How Sell The Van now receives 3 high quality enquiries every day for their national van buying service 🔥

When Darren and Max Sharpe launched Sell The Van, their vision was to become the leading van-buying service in London and beyond. Marketing for Trades delivered a brand new, high-performing website optimised for conversions and built on a solid SEO foundation. As a result, Sell The Van now receives 3-5 enquiries daily, ranks #1 for key search terms like "Sell My Van Acton," and has earned 18 5-star reviews.

October 17, 2024
SEO, Website Design
5 min read

Project Details:

Client: Darren and Max Sharpe
Business: Sell The Van
Trade: National Van Buying Service
Project: Website Design and SEO
Project Length: 4 Weeks 
Outcome: https://sellthevan.co.uk/

Case Study Summary:

  • The Challenge: Launch a new van-buying business with zero online presence and generate organic enquiries through a high-performing website.
  • Our Solution: We built Sell The Van’s branding, created a conversion-optimised website with strong SEO, and ensured smooth technical implementation for fast rankings.
  • The Results: 3-5 enquiries per day, #1 ranking for local search terms like “Sell My Van Acton,” and steady growth in the van-buying niche.

The Challenge

Darren and Max Sharpe are Directors of Huntswood Van Centre – a successful van dealership in Horton, Datchet. 

After selling vans to commercial clients and individuals for over 10 years (and building up 90+ five star reviews on Google) they had a new business idea to set-up a national van buying service called Sell The Van.

They aimed to become the go-to service for businesses and individuals wanting to sell their unwanted vans across the UK.

The idea was great. But they needed help from Marketing for Trades to develop a logo and build a website that would rank quickly in search engines, drive enquiries, and stand out in the competitive van-buying market.

Darren and Max needed to allow users to get a free and accurate valuation for their van. They wanted a website that would allow users to enter their vehicle registration and receive a free valuation for their van. This required an API integration with a vehicle data company HPI (more to come on this in the solution section). 

Max (Pictured left) and Darren (Pictured right) Sharpe – Founders of Sell The Van 👆🏻

The Solution

We built Sell The Van’s brand and online presence from the ground up, designing a simple logo and focusing on a high-performing, SEO-optimised website that is visually appealing and functional.

Logo Design for Sell The Van 👆🏻🔥

Creative

We aligned the website’s design with Sell The Van’s branding. Using the green, white, and yellow palette established in the logo, we crafted a clean, engaging look that reflected trust and professionalism. The user experience (UX) design ensured the site was intuitive and easy to navigate.

Focused on the Objective:

The primary objective was to generate van valuation enquiries for Max and Darren to follow up on. We centred the site’s design around this key call to action “Enter Reg”. Visitors were encouraged to get a free van valuation by entering their vehicle registration number. This CTA appeared prominently in the sticky header, the main hero banner, and multiple sections throughout the site to ensure it remained top of mind for users. This conversion-focused strategy is something we prioritise in all of our projects.

API Integration for Van Valuations: To enable users to get a free and instant valuation for their vehicle, we integrated an API from HPI, a trusted vehicle data provider. When users entered their vehicle registration plate on the website, the API would fetch the vehicle details, providing Max and Darren with an accurate summary of the vehicle. This functionality allowed them to quickly follow up with a precise quote to buy the van.

We used HTML and worked with the existing theme code to successfully integrate the API with the Sell The Van website, ensuring seamless functionality. This feature was crucial for the success of their business model and conversion process.

Primary CTA ‘Enter Reg’ prominent across the website 👆🏻

Focused on SEO Best Practices: 

Since Sell The Van was a new venture, achieving rapid visibility in search engines was critical. Our SEO strategy included:

✅ Keyword Targeting: We targeted high-volume keywords such as “Sell Your Van” and “Sell My Van” in the London, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Hertfordshire regions.

âś… On-Page Optimisation: We incorporated service and location specific keywords into H1 headings, meta descriptions, and page titles.

âś… Location-based pages: We added individual pages for each area Sell The Van operate in. Each page included internal links to other pages on the site and a Google Map embed.

âś… Internal Linking: We added internal links throughout the 20-page website to enhance navigation and boost SEO rankings.

âś… Content Richness: We ensured each page had substantial content to avoid thin pages and build credibility in search engine rankings.

âś… Technical SEO:

    • Optimised the site for crawling and indexing by search engines.
    • Secured the site with an SSL certificate to ensure safe browsing.
    • Structured heading tags correctly for better SEO and readability.
    • Added schema markup for improved search result presentation.
    • Built dedicated, location-based pages for targeted regions, such as Acton and Addlestone, to capture local traffic.

We also connected the website to Google Analytics and Search Console, submitting an XML sitemap for efficient indexing.

Sell The Van website 👆🏻

The Results: 

The new website launched successfully, and Sell The Van saw immediate improvements in both enquiries and rankings.

Key Results:

  • The Sell The Van website is fully responsive and optimised across all devices.
  • Sell The Van now receives 3-5 enquiries per day 🚀
  • The business ranks #1 for competitive search terms like “Sell My Van Acton.”
  • The company has earned 18 5-star reviews from satisfied customers.
  • The website ranks 90+/100 on Google Page Speed Insights. 
  • Darren and Max are on track to achieve their business goal of becoming the top van-buying service in their region.
  • We Buy Any Car approached Darren and Max about acquiring their business as a result of the lead volume 

Google Page Speed Insights Score👆🏻

Ongoing Relationship with Sell The Van

We’re continuing to work with Sell The Van on an ongoing basis, managing their SEO to further improve rankings and help them expand into new areas. The ongoing collaboration with Darren and Max has been a pleasure. Having worked with them previously at Huntswood Van Centre, a reputable business with 94 5-star Google reviews, we’ve experienced firsthand their commitment to doing good business. It’s been rewarding to contribute to their new venture, Sell The Van, as they grow and thrive in the competitive van-buying market.

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