From Pages 4–5 to Page 1: SN Mortgages SEO Case Study

About the Client

SN Mortgages is an Oxfordshire mortgage broker specialising in adverse credit — helping people who’ve been declined elsewhere secure a mortgage.

The Challenge

When SN Mortgages came to me, the site had done well before but had been neglected. Themes and plugins were out of date, the build was dated, and it was stuck around pages 4–5 for important local searches after Google updates. Without stronger visibility, it was harder to win the adverse-credit enquiries the business is built on.

My Solution

I started with a full site audit to find what was holding search performance back. Working with Steven, I:

• Updated the technical foundation — theme updates, plugin maintenance, image compression and script reduction to improve page speed and crawlability.
• Conducted keyword research — discovering high-intent search terms related to bad credit mortgages, adverse credit and declined mortgage applications.
• Implemented on-page SEO — titles, meta descriptions and headings aligned with what people actually search.
• Produced long-form content — blog posts and guides answering common customer questions and highlighting potential solutions.
• Built authority — strengthened on-page trust signals (E-E-A-T) and earned relevant links where it made sense.
• Improved local SEO and tracking — built citations, improved local signals, and set up analytics and conversion tracking to measure progress.

Results

Within about three months, the site moved from pages 4–5 onto page 1 for competitive searches such as "bad credit mortgage broker" and "adverse credit mortgage broker". Visibility and organic clicks improved as those rankings landed, and Steven saw more qualified enquiries coming through. A follow-up audit also showed an 18% improvement on the initial SEO audit score — useful technical progress, but the main win was page-1 visibility and more enquiries.

What Steven Said

What This Project Reinforced

A few things this project made clear:

• Focus on the customer: Build pages around the questions adverse-credit clients actually ask.
• Quality content matters: Long-form, informative articles build authority. Do not just write for search engines — write for people.
• Technical foundations are critical: Site speed, schema markup and mobile responsiveness all influence how search engines crawl and rank your pages.
• Local SEO is powerful: For service businesses, optimising for local search terms can drive high-intent traffic.
• Measure and iterate: Analytics allow you to see what is working and adjust your strategy accordingly. SEO is ongoing; small improvements compound over time.