A Salon-Supply Site That’s Not for Everyone
Situation: Bring more qualified traffic to their site
We’ve worked with the salon supply veterans at Marlo Beauty Supply since 2009, when we first implemented a tightly focused organic search strategy that helped them garner over 400 Top 10 search rankings from Google.
Thrilled with the results of our efforts, Marlo Beauty Supply worked with us to further fine-tune their search strategy. Starting in 2011, we set out to help them target their site’s traffic even more effectively.
Task: Comb analytics for audience insights
We focused our efforts on building upon previous successes. The best tactics are proven ones. We also combined our acquired knowledge from our PPC efforts, in terms of which keywords were working best, in order to guide the organic strategy. When we studied the traffic to the Marlo Beauty Supply website, we saw two areas we could improve: Eliminating ineffective keywords, and discouraging unqualified traffic.
Initially we focused on conversion. We noticed that certain keywords, when picked up organically by search engines, sent lots of traffic that did not result in conversions.
So we scrutinized these keywords and refined them. Using attribution modeling technology, we exposed customers to keywords strategically targeted at each phase of the buying process.
Also, since Marlo sells only to licensed cosmetologists, many general keywords were sending retail customers to the site. Lacking a cosmetology license, these customers couldn’t make a purchase—so they weren’t converting.
Action: Use better keywords and focus messaging
To solve this problem, we refined the copy. The team implemented new messaging on the site and in the paid search ads such as, “For licensed cosmetologists only,” and “Public not welcome.”
This not only turned away unqualified traffic, it appealed even more strongly to those visitors who did have professional cosmetology licenses. They felt like part of an elite group, and they knew that Marlo’s site was meant just for them.
We also redesigned the Marlo Beauty Supply homepage and several product category pages. Using A/B testing boosted our efforts. This helped optimize the copy on landing pages and in calls to action, in order to further improve conversion rates.
Results: More licensed visitors. More transactions
To say the results of our work with Marlo Beauty Supply were gorgeous would be an understatement. The Marlo Beauty Supply website saw both a higher volume and higher quality of traffic, with visitors spending more.
Marlo Beauty Supply was thrilled with the results, which included:
- 31% gain in organic-search traffic
- 3.5% gain in organic-search avg. order value
- 141% gain in organic-search conversion
- 31% gain in organic-search revenue
- 23% gain in paid-search revenue
By implementing an attribution modeling technology, Marlo saw an increase in the number of transactions on their site, while their return on ad spend has risen dramatically, to over 1800%.
On top of increasing revenue from online purchases, Marlo saw a 20% increase in catalog requests, and a 50% increase in email signups. We’re confident that Marlo will continue to see beautiful results from our efforts for years to come.
Testimonial:
“Our online revenue outpaced our former brick-and-mortar sales due in part to the support of Vector Media Group. Their search strategies are proven and result in bottom-line sales.” - Ingmar Korstanje, President, Marlo Beauty Supply
