The Challenge
Hollywood Bowl is the UK’s leading tenpin bowling brand. Despite strong brand awareness and physical presence, their digital performance was falling short. With competition heating up from experiential disruptors like Lane7 and Roxy, and legacy rivals like Tenpin, Hollywood Bowl needed more than tactical delivery. They needed a growth partner focused on outcomes, customer behaviour, and long-term performance.
That’s where Curated came in.
Our Approach
This wasn’t about channel activity. It was about rebuilding their digital presence with clarity, pace, and commercial focus. We developed a behaviourally informed roadmap built around five core pillars:
1. Keyword Universe and Site Architecture
We created a comprehensive keyword universe spanning location terms, mid-funnel queries, and high-intent searches like “bowling alley near me,” “family bowling deals,” and “virtual darts Wolverhampton.”
This informed:
- A full SEO and content strategy across site structure, location pages, and evergreen content
- Technical SEO improvements across speed, crawlability, and internal linking
- Seasonally aligned content campaigns built around user needs
2. Commercially Focused Content Strategy
We launched and optimised key content assets, including:
- Dedicated landing pages for flagship products like VR Darts, Bridget Jones-themed events, and Mother’s Day
- Midweek-focused content to support underperforming weekdays
- Evergreen SEO articles built around “indoor activities,” “bowling date ideas,” and “things to do near me”
3. Local SEO Leadership
Local visibility was a major missed opportunity. “Near me” bowling searches total over 235,000 every month in the UK.
We tackled this by:
- Auditing and rewriting metadata across 60+ centre pages
- Improving Google and listings visibility using Reputation.com
- Launching regional hub pages like “Bowling in Surrey” to capture non-brand traffic and compete with aggregator sites
4. Continuous Insight and Optimisation
We delivered a monthly strategy cycle focused on:
- Competitor tracking and share of voice reporting
- Keyword movement across core categories (Deals, Offers, Location, Parties, Price)
- Blog performance linked to conversion journeys
- Technical SEO fixes and cannibalisation resolution
- Trend-led content tied to pop culture, seasonal events, and audience moments
The Results
✅ Organic search present in 88 percent of all converting journeys
✅ Page one rankings up 107 percent year on year for bowling-related terms
✅ Visibility on non-brand keywords increased to 81 percent across desktop
✅ 985,000 organic clicks in three months, up 37 percent versus the previous period
✅ 53 percent increase in impressions year on year (10.9 million total)
✅ 104 percent increase in monthly blog traffic between January and February 2025
✅ Hollywood Bowl overtook Tenpin in the ‘Deals & Offers’ keyword category
What’s Next
With a solid foundation now in place, our roadmap continues. The next phase focuses on:
- Persona-led segmentation and journey refinement
- Better use of first-party data and Bloomreach tools
- Scaling editorial authority with rich content assets
- Multichannel testing to improve ROAS and attribution
The Verdict
The best client–agency relationships are built on challenge, not comfort. This partnership has been about growth, market share, and future thinking.
We’re not here to defend Hollywood Bowl’s digital presence.
We’re here to dominate.