Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 05.03.2025 
Calibre9 was absolutely pumped to take home the Best Low Budget Campaign (SEO) award at the 2025 APAC Search Awards, recognising our successful collaboration with Mizuno.
This award reaffirms that you don’t always need a fat purse to achieve great things in SEO.
A Number of Nominations
It’s always an honour to have a few campaigns shortlisted, but to walk away with a win in such a hotly contested award category is pretty special.
This marks our second consecutive win at the APAC Search Awards, reinforcing our commitment to delivering innovative and effective SEO strategies, regardless of budget.
Our nominations were spread across seven entries in six categories:
Best Low Budget Campaign (SEO) – Winner
Best Use of Search – Retail eCommerce (SEO) (2 nominations)
Best Use of Search – B2C (SEO)
Best Use of Search – Health
Best SEO Campaign
Best Small SEO Agency
A Winning Strategy – The Mizuno SEO Campaign
Our collaboration with Mizuno was a challenge that required strategic thinking, innovation, and efficiency. Competing against industry giants with significantly larger budgets, we had to find ways to maximise impact while keeping costs lean.
We created a comprehensive strategy, starting with several in depth research projects, allowing us to identify where there were issues across technical, content and offsite then ensure we worked towards building solid foundations across each key pillar.
We used a 12 month schedule to work through issues and the opportunities which, from a top level, are outlined below.
1. Market Research
- Market Analysis
- Competitor Analysis
- Content Audit
2. Technical Fixes
3. Optimisation
- Title and Meta Descriptions
- Existing Content
- Content Strategy
4. Review and adjust
- Internal linking
- Site architecture
- UX review
5. Content creation
- Category page content creation
6. Authority
- Backlink building
- Authoritative backlink outreach
Results Delivered
By focusing on high-priority improvements like on-page optimisation, content creation, and technical updates, we maximised results within the constraints of a modest budget.
Some key achievements are listed below:
- A huge jump in revenue – Organic search became a leading revenue channel with a 415% increase YoY
- Improved visibility – key product and category pages moved to the top of SERPs.
- 202% increase in keywords ranking at positions 1 – 3
- 389% increase in keywords ranking at position 4 -10
Judges’ Comments
“Their thorough research, meticulous planning, and flawless execution combined to create a highly structured campaign that showcased deep industry knowledge and an acute awareness of its challenges. The comprehensive 12-month roadmap provided a clear and adaptive strategy, aligning each phase with strategic goals while responding to dynamic market trends in the competitive eCommerce space. By prioritising high-impact recommendations, the team maximised ROI with remarkable efficiency and agility.”
Looking Ahead
The past two years have been transformative for Calibre9. We’ve expanded our team, strengthened our service offering and product, and delivered outstanding results for a growing number of clients. Winning this award is not just a recognition of our past success but a stepping stone toward greater achievements in the future.
A Word from Our Founder
“We are incredibly honoured to receive this award for our work with Mizuno. While it’s a great milestone for Calibre9, I’m most excited about the recognition it brings to our talented team. Their commitment to client success, deep SEO expertise, and drive to deliver measurable results are what truly set us apart.
A huge thank you to our clients for their trust and to the APAC Search Awards for this recognition. Congratulations to all the finalists for their outstanding contributions to the industry.”
— Josh Thomson, Founder, Calibre9
About Calibre9
Based in Collingwood, Calibre9 is a leading SEO agency in Melbourne, offering tailored solutions across SEO, eCommerce SEO and Google Merchant Center Optimisation.
Our focus on strategic innovation ensures we deliver results that drive real business impact.
For more information, visit calibrenine.com.au
