Ecommerce Consultant and Growth Strategist for small businesses
07592 629885 | Dominic Smith - Ecommerce Consultant
VIP Vaping was a UK-based retailer specializing in vaping products, including e-cigarettes, vape pens, e-liquids, and accessories. The company was known for offering a wide range of products for both new and experienced vapers, focusing on providing quality alternatives to traditional smoking. VIP Vaping operated both physical stores and an ecommerce platform, making it accessible to customers both in-store and online.
Based in Bury, Greater Manchester, VIP Vaping aimed to provide customers with a variety of vaping solutions, including starter kits for those new to vaping, as well as advanced products for more seasoned vapers. The brand built its reputation around high-quality products, customer service, and a broad selection of vape-related items.
Over time, VIP Vaping expanded its presence in the UK vaping market, offering competitive prices and often engaging in promotions to attract a wider customer base. However, the brand has since ceased operations under the VIP Vaping name, with its customer base and assets absorbed by other companies in the vaping industry.
The vaping brand acquired by British American Tobacco (BAT) boasted over 100 physical stores and concessions across the UK. However, these locations were not effectively indexed by Google at a local level, meaning they weren’t appearing in local search results for relevant keywords. As a result, the brand was missing out on a significant amount of local organic search traffic, which could drive both online and in-store sales. This lack of visibility for each store page was a missed opportunity in the highly competitive ecommerce market, where local SEO plays a key role in attracting nearby customers and improving conversion rates.
To address these challenges, I started with a comprehensive ecommerce audit, analyzing the entire digital footprint of the brand, including website structure, product pages, and local SEO implementation. I identified several critical gaps in how the store pages were being optimized for local search.
The first step was to create a targeted local SEO strategy aimed at improving the visibility of each store’s page in local search engine results pages (SERPs). This strategy involved optimizing Google My Business (GMB) listings for every physical store, ensuring that each location had accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) information and was linked to relevant, localized content.
Additionally, I focused on enhancing the local landing pages for each store, adding location-specific keywords, unique content about store services, product offerings, and relevant promotions. This was complemented by implementing structured data markup (schema.org) to improve search engine visibility and allow Google to better understand the relevance of each page for local searches.
Once these optimizations were in place, I resubmitted the store pages for re-indexing by Google, ensuring that each page was quickly crawled and indexed for location-based search queries. I also worked on building local backlinks to increase the authority of these store pages, which further boosted their ability to rank in local searches.
Over the next few months, the local SEO optimizations began to show impressive results. The enhanced visibility of each store page led to a 500% increase in organic visits from customers searching for relevant products and services in their local area. These organic search traffic increases were not just beneficial for website metrics; they also translated into higher foot traffic to the physical stores, as more customers found store-specific information through local search queries.
Year-over-year (YOY), most stores saw a notable boost in footfall, directly attributable to the optimized local SEO strategy. The enhanced visibility on Google Maps and local search results helped customers easily find and visit the stores, resulting in a significant uptick in in-store purchases and conversions.
Moreover, the increased traffic to the store pages also had a positive impact on online sales. As customers were more likely to explore the store pages, they engaged with promotional offers, product information, and store-specific inventory, leading to more online clicks and purchases.
Overall, the local SEO strategy not only increased traffic to the website but also contributed to greater customer engagement, conversion rates, and ecommerce revenue. This case highlights the importance of optimizing local SEO for multi-location retailers looking to enhance their digital presence, drive more targeted traffic, and bridge the gap between their online and offline sales channels. By improving the local visibility of each store, the brand successfully enhanced both digital and in-store experiences, leading to a more seamless, integrated omnichannel strategy.
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