Case study ยท Trades
CarpetGlow: from a standing start to page one for 106 local search terms
106Page-one search terms
- Page-one search terms
- 106105 non-branded
- Google impressions
- 9,400+First six months, from zero
- Monthly impressions by July
- 2,281From 183 in the launch month
- Clicks from mobile
- 72%A local, on-the-go audience
- Social conversion rate
- 20%+Owner-supplied
- Impressions on the money term
- ~2,850carpet cleaning hemel hempstead
- Client
- CarpetGlow
- Sector
- Trades
The challenge
Where they started.
CarpetGlow is a carpet and upholstery cleaning business in Hemel Hempstead, run by Michelle Brooks. It launched in early 2026 with no online history at all.
There was nothing to build on. Google recorded its first ever impression for the site on 22 February 2026. A brand-new local business, starting from zero, up against established cleaners and the big directories that already owned the search results.
Michelle needed to be found by local people searching for carpet and upholstery cleaning, to look trustworthy from the first click, and to make getting a quote easy.
The approach
What we did.
We built CarpetGlow's version of the Booked Solid System in house, from a blank page. Three parts, in the right order.
First, the website. Designed and built in house on our AI-first framework, so it can be updated and improved through chat rather than wrestling with a CMS. Quick to launch, easy to keep current.
Second, local SEO and honest content. Service guides, town pages and real pricing, published openly, so CarpetGlow answers the questions local customers actually search for instead of hiding the basics.
Third, the operations layer: a custom-built CRM for Michelle that stays deliberately simple. Leads land straight from the website form with instant new-lead alerts, convert into jobs, and trigger WhatsApp messages for booking confirmations and review requests. Customers can upload photos for a faster, easier quote, and WhatsApp buttons on the site make the whole quoting journey seamless, for the customer and for Michelle.
The results
The payoff.
This is a new business's first six months, so read it as trajectory, not scale.
From that standing start on 22 February 2026, CarpetGlow reached page one of Google for 106 search terms, 105 of them non-branded, and passed 9,400 Google impressions in its first six months. Monthly impressions climbed from 183 in the launch month to 2,281 by July.
It is on page one for the term that matters most locally, carpet cleaning hemel hempstead, which alone draws around 2,850 impressions, and it now shows on page one across surrounding towns including Watford, Kings Langley and Tring. These are locally personalised positions, so we treat them as visibility rather than fixed rankings.
The audience is where you would expect for a local trade: 72% of clicks come from mobile. Beyond search, Michelle's social traffic is converting at over 20%, and organic enquiries are now landing every week.
For a business that had no search presence at all in February, that is a real foundation to build on.
Designed and built in house
A website built in house, updated by chat.
CarpetGlow's website was designed and built in house, part of one connected programme rather than a job sent out to a separate agency. Strategy, design, build and copy, under one roof.
It runs on our AI-first framework, so Michelle's site is updated and improved through chat rather than wrestling with a CMS. New for launch, it went from a blank page to page one for 106 local search terms.
That is what website design and development looks like when it is one part of the wider programme.
In their words
“Steve and the team at We Are SMC have done a fantastic job bringing my vision for Carpet Glow to life, we now get regular leads daily through the website and customers have commented on how easy they find it to use. Our CRM system helps to keep us focused on managing the work, while the website does the job of finding us more local work.”
How it was done
The services behind the result.
Next step