Tree Removal SEO Secrets Revealed: How Redback Tree Services Went from One Truck to a 12-Truck Melbourne Tree Removal Powerhouse

When Redback Tree Services first entered the Melbourne market, they were a small, honest operation with just one truck and a commitment to good service. Fast-forward nearly a decade and they’re now running 12 trucks, executing tree removals, stump grinding, tree cutting, and arborist services across Bayside, Kingston, Glen Eira, Port Phillip, and Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs.

This kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident. It was driven by a clear digital marketing strategy—powered by local SEO and executed with consistency by Mr SEO.

In this article, we’ll break down exactly how the strategy worked, and what other tree service businesses can learn from Redback’s journey.

Why SEO for Tree Services Works (If You Do It Properly)

Most people don’t look for tree removal services by walking around or asking friends anymore. They Google it—and what they type in is usually location-based and problem-specific.

They search for things like:

• Tree removal Brighton
• Stump removal Dingley
• Tree cutting near me
• Tree service in Moorabbin

This is where search engine optimisation (SEO) comes in. When your website shows up for these high-intent searches, you don’t just get traffic—you get people ready to book a job.

The key is to structure your website to match how people search—and that’s where our journey with Redback Tree Services began.

Step 1: Building Local Search Pages That Work

The foundation of the strategy was a multi-pronged local SEO approach. We identified over 100 key suburbs that Redback could realistically service—starting with Bayside and Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, where they were already doing occasional jobs.

Then we built out dedicated pages for each suburb, each page optimised around a unique high-intent keyword.

Examples included:

• Tree removal Keysborough
• Stump removal Cheltenham
• Tree cutting in Bentleigh East
• Tree lopping Moorabbin

Each page featured:

• 500–700+ words of helpful content
• Local references and landmarks
• Keyword-optimised headers (H1s and H2s)
• Original photos and reviews where possible
• Calls-to-action with contact forms or phone prompts

This structure helped cast a wide net, allowing Redback to rank in dozens of suburbs simultaneously—not just one.

Why this worked: Most competitors only built one or two “service area” pages. By contrast, Redback became hyper-visible across every major local search.

Step 2: Competing Against Yourself—Two Sites, Double the Real Estate

Once the original site ranked well, we introduced a second website, targeting a slightly different subset of keywords.

The secondary site focused on variations like:

• Tree lopping Melbourne
• Emergency tree removal
• Affordable tree service Bayside

Why build two sites?

Because on page one of Google, every spot counts. And if your business can appear twice—on two different domains—you’ve just made it harder for your competitors to show up.

In Google’s search results, Redback Tree Services would often appear twice on page one, sometimes even ranking #1 and #2. More visibility = more trust = more calls.

Our philosophy:
“If page one of Google is a street, why rent one house when you can own three?”

Step 3: Targeting City-Wide Keywords to Expand Reach

While suburb-specific pages brought in a consistent stream of local leads, we also focused on city-level SEO.

Redback needed to rank for broader, more competitive search terms like:

• Tree Removal Melbourne
• Stump Removal Melbourne
• Tree and Stump Removal
• Tree Removal

These keywords are harder to win—but also bring in bigger commercial jobs, emergency services, council work, and major tenders.

To rank for these broader keywords, we created:

• Detailed cornerstone pages (1,000+ words)
• Blog content targeting long-tail queries
• Strong internal linking structure
• Technical SEO upgrades (site speed, schema, crawlability)
• Backlink building from relevant Australian directories

This helped Redback build domain authority and compete at the top level.

Step 4: Tracking Leads, Refining Pages, Scaling Operations

SEO isn’t “set and forget.”

Each month, we:

• Tracked keyword movements across 100+ suburb pages
• Analysed which pages converted the best
• Refined underperforming content
• Added new suburbs based on enquiry data
• Monitored competition and algorithm updates

This level of hands-on optimisation ensured Redback not only ranked well—but stayed there.

10 Years Later: 12 Trucks and a Full-Time Digital Team

By the end of our 10-year partnership, Redback had transformed:

• From 1 truck to 12
• From local operator to city-wide brand
• From relying on word-of-mouth to receiving dozens of daily leads via Google

With steady income and strong lead volume, they were eventually able to hire a full-time digital marketing manager, bringing SEO and online ads in-house.

It was a natural evolution—made possible by the solid SEO foundation we built over the years.

Can All Tree Service Businesses Do This?

Not every business is ready to hire in-house marketers at $120k+ per year.

That’s why Mr SEO works like your part-time digital marketing team—strategic when needed, active when growth is the goal, and available on a support package once rankings are in place.

Most of our clients follow this path:

1. Start with an aggressive SEO campaign
2. Build rankings and generate leads
3. Scale operations and staffing
4. Reduce SEO spend to a maintenance package once the phone is ringing

It’s a model that’s worked for tree loppers, arborists, stump grinders, and many other local trade-based businesses.

Final Takeaways: What Redback’s Story Teaches Us About Local SEO

Redback Tree Services didn’t grow through luck. Their success was:

• Planned
• Structured
• Consistently executed

Here’s what you can learn from their journey:

• Local SEO matters. Suburb pages + high intent keywords = leads.
• Don’t rely on one site. If you can rank twice, do it.
• City-wide terms are worth the effort. They bring in bigger jobs.
• Keep refining. SEO is not set and forget.
• The organic lead is the cheapest lead. Once you rank, you no longer pay per click.

If you dominate page one of Google, your competitors simply don’t get the chance to.

Are You the Next Redback?

If you’re running a tree service, arborist, stump removal, or landscaping business and want to grow like Redback did, we’d love to help.

Whether you’re starting with one truck or already have a fleet, we can create a strategy tailored to your goals and budget.

Submit an enquiry and let’s build your next 10 years—just like we did for Redback.