Barrons Building Services
A clearer brand and faster site made Barrons easier to find in Google and AI search.
Sector
Construction & Trades
Location
Stroud, Gloucestershire (Cotswolds)
Services
Branding, Web Design, SEO & AEO, Photography
26.85%
Search visibility
Up 23.53% in Semrush Position Tracking
2
Keywords ranking #1
Including “dry stone waller Stroud” and “dry stone walling rates”
4
Keywords in Google’s Top 10
Three new Top 10 rankings in the tracked period
154
Referring domains
Up 29.41%, alongside 555 additional backlinks
Before and after.
The old homepage next to the one we designed and built.
Before
After
The challenge
Nick runs Barrons Building Services, a Stroud-based stonemasonry and building specialist with genuine pedigree: 15+ years' experience, work showcased on BBC's Building the Dream, a Chelsea Flower Show commission with garden designer Chris Beardshaw on a Morgan Stanley-sponsored garden, and heritage projects at estates including Blenheim Palace. None of that came through on the old website. It read like a generic local trades site: a templated layout, awards buried below the fold, and messaging pitched at 'all your masonry needs' rather than the high-end stonework Nick actually specialises in. The risk was direct: Nick nearly lost a piece of client work because the site didn't represent the quality of what he does.
Our approach
Reposition Barrons as the premium option it already was in practice, not just on paper.
Before Nick committed to anything, we showed him a mock-up of what his site and brand could look like. From there we redid the branding and logo, then rebuilt the site from the ground up: darker, more editorial, and positioned around ‘Crafting timeless stonework and bespoke living spaces’ instead of a generic service list. We went on-site with Nick and the team for a photography shoot, so every project image is real work. Alongside the rebuild we started an SEO strategy built on blog writing and keyword-targeted content across the site, aimed at the searches Barrons’ ideal clients actually use.
The outcome
Over six months Barrons went from barely visible to ranking top of Google for its chosen keywords, outranking its local competition and businesses across the country. Semrush Position Tracking recorded 26.85% search visibility, up 23.53% over the tracked period, with two target keywords at number one, four in Google’s Top 10 and seven in the Top 20.
Barrons is also cited directly in Google’s AI Overview for ‘cost of dry stone walling’, and Nick has seen the site come up in ChatGPT and Claude for relevant searches. Just as important to Nick, new clients and prospects have been complimenting the website.
A prospective client, a former GCHQ cyber security analyst, visited the site and told Nick unprompted how impressed he was by how well it was built. It's the kind of validation that's hard to manufacture, and exactly the problem the project set out to solve: a site that actually reflects the standard of the work behind it.
What people search to find Barrons.
The content strategy is doing its job. Barrons now earns clicks for the questions its ideal clients actually ask, and the cost guide we wrote, Dry stone walling cost in Gloucestershire, was the site’s most-clicked page from Google in June and August, ahead of the homepage.
10.6K
Google impressions in August, up from 9.15K in May
+18%
More clicks from Google search, May to August
#1
Most-clicked page in June and August: the dry stone walling cost guide
Searches that bring people to the site
dry stone wall cost per metre
how much does it cost to build a stone wall
dry stone walling cost
dry stone wall cost per m2 uk
dry stone wallers near me
drone surveyors stroud
Source: Google Search Console, May to August 2026, web search.
Where Barrons shows up on Google
“stone masonry gloucestershire”: Barrons is the top result.
“drystone walling gloucestershire”: Barrons is cited in Google’s AI Overview and is the first result below it.
“drystone walling stroud”: Barrons is the first result after Google’s images and questions.
“drone surveys cotswolds”: Barrons’ drone survey page ranks on page one, below the map listings.
The work
A prospective client, a former cyber security analyst at GCHQ, came to see us specifically to say how impressed he was with the new website. That's not the kind of feedback you get very often, and it's exactly why we wanted it done properly.
Nick, Founder, Barrons Building Services
