Trusted, Proven and Established since 2008
We’ve learnt a lot in over 17 years of business. but we’ve also earnt a great reputation which has seen us work with huge global brands like eBay, WWE, ASUS, Sephora and many more.
Our expertise in SEO, Paid Media and Digital PR stems from hiring the best in the business and solving challenges for our clients to get the best possible results.
Our Story
2008 - 2010
In 2008, our founder, Chris Ailey, left his role as Search Marketing Manager at PC World with an impressive portfolio of SEO rankings and PPC results to start up an agency of his own.
Our first client was baby retailer Mothercare and toy shop ELC, this was closely followed by several other high profile client wins including Blacks Leisure Group, National Express and ASUS.
In 2010 we moved into our own premises, The Old Barn in Hertfordshire which has become synonymous with our agency brand.
2011 - 2014
By 2011 we had grown to a team of 10 and added PPC to our service offering. The next 3 years would prove to be pivotal in the growth of our agency.
First we won eBay Europe as an SEO client, completing huge scale projects for them over the next 7 years.
We also won wrestling super brand WWE and promoted Pay Per View TV and stadium events like Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble across Europe, South American, Middle East and Asia through PPC and Paid Social.
2015 - 2018
By 2015 we had grown up as a company building in more structure to our team and adding brands like Spire Healthcare, Jaeger and New Era.
We also moved into automotive, working with Renault Retail and Group 1 Automotive to drive leads to their 80+ dealerships in the UK.
In 2018 we celebrated 10 years in business and hosted an event at our Hertfordshire HQ called Digi Day.
2019
In 2019 we took the huge decision to rebrand our agency and reinvent ourselves as Honchō.
It followed a year of preparation which also saw us join our barn with the stables through a unique shopfront style reception and remodel our office interior including a state of the art boardroom, breakout areas and further workspace for our growing team.
2020 - 2024
With COVID putting the world into lockdown in 2020, our business like many around the world, had to adapt. But the digital boom that followed saw us double in revenue in 2021 to £2.5m and grow to a team of 40.
This period also saw us establish ourselves as a truly award winning agency, picking up UK Search Awards, European Search Awards, Drum Digital, Drum Search and Global Digital PR awards.Whilst our office and hybrid working remains in place it has also allowed us to widen our talent pool with Honchō experts now located around the UK.
Get in touch
FAQs About Honcho
What services do Honcho provide?
Honcho are a specialist Search Marketing agency that help brands increase their presence in Search Engines and on Social Media.
We do this through Organic Performance and Paid Media.Organic performance combines SEO, Content and Digital PR strategies to increase our client's natural search rankings in Google & Bing. Paid Media uses advertising channels like Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and Meta to give brands instant visibility in search results and on social media feeds.
What does Honcho mean?
Honcho comes from the WWII era and is a Japanese word for used for "group leader," hancho, from han, "corps or squad," and cho, "head or chief."
In modern day it is used to describe a leader or 'head honcho'.
At Honcho we encourage our team to use traits of leadership like bravery, honesty and empathy. We use the term #BeHoncho as part of our values.
We believe anyone can be a leader, no matter what their title.
Where are Honcho based?
Honcho are an SEO, Paid Media and Digital PR agency based in the Hertfordshire town of Hertford.
How long have Honcho been in business?
Honcho was established in 2008 by our Founder Chris Ailey. We have grown to a team of 30+ and worked with a large number of household brands including Mothercare, eBay, WWE, Sephora, John Lewis and Group 1 Automotive.
What is SEO and how does it work?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is the used to gain free traffic from Search Engines like Google by appearing top of their search results. Search Engines use algorithms to establish which websites appear in what order in their results.
SEO can be broken down into the following key areas: Technical SEO is the process of ensuring Google can index your site quickly and easily and that pages load quickly.
Content and On-site SEO is the process of producing and optimising content so that Google can understand the topics and keywords the site and pages should be relevant for.
Digital PR is used to build authority and trust of a domain or website, a key factor that Google uses to establish whether your site should rank for the most competitive keywords.
What Paid Media channels can we advertise on?
We can promote or advertise your site on Search Engines so that people actively searching for your product or services can find you easily.
Google Shopping is a very effective channel and is often used by browsers searching for specific products. Through effective feed optimisation we can help your products show more often and for the best converting terms in Shopping results.
Paid Social advertising is a great way of reaching new audiences and we can promote your website or brand on Meta channels like Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, X and Pinterest. We can also help you with video advertising on YouTube and programmatic advertising on networks.
What sectors do we work in?
We specialise in B2C (business to consumer) marketing and supporting Direct to consumer brands.
We have a rich heritage in ecommerce and automotive but have clients across a range of sectors including for fashion, automotive, beauty, electronics and home and garden brands.