The Wildlife Garden Project CIC, founded by Laura Turner and based in Nottingham, aims to inspire and inform people on how to make their gardens more wildlife friendly. As a Community Interest Company (CIC), their mission is to make wildlife gardening accessible to all by providing resources such as films, articles, and campaigns. Earlier this year, the company launched the Wildlife Garden Directory, a tool designed to help people find local wildlife-friendly gardeners, landscapers, and designers while promoting gardening businesses that prioritize eco-friendly methods.
Despite the success of the initial launch, Laura Turner and her team saw the need for further growth. Their goal was to reach a wider audience and improve the customer experience on their website. Although they had promoted the directory on social media, they realised that organic search engine traffic could significantly boost visibility. They applied for a small business grant with the guidance of adviser David Hallam to fund a project aimed at improving the website’s SEO and user experience.
The grant allowed Wildlife Garden Project CIC to hire Hello Panda, a web design and SEO company, to carry out a comprehensive SEO audit and make essential design enhancements. The SEO audit highlighted several areas for improvement, such as adding new landing pages, optimising keywords, and updating meta descriptions. These changes, along with improved sitelinks and better internal and external linking, would help the website rank higher in Google search results, increasing its visibility to potential users. Additionally, the design improvements made the website more user-friendly and visually appealing, ensuring a smoother customer journey and decreasing user drop-off rates.
The small business grant has been instrumental in helping Wildlife Garden Project CIC improve its online presence, increase revenue, and build resilience for future growth. The project is now well-positioned to expand its directory, connect more gardeners with customers, and continue fostering a community of wildlife-friendly gardening enthusiasts.
Looking ahead, Wildlife Garden Project CIC plans to continue growing the directory, implementing the remaining SEO recommendations, and expanding their offerings to include other types of wildlife-friendly businesses, such as wildflower seed suppliers and nurseries. With the improvements made possible by the grant, they are now better equipped to fulfil their vision of making wildlife gardening the norm while supporting eco-conscious gardening businesses across the UK.
Click here to access the Wildlife Garden Directory