The List
Below are the nominations I’ve achieved as an SEO & SEM project lead under Digital Hitmen. Alternatively, if you’d rather learn about the results and strategy behind them instead feel free to skip the summary below.
Skip to the campaign breakdownsAPAC Search Awards 2026 (Results To Be Announced February 2026)
- Finalist: “Best Use of Search – B2B (SEO)” (ESG & Commercial Sparkie Niche)
- Finalist: “Best Use of Search – Health” (Eye Health Niche)
- Finalist: “Best Low Budget Campaign (SEO)” (Construction Niche)
- Finalist: “Best Use of Content Marketing” (Home Improvement Niche)
- Finalist: “Emerging Talent Award”
Search Engine Land Awards 2025
- Winner: “Best Local Search Marketing Initiative – SEO” (Construction Niche)
- Finalist: “Best Overall SEO Initiative – Small Business” (Home Improvement Niche)
Global Search Awards 2025
- Finalist: “Best Low Budget Campaign (SEO): Small” (Construction Niche)
- Finalist: “Best Use of Content Marketing (Small)” (Home Improvement Niche)
Global Digital Excellence Awards 2025
- Finalist: “Standout B2C SEO Campaign of the Year” (Home Improvement Niche)
APAC Search Awards 2025
- Finalist: “Best Use of Search – Travel/Leisure (SEO)” (Travel/Car Rental Niche)
- Finalist: “Best Integrated Campaign” (Construction Niche)
Search Engine Land Awards 2024
- Winner: “Best local search marketing initative – SEO” (Travel/Car Rental Niche)
- Finalist: “Best overall SEO initiative – Small business” (Construction Niche)
APAC Search Awards 2024
- Finalist: “Best Low Budget SEO Campaign” (Transport & Logistics Niche)
SEMRush AU Search Awards 2023
- Finalist: “Best SEO Campaign” (Transport & Logistics Niche)
Breaking It Down By Campaigns
Below are the various campaigns nominated for awards. The dates provided correspond with the timeframe eligible and/or the campaign length for each submission.
Construction Material Supplier SEO & SEM
This campaign has been submitted twice, once for integrated search engine marketing and another for just pure local SEO.
SEM (June 2023 – October 2024)
- Context: New construction startup wanted financial independence from their parent company and needed integrated search to quickly gain leads and a digital foothold
- Challenge: Brand new to the local market with limited resources to start (lower ad spend), meaning efficiency was crucial
- Strategy: Compounding integrated search with SEO and DSA, using landing pages built to rank and optimised for CRO, with perceived authority built by targeting potential client pain points, questions, and relevant entities through evergreen blog content
- Result: 302%+ organic traffic compared to the previous year, 700%+ surge in monthly organic leads, 68%+ leads from PPC and 250%+ increase in leads from SEO and PPC
SEO (June 2024 – August 2025)
- Context: The success of our integrated search meant we could focus on building a wider, unbeatable gap in organic visibility
- Challenge: We became the leading brand for our niche, so to continue rapid expansion we turned to targeting much higher value commercial projects
- Strategy: Shifted focus into on-page targeting for commercial clients with newly built landing pages covering AS/NZS standards, testimonials, visual proof of past projects and CAD mockups to address builder intent upfront, plus a regional expansion strategy reflected on-site and in GBP service areas with regional/cyclonic build considerations baked into the content for an easier sell
- Result: 88%+ organic traffic, 85%+ leads from organic traffic, large-scale franchise and commercial projects secured and massive SEO ROI secured
Affordable Car Rental SEO
Local SEO (June 2023 – June 2024)
- Context: Independent car hire company facing steep competition from major players chipping away at their local market share and needing to stand out via organic
- Challenge: Competing in an extremely high difficulty market dominated by global and national franchises, including Kayak, Hertz and No Birds, with comparatively limited resources and marketing spend
- Strategy: Leveraged their affordability and low upfront costs value prop to niche down on-page targeting (blue ocean strategy to stand out faster in a competitive market) and aim for more “budget” rental keywords, supported by vehicle type and brand rental pages (with extensive CRO testing) and content around local destination/road trip/travel ideas on a budget
- Result: 179%+ in bookings and 68%+ in traffic through organic search YoY
Home Design & Improvement SEO
SEO & Content Strategy (February 2024 – June 2025)
- Context: Local builders experienced in home improvement and outdoor design needed to recover as their brand visibility from organic has turned to nil after no SEO investment and after major algorithm updates
- Challenge: Competing against players who’d done 10 years of SEO vs our zero, and after getting hammered by Google’s algorithm updates, meant we were starting from a disadvantageous spot
- Strategy: Inbound marketing content strategy that mapped out every key buyer consideration before purchase decisions, backed by an editorial strategy centered around information gain and repurposing customer reviews/projects/clients as real, helpful content for every design/idea blog, plus extensive CRO and page optimisation that turned service pages into magazine-like visual catalogues that attract and convert
- Result: 240%+ organic traffic YoY, 1100%+ in top 3 rankings (SEMRush), 6-months fully booked in advance, 91% increase in monthly leads compared to the year prior, 50%+ branded search increase
B2B Logistics SEO
Local SEO (August 2023-2024)
- Context: Family-owned logistics company never had a strong online presence and needed the ability to earn leads and bookings on their own via organic search
- Challenge: Zero search visibility competing against nation-wide carriers like Centurion
- Strategy: New conversion-optimised service landing pages, local freight hub and route targeting, heavy technical SEO fixes with page speed optimisation, and ongoing content that scored traffic, built authority and positioned their brand as a safety and quality-first operator to differentiate from the market (reflecting their values of responsibility, integrity and high standards)
- Result: 143% increase in monthly organic traffic compared to the previous year, 187%+ organic traffic YoY, 139%+ increase in monthly organic leads, and positive enough returns to rapidly increase fleet size with new trucks
Frequently Asked Questions
The Search Engine Land Awards are one of the highest forms of recognition in digital and search marketing. They celebrate the best SEO, PPC, and overall search campaigns run by professionals and agencies around the world.
It matters because it’s judged by some of the leading minds in search marketing, including names like Danny Goodwin and Barry Schwartz among the panel. Winning or even being shortlisted means your strategy, execution, and results stood out among the best globally.
In particular, innovation, and a balance between forward-thinking strategies and delivering real, measurable outcomes are core to being recognised.
The APAC Search Awards recognise the top performers in SEO, PPC, and content marketing across the Asia-Pacific region. They highlight the people and agencies setting the benchmark for strategy, creativity, and measurable results in search.
This one recognises excellence across the diverse and fast-growing Asia-Pacific digital landscape, and the chance to compete and showcase your work amongst APAC’s most competitive and high-performing campaigns.
The Global Search Awards recognise the best SEO, PPC, and content marketing work from around the world. They celebrate the people and teams delivering real results through smart strategy and execution.
This one matters because it puts your work up against the best in the world and shows how your approach performs on a global stage.
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The Global Digital Excellence Awards recognise the best digital work from around the world across all channels, not just search. They celebrate the people and teams who use digital strategy to drive real outcomes, whether that’s growth, performance, or genuine innovation.
This one measures success by results, not tactics, and rewards digital campaigns that actually move the needle for businesses.
The SEMrush Australia Search Awards were created to celebrate the best in SEO, PPC, and content marketing across Australia. They’ve now merged with the APAC Search Awards to form one larger program recognising top digital work across the entire Asia-Pacific region.
