SEO After Migration: Driving Growth for Collinson Tensile Post-Rebrand

Collinson Tensile is a UK-based specialist in the design and construction of tensile fabric structures, working with clients across the industry, sports, and leisure — from high-end indoor sports facilities to warehouse and bulk storage solutions.

The project began with a technical SEO challenge: migrating the website due to a company re-brand, from collinsonconstruction.co.uk to collinsontensile.co.uk. Following a smooth migration, the engagement evolved into a broader SEO strategy to grow visibility, increase relevant traffic, and build a stronger organic foundation for long-term growth.

• Business Name: Collinson Tensile
• Sector: Construction (Tensile Fabric Structures)
• Location: United Kingdom
• Website: collinsontensile.co.uk
• Project Duration: 9 months
• Key Services Used: SEO Strategy, Content Strategy, Technical Audit

The Challenge

Collinson Tensile was undergoing a major strategic shift — moving away from traditional construction to focus exclusively on tensile fabric structures for sports, leisure, and industrial applications. This repositioning came with a new name, a standalone brand identity, and the need for a clean break from the original domain: collinsonconstruction.co.uk.

The business needed a full website migration to its new home at collinsontensile.co.uk. But this wasn’t just a case of switching URLs — the content structure had to be reworked to reflect the brand’s new direction. Key pages, including their applications and projects sections, required a complete overhaul to align with their refined offer and target audience.

At the same time, organic traffic had been steadily declining throughout 2023 and into 2024. The site needed more than just a technical migration — it needed an SEO strategy that would halt the downward trend and begin rebuilding visibility, rankings, and high-quality traffic.

Collinson Tensile was introduced to me via a mutual partner. After several in-depth conversations, it was clear we were a great fit — and I was brought on board to lead both the domain migration and the long-term SEO recovery plan.

The Strategy

The project strategy was split into two clear phases: first, ensuring a smooth and SEO-friendly migration to the new domain, and second, developing an ongoing optimisation and content strategy to reverse declining traffic and drive long-term organic growth.

Phase 1: Strategic Website Migration

To support the business’s rebrand and focus on tensile structures, the site needed more than just a domain switch — it required a complete content and technical overhaul. I began with a full technical SEO audit of the existing site to identify issues that could be fixed during the migration process, reducing risk and improving performance from the outset.

From there, I conducted in-depth keyword research to ensure all key application areas were properly targeted on the new site and carried out a competitor audit to spot missed opportunities and content gaps.

To protect and grow the domain’s authority post-migration, I developed a link-building plan to secure high-quality backlinks to the new site while identifying and updating key backlinks pointing to the old domain. A full 301 redirect map was planned to preserve SEO value, and a press release was prepared to announce the rebrand and domain change to both local and industry press.

Phase 2: Organic Growth Through SEO & Content

With the new site live and stable, the focus shifted to growing visibility and relevance across core service areas. This involved continuous optimisation of existing pages and the creation of new, targeted content aligned with user intent and commercial value.

• Once performance data was available, I further optimised key application pages — improving structure, depth, and keyword targeting.
• Legacy blog posts that had lost traction in 2023 were audited and updated to restore their relevance.
• I also created a series of high-value informational guides designed to address common client questions and pain points, such as “How to Secure Capital Funding for Indoor Sports Facilities” and “The Benefits of Tensile Sports Facilities & Why They’re the Future of Sports Construction”.

This content not only helped support organic visibility but also positioned Collinson Tensile as a trusted voice in their space.

Summary of Key Actions

• 17 new in-depth guides published
• 2 existing blog posts optimised
• 6 application pages improved
• 1 brand new application page created
• Homepage optimised
• Internal linking strengthened
• Image optimisation and page speed improvements
• Structured data/schema added sitewide
• +51 new referring domains acquired

The Results

The migration launched at the end of July 2024, and over the following seven months, Collinson Tensile saw a steady and meaningful uplift in organic performance — reversing the previous decline and building a strong platform for ongoing growth.

Organic Traffic Growth

Organic sessions rose from 776 in July to 1,089 in February, with a peak of 1,197 in January 2025 (the longest month in the period). This represented a 36% increase in organic traffic — a clear sign that the new site structure and content strategy were working together to drive more qualified visitors.

Keyword Visibility Growth

The number of ranking keywords improved significantly across all key positions:

Position Range	Jul 2024	Feb 2025	% Growth
1-3	4	17	+325%
4-10	35	58	+65%
11-20	58	79	+36%
21-50	93	157	+69%
51+	100	87	-16%
TOTAL	290	395	+36%

Not only did the site gain more keyword coverage overall — it saw a dramatic improvement in high-value positions, with the number of top 3 rankings more than quadrupling.

Link Profile & Authority Growth

Referring domains grew from 65 to 116, thanks to a focused link-building strategy that combined:

• Industry-specific directories (e.g. GlobalAir Construction Directory)
• Local CAP citation links
• Brand-building outreach following the rebranding and migration

These backlinks supported both authority and visibility for core pages.

Technical SEO Improvements

The site’s technical performance also improved:

• Ahrefs Site Health Score: Increased from 82% to 87%
• Internal linking improved to distribute authority and support priority pages
• Structured data/schema added to enhance visibility in search results
• Images compressed and page speed optimised across key landing pages

Key Takeaways 

One of the biggest factors in this project’s success was approaching the migration with a growth mindset — not just treating it as a technical task but as a strategic opportunity to reposition the site, expand keyword coverage, and improve user experience. By carrying out in-depth keyword research and building new high-intent pages during the migration phase, we laid the foundation for long-term visibility from day one.

A key lesson for others in a similar position is that migration and SEO strategy should go hand-in-hand. It would have been easy to migrate the domain and park the rest for later, but doing so would have missed a major opportunity. Starting the wider SEO work alongside the migration meant that growth wasn’t just preserved — it accelerated.

One surprising insight came during the content audit: two legacy blog posts, previously responsible for a large share of organic traffic, had begun to suffer from content decay. They hadn’t been updated in years and had gradually lost relevance and rankings. Post-migration, we overhauled these articles to bring them up to date with 2025 best practices — improving depth, expertise, and overall value — and this became a key contributor to our traffic recovery.

“A migration doesn’t have to be just about damage limitation — it can be a launchpad for growth. By aligning the technical, content, and strategic elements from the start, we turned what could have been a routine domain switch into a real opportunity to build momentum.”

Andy Frobisher