When International Sales Are Strong but Your Domestic Market Isn’t Growing
How I helped a retail training company strengthen their UK digital strategy and SEO foundations
Client: Martec International
Industry: Retail training & education
Services provided by Charlie: SEO Strategy Session | Ongoing Consultancy
Overview
Martec International provides specialised training and upskilling solutions for the retail sector. Their programmes help retailers, consumer goods companies and suppliers improve sales performance, grow market share and increase profitability.
The business already had strong international traction, particularly in overseas markets. However, the UK market — where the company was based — had significant untapped potential. Their website and digital strategy were not yet fully supporting growth in this market.
My role was to review the website, identify strategic improvements and support the business in strengthening its digital foundations.
The Situation
When I first reviewed the Martec website, the business was in the early stages of transforming its business model.
The company had moved away from its previous structure and was developing a new direction focused on training products and industry-specific programmes. However, the website did not yet reflect this shift clearly.
At the same time, most of the site’s traffic came from existing contacts who already knew the Martec brand through years of email marketing. There was far less visibility among new audiences searching online.
This meant the website was not yet working effectively as a tool for attracting new customers.
Key Challenges
During the review, several issues became clear:
No clear segmentation or customer journey guiding visitors through the website
Weak SEO foundations that limited visibility in search engines
Limited demonstration of the impact Martec’s training delivers
Website structure that did not clearly reflect the business’s evolving strategy
Opportunities being missed to reach new audiences beyond existing mailing lists
My Approach
My initial engagement focused on conducting a detailed review of the website and identifying strategic improvements.
This included:
Reviewing the website structure and user journey
Analysing the site’s SEO foundations and search visibility
Identifying improvements to content and messaging
Providing recommendations for strengthening SEO performance
Advising on tools and processes the team could use to monitor their own SEO
Over time, I continued supporting the team as the business evolved. When Martec later redeveloped their website, I was asked to review the plans, assess the site prior to launch and provide further guidance once it went live.
We also explored ways to expand visibility beyond existing contacts, including developing a LinkedIn advertising pilot designed to reach new audiences in the retail sector.
Outcome
The work helped Martec strengthen both its digital strategy and its long-term growth plans.
Key improvements included:
A fully redeveloped website that better reflects the business’s strategy
Stronger SEO foundations supporting long-term search visibility
Improved clarity in how the business communicates its training offer
A clearer approach to attracting new audiences beyond existing contacts
Greater internal capability to monitor and manage SEO performance
Alongside these improvements, the business experienced strong overall growth during the transformation period, moving from loss-making operations to a profitable and expanding company.
While many factors contributed to that growth, the improvements to digital strategy and website foundations helped support the company’s long-term direction.
Captured from SEMrush showing prevalence of high keyword positioning for niche key terms for Martec International
Client Feedback
"Charlie’s input has been incredibly valuable in the evolution of Martec since we were first introduced to her.
Her initial project was to review our website in detail, identify its weaknesses and recommend how we could address them. The insights were extremely useful and helped shape the redevelopment of our website and our wider digital strategy.
Charlie has continued to support us as the business has grown, helping us refine our approach to SEO and explore new ways to reach audiences beyond our existing customer base.
Her advice has made a real difference to how we approach our strategy and investment decisions, and we have greatly valued her ongoing support."
— Brian Hume, Martec International
Want to Strengthen Your Website and Digital Strategy?
If your website isn’t helping you reach new customers — or if your digital strategy isn’t supporting your growth plans — a focused review can often reveal where the biggest opportunities lie.
Explore my strategy sessions and audits to learn more.