SuffolkMowers.co.uk Progress Report

Hi Bob,

Here’s a summary of everything completed over February and March, along with the value delivered and key opportunities moving forward.

Just a reminder — while we’re currently working on a 36-hour monthly plan, the unexpected need to move away from your previous developer had a big impact on the hours required early on.

To keep things progressing smoothly, I’ve put in the extra time without any additional charge, including setting up your hosting at cost price. My goal has been to get everything stable, functional, and performing — and to show what’s possible with a proper setup — in the hopes we can look at increasing the monthly retainer moving forward.

Dan Mann

February 2025 – 55+ Hours

Gained access to linsteadfarmandgarden.co.uk.
Scraped and imported nearly 2,000 Stihl products (up from 121), complete with SEO structure.
Expanded categories from 6 to over 120.
Merged existing and new product data.
Recategorised all listings for consistency.

March 2025 – 75+ Hours

Investigated EVOPOS CSV import – basic products successful, machinery units require further testing.
Set up hosting for SuffolkMowers.co.uk.
Migrated email to Gmail (Google Workspace).
Customised website for the new domain.
Imported all Stihl products and added 6 additional brands (total 3,500+ products live).
Set up SEO-safe redirects from old domain to preserve rankings.
Developed custom code for:
1. Displaying in-stock products (optimisation in progress)
2. Brand-specific category pages
3. Accessory listings per product
4. Product enquiry forms

Traffic Performance – Old vs New Website

We’ve already seen a clear improvement in performance since launching the new website.

Old Website

422 total views
127 unique visitors
Bounce rate: 60.1%
Average visit duration: 7m 47s

Traffic was relatively flat, with only small spikes in daily visits. The highest single-day traffic reached just 68 views, with 9 unique visitors.

New Website – SuffolkMowers.co.uk (Bottom Image)

5,700+ total views
824 unique visitors
Bounce rate: 43.1%
Average visit duration: 5m 53s

Since the new site launched, performance has increased over 13x in total views and 6x in unique visitors. One standout day alone reached 823 views and 73 unique visitors, showing immediate impact from the rebuild, SEO structure, and category improvements.

What This Shows

The new website is attracting significantly more traffic and visibility.
Engagement has improved — with a lower bounce rate and strong visit duration.
Better category structure, page speed, and mobile performance are already making a difference.
This growth has been achieved organically — with no paid traffic yet applied.

This is early proof that the rebuild and foundation work are paying off. With continued focus on SEO, content, and product optimisation, there’s huge potential to scale even further.

Value Delivered

The new e-commerce website build alone is would usually be a cost over £5,000+, not including SEO, hosting, or system integrations.

Although we’re currently working on a £2,000/month retainer, we’ve delivered the equivalent of 3–4 months of work in just less than a month to make an immediate impact:

Removed all dependency on the previous developer.
Built and launched a future-proof, scalable platform with 3,500+ products across 7 brands.
Used existing scrape data to accelerate brand imports and reduce costs.
Structured hundreds of categories, including brand-specific hierarchies for improved SEO and UX.
Set up Gmail email hosting to ensure business continuity with minimal disruption.
Created SEO-preserving redirects to retain search visibility.
Provisioned dedicated hosting at cost (£207.24/year), avoiding shared-server issues — most agencies would charge £100–£700/month for similar services.
Saved thousands in dev hours via automation and smart planning.

The site is now stable, scalable, and ready for targeted growth — with no technical or operational barriers holding it back.

Original Plan for April 2025

Launch SEO campaign for professional Stihl products.
Add SEO content to Stihl categories.
Test EVOPOS syncing with new SKUs.
Structure and optimise postage settings.

Additional Tasks Now Needed

Because we built the new site quickly using existing data, there’s still work needed to tidy things up and improve how it performs — all aimed at helping more visitors turn into customers. We can tackle this within your current hours, but it may slow progress in other areas, or we can look at increasing the retainer to move faster across the board.

Complete homepage display for in-stock items.
More services pages (repairs & servicing)
Refine categorisation (e.g., mowers into rear roller, mulching, etc.).
Install Google Shopping feed (can boost visibility by 30%).
Add used Polaris and second-hand machinery listings.

Stock Challenges Identified – and Possible Solutions

With thousands of products now live across multiple brands, two common risks have emerged — both of which I’ve already prepared solutions for.

Stock Accuracy: I’ve previously developed systems that check live stock and delivery times from multiple suppliers. I can now implement this with a simple traffic light system:
- In Warehouse – Stock you own and prioritise for sale
- In Stock – Available at suppliers
- Out of Stock – Discontinued or unavailable
Pricing Consistency: I can implement automated pricing checks across suppliers, making it quicker and more accurate to keep all SKUs aligned and competitive.

These systems help protect customer experience, reduce admin, and keep your margins secure — especially as the site scales.

Retainer Recommendation

We’ve already exceeded the original 36-hour plan — but that extra time gave us the jumpstart we needed to move fast and smart.

Now that traffic and sales are increasing, a higher monthly retainer will allow us to work more efficiently across multiple brands — improving categorisation, automating stock/pricing checks, and maintaining momentum without bottlenecks.

Happy to discuss retainer options or prioritise tasks based on your business goals.

Kindest regards,

Dan Mann
dan@webmann.co.uk
WebMann