SEO for Hamilton businesses

2024 was a difficult year for many New Zealand businesses, but for this online electronics store, I netted them an extra ~17,000 organic visitors per quarter, increasing their organic traffic by a whopping 300% (4x increase) in only one year.

If you want the same kind of SEO results for yourself, here is how you do it:

• #1 Every page needs a purpose. Every product page, collection page, and other website pages should be mapped to at least one specific search topic for SEO. If you don't know what keywords your web pages should be appearing for, you will struggle to find footing with your own SEO.
• #2 Keep it fast and fun. Users will stay longer on your website if it loads faster and gives them a better experience. Focus on removing website issues, loading web pages quickly, and adding value to your customer's browsing journey.
• #3 Do not forget about local SEO Google search is not the only place you can get organic traffic for. Optimise your Google My Business (GMB) listing for searches on Google Maps, and optimise your website for highly local searches, such as "Electronics stores Auckland", or "Electronics stores near me".

Every New Zealand business is trying to get on top of AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Google Answers, and Perplexity, but very few know how to optimise properly for this quickly growing channel.

Over the course of 2025, I grew AI brand discovery for an international furniture company from 300 to a whopping 8,000+ visits from ChatGPT following my proven tricks & techniques for AI search discovery, here was the bones of our AI SEO strategy:

• #1 Feeds & Rich Data. Use schema.org structured data so AI tools can map your content into answers directly. Keep pages fast-loading and easy to crawl. Submit your data to feeds like Google Merchants, XML sitemaps, and directories. Optimizing your feeds and rich data to be both accurate and reflecting the queries you want to show for is key.
• #2 Authority & Trust Signals. Brand mentions and backlinks currently have some of the strongest weighting for showing up in AI answers. Promote discussion about your services or products on social platforms like Reddit, get referenced on high-authority websites, and get featured in reputable news outlets.
• #3 Monitor, Experiment, & Optimise Use a reliable LLM monitoring tool to track brand mentions & citations on AI answer engines. Certain LLMs like ChatGPT can update their results frequently based on new feed & search data, so experiment with different strategies, review the results, and adjust your website content + metadata to match how people are querying these AI platforms.

While many New Zealand Shopify merchants were struggling to get new visitors during the harsh 2023 year compared to 2022, I grew the organic traffic of a local fashion brand by 90%, resulting in an extra ~80,000 website visitors per quarter.

My work on the Shopify store's SEO contributed to their 28% increase on online sales for 2023 compared to the same time period in 2022, a phenomenal result during a time where many other local businesses were down in sales.

Here is how I did it:

• #1 A Faster & Better Website. You will struggle to achieve any SEO growth if the shopping experience of your store isn't perfect. I improved loading time from 5 seconds on average to 0.5 seconds, and redesigned the store layout for better online shopping.
• #2 A Cross-Platform Content Strategy. I worked with their internal team on a combined content strategy that was cross-posted on their website, social media, and weekly newsletter. The end result was simplifying their content creation while increasing the reach of their content.
• #3 Rich Snippets & Discovery Feed. With a few simple changes to their website and content, I increased the frequency that their website appeared in Google's rich snippets and discovery feed, which is one of the most important and overlooked factors for SEO rankings in modern day, and a crucial factor for appearing in AI searches (AI SEO).

I began working with Hamilton businesses in 2014, when search optimisation in the city was still fairly straightforward. At the time, many websites could reach strong rankings simply by including the business name and a local reference in the title. The environment has changed since then. Hamilton now has a much more informed group of operators, and competition across every industry is stronger.

Over the years I’ve worked with a mix of organisations that reflect the city itself. Some have been small, owner-run companies focused on local visibility, while others, like Flex Fitness, operate at a regional or national level. My early work was divided between freelancing and agency roles, helping a variety of Hamilton clients improve their online presence. Today, I continue that work through my own agency, applying what I’ve learned about the local market and the way it has evolved.

My projects cover on-page optimisation, technical improvements, content planning, backlink development and local search visibility. Recently my work has extended into AI-based SEO and GEO, which aim to help Hamilton businesses appear in new discovery platforms such as ChatGPT. Each approach is adjusted for the local setting through Hamilton-specific search terms, local references and content that reflects the city’s character.

Hamilton remains an interesting place to work in digital marketing. It has the energy of a growing urban centre but still holds a strong sense of local connection. I’ve seen how steady, well-planned optimisation can improve visibility for businesses here and help them reach the customers who are already searching for them. The city’s mix of ambition and groundedness keeps the work both challenging and worthwhile.

Hamilton is a growing city in the centre of the Waikato. The 2023 Census counted 174,741 residents and a median age of 33.2 years, which helps explain its energy and pace. It also sits inside the Auckland Hamilton Tauranga golden triangle, a corridor that produces over half of New Zealand GDP and is home to more than half of the population, according to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment regional story.

Agriculture and agritech shape the local economy and culture. Fieldays at Mystery Creek is described as the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere by the organisers, with recent reporting noting more than a thousand exhibitors on site Fieldays and RNZ. That focus blends with manufacturing, logistics and professional services to give the city a broad base.

Education and research add weight to the city’s profile. The University of Waikato has its main campus in Hamilton and teaches more than thirteen thousand students each year, according to the university’s own material about and campus pages. Graduates feed into local firms across technology, engineering and the primary sector, which supports the wider regional economy.

Quality of life matters here as well. Hamilton Gardens regularly welcomes over a million visitors a year and is a signature public space for locals and travellers alike Hamilton City Council and Te Ara. New investment has also reshaped the city’s east, with the Ruakura Inland Port opening in 2023 to connect Waikato exporters and importers by rail with Tauranga and Auckland.

Search optimisation in Hamilton starts with a clear understanding of the local market. The city has a strong mix of traditional and modern industries, which means keyword research needs to reflect both sides. A Hamilton business should be found by people looking for services near them, but also by those searching from other parts of New Zealand. Including Hamilton-based search terms and maintaining accurate business listings across Google and local directories is essential groundwork.

Technical SEO forms the structure that holds everything together. Sites should load quickly, use secure connections, and be built to perform well on mobile devices, since much of Hamilton’s customer activity happens on phones. The content and metadata should be organised so search engines can read them easily. This gives every blog post, product page and service description a fair chance to appear in search results for the city.

Local relevance strengthens a site’s authority in Hamilton. Creating content that references local events, suburbs and stories helps search engines connect your business with the region. Gathering reviews from customers in Hamilton and keeping name, address and phone details consistent across all platforms adds trust. These simple signals reinforce that a business operates within the local community.

AI and generative search are now influencing how Hamilton businesses are discovered online. Optimising for GEO involves structuring information clearly, using schema markup, and producing content that answers questions conversationally. These updates help ensure that as search shifts from links to language models, Hamilton businesses continue to be visible where their audiences are searching.

Choosing to work with me on your Hamilton SEO means working with someone who has grown up within the city and understands it deeply. I was born at Waikato Hospital and have spent most of my life in and around Hamilton. My early years were shaped by the city’s mix of open space and growing urban life, a balance that continues to define its character today.

Hamilton has been home through many stages of my life. I’ve lived in areas such as Ngāhinapouri, just outside the city, as well as Beerescourt and inner Hamilton. These places gave me a clear sense of how connected the wider Waikato is to the city’s growth. They also gave me a familiarity with the everyday side of Hamilton that often shapes how locals search, interact and do business online.

My education began at Hamilton Boys’ High School and continued at the University of Waikato, where I spent my first year of higher study. Those years built many of the professional relationships that still link back to my work today. I later joined a local web agency and worked with Hamilton businesses across a range of industries, gaining insight into how the city’s online presence developed through different phases of digital change.

Some of my best memories of Hamilton come from simple things. Late nights at internet cafés in Garden Place, the colours of the Waikato Balloon Festival, and the steady rhythm of a city that feels both familiar and forward-looking. Those experiences shaped the way I approach my work and keep Hamilton close to everything I do.