Increase sales: 11 measures to optimize growth

01 Search engine optimization in e-commerce

It’s no secret that SEO is essential in e-commerce by enhancing the visibility of an online store in search engines, thereby increasing sales. Approximately 43% of e-commerce traffic is generated through organic searches, and this trend continues to rise. Our project data shows a substantial portion of the e-commerce revenue for our clients (including Hama, STIHL, and Angelini) comes from organic visitors – those who reach the online store via Google.

However, many companies are still not fully exploiting this potential.

An effective e-commerce SEO strategy begins with in-depth keyword research. Identifying relevant keywords that potential customers use when searching for your products, and analyzing your competitors' activities regarding these search terms.

The takeaway here is: the data does not lie. Experience shows that product names in use for years may not align with current search habits. Be prepared to adjust these designations, even if it faces resistance from internal teams, such as PR.

For branded keywords – search terms directly related to your brand – your online store should naturally occupy the top spot in the results. If not, implement necessary SEO measures promptly. Furthermore, strive to achieve top three rankings for generic keywords within your product range.

02 Targeted use of content marketing

Your SEO efforts in e-commerce should therefore initially aim to drive transactional search queries to your online store. Additionally, we generally recommend that our clients, such as Hama, STIHL and Angelini, expand their content portfolio to include a comprehensive help section, taking informational non-branded keywords into account within their content strategy.

By providing informative, helpful content on industry-relevant topics, you increase your general visibility in search engine results and generate awareness for your brand and products. Companies with a blog enjoy an average of 55% more visitors and generate 67% more leads per month.

Moreover, positioning yourself as an industry expert through relevant non-branded content enhances rankings. Google assesses a website’s expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness (keyword: E-E-A-T), which fosters trust with both potential and existing customers, supporting long-term loyalty.

Combining branded and non-branded traffic strengthens your D2C brand strategy. By providing relevant, high-quality content throughout the customer journey – going beyond immediate product offerings – a brand can deepen its relationship with customers. While classic campaign marketing focuses on generating immediate profits, content marketing delivers long-term strategic value that can sustainably increase sales.

03 Optimize conversion rate

With a well-thought-out SEO content strategy, you can generate valuable traffic. However, this traffic becomes ineffective if you cannot convert it into tangible results, such as conversions.

Conversions are the activities that a visitor should complete on a website or in an online store; these can vary based on the marketing objective – such as registering for a newsletter or filling out a contact form. To increase sales, one specific conversion is paramount: the completion of a purchase.

Targeted measures should be taken to increase the number of website visitors who become customers. Depending on the initial situation, this can involve various aspects, such as:

• Design and usability of your online store
• Integration of guided selling tools
• Simplification of the checkout process
• Targeted use of UX writing, particularly on call-to-action buttons
• Incorporation of trust signals, such as certificates or payment guarantees
• Use of social proof, including customer reviews and testimonials
• Product placements in guidebook content with motivating headlines

04 Integrate content with real added value on product category pages

Many online stores continue to use generic SEO text without any real added value under the product overview on category pages, and merely incorporate keywords to improve search rankings. These texts often serve only the search engine and provide little benefit to users. Let’s be honest – how often have you scrolled to the bottom of an online store, read these texts, and thought, “Yes, now that really helped me”?

Today’s customers expect more than superficial information. Online stores should strive to offer genuine added value rather than unengaging content that hardly anyone reads.

Ensure that the integrated content is relevant, informative, and appealing. It should address the most common questions and challenges of customers while highlighting the benefits of the products offered. This strategy promotes a positive user experience, engages users specifically during the consideration or conversion phase of their customer journey, and actively contributes to increasing your e-commerce sales.

05 Optimize the business model

Another way to drive sales is to fundamentally optimize your business model – specifically, how and where you offer goods. For a long time, subscriptions were viewed skeptically, especially for physical goods. However, this perception has shifted, as indicated by the KPMG Consumer Barometer. Subscription commerce models are particularly suited for consumer goods that wear out quickly or are consumed regularly, such as cosmetics, shampoos, razor blades, as well as food or household items.

Furthermore, a presence on additional platforms such as Amazon offers significant potential for optimizing sales. Based on our project experience, we know that D2C brands sometimes hesitate to offer their products on external channels, especially Amazon. However, D2C should mean allowing customers the choice of where they want to buy.

By placing products on platforms like Amazon, companies empower customers to purchase where it’s most convenient for them. Additionally, maintaining a presence on external platforms provides an opportunity to retain brand sovereignty and control brand communication, rather than relying on third-party vendors.

It’s also essential to consider optimizing the purchasing process for mobile devices. Forecasts predict that global mobile commerce sales will reach $1.9 trillion by 2030.

The area of social commerce is also relevant here. Marketing and selling products via social media platforms like Instagram enables companies to expand their existing target audiences and increase sales.

06 Combining SEO and SEA efficiently

In many companies, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEA (Search Engine Advertising) efforts are still seen as separate entities, often executed by different agencies with minimal communication between them.

However, strategically integrating SEO and SEA can unlock significant potential for enhancing your website's visibility, increasing sales, and fine-tuning resource allocation to reduce costs.

SEA offers immediate visibility for new products or landing pages, while SEO gradually builds organic search results over time. This means that SEA can effectively support short-term objectives and drive immediate traffic, whereas SEO ensures a steady stream of organic visits in the long run. A case study by Advanced Metrics highlights that the combined use of SEO and SEA campaigns led to a 25% increase in reach.

Both SEO and SEA initiatives rely heavily on comprehensive keyword research. Coordinated collaboration allows for a more efficient use of resources and budget. By analyzing which keywords perform well through SEO and identifying search terms that can be effectively targeted with SEA, you can refine your spending.

A crucial factor is the Quality Score, which Google uses to evaluate how well an ad matches the corresponding landing page. SEO experts are typically experienced in creating audience-relevant and user-friendly content, which can contribute to a higher Quality Score. This, in turn, is rewarded with a lower click price and can make a campaign considerably more cost-effective. Depending on the campaign, this can result in savings of several thousand euros.

By combining SEO and SEA, companies can not only boost their sales but also cut costs, thereby maximizing the ROI of their online marketing measures.

07 Data-driven marketing

The sales optimization strategies discussed so far already suggest that a well-founded decision is always based on data. However, this goes beyond the SEO analysis mentioned above: data-driven marketing is the key to increasing your sales.

Data-driven marketing refers to the use of data to analyze the behavior and preferences of your target group. This data includes information about user interactions on your website, as well as insights from other sources, like social media, email marketing, customer surveys, and market research.

Many companies already hold extensive customer data but may not be sure how to leverage it effectively. By carefully analyzing and interpreting this information, you can better understand purchasing behavior, define target groups with greater accuracy, or identify emerging trends. This enables you to tailor your marketing strategies more specifically to customer needs, ultimately driving sales.

Data can also strengthen customer loyalty, particularly through targeted marketing automation. With targeted campaigns, you can reach out to customers in a personalized way when a product they’ve purchased needs servicing or maintenance. Analyzing user behavior can also help identify customers who add items to their cart but don’t complete the purchase. In these cases, automated systems can motivate them to follow through by offering tailored promotions or discounts.

08 Targeted use of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is undeniably trending – and for good reason. Staying informed about AI is essential for any company that wants to remain competitive.

Nevertheless – or perhaps precisely because of this – it is more important than ever to take a thoughtful approach. Rather than using AI everywhere, understanding exactly where and how AI adds real value can help save resources and increase sales.

In content production, for example, AI offers enormous opportunities, but it should only be used as a supporting tool. Relying on AI to mass-produce content can quickly alienate the target group and harm brand value.

Quality rather than quantity should be the motto more than ever – and AI should be seen as an assistant for automating repetitive tasks or enhancing content within well-defined guidelines.

By combining human creativity and intuition with AI’s analytical power and speed, companies can save resources while continuing to produce content that is both relevant and engaging, ultimately boosting revenue. A recent study in the Science Journal supports this approach.

AI can also streamline other business functions by automating workflows and optimizing resource allocation. From customer interactions through chatbots to marketing campaign optimization, AI can help speed up processes and reduce costs.

Chatbots are also useful internally, where they can act as virtual assistants or provide a knowledge base, granting employees fast access to information. This boosts not only external but also internal efficiency.

09 Using design effectively

Creating a positive and consistent brand experience is a decisive factor in gaining loyal customers and retaining them in the long term. Emotional design – a design strategy aimed at triggering emotions and fostering a strong bond with the brand – plays a pivotal role here.

The design should not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also functional and user-friendly. It should reflect your brand essence and convey a consistent brand identity.

Good design enhances product and service usability, which boosts customer satisfaction. An intuitive, attractive design makes it easier for customers to find and purchase the items they need, ultimately increasing conversion rates and driving sales.

10 Develop a design system

Effective design can make a lasting impact on sales growth, so it’s time to take a systematic approach to creating and delivering a cohesive, cost-efficient brand experience across all channels.

In a world where channels and touchpoints are constantly expanding and design complexity continues to grow, a design system is invaluable. It reduces complexity by offering clear guidelines and templates that help teams work more efficiently and save time.

A design system provides a structured framework for organizing and documenting design elements like colors, fonts, layouts, and other UI components. By standardizing recurring elements and processes, resources can be allocated more effectively.

11 Internalize customer centricity

Reflecting on the previous strategies for increasing sales, a core concept emerges as a consistent theme throughout this article: customer centricity. In an era of rising customer expectations and increasing competition, placing the customer at the heart of all initiatives is essential.

Customer centricity means not only reacting to customer needs and wants, but also proactively anticipating and fulfilling them. It also requires a deep understanding of customers – their motivations, challenges, and preferences – to shape products, services, and marketing strategies accordingly.

You should therefore internalize the concept of customer centricity within your company and embrace it as an overarching approach that significantly impacts your brand’s success in e-commerce.

By consistently aligning your strategies, processes, and corporate culture with the needs of your customers, you can increase sales and foster long-term, loyal customer relationships.