SEO Case Study: Optimization and Promotion of a Shoe and Accessories E-Commerce to Top Search Rankings

Theme: Women’s and Men’s Footwear and Accessories (E-Commerce and Offline Stores in Ukraine)

Challenge (Initial Obstacles):

  • The website was complex for technical optimization due to custom development and modifications.
  • URL formation issues led to page duplications.
  • Incorrect display of meta-tags affected product and section descriptions and their visibility in search engines.
  • Lack of optimization for Ukrainian language keywords, with the initial focus on Russian language keywords.

Objective: Increase the efficiency of the online store, ensure high visibility in search engines, and attract the target audience to boost sales.

Region: Ukraine

Duration of Work:

  • March 2020 – February 2022
  • August 2022 – May 2023

Work Completed:

  • In-depth technical audit of the website.
  • Competitive analysis in the footwear and accessories niche.
  • Development of an SEO promotion strategy for all-season footwear and other categories.
  • Semantic expansion and optimization for Ukrainian language keywords.
  • Technical optimization of the website, including fixing URL and meta-tag formation errors.
  • Content work.
  • Link-building efforts and article placement on external platforms.
  • Analysis and measurement of results to track the effectiveness of implemented changes and optimizations.

In this case study, we will delve into the optimization and SEO promotion of an online store specializing in footwear and accessories from a well-known brand, both online and through offline stores. Operating in a highly competitive niche posed additional challenges to its promotion. The project required a comprehensive approach to enhance the website’s visibility in search engines and improve business results.

Our goal was to optimize the website to attract the target audience and ensure increased sales and profitability. Throughout the project, we thoroughly analyzed the technical and marketing aspects of the website, developing a strategy for promotion and SEO optimization. Our work included semantic expansion, technical optimization, content enhancement, and other crucial aspects that contributed to improved website positioning in search results and increased visibility.

One of our key tasks was to explore the competitive niche in the footwear and accessories industry. Our team conducted competitor analysis, formulated a website promotion strategy, and began identifying key Ukrainian language keywords for search engine optimization. This preparatory stage was a crucial step towards enhancing the effectiveness of subsequent actions.

A significant focus of our work was the expansion of the website’s semantics and optimization for Ukrainian language keywords. We analyzed and prepared Ukrainian language key keywords, initiating preparations for optimization under these keywords by thoroughly examining them and collecting relevant information. Additionally, we actively worked on the development and publication of high-quality content that met website search engine optimization requirements and the expectations of the target audience.

Link-building became a key factor in our online e-commerce promotion strategy. We actively worked on improving the quality indicators of the link mass and focused on placing articles on authoritative external resources. This allowed us to increase the website’s authority and improve its position in search engines.

The visibility of the website from Google’s organic search increased by 2 times from 2020 through 2022.

Implemented SEO Solutions:

Full website audit

Promotion strategy development

Competitor analysis

Website technical support

Technical SEO optimization

Semantic Core Compilation

The full-scale war in Ukraine posed a significant challenge to various aspects of life, including business and website traffic. This, in turn, resulted in a considerable disruption to the project’s workflow. We resumed our efforts to improve the results that had significantly declined since the beginning of the conflict.

The work on the online store was resumed. We initiated our efforts with an extensive audit of the website to identify all relevant areas for e-commerce growth and improvement. We meticulously analyzed the website’s structure, technical parameters, page indexing, and many other aspects. The gathered information laid the foundation for subsequent optimization and the formulation of an updated website promotion strategy.

After conducting the audit, we identified technical deficiencies on the website and took all necessary technical and website optimization measures to address them. We focused on eliminating page duplicates, leading to an improved structure of the online store and enhanced search engine functionality. Additionally, we developed and implemented a template for metadata cards, enhancing their attractiveness and relevance for search engines.

We addressed issues related to website localization and other technical aspects. The changes made helped establish a more harmonious and uninterrupted operation of the website. Our team conducted a thorough analysis and rectification of errors to ensure optimal functionality and e-commerce search engine optimization, a crucial aspect for audience attraction and retention.

In parallel with fixing technical deficiencies, we turned our attention to the review and updating of the website’s semantic core. The primary goal was to increase the relevance of the online store’s pages for Ukrainian language keywords. We conducted a detailed analysis of keywords important to the target audience and developed a strategy for on-site semantic optimization. Improving meta-tags on website pages was also a key task. We optimized headlines, meta-descriptions, and other meta-tags to make them more appealing and informative for search engines and users.

Moreover, we tracked the website’s positions in search results for important keywords.

*N/A – at that time, keywords were not added for comparison as the semantic core was gradually and consistently expanding.

Continuing to develop the content strategy, we created and assigned tasks for blog posts on the website. This work included creating task specifications for authors, refining topics and keywords, and ensuring the quality and uniqueness of the content. We produced informative and engaging publications that helped attract audience attention and improve website metrics.

Conclusions:

After intensive and comprehensive work on the promotion and SEO advancement of the well-known footwear and accessories manufacturer’s e-commerce website, our team achieved significant results. During this period, there was a twofold increase in organic traffic to the website, and visibility issues contributing to traffic decline due to the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine were addressed.

Notably, there was an improvement in the positions of the online store in search engines for a considerable number of keywords. The new semantic approach and optimization for Ukrainian language keywords yielded excellent results.

Our efforts in content creation and tag optimization also showed positive results in terms of increasing page attractiveness and effectiveness.

Link-building continued to contribute to the website’s authority growth, allowing us to compete in the highly competitive footwear and accessories niche.

Results:

1. Website traffic from search engines increased by more than 2 times.

2. Expansion of the semantic core, and improvement in website positions in search engines, particularly for Ukrainian language keywords:

– Top 10 for 2022 – 6 keywords;
– Top 10 for 2023 – 47 keywords;
7.8 times growth.

– Top 20 for 2022 – 22 keywords;
– Top 20 for 2023 – 82 keywords
3.7 times growth.