SUCCESS STORIES
FORESTERS ARMS (FORRIES)
Foresters Arms partnered with Roundseed to build a digital presence that matched the legendary status of one of Cape Town’s most beloved institutions. The result is an SEO programme that has transformed Forries from effectively invisible online into one of the most visited hospitality websites in the city.
SEO, Local SEO, Content Strategy · 2021–Present
Objectives
Build
a technical SEO foundation that Google could read, trust and rank
Position
Forries as a Cape Town institution, not just another restaurant
Grow
organic traffic by targeting high-volume keywords
Increase
key events including reservations, calls and function enquiries
Results
+554.9%
Increase in key events
+219.6%
Growth in total sessions
3,100+
Ranking keywords
CLIENT
Foresters Arms (Forries)
INDUSTRY
Hospitality
LOCATION
Newlands, Cape Town
PACKAGE
SEO Management
Engagement Start
2021
PLATFORM
WordPress
LIVE SITE
PROJECT OVERVIEW
AN SEO STRATEGY BUILT FOR A CAPE TOWN Legend
Foresters Arms had the heritage, the character, and the reputation to be one of Cape Town’s great destinations. What they needed was a digital presence that reflected that, one that put Forries in front of the visitors and locals who were actively searching for exactly what it offers.
The result is a fully managed SEO service that has grown Forries into far more than a pub and restaurant online, positioning the brand as a trusted hub of information for visitors and locals exploring Cape Town and the Newlands area.
01
– THE APPROACH
AN SEO STRATEGY BUILT AROUND MORE THAN A MENU
Repositioning a historic pub as a Cape Town destination.
Foresters Arms had something most hospitality businesses can only dream of: 170 years of history, a Guinness World Record, and a location minutes from two of South Africa’s most iconic sports grounds. Roundseed’s job was to make sure Google reflected that. Rather than following the standard restaurant SEO playbook of writing about dishes and seasonal menus, the strategy was built around something far more ambitious.
Forries was positioned as a Cape Town institution, not just a pub.
The content strategy was built around making Forries a genuine source of useful information for visitors planning a Cape Town experience. Content targeting Table Mountain, things to do in Cape Town, the Southern Suburbs and the Newlands area positioned Forries not as one restaurant among many, but as a knowledgeable local institution at the heart of the Cape Town experience.
“Roundseed digital marketing has proved to be invaluable by ensuring our business offering is highly visible over various media platforms.”
— Lorraine Muir, Foresters Arms
Technical SEO and local search were treated as distinct workstreams from the start. Page structure, metadata, site speed, mobile optimisation and schema markup were all addressed to give every piece of content the best possible chance of ranking. The Google Business Profile was fully optimised, local citations were built and maintained, and a review strategy was put in place to ensure Forries appeared prominently in map results and local pack searches for every relevant category.
02
– THE IMPACT
FROM INVISIBLE ONLINE TO one of CAPE TOWN’S MOST VISITED PUBs ON GOOGLE
What improved across organic traffic, visibility and conversions.
The results across every meaningful metric moved dramatically in the right direction. Organic traffic, which had been close to zero for the entirety of the site’s history before the programme, climbed sharply from 2024 and has continued growing every month since.
+554.9% increase in key events
Key events, including phone calls, reservation enquiries, function bookings, menu downloads and direct emails, grew from 6,627 to 43,404. More visitors are taking meaningful action every time they land on the site.
+219.6% increase in total sessions
Total sessions grew from 34,924 to 111,619, with organic search accounting for 63% of all site traffic, a channel that continues to compound month on month.
+468.9% increase in organic key events
Organic visitors are not just arriving in greater numbers; they are converting at a 29.67% key event rate, nearly double what it was before the programme began.
3,100+ ranking keywords
From near zero ranking keywords before the programme, Forries now ranks for over 3,100 keywords, many of them high-difficulty, high-volume tourism and destination searches that bring in visitors who are actively planning a Cape Town experience.
32,000 to 48,000 monthly organic sessions
A sustained SEO programme that began with building the right foundations has grown into a channel delivering between 32,000 and 48,000 organic sessions every month, making it the single biggest driver of traffic and discovery for the business.
The authority built, the rankings held, and the content published are permanent assets that continue to deliver returns every month. The organic search channel is now the single biggest driver of traffic and conversions for the business.
FORESTERS ARMS
Foresters Arms, known to Cape Town locals simply as Forries, is one of the oldest pubs in South Africa, established in 1852 in the leafy suburb of Newlands. With 21 beers on tap, a beloved Sunday Carvery, wood-fired pizzas, a beer tasting room and a function venue set beneath ancient oak trees, it holds a unique place in Cape Town’s cultural fabric.
A Guinness World Record holder for the most beer sold in the Southern Hemisphere, Forries sits minutes from the Newlands cricket and rugby grounds and welcomes sports fans, families, tourists and Capetonians alike. It is a genuine institution, with the kind of authentic character that simply cannot be manufactured.