How we integrated SEO with Google Ads for better lead generation
SE Environmental are specialists in the survey, treatment and removal of Japanese knotweed, with more than 25 years’ experience helping homeowners, buyers and developers across the UK.
Since 2024, SE Environmental (SE) has worked with Trio on their Google Ads using seasonal campaigns and budgets to drive conversions during peak periods. Due to the growth in leads generated by ads, SE brought on our SEO services to drive further reach through organic search.
How it all started
SE Environmental first wanted to capture immediate visibility through a Google Ads strategy focused on lead generation. With an ad budget aligned with seasonal demand, SE increased the number of leads generated during peak and off-peak periods. Google Ads proved successful, so SE eventually requested our SEO services to help grow their organic online presence without relying solely on PPC.
With SEO and PPC working together to maintain year-round visibility, we could target key seasonal periods with the right services to maximise return over time.
What we did
We used the keyword and conversion insights generated from Google Ads to inform our SEO strategy and the keywords we wanted to rank for organically. This approach eliminated any guesswork and allowed us to align both paid and organic search to maximise overall search visibility.
To do this, we:
- Carried out a technical SEO audit with fixes that led to a site health score of 99%.
- Mapped high-intent, commercial keywords to the right service pages and optimised on-page content around them.
- Created a content plan around questions their target audience asks, as well as briefing the client on blog production.
- Refined the Google Ads account around the highest-intent searches, such as Japanese knotweed surveys, removal and treatment.
- Used what the 2025 campaign data told us was converting to build new, dedicated landing pages, including a domestic Japanese knotweed page.
The results
Through an integrated marketing strategy, we established strong organic foundations that built exactly the long-term, sustainable growth SE wanted to achieve:
- 85% increase in overall website conversions
- 242% increase in organic users
- 153% increase in total traffic
- Page 1 on Google for key commercial terms, such as ‘selling a house with Japanese knotweed’ and ‘domestic Japanese knotweed removal’
- 10.5% increase in overall search visibility
- Increased placements in Google’s AI Overview for commercial terms ‘Japanese knotweed’ and ‘Japanese knotweed removal’ during peak summer season
As SE’s organic visibility grew, the Google Ads continued to deliver a great return on ad spend:
- 185% jump in conversions year on year
- 62% lower cost per conversion (CPC)
- 3.9% increase in conversion rate (double the year before)
- 226% increase in tracked phone calls from the ads
To adapt to how AI search is changing user behaviour, our strategy combined SE Environmental’s initially successful Google Ads with SEO, driving much stronger overall results.
“Trio have done a sterling job — they’re a genuine extension of our team and the results speak for themselves.”
SE Environmental
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Integrating the short-term wins of PPC with the long-term visibility of SEO will help you achieve the visibility you need, even as AI search changes how users convert.
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