A small pet supply firm in Gateshead is living proof that search engine optimisation (SEO) is the best way to beat the recession.

Pet Points, a five-man strong business which specialises in pet products, has reported a sales growth of 120 per cent after it employed a digital marketing specialist.

Director of the pet supply company Simon Bruce explained to the Northern Echo that by implementing an online marketing strategy, popular search terms could be identified for the products on offer, which succeeded in driving more traffic its website.

Indeed, more users were drawn to the Pet Points website since its improved SEO saw its ranking rise to the first page on a Google search.

The investment that Pet Points injected to SEO had a significant impact on business too - it recorded a four-fold increase in the number of hits to the site, as well as a 120 per cent rise in sales, since May last year.

Meanwhile, director of search at Faction Media Stephen Riegel recently wrote on a BtoB blog that improving SEO is crucial if ecommerce sites wish to survive the economic downturn.