Sportdog.com
Growth through Google Ads and SEO in times of crisis thanks to Go Digital
The Corona year 2020 presented Leroi, a specialist retailer for sports dog accessories, with a great challenge, because the lockdown broke the stationary business.
It is high time for the medium-sized company to optimize the visibility of its online channel with professional support.
“The go-digital initiative and the associated support from UnitedAds saved our butts in Corona times – that has to be said quite clearly. We were already one of the few retailers in our field to have a smart online store, so we were in a good starting position.
But with that alone we would not have been able to compensate for the loss of stationary sales via trade fairs and events. The funding has helped us to compensate for the lack of a physical presence at the customer’s site and to make our digital brands much more visible.
In addition, the funding enabled us to successfully implement a project whose financing would otherwise have been difficult, especially in times of crisis.”
Florian König, Leroi GmbH
Stationary sales collapse
LEROI GmbH is one of the leading specialized dealers in sporting dog accessories and equipment for hunting dogs.
Until 2020, trading at events and trade fairs was the most important source of income for the medium-sized company from the Swabian town of Bretzfeld Geddelsbach. But then came the corona pandemic: The company completely lost its stationary sales. As a result, Leroi was forced from one day to the next to increase the digital presence of its online shops and thus compensate for the loss of sales due to e-commerce activities.
The problem: the budget for measures was very limited. In order to establish itself with its Sporthund.de platform as the first digital contact address for dog sports enthusiasts in Germany, Leroi had already subjected the online shop to a comprehensive relaunch in 2019.
50% of the project costs are reimbursed by the Go Digital program
However, a decisive factor in the development of the company’s online stores was the “go digital” funding program, which covered 50 percent of the costs incurred.
Leroi was supported by UnitedAds in the implementation of the promotional program. Our Google specialists took over the implementation of the digital marketing measures and the application for funding, billing and reporting.
First the SEO inventory
Before UnitedAds could start with the SEO optimization of Sporthund.de, our experts obtained an overview of the current state of the online store. Which shop software is used? Which shop is already well positioned organically and with which product? Are there any overlaps or cannibalizations in the ranking?
Synchronize SEO and SEA
This was followed by the creation of a strategic plan. First of all, all Google Ads and Shopping campaigns were revised or newly created. There was a lot of overlap, which is why some of the campaigns went badly and generated too little revenue.
Since Google Ads campaigns achieve much faster success than SEO measures, it was important to proceed strategically and purposefully. It was determined which shop should advertise which products, shopping feeds were adjusted, search campaigns were created and keywords were structured. The goal: first generate sales with the paid advertising before UnitedAds could start with the SEO optimization of Sporthund.de.
Technical SEO came first
The focus of the project plan was on SEO optimization and the branding of Sporthund.de.
In the first step, keyword-related metadata was created for the products, and at the same time image optimizations were carried out to ensure better “page speed” and a better ranking. In addition, internal link building was put to the test and “404 errors” were eliminated. To push the ranking even more, the My Business account was optimized on Google
The increase in sales speaks for itself
Compared to the previous year, Leroi GmbH increased its online sales in 2020 by l5 percent – despite short-time work during the first lockdown.
In quarters three and four, the period of support under the “go-digital” program, sales at the stores almost doubled compared with the previous year.
In January, both shops reported 42 percent more sales than in 2020
