Case-study SEO for Fashion and Shoes industry - 72% Organic Traffic growth story

Vietnam's fashion industry is growing strongly with a market size in 2023 estimated to reach 4 billion USD, an average growth rate (CAGR) of about 10% in the period 2024 - 2028, and expected to reach 6.5 billion USD in 2028. With a population of more than 97 million people and a growing middle class, the Vietnamese fashion market has become an attractive "piece of cake" for both domestic and international brands.

However, the level of competition is also increasingly fierce. Big brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma... have built a solid position, while domestic brands are also constantly expanding to dominate market share. In that context, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has emerged as a strategic tool to help brands optimize their online presence, increase their ability to reach target customers and build sustainable competitive advantages.

In this article, I will analyze in detail the SEO case-study of Brand H's fashion footwear industry implemented by TOS, accompanied by practical lessons, related to Tan Phat Digital's real-life experience in building an overall SEO strategy for the e-commerce industry.

Brand H's context

Brand position

Brand H used to be a long-standing sports shoe brand and at one point even surpassed Nike in the US more than 10 years ago. However, after many fluctuations in business and marketing, Brand H gradually lost its form and had difficulty competing with other "big guys".

In Vietnam, Brand H entered the market when consumers were too familiar with international brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma... and many domestic brands. To improve the situation, Brand H identifies SEO as one of the important spearheads, both standardizing the website and growing natural traffic.

Initial challenges

• The website has a methodical eCommerce structure, but is not SEO-standard.

• Blog content is fragmented, has little traffic and has not fully exploited the keyword potential.

• Many technical errors (duplicate). meta, canonical not standard).

• Initial Organic Traffic: ~12,000 sessions/month (according to Google Analytics).

Initial website status

When Audit with SEMRush, the website achieved 72 points, in which outstanding issues include:

• Duplicate content and meta tags on many pages.

• Canonical is not standardized, leading to dispersion of SEO power.

• Domain Authority only reaches 25 (according to Moz).

Even though the website has all the pages such as Homepage, Blog, Product Categories, Shopping Cart, Checkout..., traffic mainly comes from Homepage and Product Detail Page (PDP), while the Blog is almost left open.

This causes Brand H to miss the opportunity to exploit the Top Funnel customer group (people who seek information and knowledge about fashion and lifestyle), which is a sustainable source of traffic and has the ability to convert in the long term.

SEO goals

Brand H sets a clear goal for the project:

1. Increase Organic Traffic from 12,000 → 35,000 sessions/month after 6 months.

2. Improve website quality, increase Audit SEMRush score by at least 5 points.

3. Attract target customers through Blog and PDP, while increasing brand awareness.

4. Combining SEO and General Marketing able, creating resonance in brand campaigns.

Analyzing the market and competitors

1. Target customers

• Men and women (the proportion of men is higher).

• People who work, have stable income, and have a habit of exercising.

• Regularly use smartphones to search and shop online.

2. Competitors

• Business Competitors: Nike, Puma, Skechers, Asics.

• Online Competitors: Health sites (hospitals, pharmacies), fashion blogs (eg Bachhoaxanh).

• Strong competitors in E-A-T (Expertise – Authoritativeness – Trustworthiness) so Brand H Need to focus on building credibility through quality content.

3. Keyword research

TOS conducts keyword research according to Keyword Funnel:

• Top Funnel (80% of keywords):
  Focuses on lifestyle, how to coordinate clothes, sports knowledge.
  For example: “how to coordinate clothes with sneakers”, “yoga exercises for beginners”.
  → Goal: increase blog traffic, reach potential customers ability.

• Low Funnel (20% keywords):
  Branded, close to conversion.
  For example: “Brand H shoes from which country”, “standard Brand H shoe size”.
  → Goal: increase conversion, pull in PDP.

Brand H's SEO strategy

Phase 1: Standardize the website (Technical SEO)

• Fix duplicate content and meta.

• Set up standard canonical.

• Optimize website speed, Core Web Vitals.

• Result: After 4 months, Audit score increased from 72 → 77.

Phase 2: Content SEO

• Write new and re-optimize Blog.

• Build content around Top Funnel Keywords to attract traffic.

• Optimize PDP with Low Funnel keywords to support conversion.

Phase 3: Offpage & Link Building

• Building backlinks from reputable newspapers and forums.

• Internal logical link between Blog ↔ PDP ↔ Category page.

Phase 4: SEO combined with overall Marketing

• Run social media ads in parallel to support SEO.

• Integrate SEO into the branding campaign.

• Take advantage of email marketing and remarketing to nurture customers.

Results after 4 months

1. Organic Traffic increased by 72% (12,000 → ~20,600 sessions/month).

2. In the first month, Blog traffic increased dramatically by 381%.

3. 14 Blog posts accounted for 62% of total blog traffic and contributed 44% of PDP traffic.

4. SEMRush Audit improved +5 points.

5. Many Top Funnel keywords reached the top 3 of Google, pulling stable traffic.

Actual Case Analysis & Lessons

Why Brand H became successful technology?

1. Place Blog as the center: Instead of just optimizing PDP, Brand H focuses on building a Blog to pull traffic from potential customers who do not have immediate buying needs.

2. Smart Keyword Funnel: 80% Top Funnel to increase recognition + 20% Low Funnel to close conversions.

3. Fix technicalities before doing so. content: Ensure the website is error-free to help content maximize its effectiveness.

4. SEO combined with overall marketing: Not just "doing simple SEO" but integrating it into branding, ads, emails.

Contact with practice at Tan Phat Digital

In many overall SEO projects that Tan Phat Digital implements, especially with the e-commerce industry, the team also applies the strategy Similarly:

• Standardize techniques to avoid "doing SEO on a weak foundation".

• Focus on exploiting Top Funnel keywords to nurture long-term traffic.

• Link SEO with the overall marketing campaign, creating a resonance effect instead of just looking at SEO as a discrete channel.

For example, in a time industry project Another page, Tan Phat Digital implemented overall SEO for domestic brands, and after only 6 months, natural traffic grew 3 times, in which Blog contributed more than 50% of potential customers.

This shows that SEO is not only about optimizing the website, but also strategic leverage for the entire business.

Lessons learned for fashion businesses

1. Don't just focus on selling through PDP → Build a Blog to nurture the market.

2. SEO is a long-term journey → Focus on sustainability, avoid the trick of "getting to the top" quickly".

3. Funnel keyword research → Reach the right customer group at each stage.

4. Combining SEO and overall Marketing → SEO is only maximized when associated with branding, ads, social.

5. Find the right reputable SEO partner → An experienced agency like Tan Phat Digital will help save costs, optimize resources and achieve sustainable growth.

Brand H's SEO story in the shoe fashion industry is clear proof that: SEO is not only a technique, but also a business strategy. In just 4 months, Brand H has grown traffic by 72%, opening up opportunities to return to the race with big brands.

If your business is also looking for an effective SEO strategy, consider implementing SEO services in a comprehensive, integrated direction. combined with a comprehensive marketing strategy. Tan Phat Digital is ready to accompany businesses on the journey of sustainable growth.