How a Mountaineering Brand Grew Site Traffic by 1,320% in 3 Months
https://www.mountain-equipment.com/
Stats
10K to 141.9K Monthly Visits
Industry
Ecommerce & Retail
Niche
Apparel & Accessories
Reporting Date
September 2024
Mountain Equipment is a manufacturer of technical clothing and gear for outdoor activities. It was founded in 1961 in the United Kingdom.
Today, Mountain Equipment continues operating out of the UK, but its international presence has recently gained traction. This is largely due to a recent domain migration that has helped the brand tap into the U.S. market.
In this SEO case study, we'll explore how Mountain Equipment navigated this site migration to boost brand awareness internationally.
We'll also explore the supporting strategies that grew worldwide traffic to 141.9K monthly visits.
Let’s get started.
In This Article
The Catalyst: How Mountain Equipment Reached 141.9K Monthly Visits
1. Migrated From a ccTLD to a gTLD
In the summer of 2024, Mountain Equipment began migrating its website from www.mountain-equipment.co.uk to www.mountain-equipment.com.
The former website is a country code top-level domain (ccTLD). This type of website refers to a specific region and uses country codes at the end of the URL.
For Mountain Equipment, its .co.uk website targeted traffic in the United Kingdom.
A generic top-level domain (gTLD), on the other hand, doesn’t target a specific audience or location. They’re considered a more “neutral” domain.
Some of the most common gTLDs include:
- .com
- .org
- .net
A business may choose to migrate from a ccTLD to a gTLD for several reasons, the most prominent of which is to enhance international exposure.
gTLDs cast a wider net, helping businesses reach a bigger international audience.
This change is particularly noticeable in Mountain Equipment’s U.S. traffic.
If we look at the former, UK-based ccTLD, we see that the U.S. generated 1.8K monthly visits at its peak.
Now, following the migration, the gTLD shows 44.8K monthly visits coming from the U.S.
What’s interesting is that Mountain Equipment currently only ships to mainland UK addresses.
Is this domain migration an early sign of expanding into the American market?
Or is it simply a way to get more eyes on their product for international customers?
Time will tell, but as far as online visibility goes, Mountain Equipment executed a seamless domain migration to reach a wider audience.
Why this matters:
This migration to a gTLD matters for Mountain Equipment in several key ways:
- Increased Brand Awareness: The shift from a ccTLD to a gTLD significantly expands Mountain Equipment's online presence. Previously, its reach was primarily limited to the UK. Now, with a .com domain, it's discoverable by a global audience, potentially attracting new customers worldwide.
- Potential for International Expansion: While Mountain Equipment currently doesn't ship internationally, the new gTLD opens the door for future expansion. The increased US traffic suggests significant international interest. This migration could be a strategic move to prepare for future growth in other countries.
- Improved Keyword Rankings: Mountain Equipment is already ranking for more keywords on the gTLD than its peak performance on the ccTLD. Search engines quickly transferred all SEO value and rewarded the gTLD with even more rankings. Mountain Equipment achieved this seamless transfer of SEO by using 301 redirects, which we'll discuss next.
How to migrate your WordPress site:
This tutorial provides detailed steps for moving your WordPress site to a new domain.
Here’s a brief overview of the process:
- Back up your WordPress site.
- Create a new MySQL database for the new domain.
- Unpack your WordPress site on the new domain.
- Set up permanent (301) redirects. (This is a key step for transferring all SEO value to the new domain. 301 redirects tell search engines your content has moved permanently, preserving your keyword rankings.)
- Test your site to ensure it runs properly.
Tools for WordPress domain migrations:
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) makes it easy to perform a full site redirect.
All you have to do is enter your old and new domains in the Redirection Manager. This tool automatically implements 301 redirects, ensuring a seamless transfer of your SEO to the new site address.
We also recommend using a backup and migration plugin like Duplicator. It ensures a seamless and secure backup and SEO migration.
2. Increased International Brand Exposure
With its new keyword rankings and global reach, Mountain Equipment has experienced a significant increase in SERP features. This is particularly true for its U.S. traffic.
SERP features are enhanced listings that display more information than standard search results. They may include images, videos, customer reviews, ratings, and more.
SERP features also include listings in special areas of the SERP, like the People Also Ask box or Things to Know section.
For Mountain Equipment, they’ve grown rankings in two key SERP features:
- Explore Brands: Showcases a curated selection of brands related to a user’s query.
- People Also Buy From: This Google Shopping SERP feature displays products or brands from other sellers that could interest the user.
Here we have an example of the former (Explore Brands):
And here is an example of the latter (People Also Buy From):
Both SERP features are strong assets for brands looking to increase their awareness.
They provide an engaging way to introduce brands to new customers and drive traffic to their websites.
As for how Mountain Equipment got these types of search results, one of their key optimizations is including schema markup on their website.
Schema markup is a type of structured data that search engines use to understand a web page.
Search engines can also use schema markup to generate rich snippets on the SERP, creating a more engaging search experience and increasing clicks for your site.
Mountain Equipment uses several schema types, but one of their most prominent is product schema. This type of schema provides search engines with key details about your products.
Why this matters:
By appearing in these SERP features, brands can:
- Increase brand visibility: SERP features are prominent on search results pages, making it more likely for potential customers to see and recognize the brand.
- Attract qualified traffic: SERP features often target users who are actively searching for products or services related to the brand. This can lead to more targeted and engaged traffic.
- Build trust and credibility: Positive reviews and ratings in SERP features can help build trust and credibility with potential customers.
How to get SERP features for your site:
To increase your chances of appearing in SERP features, follow these best practices:
- Create high-quality content. Ensure your content is informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience.
- Optimize for search engines. Use relevant keywords throughout your content and optimize your site structure for search engines.
- Build backlinks. Encourage other websites to link to your content. This can improve your website's authority and search rankings.
- Implement schema markup. Schema markup makes it easy for search engines to understand your web pages. By including relevant schema on your site, you can increase the likelihood of SERP features.
Tools for schema markup:
You can use a schema generator plugin to add structured data to your site.
If you’re like Mountain Equipment and want to include product schema, simply select Product from the AIOSEO Schema Catalog.
The plugin will prompt you to add details about your product and implement the correct structured data for search engines.
3. Won More Clicks With Image Snippets
Mountain Equipment understands the importance of image SEO for standing out in search results.
Image SEO is the practice of optimizing your images for search engines. It plays a critical role in search engines’ ability to understand your images because they can’t see images like you and me.
Instead of “looking” at an image, search engines use text elements to decipher its content.
Some image SEO best practices include:
- Writing descriptive alt text
- Including your keyword in the image file name
- Using your keyword in image title tags
- Implementing ImageObject schema
When you follow these strategies, you increase the likelihood of ranking with image snippets like Mountain Equipment.
Image snippets display your visuals directly on the SERP, as shown in the example below.
Mountain Equipment ranked for 7.5K keywords with image snippets in September 2024.
Image optimizations can also help you rank in the Google Image Pack, which shows a selection of images above search results.
In the example below, we see how Mountain Equipment appears twice in the Image Pack:
August and September 2024 marked the first time Mountain Equipment ranked in the Image Pack, demonstrating the efficacy of their image SEO.
Why this matters:
Images are valuable assets for websites ranking in the SERPs.
Here’s why:
- Images increase clickthrough rates (CTRs). Image snippets are visually appealing and can attract more clicks from users. This can lead to increased website traffic and conversions.
- Images stand out among text results. Users may stop scrolling when reaching a search listing with an image.
- Strategic optimizations can help you rank in Google Images. In addition to ranking with image snippets in standard search results, image SEO can also help you rank in Google Images.
How to do image SEO:
Keyword placement is important for image SEO. You’ll want to include your target keyword in the following areas:
You’ll also want to perform the following:
- Include schema markup on your web page.
- Compress images for faster loading.
- Optimize the image’s dimensions.
- Include captions when helpful to users.
For a complete list of items, check out our image SEO tutorial.
Tools for image SEO:
Image SEO can be time-consuming without the right tools.
Fortunately, AIOSEO's Image SEO tool streamlines your workflow for faster optimizations.
You can automate tasks like writing alt text or image titles, putting your image SEO on autopilot.
Standout SEO Wins
Before we wrap up, there’s a final growth strategy worth highlighting at Mountain Equipment.
They leverage social media to connect with like-minded adventurers.
Mountain Equipment has an active social media presence. It has accounts on all the most popular platforms, such as Facebook (shown below), Instagram, and YouTube.
Here are a few takeaways from its social media strategy:
- Create high-quality content. Mountain Equipment produces visually appealing and informative content that resonates with its target audience. This includes product showcases, athlete expeditions, and inspirational stories.
- Optimize content for social sharing. They ensure their content is easily shareable on social media platforms by using relevant hashtags, eye-catching visuals, and compelling captions.
- Engage with the community. Mountain Equipment actively interacts with its followers by responding to comments, messages, and mentions. This builds relationships and fosters a sense of community.
- Utilize social media features. They take advantage of social media features like Instagram Stories and Reels to offer exclusive content.
- Promote your website. Mountain Equipment strategically includes links to their website in their social media posts, directing traffic and encouraging further exploration.
By following these strategies, you can build authentic connections with your audience and increase the discoverability of your brand.
Tool: With AIOSEO’s Social Media Integration, you can connect all your favorite platforms to your WordPress site. This feature allows you to control how your content and thumbnails appear on social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and more.
Takeaways
In this SEO case study of Mountain Equipment, we've identified the key strategies behind their growth.
Now, let's recap which strategies to implement on your website and others to reconsider.
Top 3 Strategies to Emulate
- Use 301 redirects when moving content to preserve SEO. Whether you're migrating domains or moving content to a new page, permanent redirects safeguard your SEO rankings. These tell search engines that the content has moved permanently, transferring the “link juice” and SEO value to the new location.
- Leverage schema markup to rank in SERP features. Schema markup is a type of structured data search engines use to understand your web page. When you include it on your website, search engines can more easily interpret its content and serve it for relevant queries. Search engines can also use schema markup to generate SERP features, like rich snippets.
- Optimize images for search engines. Image optimizations are an SEO best practice. They provide search engines with the necessary information to understand your images' content. Search engines can also use this information to showcase your images in traditional search results and Google Images.
Bottom 3 Strategies to Reconsider
- Disallowing indexing of product detail pages. Mountain Equipment offers several repair services for technical gear and equipment. Unfortunately, the product detail pages (PDPs) for these services have a noindex tag on them. A noindex tag tells search engines not to rank or serve your web page in search results. While this makes sense for specific pages, like account login or checkout pages, it isn't a good fit for PDPs. You want these pages to rank so users can discover them and convert. You can customize indexing tags easily in the AIOSEO Robots.txt Editor.
- Omitting H1s from web pages. An H1 is the title of your page. They're important for users and search engines to understand the main topic of a URL. While Mountain Equipment includes a title on its collection landing pages, they're assigning them an H2 tag. From a design standpoint, it looks the same as an H1. This means it works fine for users, but an SEO best practice would be to write them as H1s for search engines. TruSEO can help with this by letting you know if you forget your focus keyword in your H1.
- Duplicating meta descriptions. A handful of Mountain Equipment's pages use duplicate meta descriptions. This can be confusing for search engines who are trying to understand the difference between multiple URLs. Instead, you should aim to write unique meta descriptions for each indexable page of your site. You can even use a meta description generator to write them for you.
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Grow Brand Awareness & Your Business With AIOSEO
By following Mountain Equipment's example and implementing the strategies outlined in this article, you can significantly enhance your website's SEO and achieve sustainable growth.
However, optimizing your website for search engines can be time-consuming and complex.
AIOSEO is a powerful SEO plugin that simplifies the process and helps you achieve your goals.
AIOSEO is the best SEO plugin for WordPress. It has over 3 million active users and thousands of 5-star reviews. You’ll get a suite of beginner-friendly tools that make SEO easy.
Some of our favorites include:
- TruSEO Score: Level up your content and go beyond a simple pass or fail. TruSEO analyzes your on-page SEO, giving you actionable insights to maximize your content's reach.
- Redirection Manager: Prevent humans and bots from getting lost when you move content or domains. Our Redirection Manager helps you easily choose and implement the best redirect type that preserves SEO.
- Rich Snippets Schema: Win more rich results with AIOSEO’s user-friendly schema generator. Just pick the schema type you want, and we’ll format the structured data properly for Google.
- Image SEO: Turn on automatic image alt text and title attributes with a single click. You’ll save time from manual entries while helping users and search engines understand your images.
- Social Media Integration: Seamlessly connect your favorite social media platforms to your site and share content with your audience. Available integrations include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and more.
- Robots.txt Editor: Control how bots crawl your site with the Robots.txt Editor, which allows you to override default WordPress settings. This tool makes it simple to view your robots.txt file and manage rules.
