E-commerce SEO Project for Kurk24

The Largest Online Store for Cork Products

Kurk24 specializes exclusively in the sale of cork products, ranging from flooring and wall coverings to cork bulletin boards and accessories. The company was founded in 2013 after founder André received a small batch of cork and sold it on Marktplaats. In less than 10 years, the company has grown to become the market leader in cork products, with a 350 m² showroom, over 2,000 m² of warehouse space, and the online stores kurk24.nl and korkonline.de. Kurk24’s product range includes more than 10,000 items, and with its own sawmill, Kurk24 can supply bulletin boards, cork walls, and cork sheets in any size, among other products. Due to the growing demand for eco-friendly products, the company’s growth shows no signs of slowing down.

SEO Project for Kurk24

Since December 2019, SmartRanking has been Kurk24’s regular SEO partner, with a focus on increasing visibility in the Netherlands and Belgium through Kurk24.nl and in Germany through Korkonline.de.

The objective as set by Kurk24

Kurk24 has asked us to help the company become the undisputed market leader in organic search within a few years. This must go hand in hand with healthy and profitable growth, so that every marketing channel contributes to Kurk24’s operating profit. Market share is measured on a country-by-country basis in terms of search visibility.

The Approach for This Project

Since the two online stores aren’t linked and time is limited, it’s important to set the right priorities and automate tasks wherever possible. In addition, there are several product categories that are in high demand but have a very low order value. Examples include cork bags.

For this reason, the project focuses primarily on search terms that contribute most to the online stores’ revenue. These include search terms related to cork flooring, cork walls, and bulletin boards. For all these topics, research was conducted into relevant content pieces, the menu structure, and the structure of category pages. All of these pages were then created and populated with content. As a next step, the same process was carried out in Germany, utilizing automation and translations to some extent in order to use the budget more effectively.

Within a short period of time, the Dutch online store has become the market leader in organic search. This brought with it the next challenge: further growing revenue in the Netherlands and Belgium. To achieve this, the strategy was shifted toward creating content higher up in the funnel, optimizing the CTR, and expanding the content on the website. For example, content was created about using cork as insulation, content about wall coverings, and an article was written about painting a cork floor. Based on questions asked in-store and online, a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page was also created.

Another key to further revenue growth is focusing on search terms for which the online store currently ranks in second or third place. By moving these terms up to the top position, we’ll generate additional traffic. All key search terms are now firmly in the top 3, with most of them ranking in the first position.

Furthermore, cork flooring is a major part of Kurk24’s sales. Because ordering flooring online can be a barrier for many users, there is a large 350 m² cork home furnishings store in Westerbork. Customers can also order samples online to help them choose the right flooring. The SEO strategy is designed to support this as well, so that SEO indirectly generates revenue (through quotes and store visits).

While the focus was initially primarily on the Netherlands, it has now shifted to Germany. The German market for cork products is larger and more mature than the Dutch market. German consumers are generally very familiar with cork, and it is used in many interiors in Germany. We are responding to this trend with our optimizations and localization efforts, with the goal of gaining the trust of German consumers and becoming the market leader in Organic Search in Germany as well.

The result achieved

The Kurk24 team is highly analytical, eager to learn, and deeply committed to the project. They enjoy contributing ideas and want to be actively involved in the optimization process. Thanks to this excellent collaboration, achieving the best possible results is well within reach. Within the SEO process, the focus is consistently on further improving and expanding the content in order to continue growing as the market leader. The potential in Germany, in particular, provides a solid foundation for achieving further growth and making the SEO project even more successful.