For Canterbury Trade & Service Businesses

Get Found.
Get More Customers.
Grow Your Business.

Plumbers, electricians, builders, professional services - if your phone should be ringing more, SEO is why it's not. We fix that for Canterbury businesses without lock-in contracts.

No Lock-in Contracts
Transparent Reporting
100% Local Canterbury Team
5.0 Stars - 18+ Google Reviews
New to SEO?

What is SEO, and why does your business need it?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. In plain English, it is the process of making your business show up when potential customers search Google for what you do.

When someone in Christchurch types "plumber near me" or "best electrician Rolleston" into Google, a list of businesses appears. The businesses at the top get the calls. The ones on page two get almost nothing.

SEO is the work that gets your business into those top positions and keeps it there. Unlike paid advertising, which stops the moment you stop paying, good SEO builds a long-term asset that keeps generating leads month after month.

For most Canterbury service businesses, ranking well on Google is the single highest-ROI marketing investment available. The phone doesn't ring because people don't know you exist. SEO fixes that.

97% of people search online before buying locally

If your business doesn't appear when Canterbury customers search, those leads go to whoever does.

The top 3 Google results get over 75% of clicks

Position 4 onwards gets scraps. Position 1 gets the lion's share. That gap is what SEO is designed to close.

SEO compounds over time. Ads don't.

Google Ads stop the moment you stop paying. Rankings built through SEO keep working for months and years after the initial investment.

AI search is changing things fast

ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews are now recommending local businesses. Getting cited by these tools is the next frontier of local search.

Not sure if SEO is right for your business right now? Find out in 60 seconds.

Get a Free SEO Review
What's Inside a Campaign

Every campaign includes all of this.

An SEO campaign isn't one thing. It's a coordinated set of activities working together. Local SEO, technical health, content, and auditing all combine into a single monthly retainer built around your Canterbury business.

300%+
Average increase in organic traffic
#1
Rankings achieved across key Canterbury industries
30+
NZ trade and service businesses grown
5.0★
Rated by every client on Google
What Our Clients Say

Trusted by Christchurch businesses.

Stu created our new website and I'm super happy with the result. He's been easy to deal with, accommodating, and has gone above and beyond our expectations. We feel genuinely lucky to have found him.

Paul Hay - Director
Hays Electrical, Christchurch

Couldn't recommend Stu more. He goes above and beyond, is upfront, and explains everything he does in plain English. He is the only marketing person I've worked with who genuinely cares about your results - not just your contract.

Matt Elliott - Owner
Canterbury Plumbing & Gas
5.0
Excellent - Based on 18+ reviews
Google Business Profile · Christchurch SEO
Get your free SEO audit today

A hands-on review of your website, GBP, and top 3 local competitors - with clear, actionable recommendations. No automated tools, no jargon.

Claim Your Free Audit
How It Works

Getting started is simpler than you think.

Most Canterbury business owners are surprised by how straightforward the process is. There are no complicated onboarding forms, no technical knowledge required on your end, and no commitment until you're ready.

01
Start with a free review

Fill in a short form and Stu will review your website, Google Business Profile, and top local competitors. You'll get a plain-English written summary of your biggest ranking issues within 1-2 business days. No cost, no obligation.

Get your free review →
02
Get a proper audit (optional)

If your site has complex issues or you want a comprehensive investigation before committing to ongoing work, a paid SEO audit gives you a full documented report, competitor analysis, and a prioritised action plan. From $695.

See audit packages →
03
Start your SEO campaign

Once we know where you stand, Stu builds a custom monthly SEO campaign around your business goals and Canterbury market. Month-to-month, no lock-in. Most clients start seeing meaningful ranking improvements within 3 months.

See campaign packages →

Not sure where to start? The free review is always step one - it costs nothing and gives you a clear picture of what's holding your rankings back.

Get Your Free Review
Stu, founder of EightySix Digital - Christchurch SEO consultant
15
Years on
the tools
About Stu - Founder

From the job site
to your first page.

A Christchurch SEO consultant who actually understands your business - because I ran one just like it.

I spent 15 years as a plumber - 10 of those running my own business in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, before moving to New Zealand and working on the tools here. I know exactly what a qualified local lead means to a trade business - it's not a vanity metric on a dashboard, it's your payroll, your family, and your livelihood.

I set out to be the opposite of the large, faceless Auckland agencies that lock Christchurch SMBs into long contracts and deliver automated monthly invoices. Every client gets direct access to me - not an account manager reading from a template.

No Lock-in Contracts
Month-to-month arrangements only. You stay because the results speak for themselves - not because you're contractually obligated to.
Bullshit-Free Communication
Plain English reporting. You'll always know exactly what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and what results it's producing.
Based in Rolleston, Canterbury
I understand the local suburbs, the local competition, and the Cantabrian customer - because I live and work here too.

Want to know exactly what's holding your rankings back? It starts with a free review.

Get a Free SEO Review
Our Process

A clear process
that gets results.

A tradesman's "measure twice, cut once" philosophy applied to your SEO. No guesswork - a proven 4-stage system that builds durable search authority across Canterbury.

Start With a Free Audit
Discover

I perform an exhaustive audit of your current digital footprint - technical SEO health, Google Business Profile, competitor backlink profiles, and keyword gaps specific to your Canterbury market.

Strategise

A custom SEO strategy built around your business, your competition, and the specific Christchurch suburbs you want to dominate. No templates - every strategy is built from scratch.

Implement

Technical foundations, Strategic Silo Architecture, Google Business Profile optimisation, locally-targeted content, and authority link building - all executed with a tradesman's precision.

Grow

We track, report, and refine to keep your rankings climbing and leads flowing. As your SEO flywheel spins up, we expand into new keywords, suburbs, and service categories to compound your gains.

Transparent Pricing

Two products. Clear pricing.

There are really two ways to work with Christchurch SEO. A one-off SEO Audit to find out exactly what's holding you back, or an ongoing SEO Campaign retainer that builds your rankings month by month. Most clients start with the free review, then move into a campaign.

Step 1: Understand
SEO Audit
$695 – $1,495+ NZD one-off

A thorough investigation of your website, Google Business Profile, and competitors. Full written report with prioritised action plan. Three tiers based on site size.

See audit tiers →
Step 2: Grow
SEO Campaign
$600 – $1,500+ NZD / month

Fully managed monthly SEO retainer. Technical work, GBP management, content, and reporting. Three tiers based on competition and scope. No lock-in contracts.

See campaign tiers →

Campaign tier details below. Not sure which is right for you? Start with a free review.

All prices are in NZD and exclude GST.

Local Foundation
$600 NZD / month

Best for retail shops, cafes & single-operator service businesses

  • Google Business Profile optimisation
  • Weekly GBP posts and updates
  • Ongoing Core Web Vitals monitoring
  • Monthly performance reporting
  • Essential NZ directory citation building
Get Started
Authority Campaign
$1,500+ NZD / month

Best for large enterprises, legal/financial firms & regional expansions

  • Everything in Growth Pack
  • Advanced Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
  • Complex Schema Markup deployment
  • Site-wide content overhauls
  • Digital PR & high-authority outreach
  • Deep strategic silo architecture
Get Started
Custom pricing available. Every Canterbury market is different. Your final retainer is based on your website's current state and the intensity of your local competition. I'll evaluate both during your free SEO audit and provide a firm proposal before you commit a single dollar.
Common Questions

Straight answers.

The most common questions Christchurch business owners ask before starting their SEO journey.

Ask Us Anything

For most Christchurch businesses, you'll see positive ranking movement within 3–6 months. Highly competitive keywords like "plumber Christchurch" or "electrician Christchurch" may take 6–12 months to secure top positions. Hyper-local long-tail terms targeting specific suburbs - like "plumber Rolleston" or "electrician Papanui" - often yield strong results significantly faster. SEO is a long-term investment; the compounding returns over 12–24 months are where the real value is built.

In 2026, hyper-local relevance is a heavily weighted ranking factor. A local consultant understands the specific suburbs and service areas Cantabrians search for, understands local competitors firsthand, and can build the genuine local entity signals required to rank in the Google map pack. An offshore agency simply cannot replicate this - and often doesn't know the difference between Papanui and Prebbleton.

GEO is the 2026 evolution of SEO. Traditional SEO focuses on ranking in Google's standard blue links. GEO ensures your specific business entity is cited and recommended by AI search tools - ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews. As more Canterbury customers use AI-powered search, appearing in these results is increasingly critical. A modern Christchurch SEO strategy must optimise for both environments simultaneously.

Yes - significantly. Since Google introduced Core Web Vitals as an official ranking factor, a slow website is actively penalised. Beyond rankings, slow sites cause potential customers to bounce back to search results before they even read your offering. We optimise your hosting environment and frontend code to ensure near-instant load times that satisfy both users and Google's crawler.

While my background is in the trades, the SEO frameworks I deploy are entirely universal. I partner with any Christchurch business that needs more qualified local leads - from retail and hospitality to legal services, healthcare, B2B, and professional services. The common thread is that every client wants real leads from real Canterbury customers, not vanity traffic.

I take a hands-on look at your website's technical health, your Google Business Profile, and your top three local competitors - not an automated scan. You'll receive a clear, jargon-free breakdown of what's broken, what you're doing right, and the specific steps required to start capturing more Christchurch market share. There's no obligation and no hard sell - just useful information you can act on immediately, with or without me.

Free SEO Audit

Get Your Free
SEO Audit Today.

We'll analyse your website, identify your biggest ranking opportunities, and send you a custom report with actionable recommendations - at no cost, no obligation.

Or email directly: stu@eightysix.digital

Explore the Site

Home Local SEO Christchurch SEO Campaigns SEO Audits Content SEO Free SEO Audit About Stu Contact