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Case StudyLocal SEO · Technical SEO

From Invisible to #1 on Google

How Abbey Repointing went from 0 clicks to 1,410+ monthly visitors — in 6 months.

Industry
Masonry & Repointing
Location
Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, UK
Services
Local SEO · Technical SEO · Security Fix · Page Speed · GBP
01.

Results at a Glance

The numbers that matter — all verified from Google Search Console.

0 → 1,410+
Monthly Clicks
From zero to consistent traffic
83,700+
Monthly Impressions
Massively increased visibility
#1
Ranking — Repointing NI
Top result on Google UK
4.8 / 51
Stars on Google Maps
Local pack position #2
A / 100%
GTmetrix Performance
Was slow — now perfect
Eliminated
Malware + 250+ Spam Posts
Site was hacked — we fixed it
Daily
Leads via Website & Google
Real customers contacting daily
35.2 → 19.9
Avg Position Improved
Still climbing every month
02.

Client Background

Brendan McKinley
Owner, Abbey Repointing · Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland

Abbey Repointing is a specialist masonry and brick repointing contractor based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. With over 10 years of hands-on experience, Brendan and his team protect homes and commercial buildings from damp, structural damage, and weathering.

Despite being excellent at their craft, Abbey Repointing had almost zero online presence. Brendan relied entirely on word of mouth — and was invisible on Google when potential customers searched for his services.

Where they started — Before SkyBoost Traffic (August 2024): Authority Score 2 · Zero organic traffic · 9 backlinks.

03.

The Challenge

When we audited abbeyrepointing.co.uk, we uncovered four major problems that were completely blocking any chance of ranking on Google.

!

Critical: The Website Had Been Hacked

Wordfence discovered a malicious PHP file hidden in the WordPress plugins folder. A hacker had secretly installed code to manipulate the site without the owner knowing.

!

250+ Spam Articles Injected by Hackers

Over 250 casino and gambling spam posts had been published under the Abbey Repointing brand — in Swedish, Azerbaijani and Russian. Google was indexing these instead of legitimate repointing content.

!

Complete Absence from Google Search

Authority Score of just 2/100, zero organic keyword rankings, and never connected to Google Search Console. Google had no idea the site existed as a legitimate business.

!

Poor Technical SEO & Page Speed

No schema markup, missing meta descriptions, no proper title tags, and slow load times — all factors that stop Google from ranking a site, even if the content is good.

04.

Our Strategy

The step-by-step plan we executed — in order of priority.

1

Emergency Security Fix

Ran a full Wordfence scan, identified and deleted the malicious PHP file, bulk-deleted all 252+ hacker-injected spam posts, and secured the WordPress installation — all within 24 hours of discovery.

2

Google Search Console Setup

Verified ownership via DNS TXT record and integrated GSC, allowing us to submit sitemaps, monitor performance and fix crawl errors directly with Google.

3

Technical SEO Foundation

Full audit using SEMrush and Screaming Frog. Optimised title tags and meta descriptions, implemented LocalBusiness and Organization schema, fixed broken links, set up XML sitemaps and configured robots.txt correctly.

4

Page Speed to GTmetrix Grade A

Image optimisation, caching, CDN setup and code minification took the site from slow to GTmetrix A grade — 100% Performance, 99% Structure, 505ms LCP.

5

Local SEO & GBP Optimisation

Claimed and fully optimised the Google Business Profile with categories, services, photos and posts. Built consistent NAP citations across UK directories.

6

On-Page SEO for Target Keywords

Identified the two highest-value keywords — 'repointing northern ireland' and 'repointing belfast' — and optimised existing pages plus created targeted content to rank for them.

05.

The Results

Real numbers, real screenshots — no fluff, no made-up stats.

MetricBeforeAfterChange
Monthly Clicks from Google01,410++1,410 clicks
Monthly Impressions083,700+∞ improvement
Average Google PositionNot ranking19.9From 35.2 → 19.9
Keyword: Repointing NIPage 3–4#1Top of Google
Keyword: Repointing BelfastNot rankingLocal Pack #2Map listing
GTmetrix GradeSlow / FailingA · 100%Perfect score
Site SecurityHacked + MalwareClean (0 issues)Wordfence verified
Spam Posts Indexed250+0All removed
Customer Leads / MonthWord of mouth onlyDaily — email, maps, FBMultiple channels
06.

Real Customers — Real Leads

Rankings and traffic numbers are great — but what really matters is whether customers are calling and booking. Here is the proof that the SEO work translated into real business for Abbey Repointing.

  • Website contact form leads — homeowners finding Abbey on Google and submitting enquiries directly.
  • Facebook Messenger leads — Joanne Hamilton-Whyte and others contacting via social, driven by growing brand credibility.
  • Multiple daily Gmail enquiries — consistent inbox flow from across Northern Ireland, all from organic search.
07.

Key Takeaways

Security First

If your site is compromised, no SEO work matters. We fixed the malware and removed 250+ spam posts before doing anything else — without that, Google would never trust the domain.

Technical SEO is the Foundation

GSC, proper meta data, schema markup and fast page loading aren't optional extras. They're the foundation everything else is built on.

Local SEO is the Fastest Win

For service businesses, the Google Maps Local Pack is worth more than any paid advert. Top 3 on Maps means customers ready to book right now find you first.

SEO Compounds Over Time

3 months: 302 clicks. 12 months: 1,410+ clicks. Unlike paid ads that stop the moment you stop paying, SEO builds an asset that works for you 24/7.

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