7.51M+ Organic Impressions Generated Over 16 Months, Establishing Market-Leading Search Visibility
Monthly impressions increased from 427K in April 2025 to 570K in July 2026, while total organic impressions reached 7.51M+ across the 16-month period.
Hanson Search is a global executive search and recruitment firm, working across Executive Search, Recruitment and Global Talent markets, with commercial specialisms spanning Marketing, Public Affairs, Investor Relations, Digital Communications and Sustainability leadership.
With a well-recognised brand name, the challenge was not visibility for the company itself, but visibility for the searches that actually drive business: the high-intent, non-branded queries used by organisations looking to hire.
Over 16 months (April 2025 – July 2026), we built a full organic growth system across:
- Technical SEO
- Content strategy & topical authority
- Local SEO & Google Business Profile
- Keyword visibility & competitor tracking
- Ongoing website optimisation
The strategy focused on shifting Hanson Search’s organic footprint from branded recognition to commercial, high-intent recruitment demand, supported by a structured content and technical programme built for long-term authority rather than short-term spikes.
This approach was built as part of our broader SEO and organic growth strategy focused on sustainable, search-driven client acquisition.
The Challenge
Hanson Search already had a strong reputation in the executive search space, but that reputation wasn’t translating into organic search performance. The scope required:
- Closing the gap between strong branded visibility and weak non-branded, commercial keyword capture
- Standing out in a highly competitive field of established executive search agencies
- Building visibility for high-intent, niche recruitment specialisms (Sustainability Director Recruitment, Investor Relations Recruitment, Public Affairs Recruitment) that convert into retainers, not just traffic
- Navigating global, multi-regional search intent across UK, US and international hiring markets
- Adapting continuously to Google’s evolving algorithm, including Helpful Content updates and AI-driven search experiences
At the starting point in April 2025, Hanson Search was generating 5.68K clicks and 427K impressions a month, with an average ranking position of 36.3, well outside page one for most of its commercially valuable terms. The challenge was to convert existing brand equity into a structured system that could win search visibility for the terms that actually bring in business.
Results
Performance over the 16 months showed sustained, compounding growth rather than a short-term spike, culminating in Hanson Search holding the strongest keyword visibility of any competitor tracked in the space.
| Metric | April 2025 | July 2026 | 16-Month Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Clicks | 5.68K | 7.6K | 103K+ |
| Total Impressions | 427K | 570K | 7.51M+ |
| Average CTR | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Average Position | 36.3 | 17.5 | 23.2 |
Business Impact
- Highest keyword visibility across the tracked competitor set for our 115 strategic target keywords.
- Improved rankings across high-value commercial specialisms, including Sustainability Director Recruitment, Investor Relations Recruitment and Public Affairs Recruitment.
- Organic Search became Hanson Search’s largest traffic acquisition channel, ahead of direct and referral traffic.
Our Role
Dot IT led the SEO programme end-to-end, combining technical foundations, content authority and ongoing optimisation to build a system that could hold up against a competitive, algorithm-sensitive market.
Scope of work included:
- Technical SEO: Regular technical SEO audits, resolving on-site issues, metadata enhancements and internal linking to strengthen crawlability and site health.
- Content Strategy & Topical Authority: Planning and publishing SEO content built around Hanson Search’s key commercial specialisms, designed to build long-term topical authority rather than one-off rankings.
- Local SEO: Ongoing Google Business Profile optimisation to strengthen visibility across Hanson Search’s key hiring locations.
- Keyword Visibility & Competitor Monitoring: Tracking 115 strategically selected keywords against direct competitors to guide priorities month over month.
- Website Optimisation: Continuous on-page SEO improvements, service page optimisation and content enhancements aligned with Google’s evolving search experience.
Growth Approach
The focus was on turning existing brand strength into commercial search visibility, while building a system resilient enough to keep performing through ongoing Google algorithm shifts.
This approach covered:
- Technical SEO and site health
- Content strategy and topical authority
- Local SEO and Google Business Profile
- Keyword visibility and competitive positioning
Each component worked together to move Hanson Search from branded recognition to genuine market leadership in search.
Before Dot IT
- Average ranking position of 36.3, largely reliant on branded search traffic
- Limited visibility across non-branded, commercially valuable recruitment searches
- No structured system for tracking keyword performance against direct competitors
- Technical SEO issues affecting overall site health
After Dot IT
Technical SEO
Kept the site’s technical health in constant check, catching and resolving issues before they could affect rankings.
Key Results
- Regular technical SEO audits run consistently throughout the project
- Significant reduction in technical SEO issues
- Only one sitemap-related issue remaining, already shared with the development team
- Continuous Core Web Vitals and performance monitoring
Local SEO
Strengthened Hanson Search’s presence in local and regional search results across its key hiring markets.
Key Results
- 60 Google Business Profile posts published
- Ongoing optimisation for local search visibility
- Continuous enhancements to support regional hiring markets
Keyword Visibility & Competitive Positioning
Used a tracked set of 115 strategic keywords to guide monthly priorities and benchmark performance directly against Hanson Search’s closest competitors.
Key Results
- Visibility grew from 9.4% to 21.2% across the tracked strategic keyword set, the highest visibility in the tracked competitor set.
- Increased Top 3 and Top 10 rankings across Executive Search and Recruitment terms.
- Strong ranking improvements across commercial specialisms including Executive Search, Executive Search UK, Global Executive Search Firm, Marketing Recruitment, Leadership Recruitment and Executive Hiring Agency.
Content Strategy
Defined a content programme built around Hanson Search’s key executive search and recruitment specialisms, moving beyond general recruitment terms into high-intent, commercially valuable searches.
Key Results
- 56 SEO-optimised blogs published across 16 months
- Continuous optimisation of newly published content to support keyword visibility
- Content built to strengthen topical authority across Executive Search, Marketing Recruitment, Public Affairs, Investor Relations and Sustainability leadership searches
Website Optimisation
Refined the site’s on-page foundation as it grew, optimizing new pages on launch and revisiting existing service pages to keep structure, metadata, and internal linking working in favor of both search visibility and conversion.
Key Results
- SEO optimisation applied to all newly published website pages
- Metadata enhancements across key website pages
- Internal linking implementation to strengthen site structure
- Service page optimisation to support conversion-focused search terms
Organic User Growth (GA4)
SEO’s impact went beyond rankings, translating directly into stronger on-site engagement and user growth.
- Active Users: +63.4%
- New Users: +63.9%
- Sessions: +69.8%
- Engaged Sessions: +72.2%
- Average Engagement Time: +52.5%
Organic Search is now Hanson Search’s largest traffic acquisition channel, ahead of direct and referral traffic, with returning users continuing to grow, a sign of strengthening brand recognition alongside search visibility.
Adapting to Google's Evolving Search Experience
Performance across the 16 months wasn’t a straight line; it moved in step with Google’s own changes. Search behaviour shifted meaningfully over the project due to core algorithm updates, the rise of AI-powered search experiences and increasing competition across recruitment searches.
Rather than treating SEO as a one-off setup, the strategy was built around continuous monthly optimisation: reviewing service pages, refreshing metadata, monitoring competitors and adjusting content to keep pace with what Google’s Helpful Content systems and AI search features reward for original, expert, commercially relevant content from a trustworthy, locally authoritative source.
Conclusion
Hanson Search’s organic growth wasn’t the result of a single tactic, but of a structured system connecting technical health, content authority, local visibility and ongoing website optimisation.
Over the 16-month period, monthly organic impressions increased from 427K in April 2025 to 570K in July 2026, while total organic impressions reached 7.51M+. Average ranking position also improved from 36.3 to 17.5.
Across the 115 strategic target keywords tracked, Hanson Search achieved the highest visibility within the tracked competitor set.
The result was not just higher rankings, but a stronger search presence built to reach high-value, high-intent recruitment searches and support long-term organic growth..
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