SEO case study · Local
Tallowmere Forge
Structural steel fabricator · Sheffield, UK & Ireland
How a Sheffield steel fabricator won the South Yorkshire contractor searches
+3.4x
tender enquiries · in 12 months
The challenge
Good steel.
Invisible on the map.
Contractors searched for local fabricators, but the firm's site had no project pages and its profile listed the wrong category.
Main contractors across South Yorkshire search the way they buy: “structural steel Sheffield”, “mezzanine installer Rotherham”, “steel fabricators near me”, often from a site cabin on a phone. They shortlist from the map pack and then check one thing: has this firm built something like ours?
Tallowmere Forge had twenty years of frames, mezzanines and staircases behind it, but Google filed the business as a blacksmith and the website showed a single unlabelled gallery. Tenders came by word of mouth, about five a month, and stalled whenever a regular client went quiet.
Assay · the audit
Six faults found in the metal
- L-01 · Localcritical
Wrong primary category
Profile listed as “Blacksmith”, so it was filtered out of every “steel fabricator” and “structural steel” map-pack query.
- C-01 · Contentcritical
No project evidence
Zero project pages. Contractors vet fabricators on comparable jobs; the site offered one gallery of 12 untitled photos.
- L-02 · Localhigh
Split NAP footprint
Three addresses (old unit, new unit, director’s home) across 37 listings, plus 9 duplicates diluting prominence.
- T-01 · Technicalhigh
No structured data
No LocalBusiness, no areaServed, no service markup; Google could not tie the site to the profile with confidence.
- C-02 · Contentmedium
One page for every service
Fabrication, erection, mezzanines and staircases shared a single “Services” page with 180 words.
- T-02 · Technicalmedium
Slow mobile pages
Uncompressed 6 MB gallery images pushed mobile LCP to 4.8s on the pages contractors open on site.
“steel fabricators sheffield” · map pack
Before · month 0
- ADon Valley SteelworksSteel fabricator · 4.6 ★
- BNorthern Beam & PlateSteel fabricator · 4.4 ★
- CAttercliffe FabricationsSteel fabricator · 4.2 ★
Tallowmere Forge: not shown. Listed under “Blacksmith”.
After · month 12
- ATallowmere ForgeSteel fabricator · 4.9 ★ · 38 reviews
- BDon Valley SteelworksSteel fabricator · 4.4 ★
- CNorthern Beam & PlateSteel fabricator · 4.2 ★
Illustrative mock-up; competitor names are fictional.
Melt · the strategy
Four alloys, one pour
Built on our Local plan: fix the profile so the business qualifies for the map pack, then give Google and contractors the same proof: real projects, consistent citations, clean structured data.
- GBP
Google Business Profile
Re-categorised the profile so it can enter the map pack for fabrication searches at all, then kept it alive with site photos.
- Primary: Steel fabricator; secondary: Steel erector, Metal fabricator
- Services for frames, mezzanines, staircases, canopies
- Weekly photos and fortnightly posts from live jobs
- PRJ
Project case-study pages
One page per completed job: the evidence contractors and estimators look for before they invite a fabricator to tender.
- Tonnage, grade, execution class, programme
- Town and sector in the title and URL
- Hub pages per service and per town
- NAP
Local citations
One name, address and phone across the web, and listings in trade-specific directories that contractors actually use.
- 37 listings reconciled, 9 duplicates merged
- Construction and supplier-register listings
- Regional chamber and trade body profiles
- SCH
LocalBusiness schema
Structured data that ties the website, the profile and the service area together unambiguously.
- LocalBusiness with geo, openingHours, areaServed
- Service and Project markup per page
- sameAs links to the profile and citations
Pour · month by month
12 months on the shop floor
Select a month (arrow keys work) to see what shipped and where the numbers stood.
Month 1 of 12 · Assay
Audit and category fix
Full local, technical and content audit. Primary Google Business Profile category corrected from “Blacksmith” to “Steel fabricator”, with “Structural engineer” services removed and “Steel erector” added.
- Tender enquiries
- 5
- Map-pack top-3
- 2
- Organic sessions
- 700
Cast · the results
+3.4x tender enquiries
Each figure is poured hot, then cooled to steel once it is set. Month 0 versus month 12.
01 · Map-pack top-3 terms
Map-pack top-3 terms: from 2 to 19.
Ladle ready
02 · Tender enquiries / month
Tender enquiries / month: from 5 to 17.
Ladle ready
03 · Organic sessions / month
Organic sessions / month: from 700 to 2,600.
Ladle ready
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
Ranking ledger · Google, South Yorkshire
| Search term | Vol / mo | Before | After | Map pack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| steel fabricators sheffield | 590 | 14 | 1 | ● Top 3 |
| structural steel sheffield | 320 | 9 | 2 | ● Top 3 |
| steel fabrication near me | 1,900 | 20+ | 3 | ● Top 3 |
| mezzanine floor installers south yorkshire | 140 | 20+ | 1 | ● Top 3 |
| steel staircase fabricator rotherham | 70 | 20+ | 2 | ● Top 3 |
| steel frame building barnsley | 110 | 18 | 3 | ● Top 3 |
| structural steelwork contractor doncaster | 90 | 20+ | 2 | ● Top 3 |
| steel beams supplied and fitted sheffield | 210 | 3 | 1 | ● Top 3 |
| metal canopy fabrication yorkshire | 50 | 20+ | 4 | ○ Organic |
| steel erectors sheffield | 170 | 2 | 1 | ● Top 3 |
Quench
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A Local SEO engagement for trades and manufacturers who win work from the map pack.