Together with the team at SoundImports, SmartRanking is working to improve findability across Europe with an e-commerce SEO journey.
SoundImports specializes in consulting and selling DIY audio components and accessories. Founded in 2015, the company serves customers across Europe and is known for its high level of service. In a short period of time, SoundImports has grown to become the European webshop in the field of DIY audio, with its range encompassing more than 4,500 products. In addition to several A-brands in the field of DIY audio, SoundImports has also set up its own brand (SoundImpress) to further strengthen its growth ambition. SoundImports stocks all products itself and ships the products from its warehouse in Groningen, guaranteeing fast shipping and great service.
SoundImports may be based in the Netherlands, but product sales take place throughout Europe. The niche of DIY audio is a big one with avid DIY fanatics all over Europe. The webshop is available in three languages (English, German, Netherlands), but the goal is to become findable in countries like France and Italy as well. People there search in different ways (compared to how users search in, say, the Netherlands), and often in the local language. This makes becoming a market leader in key countries in Europe an interesting challenge.
Within SoundImports’ assortment are the very best brands for DIY audio. However, the demand for brands does vary by country. For example, a brand like Dayton Audio is very popular in Germany, while the brand ICEpower is very popular in Sweden. This brings interesting challenges in SEO strategy for focus and planning.
The market for DIY audio is a relatively conservative one. There are several well-known vendors in the market that have been the go-to point for the target market for many years. What sets SoundImports apart is the excellent service provided and a tremendously knowledgeable team of audio experts to help customers. By being findable both low in the funnel and also mid-funnel, even users who normally order from other web shops (out of habit) should come across SoundImports.
From March 2020, SmartRanking will be SoundImports’ regular SEO partner, focusing on increasing its findability across Europe.
From SoundImports, we have been asked to grow in a sustainable and profitable way. As a result, SoundImports is not only building a business that grows quickly, but also one that is built sustainably. To achieve this, an ROI has been established, which the investment in SEO must meet. Moreover, SoundImports has another important goal: to be the market leader within SEO in Europe. This is measured in the form of search visibility.
Due to the wide range of offerings and multilingualism of the web shop, it is essential to prioritize and choose a focus. Within the project, our approach focuses on several important keyword clusters:
By breaking this down in the keyword research, it is more effective to determine focus and growth opportunities. In addition, this way we can better filter the data in the tracking project to provide insight into search visibility (and its growth).
Based on search visibility, priorities for optimizations are set each month, where optimizations are carried out together with the SoundImports team. The focus here is on creating a positive user experience (including a fast web shop) and the creation of valuable content that shows SoundImports’ authority. Based on the competitor gap analyses, the webshop is constantly being expanded and product pages optimized.
One of the issues we encountered during the project was internal cannibalization between the multilingual product pages. For example, it regularly happened that a product page aimed at the UK was findable in German search results. To prevent this, all product meta titles and meta descriptions were uniquely rewritten with programmatic SEO and the main product pages are translated into the local language by SoundImports.
Whereas at the beginning of the project the focus was very much on optimizing brand pages and category pages, the focus is now increasingly on improving product pages. In doing so, we are looking beyond content, including internal links and UX. We determine the order for optimizing product pages, again, based on margins, search volumes and search visibility. That way, we can be sure that we are working with SoundImports on the pages that make the most impact.
By looking closely at key data points, such as key brands, and prioritizing work based on search visibility, we managed to achieve y/o/y nice growth for SoundImports. As a marketing channel, SEO gives SoundImports a high ROI, allowing for profitable growth. Within the SEO journey, the focus is on continuously improving the user experience, expanding content and optimizing existing content.
The team at SoundImports is critical, enthusiastic, and committed. As a result, we keep each other sharp and good results are achieved together. With a slanted eye, furthermore, we are looking at expansion into a fourth language, where we can provide SoundImports with the right advice based on search data.