Local SEO Presence
Improved by 500%
in Four Months
Turning 120 disconnected store pages into a structured Local SEO programme — driving maps views, local search visibility and phone enquiries well beyond what the wider ecommerce and SEO improvements alone would have delivered.
About VIP Vaping
VIP Vaping was one of Europe's largest independent e-cigarette brands, with strong high-street visibility built through kiosks, mass product giveaways and national TV advertising aimed at adult smokers. Following its acquisition in 2014 by US-based Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corporation (later ECIG), the business entered a phase of rapid expansion and increased commercial ambition.
My work focused on strengthening VIP's online performance to better complement its strong physical retail presence — improving ecommerce conversion, aligning online and in-store propositions, and significantly enhancing Local SEO to drive both website traffic and store footfall.
120 Stores, One Disjointed Local Presence
Many small to medium-sized retailers underperform in local search, limiting both website traffic and in-store footfall — and VIP was no exception. The online and in-store proposition was disjointed, with inconsistent offers, strategy and brand activity across locations. Local SEO setup was weak: store pages weren't dynamic, all 120 locations were listed on a single page, and local visibility on Google was poor. As a result, stores struggled to appear prominently in local search results, missing valuable non-brand traffic and customer engagement opportunities.
A Three-Phase Local SEO Programme
A structured Local SEO strategy was developed alongside the wider ecommerce and SEO improvements already underway. The core focus was creating dynamic, individual pages for each of the 120 stores and aligning online and in-store propositions — delivered in three phases.
Enhanced the store finder, created and optimised a Google My Business profile for every location, and consolidated accurate, consistent store data across all 120 sites.
Acquired and integrated customer reviews at store level to build authority and improve visibility in local map packs and organic search results.
Optimised meta data and on-page content to target broader local search terms, improving both visibility and on-page conversion for store-specific traffic.
From Invisible to Impossible to Miss
Within four months, local store visibility improved significantly. These improvements drove increased website traffic, higher in-store footfall, and stronger local brand authority — demonstrating the powerful, compounding impact of a focused Local SEO strategy across a large multi-site retailer.
Nearly a 5x increase in local search volume across all 120 store locations.
A 30x uplift in Google Maps views following profile optimisation.
Direct calls from local search results grew nearly 9x within four months.