Charles Clinkard

Family-run footwear brand Charles Clinkard tasked our organic search team with maximising organic sales by taking advantage of seasonal trends. They were keen to establish a strong backlink profile and optimise their wide product catalogue for search.

With the right mix of technical, outreach, and content work delivered at the correct time, we proved that we were the right fit for Charles Clinkard.

Our results

6,361%

ROI over 6 years

Over 100%

annualised ROI

454%

increase in organic visibility

880% (+26,558)

increase in ranking keywords

280% (+4,171)

increase in front-page rankings

11%

YOY increase in organic sessions and revenue

Since Charles Clinkard became a client in September 2015, our work has had a consistent and significant impact on search visibility. To date, we’ve achieved an increase of 454% in organic visibility and an 880% (+26,558) increase in ranking keywords. This includes a 280% (+4,171) increase in front-page rankings.

As a result of our technical and optimisation work, we’ve attained an average yearly growth of 11% in organic sessions and transactions, and a 14% rise in organic revenue. Taking into account the product listing pages alone, we’ve reached a yearly growth of 22% in sessions, 25% in transactions, and 27% in revenue.

With such great results behind us, Charles Clinkard have seen an impressive 6,361% ROI, with an annualised ROI of over 100%.

Our solution

Technical SEO

Our first step was to ensure the site structure was sound, so technical issues would not impact our work further down the line. The site had a very large product catalogue, which meant proper implementation and optimisation of faceted navigation was key. Our tech team assisted in setting the site up to ensure that our SEO work would have the biggest impact possible.

While this initial technical work was being implemented, our team could then focus on the main goal: taking advantage of seasonal trends. To do this, our Tech team performed in-depth keyword research to identify seasonal trends in the footwear market, and prioritised work accordingly.

Content

With a clear path in mind, our content team were able to work on optimised category content targeting priority keywords to build rankings and improve search visibility ahead of major seasonal trends. These included optimising school shoe pages ahead of back-to-school shopping and sandals before the summer holiday season, as well as working on key category pages in time for Christmas and January sales.

Our expert content writers also produced a selection of high-quality content marketing pieces to target relevant informational keywords, bring even more organic traffic, and provide a better user experience.

These pieces included a guide to polishing shoes, tips to stop shoes rubbing, and a range of buying guides. This positioned Charles Clinkard as a strong voice in the industry.

Outreach

To build momentum ahead of peak selling periods, our outreach team arranged opportunities with relevant influencers well in advance. The team were able to gain valuable exposure on high-profile sites like The Independent (DA 94), The Mirror (DA 94), and The Daily Mail (DA 94) by offering styling and footwear tips based on seasonal trends.

The Outreach team’s creative approach to link building also allowed them to gain valuable exposure on key industry news sites. Charles Clinkard partnered with Daisy Chain to provide specialist autism awareness training for their store members. As a result, our team were able to outreach tips for making retail stores more autism-friendly to retail magazines and charities, including Beyond Autism (DA 31). This not only boosted site authority and secured great coverage for the brand, but it also had a genuine positive social impact.

Our Google rankings have been on the up since we started working with Glass Digital. We always receive a different mix of technical, content and outreach work depending on what’s being prioritised each month, so we know time is being spent where it has the biggest impact. They adapt their strategy in line with our seasonal focuses, which is really important to a business like ours.

Graeme Boulton, Multi Channel Manager