Back in October 2018 we signed one of our very first clients, the lovely Klöeber UK Ltd. They were looking for support with their SEO (both on-page and off-page) and Google Ads, which, of course, we were more than happy to help with.
The beginning, the on-page SEO
Although their website had been previously optimised, to some extent, it didn’t follow the current best practices, so we started at the very beginning (like anyone would) carrying out in-depth research into the keywords their target audience were (and still are) likely to use to find their products online – it turned out there were a lot of them, and also a lot of irrelevant ones too (knowing this came in super handy when we started the restructuring of their Google Ads account).
With this research in our back pocket, we could then make recommendations on improving the current optimisation, starting with the process of allocating the right words to the right pages – focusing on a long-tail strategy. Once approved by Klöeber, we were able to start updating the existing page titles, descriptions, headings and page copy. At this stage we were unable to expand upon the existing page copy – something that’s on the list for 2020!
As part of our on-page SEO project, we wanted to optimise the relevant website URLs, and it was at this stage that we discovered the website wasn’t quite what it seemed – when trying to change the URLs and set-up redirects, editing the URLs created fake ones, essentially the URL didn’t change, it put on a mask (shall we say). We then started to look into other elements a little more deeply and page titles, descriptions and headings weren’t displaying as expected in the code too.
What happened next?
We had to be straight with Klöeber, and we gave them two options; we either optimise the website as best we can – the likelihood being things wouldn’t improve that much – or, we help them find local web developers who could build them a new one.
Luckily Klöeber trusted us, we’d built a close relationship with them in such a short space of time, and they went for the second option, a new website.
It took roughly 6 months to build, and we of course supported them along the way in every way that we could, and they’ve never looked back (they let us write that, ha). The organic traffic continues to grow each and every month, and they are now seeing more than a 50% increase compared to their old website. The conversions have also increased by more than 80%!
Just look at that traffic growth!
What about the Google Ads?
Once we had our research and knew what keywords were relevant and what ones weren’t, we were able to start. First thing was to create an extensive list of negative keywords, something which hadn’t really been done before this point, to exclude from the existing campaigns. Klöeber were getting a lot of clicks on their ads for keywords such as VW doors and UPVC windows, they produce neither.
We then worked on the overall structure of the account, creating new campaigns centred around their showroom locations, as well as products campaigns for the relevant windows and doors keywords.
The process was carried out in two different phases across 4 months; firstly focusing on creating more ads, introducing further relevant keywords, and grouping the keywords into relevant ad groups in each campaign (shocking that this wasn’t already done), as well as testing keyword strategies in the different ad groups as they were all mixed – again, not best practice.
Klöeber were also unaware that their budget was being distributed in a way which meant it was focusing too highly on products which don’t result in a high enough ROI for them, so we had to work with them to correct this too.
The second phase included; analysing and selecting the best keyword strategies for each ad group, creating more ads for testing, as well as continuing with on-going management such as adding negative keywords etc.
The results?
Although the traffic from their Google Ads account has reduced, it is now more relevant than ever before, with the click through rate increasing by more than 125%, and the conversion rate increasing by more than 75% – woop!
How about the off-page?
Before Klöeber even signed their contract, we were made aware of the types of links their previous agency were building for them, and let’s just say, we were surprised Klöeber didn’t have a penalty.
There were a lot of links from link networks/farms, directories and other websites which would never drive traffic to their website – after all, this is one of the reasons you build links pointing back to your website, to obtain referral traffic.
We’d done a lot of research around the time of signing up Klöeber and found that submitting a disavow to Google wasn’t really an option anymore. Although they would potentially look at it, they wouldn’t necessarily take it into consideration.
Rather than waste time on doing this, we decided to focus on building quality links, pointing back to the Klöeber website, from relevant websites, including natural links within the content too – not just plonking them within a few sentences where it didn’t make sense (something else the previous agency was doing).
We also knew we would need to do this steadily over the length of the contract, rather than building lots of links in one go.
The results
Well apart from the already mentioned improvements in organic traffic, Klöebers link profile is looking much better. We have also continued with this approach for this year, as well as introducing some influencer marketing to help with it further – something we’re really excited to get our teeth into.
What can you learn from Klöeber?
When it comes to digital marketing, no matter what the activity, it is all about RELEVANCY – there is no point getting lots of traffic from different sources if it doesn’t convert into a lead or sale.
A new website might be the only option when it comes to improving your website’s SEO. Yes it will cost, but ultimately it will be worth it when it helps you achieve more traffic, conversions, and leads or sales.
SEO and PPC require continual investment and it is not a quick process to fix either of them when set-up incorrectly. This is why SEO is still a part of Klöebers strategy a year after they signed their first contract with us, along with management of their PPC account.