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Paul Sutherland

digital strategist,
seo consultant
& marketing partner
based in Auckland, NZ.

About Me

I help grow online business.

Paul Sutherland

Profile

I tend to be labelled a Digital Strategist, but basically I like to help websites communicate more effectively with people.

My background lies in creating, planning and executing data-driven search strategy for leading brands in New Zealand, Australia and various international markets. I run Relevance NZ and am also the co-founder of Relevance & Intent.

Be it a search marketer, SEO consultant, digital manager or e-commerce specialist, I help brands reach and grow their audience effectively - whatever label gets applied.

Expertise

I focus on data-driven growth strategies that work.

Having worked across many of New Zealand's leading brands and websites since the early 2000s, I have plenty of experience to draw upon. I focus on developing and executing plans which will drive online growth.

  • Content Strategy

    I can help you identify and understand what your audience is looking for online. Once we can uncover what their motivation is, we can start to look at the best ways to craft content to communicate with them more effectively.

  • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

    Once you have great content, I can help you optimise your site to ensure you get the traffic you deserve from the likes of Google. No smoke and mirrors, dodgy link building or questionable algorithm chasing - just proven best practice without butchering your content. I've been doing SEO for a while now, so there are few issues I haven't seen and dealt with before - be it around information architecture, indexation & crawl problems, schema markup or technical SEO issues.

  • AI Search & Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO & GEO)

    Search isn't just about traditional blue links anymore. With the rise of AI-driven search experiences, zero-click answers, and conversational search engines, your brand needs to be directly cited or mentioned when users ask questions. I help your business adapt by structuring your content, data, and entity signals so AI models can recognise your business as a trusted, authoritative source.

  • Paid Search & Digital Marketing (SEM)

    I help businesses develop, manage, and optimise targeted paid campaigns across search and digital channels. I’ve developed and managed search campaigns for leading New Zealand brands, including businesses competing in highly competitive markets. My focus is on identifying where your ad spend will generate the best return and ensuring every campaign drives measurable business outcomes. I'm also a certified Google Partner.

  • Reporting & Auditing

    I can help you figure out how your site is performing, analyse what is working and identify your best opportunities for growth. Sometimes, even the smallest of tweaks in the right places can produce some remarkable results.

Brands I've Worked With

I've worked with some great brands over the years.

Accor Hotels
Air New Zealand
Expedia Australia
Panasonic
Serato
SiteHost
Toyota
TradeMe
Ultimate Hikes
Vantage Windows & Doors
Village Guide
Wilderness Magazine

In less than a year of working with Paul, organic traffic to our website has increased more than 150%. As a result, we have noticed a significant increase in direct enquiries for our services via our website. We love working with Paul. He is very pragmatic and identifies the easy wins. Paul really understands our specific needs and got to grips with our topic area – sustainability – in a very short time.

thinkstep-anz Barbara Nebel CEO, thinkstep-anz

Paul is expert in his field across paid search and SEO strategies. He is supportive and an excellent communicator. Paul very quickly understood our product and needs, and built our digital marketing strategy up to the point that our return on advertising spend reached over 4000%! I strongly recommend Paul to anyone seeking to innovate their digital marketing strategy and grow their business exponentially.

Ultimate Hikes Peta Bamber Marketing & Communications Manager, Ultimate Hikes

Paul was exemplary in understanding each business and successfully executing our digital marketing campaigns to a very high degree. We were able to transform our approach to digital marketing, introduce new channels, optimise existing channels even further and optimise our on-site user experience and SEO. He’s an absolute pleasure to work with, always positive, enthusiastic and challenging the status quo to drive higher levels of performance. His in-depth knowledge of digital marketing combined with a data driven approach make him a truly world class digital expert.

NZSki Michael Gibb Digital Marketing Manager, NZSki

Paul and I worked closely together in the marketing department of Panasonic NZ for just over 2 years. Paul brought significant amounts of digital expertise and put this to great use as he quietly and confidently transformed the digital marketing aspects of the business. As well as being a sound digital strategist and results-focused implementor, Paul has a great business head and can always see 'the bigger picture'. Paul is fantastic to work with and I have no hesitation in recommending him.

Panasonic James Smith Advertising Manager, Panasonic

Paul has a fantastic understanding of organic search engine optimization (SEO). A combination of industry expertise, a passion for innovation and great business instincts make Paul a very effective SEO consultant. I had the pleasure of working with Paul at Netconcepts when he came to the US to help us carry a heavy work load, which meant our work environment was stressful at times as the pressures had increased, so expectations were at their highest. Paul proved himself very capable and bright, he met daily challenges head on, with great poise, and a great sense of humor. Paul would be a true asset for any organization.

Netconcepts PJ Fusco Director of SEO, Netconcepts

Looking for the blog?

Take a look at some of my posts on Relevance & Intent.
That said, I don't post nearly as much as I should!

Relevance & Intent Blog