Trunk has just taken home Best Use of Search in Finance at the UK Search Awards for our work with Wren Sterling, and it’s a great example of what happens when Search is treated as a genuine growth driver rather than just another channel.
At Trunk, Search isn’t a silo. It’s the point where our SEO, Digital PR, Content and Data specialists come together around a client’s business goals. This project showed exactly how powerful that can be.
Starting with clarity, not assumptions
Financial planning is one of the most competitive Search environments there is. Before we made a single change, we worked closely with the Wren Sterling team to understand where Search could meaningfully support their commercial objectives. That consultancy didn’t stop after the initial audit. We stayed in constant dialogue throughout the project, refining decisions as new insight and performance data came in.
That ongoing partnership formed the foundation for everything that followed.
Crafting a Search programme built for real people, not algorithms
Once we had the full picture, we moved into craft. Technical foundations were strengthened, internal signals were rebuilt and key person pages were reinstated to improve trust and authority.
Then the content experience was reworked with real users in mind. Pages were structured more clearly. Journeys were tightened. Complex financial topics were rewritten with accessibility and intent at the centre. Everything was designed to help people make informed decisions and move naturally through the funnel.
This wasn’t a case of “ticking SEO boxes.” It was a full Search experience rebuild, guided by insight and crafted deliberately to improve usefulness, clarity and trust.
Connecting Search to commercial impact
The biggest shift came when all the work connected back to Wren Sterling’s business goals.
Visibility increased across high value financial planning terms. Search journeys became smoother and more helpful. Authority signals strengthened. Digital PR supported category leadership. Data intelligence guided prioritisation. And the traffic reaching the site became more qualified because the journeys were built around how people actually search and decide.
This is where Search becomes more than rankings. It becomes a revenue enabler.
What the judges saw in the work
The judges’ feedback said a lot about why this project stood out. They highlighted the clear commercial targets, the focus on MQLs and revenue, and the transparency around how the budget was used. They also called out the strength of the implementation plan, the audience insight, and the way technical improvements, intent-led content and trust-building elements all worked together.
One judge described it as “a focused programme that paired robust technical groundwork with intent-led content and trust elements… turning Search into a meaningful acquisition channel across both consumer and workplace propositions.”
Another highlighted the “impressive results for the increase in clicks and MQLs,” while others pointed to the “strong targeting and understanding of the audience.”
It’s always great to see the thinking and hard work recognised in this way.
A win powered by real partnership
This result belongs to two teams working brilliantly together. The team at Wren Sterling who backed the strategy and stayed fully engaged. And our Search, Digital PR, Content and Data craft specialists who approached the work with precision, creativity and absolute intent.
It’s Consult. Craft. Connect. in action. A way of working that isn’t just a proposition. It’s how we deliver results like this.
On to the next one.
