Mockup of South Shields Surf Website

What our clients say…

“Have been great at sorting out our SEO and finding ways to promote my organisation. Thanks Sumo Marketing!”

Nick Jones, Owner
South Shields Surf School

Website: www.southshieldsurf.co.uk

The Challenge

South Shields Surf School is a Community Interest Company dedicated to making the benefits of being in and around the ocean accessible to everyone. They offer a wide range of activities including surfing, paddle boarding, rockpooling, coastal exploring, and beach school sessions for individuals, schools, and community groups. A key part of their work includes adaptive surfing sessions, providing safe, supportive ocean experiences for people with additional needs and disabilities.

Despite their strong community focus and diverse programme, the surf school faced challenges with online visibility. Their website lacked SEO structure, and they were missing out on potential traffic from local searches for their services. With limited digital reach, they needed a strategy to improve organic discoverability and connect with more people searching for ocean-based experiences.

Solution

Sumo Marketing Group recognised the opportunity to support a meaningful and growing local organisation. Appreciating the valuable work South Shields Surf School does in the community, particularly in providing inclusive surf experiences for individuals with disabilities, the team at Sumo wanted to give back by offering their expertise to help elevate the school’s digital presence.

Together with the client, we implemented a tailored SEO strategy that unfolded across several key stages:

  1. Keyword Strategy: Worked with the client to identify 20 targeted keywords tied to specific services and local search behaviour.
  2. SEO Audit: Conducted a comprehensive audit to assess technical issues, on-site content gaps, and metadata deficiencies.
  3. Content Planning: Proposed a structure for new service-specific landing pages to better align with high-value search terms and improve indexing.
  4. Technical SEO Support: Delivered a slide deck with step-by-step optimisation instructions to guide changes on their Wix website.
  5. Ongoing Support: Held regular check-ins to clarify recommendations and ensure Nick and his team could confidently implement the improvements themselves

Results

Over a six-month period, the surf school’s digital presence saw major improvements:

  • Significant improvement in keyword rankings, with stronger visibility for key search terms
  • 7 keywords now ranking on page one of Google
  • 233% increase in overall website visitors
  • 235% increase in Organic Search traffic

These results reflect a strong foundation for continued growth and greater digital reach, achieved without reliance on paid advertising.

Conclusion

South Shields Surf School’s journey with Sumo Marketing Group is a clear example of how strategic SEO can drive significant change. By focusing on practical implementation, technical clarity, and long-term keyword alignment, we helped a mission-led organisation better reach the communities they serve. With improved visibility, South Shields Surf School is now in a stronger position to connect more people with the benefits of the ocean — safely, inclusively, and sustainably.