuff,” here’s what I’d suggest:
1. Get a proper audit first. Don’t just guess about what’s wrong. Have someone who knows what they’re doing look at your site, your competitors’ rankings, and the keywords your customers are actually searching for. Thickrope do free audits; it’s worth an hour of your time just to know where you stand.
2. Be honest about your timeline. You won’t see results overnight. If you’re not willing to commit for 6–9 months, don’t start. But if you can commit, the payback is real.
3. Measure what actually matters. Not just traffic, conversions. Lead quality. Are these people who actually buy from you, or just browsers? That’s what counts.
4. Pick the right partner. This matters more than the price. You want someone who understands your business, speaks plainly about what’s possible, and doesn’t oversell. In my experience, the agencies that are confident enough to be honest about timelines and trade-offs are the ones worth working with.
If you’re ready to get started, or even just want to see where you actually rank for the searches that matter, [get a free SEO audit from Thickrope](https://thickrope.com/audit). It’ll take an hour, cost you nothing, and you’ll walk away knowing whether SEO is the right move for your business and what it would actually look like.
Some of the best money I’ve ever spent took the longest to prove itself. Don’t make the mistake I did and wait until you’ve already lost years of revenue.