BRINGING A NEW BRAND TO THE TOP

Skincare & Beauty SEO Case Study: REFY

Brand new beauty and skincare brand REFY Beauty approached us with no internal SEO team, relying on basic Shopify SEO, and we helped them significantly grow their search visibility and organic traffic.

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537%

increase in non-branded impressions since campaign start.

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188%

increase in organic traffic since campaign staert.

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396%

increase in non-branded clicks over the past 18 months.

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What Was The Strategy?

Technical SEO Optimisation: We initially focused on addressing technical issues, including fixing breadcrumb links and restructuring the website’s <head> section. We identified and removed Shopify plugins and apps that were negatively affecting site performance. We also resolved collection page canonical linking issues and implemented schema markup for the organisation, products, and collection pages. Additionally, we disallowed .atom pages to improve site indexing.

Full Metadata Overhaul: We carried out a full metadata overhaul to improve search result visibility and relevance. This involved rewriting titles and descriptions to better reflect user intent and the brand’s unique selling points. We tested and uploaded different messaging variations to monitor their impact on click-through rates (CTR), allowing us to optimise the most effective language. Part of this strategy included adding clear calls-to-action (CTAs), such as highlighting free shipping, to encourage users to click through and engage with the site.

International SEO: We advocated for translating the website’s domains to better reach international audiences, with the German subdomain translation delivering excellent results. When REFY Beauty launched in the US, we supported their expansion by providing trend analysis and keyword research to capitalise on the new market opportunity. Additionally, we ensured the correct implementation of hreflang tags to help search engines serve the right content to users based on their language and location.

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The Challenges

Balancing SEO and Design

We faced the challenge of delivering strong SEO results while respecting REFY’s desire for a minimal, sleek design. This meant working with very limited on-page content, which required careful balancing to optimise for search engines without compromising the brand’s clean aesthetic.

Small Product Range

REFY has a small, highly focused product range but aims to compete with major beauty brands that offer much larger selections. This required a targeted SEO strategy to highlight their unique strengths and stand out in a crowded market.

Faulty Plugins & International SEO

REFY faced challenges with international SEO and achieving correct rankings due to a faulty Shopify plugin that disrupted hreflang implementation. With limited resources for Digital PR and a slow buy-in on translating content, progress was gradual but crucial for expanding their global reach.

558%

increase in clicks through to collection pages

increase in clicks through to product pages

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386%

increase in organic users Sep 2024 vs Sep 2022

increase in organic search revenue, Sep 2024 vs Sep 2022

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522%

increase in candidate placements via organic search

year-over-year increase in clicks for important commercial terms

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303%

year-over-year increase in organic sessions

year-over-year increase in #1-3 UK keyword rankings

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83%

year-over-year increase in 1st page keyword rankings

increase in organic revenue between July 2023 and July 2024.

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367%

year-over-year increase in global organic users

increase in first page rankings in the UK after 6 months.

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202%

year-over-year increase in position #1-3 keyword rankings in less than a year

increase in position #1-3 keyword rankings in less than a year.

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174%

ranking for 'plaster coving' in the UK

increase in organic traffic over the first 6 months.

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440%

increase in keywords ranking in top 100

increase in top 10 keyword rankings over the course of the campaign.

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78%

rankings for big keywords like 'ear wax removal Old Street'

year-over-year increase in earwax removal bookings.

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60%

positions for 'Modus Fireplace' in the UK

year-over-year increase in enquiries

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228%

increase in organic clicks YoY (April 2025 vs April 2024)

increase in organic search revenue YoY (April 2025 vs April 2024)

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537%

increase in organic traffic since campaign staert.

increase in non-branded impressions since campaign start.

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Client success:

386%

increase in organic search revenue, Sep 2024 vs Sep 2022

"We've been working with Studio Hawk for a couple of years now, they've helped us see huge growth through our organic search channels and have been extremely supportive through launches, campaigns and helping us improve our content across the website. A great agency to work with - highly recommend."

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Skincare & Beauty SEO Case Study: REFY

Balancing SEO and Design

Small Product Range

Faulty Plugins & International SEO

536.6% increase in non-branded impressions since we started the campaign.

188% increase in organic traffic since we started the campaign.

396.3% increase in non-branded clicks since we started the campaign.

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