In early 2023, we began working with fresh, a pioneering beauty brand known for its unique blend of natural ingredients, ancient rituals, and modern science.
fresh started in 1991 with a single hand-wrapped soap in a Boston shop; it has since grown into a global beauty brand offering skincare, lip care, body care, and fragrances. The brand’s commitment to high efficacy and sensory delight has set it apart in a crowded market.
Our collaboration with fresh has focused on enhancing their organic presence in the US and UK, while also extending support to markets in Hong Kong, France, Korea, Malaysia, and Canada. Through innovative organic search strategies, we have expanded our efforts to improve brand awareness, support top-of-the-funnel campaigns, and enhance user experience across their global platforms.
Challenge
The main challenge with fresh content was inefficiency from duplicate content across English-speaking markets, harming organic search. Most content was optimized for US English, neglecting regional keywords in the UK and Canada, while local-language keywords were underused. Weak adherence to E‑E‑A‑T principles risked penalties and inconsistent visibility. Global sites also faced challenges with language targeting, keyword cannibalization, slow site speed, incorrect canonical tags and hreflang, poorly structured URLs, and the absence of clear SEO processes.
Discovery
Our analysis revealed that using branded keywords for fresh content posed challenges due to their ambiguity, leading to misinterpretations. This underscored the need to boost generic keywords to indirectly improve branded keyword performance. We realized that aligning individual market expectations with global objectives was crucial. Balancing these regional needs with the global strategy required clear communication and setting market-specific goals, ensuring both regional and global targets were met while managing resources and expectations effectively.
Hypothesis
Our hypothesis was that a dual-focused strategy — emphasizing both global brand consistency and localized market relevance—would lead to improved SEO performance and brand visibility. By optimizing content for regional keywords while maintaining global SEO best practices, we anticipated enhanced user engagement and search relevance. Additionally, we believed that by addressing technical issues and establishing a robust SEO framework, fresh would experience a significant improvement in organic search rankings, reduced keyword cannibalization, and stronger alignment between regional and global marketing goals. This integrated approach was expected to position fresh more competitively within the saturated beauty industry, enabling it to stand out against established players like Sephora, Ulta, and Boots.
English content was reused across markets without localization or proper canonicalization.
Duplicated URLs with case differences led to inefficiencies in a rigid site structure.
Site speed suffered from large, unoptimized assets and missing alt text.
Replicating US pages for other markets weakened local SEO.
Deployment
We took a multifaceted approach to address fresh’s challenges, balancing global coherence with local adaptability. Key markets were prioritized, and strategies were tailored to their unique needs. Standardized SEO processes ensured consistency and efficiency across regions. Our content strategy optimized materials for the US, Canada, and UK, while translation and localization integrated native keyword research for cultural relevance. We also enhanced local search relevance by promoting high-priority products and launched a link-building campaign that started in the US and expanded to the UK, France, and Hong Kong.
- Market Prioritization: Aligned strategies with key regional markets.
- Process Development: Standardized SEO processes for smooth operations.
- Content Strategy: Tailored content for major English-speaking markets.
- Translation & Localization: Used native keyword research for cultural relevance.
- Market Focus: Promoted top products for regional engagement.
- Link-Building Campaign: Initiated in the US, expanded to the UK, France, and Hong Kong.
Results
Our strategic deployment brought about a marked transformation in fresh‘s online presence. By addressing critical issues such as duplicated content, inconsistent site structure, and underutilized SEO opportunities, we significantly boosted the site’s visibility and search rankings in the US.
Additionally, the UK, Hong Kong, and French markets saw rapid improvements in localized pages, leading to a larger share of voice in SERPs. By detaching these markets from the US content strategy, we observed a significant uptick in CTR, clearly indicating that native audiences respond better to content in their own languages and idioms. This success not only elevated fresh’s digital footprint but also solidified our partnership, turning an initial media bootcamp into a sustained, collaborative effort for continued success
YTD Organic Revenue for Main Focus Markets since 2023:
+23%
US YoY
+30%
CA YoY
+85%
UK YoY
+58%
Impressions YoY
+55%
Clicks YoY
94%
Top 10 US KWs YoY
+23%
Organic Revenue YoY
