Exemplary SEO Campaigns on the German Market – Delante’s Successes
Every country is different and this rule applies also to SEO. The German market has its peculiar characteristics that should be borne in mind when planning an SEO strategy in this area. Over the past few years, we’ve been cooperating with various clients who decided to invest in SEO and enter the German market. This helped us gain valuable knowledge and expertise. Check out what results we can boast now.
Table of Contents:
- Characteristics of the German Market – How to Succeed?
- SEO Campaigns On The German Market
- The Takeaway
Characteristics of the German market – how to succeed?
When planning an international SEO strategy, it’s worth keeping in mind a few aspects – one of them includes the character of the market you want to do SEO for. Each country differs in terms of shopping habits, expectations, search engines, or the way local users browse the web – be prepared for that.
The last few years of cooperation with various clients who decided to enter the German market made it easier for us to get acquainted with its specificity – we know what to pay attention to, which elements are important, and which can be disregarded when planning an SEO agency for this specific market.
What to keep in mind when doing SEO in Germany?
First and foremost: Germans love everything that’s German! They value local brands which hinder the task of foreign entrepreneurs. In most cases, they trust country domains and shop online on Amazon or eBay (which makes it more problematic to do SEO for certain industries such as the electronics one). However, don’t get too upset! As always, there are exceptions to the rule.
Language is another issue particularly important for Germans. Therefore, make sure that everything is linguistically correct and avoid English words.
When it comes to logistics, Germans are very appreciative of efficient service, fast delivery, and discounts on future shopping. They prefer to buy in trusted places where they feel safe and cared for. All kinds of certificates, such as Trusted Shop or pieces of information confirming the quality of your services are an additional asset making your website more prestigious. In Germany, people put great emphasis on CSR activities, therefore, if you support the environment or non-profit organizations, mention it on your page.
Now it’s time for some interesting pieces of information. In Germany, popular long-tails include:
- online kaufen (buy online),
- günstig online kaufen (buy cheaply/benefitably online),
- bestellen (order),
- nach Maß (customized, tailor-made).
Obviously, these are only some of the characteristics of this market. To learn more about SEO in Germany, check out our previous blog post: SEO in Germany. What do you need to know to properly plan your campaign on the Rhine?
Doing SEO for the German market always means a lot of challenges and a lot of fun 😉 I have experienced this while working with both Endera and So Lovely Box. Both these websites required a custom “nach Maß” approach that’s appreciated by Germans. Although the task wasn’t a piece of cake, the results are pretty satisfactory, what you can see below.
Getting to know the local market and inspiring website trust are real cornerstones. The task is complex, however, due to the fact that Germans are so fond of local brands, it’s the basis ensuring the successfulness of an SEO strategy.
SEO campaigns on the German market
Endera
Endera is a company offering diagnostic services, repair, or installation of electronics and software in vehicles. Our cooperation started in early September 2018. Main challenges? A custom CMS with limited editing options definitely hindered the SEO process, numerous technical modifications, and the competitiveness of the industry.
Here, technical solutions were the key to success. We introduced breadcrumb navigation, schema elements, and subpage titles. The support of web developers was complemented by a simultaneous, regularly conducted long-tail SEO process (check out: Long-tail SEO: what is it and how does it work?) which helped us to significantly improve positions of particular keywords.
Additionally, we optimized the service subpages, introduced new website content and improved internal linking.
Link profile before the cooperation:
Link profile after 18 months of the cooperation:
Other results? 135% increase in monthly organic traffic in 18 months!
To learn more about this cooperation and the SEO process for Endera, see our case study: Case Study SEO Endera
So Lovely Box
So Lovely Box is an online store offering personalized, branded spirits. We started working together in February 2020 – after 10 months we were able to boost the results of our activities. Challenges? A multistore, competitive (and seasonal) industry and CMS CStore – not a particularly SEO-friendly solution.
An inappropriate structure of this multistore was definitely an issue – most website elements were loaded from the Polish version, therefore, the page wasn’t displayed in the organic search results. This deprived it of a chance to reach satisfactory positions not only in Germany but also in other countries. Consequently, we’ve focused on website configuration and the selection of appropriate keywords matching the market profile. Each global modification had a positive impact on other language versions.
We focused on two groups of phrases: generic and long-tail. The former referred to gifts (e.g. gift for grandpa), while the latter to brands (e.g. Jack Daniels gift).
The insufficient amount of website content was another problematic issue related to So Lovely Box. It contributed to increased internal duplicate content and deprived our client of valuable keywords displayed in the search results.
Technical modifications (we had to deal with poorly implemented structured data and incorrect internal linking) were implemented by our in-house developer and the So Lovely Box programmer. They also contributed to the success.
Quality link building, which meant obtaining links from top-notch domains, was the icing on the cake of the whole process.
Domain parameters at the beginning of our cooperation:
Domain parameters after 10 months of cooperation with Delante:
Other results? A significant increase in the positions of phrases that are of key importance for the client’s website:
An improvement in the organic traffic from zero to 4,000 users in 10 months!
To learn more about this cooperation go to Case Study So Lovely Box. If you want to check out the remaining actions of Delante, visit the clients subpage.
Other successful steps of Delante on the German market
#1
| Website Type | Industry | CMS | Increase |
| Online Store | Construction | WordPress | +310% monthly organic traffic |
Our cooperation started at the end of February 2019. What about the results? 310% increase in monthly organic traffic in December 2020 compared to December 2019!
#2
| Website Type | Industry | CMS | Increase |
| Online Store | Car Accessories | Magento | +620% monthly organic traffic |
Our cooperation with the client began at the beginning of May 2019. Our results? 620% increase in monthly organic traffic in December 2020 compared to May 2019 when the SEO process started!
What’s more, from the beginning of the cooperation until the end of December 2020, we created organic traffic amounting to 12000 users!
The takeaway
The German market is one of the most demanding sectors. When planning an SEO strategy for Germany, it’s crucial to take into account numerous factors related not only to the character of international SEO but also to the profile of a particular market. How to succeed on the German market? Well, first you need to get to know it.
Do you want to enter the German market and do SEO for your website? Don’t hesitate to contact us!
The German market is a really specific market to work with – must admit that 😉 You got nice results there, congrats!
Thank you, Ben! Yes, it can be tricky sometimes, but so is every country. The most important thing is to keep finding the right solutions and gaining more and more experience 💪