GroupM increases non-branded traffic by 115% for IKEA Turkey

Constance Tan
Constance is devoted to improving the value users get out of Ahrefs. She enjoys trying new things, and learning about the many ways software eats the world.

GroupM achieved a 115% increase in Organic traffic for IKEA Turkey. Their Google Search Console (GSC) numbers are proof of their success:

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In addition to the GSC numbers, IKEA Turkey’s successful organic growth was also reflected in Ahrefs via the Top Pages report, where the website started to gain significant traffic for non-branded Organic Keywords:

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Non-branded pages with increased organic traffic from 1st July 2022 - 30 Sep 2023
Ahrefs is an indispensable tool for any SEO director. We wholeheartedly endorse Ahrefs as a go-to SEO tool for businesses seeking a competitive edge. What truly sets Ahrefs apart is its unwavering commitment to providing accurate and up-to-date data, empowering businesses with reliable insights into keywords, backlinks, SERP rankings, and competitor strategies. 
Aybuke Yerlikaya
Aybuke Yerlikaya, Growth Director GroupM Turkey
Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO tool that offers a wide range of features to help businesses improve their online visibility, analyze competitors, and optimize their websites for better search engine rankings. Because it is a versatile tool, being able to utilize it in almost all SEO tasks provides users an advantage. 
Ilker Akin
Ilker Akin, Senior SEO Executive GroupM Turkey
About GroupM

GroupM is part of WPP Companies Group. They provide a range of solutions related to digital marketing, including marketing strategy, data-driven marketing, advertising, and SEO services.

Problem: Fixing SEO issues evolved into a complex website migration project

GroupM needed to revamp the SEO strategy for one of their flagship customers – IKEA Turkey. Not a walk in the park under the best circumstances. But what happens when you throw in a 50,000-page migration and a previous brand-heavy SEO strategy into the mix? You risk creating an underperforming site riddled with technical errors.

Solution: Switch to Ahrefs to tackle Enterprise-level challenges

1. Powerful technical audits minimized errors during the migration

Ahrefs’ Site Audit tool played a key role in ensuring that the year-long migration of the client’s website happened smoothly, with as little disruption as possible. Regular site audits were conducted to find and fix technical issues that would jeopardize the website’s visibility in search, such as:

  • Redirect chains
  • Duplicate meta titles, descriptions & heading tags
  • 404 errors
  • Non-200 pages in sitemap

Eventually, GroupM managed to improve the website’s Site Audit Health Score from 51 to 97.

Site Audit Health Scores improving after the site migration

2. Find the most impactful keywords with worldwide language coverage

The website’s existing organic traffic was coming from mostly brand-term heavy keywords. GroupM used Competitor AnalysisandKeywords explorer to sift through Ahrefs’ 12 billion keyword database for many relevant Turkish keywords in the furniture and home living niche. This allowed them to form new, non-branded content avenues and design them into the new website’s structure. These ranged from simple queries such as “kitchen cupboard” and “bookcase” to more nuanced searches like “balcony table chair” and “bedroom set”. Creating content around these new avenues also gained them a 115% increase in non-branded organic traffic in just under 9 months

3. Create reports that communicate progress effectively

GroupM expanded IKEA’s website architecture into 1000+ categories and created content pages accordingly. This set strong fundamentals for IKEA Turkey to grow organically beyond their brand name. Aided by Looker Studio Connectors GroupM was also able to create custom reports that served as a proxy for reporting progress on their SEO efforts on these multiple fronts.

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