Green SEO in Action: How I Helped a London Funeral Director Stand Out Online

A one-person, freelance SEO case study—privacy details changed

Quick Takeaways:

Family-run funeral director in East London struggled to attract online inquiries, despite a modern website.

My SEO audit found gaps in local SEO, lack of "green" keyword targeting, and limited fresh content.

I built and executed an eco-focused SEO plan: new landing pages, local reviews, and targeted content strategy.

Organic traffic grew by 82%, driving £50,000+ in new business—30% of new calls were for eco-friendly options.

Lesson: Specialising and personalising SEO, with a focus on real values, can transform even the most traditional services.

Note: All names, locations, and some details have been changed for privacy. Stats and methodology are real; this is my direct, solo work as a freelance SEO consultant.

Introduction: Solo SEO for Sensitive Sectors

I'm an independent SEO consultant based in Leeds—just me, no agency or employees, and I plan to keep it that way. There's something special about working one-to-one with clients, especially those in sensitive industries where trust isn't just important—it's everything.

When people are grieving, when they're making one of the most difficult decisions of their lives, they need to find businesses they can trust immediately. There's no second chance to make a first impression when someone is searching for funeral services at 2am, overwhelmed and heartbroken.

This case study details how I worked directly with an East London funeral director to boost their online visibility in an ethical, eco-conscious way. It's a story about more than just rankings—it's about helping a family business serve their community better during their most vulnerable moments.

The Client: "East London Memorial Services"

This is a pseudonym, but the situation is achingly real: a family-run funeral director established in the 1980s by a husband-and-wife team who genuinely care about helping bereaved families in areas like Tower Hamlets, Newham, and Hackney.

Walking into their office for our first meeting, I was struck by the warmth of the place. Family photos on the desk, handwritten thank-you cards pinned to a noticeboard, a small kitchen where they'd clearly shared thousands of cups of tea with grieving families over the decades.

Like many small funeral firms, they'd long relied on word of mouth and adverts in the local paper. But as more families turned to Google post-COVID—often at their most desperate moments—their online enquiries had started to dry up, especially in the more digitally-savvy areas of Hackney and Newham.

The business had always prided itself on offering choices that reflected families' values, including willow coffins and natural burial options. But somehow, this wasn't translating online.

The Challenge: Lost in the Digital Crowd

In early 2023, their Google visibility was frankly awful for searches like "funeral directors in Tower Hamlets." The big chains with their massive advertising budgets were drowning them out completely. Their Google Analytics painted a depressing picture: 200–300 monthly visitors, but bounce rates hovering over 70%. Families were landing on their site and leaving immediately—they weren't finding what they needed quickly enough during what might be the worst day of their lives.

When "Sarah" (not her real name), the funeral director, first rang me after reading about my specialised work with funeral firms, her voice was tired. She'd been working 60-hour weeks, juggling everything from arranging services to trying to figure out why their website wasn't working for them.

"We're about supporting families with proper respect and care," she told me during that first call. "But if they can't find us online when they need us most, how can we actually help them?"

That question stayed with me. It wasn't just about SEO metrics—it was about being there for people when they needed support most urgently.

Diagnosing the Visibility Gap

I always perform a comprehensive SEO audit for new clients personally—no outsourcing, no junior staff member with a checklist. I need to understand not just what's broken, but why it matters to real people using the site in crisis moments.

Here's what I uncovered during my deep dive:

Keyword mismatch: Their content was trying to rank for impossibly broad, high-competition phrases like "funeral services London"—the digital equivalent of shouting into a hurricane. Meanwhile, they were completely missing the specific, modern queries people were actually typing.

Local SEO gaps: Their Google Business Profile looked like it had been set up once in 2018 and forgotten. Missing photos, sparse descriptions, and directory listings that had their phone number wrong in three different places.

Content gaps: The website felt sterile. Few blog posts, no fresh content for months, and absolutely nothing about their eco-friendly options—despite growing interest in green funerals across London.

Technical issues: Page load speeds that would frustrate anyone, let alone someone dealing with grief. Images that hadn't been optimised, no schema markup, and a mobile experience that was functional but hardly comforting.

Most tellingly, they ranked reasonably well in Tower Hamlets where they'd been established longest, but were virtually invisible in environmentally-conscious Hackney and Newham—areas where the "green funeral" trend was taking off.

The Turning Point: Embracing Green SEO

During one of our strategy sessions, Sarah mentioned almost in passing that they'd been offering willow coffins and natural burial options for years. "Not many people ask for them," she said, "but when they do, you can see the relief on their faces. It feels right for their loved one."

That comment was a lightbulb moment. My research was showing that searches for "green funerals" and "biodegradable coffins" were climbing steadily—up 40% year-on-year in the UK according to industry data. But Sarah's business was completely invisible for these searches, despite actually offering these services.

We had found our angle: position them not just as another funeral director, but as East London's go-to for families who wanted their final farewells to reflect their environmental values.

My Green SEO Strategy – Step by Step

1. Personalised Keyword Research

I spent weeks digging through search data, using tools like SE Ranking, Google's Keyword Planner, and SEO PowerSuite to identify opportunities everyone else was missing:

• "Eco-friendly funerals London" (200/month, surprisingly low competition)

• "Biodegradable coffins UK" (300/month)

• "Sustainable funeral services Hackney"

• "Green burials Newham"

• "Woodland burial East London"

Plus dozens of extra-long-tail versions that captured exactly how people search when they're researching options for someone they've lost.

2. Content That Actually Helps People

I personally rewrote their key landing pages, but this wasn't just about stuffing keywords in. Every page needed to answer the questions families were actually asking:

New service pages: "Green Funeral Services," "Biodegradable Coffins," "Natural Burial Options"—each one written to address both practical concerns (What does it cost? How long does it take?) and emotional ones (Is this respectful? What would mum have wanted?).

Regular blog content: I established a publishing schedule of genuinely helpful posts. "The Rise of Eco-Friendly Funerals in London" became one of their most-read pages, but I also covered practical topics like "Understanding Natural Burial Options" and "How to Choose an Environmentally-Friendly Coffin."

Technical improvements: Added proper structured data so Google could understand their services, compressed those massive image files, and made sure everything worked beautifully on mobile—because grief doesn't wait for people to get to a desktop computer.

3. Local SEO That Actually Matters

I completely overhauled their Google Business Profile, but again, this wasn't just box-ticking:

• Added photos that showed their eco-friendly options alongside traditional services

• Wrote descriptions that actually explained what made them different

• Built consistent citations across every relevant UK funeral directory

• Most importantly, I helped them develop a gentle system for encouraging reviews from families who felt comfortable sharing their experience

The review strategy was particularly important. We focused on families who had chosen their green options and wanted to help others find the same peace of mind they'd experienced.

4. Monitoring and Adapting

Since I handle everything personally, I was able to spot trends and problems quickly:

• Weekly Search Console reviews to catch any technical issues

• Monthly traffic and ranking reports with genuine insights, not just data dumps

• Quick responses to algorithm updates (Google threw us a curveball in March 2023, but our quality content helped us bounce back stronger)

Every week, I sent Sarah a personal update—not a generic agency template, but actual observations about what was working and what we needed to adjust.

Implementation Timeline: The Real Journey

Month 1: Deep audit and technical fixes. This wasn't glamorous work, but it was essential—fixing core web vitals, mapping out the content strategy, and getting the foundations right.

Month 2: Content creation began in earnest. New service pages went live, and I published the first batch of blog posts. Sarah was nervous about how traditional families might react to the green focus, so we made sure everything felt inclusive rather than exclusive.

Month 3: Local SEO intensive work. Updated Google Business Profile, built citations, and began the gentle process of encouraging reviews from satisfied families.

Month 4: First proper results started showing. We were ranking on page two for several green funeral terms, and organic traffic was climbing steadily.

Overcoming Real-World Challenges

The biggest hurdle wasn't technical—it was emotional. Sarah worried that emphasising green options might make traditional families feel judged or excluded. "What if people think we're pushing an agenda?" she asked during one of our monthly calls.

We solved this by positioning eco-friendly options as exactly that—options. Every piece of content emphasised choice and respect for different values. The messaging became: "Whatever feels right for your family, we're here to help make it happen."

There was also the inevitable Google algorithm update that temporarily knocked our rankings. But because we'd focused on genuinely helpful content rather than SEO tricks, we recovered quickly and actually came back stronger.

Results: From Invisible to Indispensable

By month 11 after launching our strategy, the transformation was remarkable:

Traffic growth: Organic visitors up 82% (from 250 to 455 monthly visitors). Those "green" keywords now accounted for 45% of all organic traffic.

Ranking improvements: "Biodegradable coffins London" moved from page 3 to position #4. "Eco-friendly funerals Hackney" broke into the top 5. "Green burials East London" was ranking #2.

Local impact: Enquiries from our targeted London boroughs rose by 123%, with 30% specifically mentioning interest in eco-friendly options.

Business results: Sarah closed 15 additional funerals in the first quarter directly attributable to SEO—over £50,000 of new business. More importantly, these weren't just any enquiries—they were from families who felt genuinely excited to find services that matched their values.

User engagement: Bounce rates dropped to 45%, and people were spending 40% longer on the site, actually reading the content instead of leaving immediately.

But the most rewarding feedback came from families themselves. Several mentioned in their reviews how finding the green funeral options had brought them comfort during an incredibly difficult time.

Key Lessons for Solo Funeral Firms (Or Any Small Business)

Niche content really works: Instead of trying to compete with everyone for generic terms, find your unique angle and own it completely.

Local SEO is absolutely critical: Your Google Business Profile isn't just a listing—it's often the first impression families get of your business.

Don't be afraid to stand for something: Presenting eco-friendly options didn't alienate traditional customers—it attracted new ones while showing existing customers that you care about offering choices.

Personal service beats agency scale: Working with one dedicated consultant meant every decision was made with Sarah's specific business and community in mind, not as part of some generic strategy template.

Quality content is worth the investment: Those in-depth blog posts about green funeral options are still bringing in new families over a year later.

Ready to Green Your SEO—and Grow?

If this story sounds familiar—if you're a funeral director or any small business owner who knows you offer something valuable but can't seem to connect with the right families online—I'd love to chat.

As a one-person consultancy, every conversation is with me directly. Every strategy is built specifically for your business, your values, and your community. No account managers, no junior staff, no generic templates.

Contact me by email (jj@jjseo.co.uk), phone (07722327882), or schedule a free 1:1 consultation via my SEO services and pricing page.

Let's make sure the families who need you most can actually find you when it matters.

All work described here was designed and implemented solely by myself as an independent, freelance SEO consultant. Your privacy, dignity, and values always come first.

Related blog posts:

Using SEO to connect Funeral Homes with your local communities

SEO for Funeral Homes: Niche Services Guide for UK Funeral Directors