Case study: aligning a water play manufacturer with the terms its customers search

Context

A Canadian water play manufacturer, active in Canada and the United States, names its flagship product with its registered brand. Internet users search for a generic term instead, and demand for it doubles, then triples in 2022 in both markets. To protect its brand, management first refuses to use this term, and the site stays on page 2 for this query. The engagement starts in November 2020.

Actions

• Presentation to management, based on measured search demand, to adopt the generic term people use next to the registered brand.
• New product page aligned with this term, published in February 2023.
• Targeted links to product pages, including new links placed in older blog posts in May 2023.
• About page renewed in April 2023, and Google Business Profile listing, to strengthen the manufacturer’s credibility.

Results (Q1 2021 – Q1 2024)

• Estimated non-brand traffic on target keywords: x4.6 since the first quarter of 2021, or 5.7 times that of the next competitor.
• Category queries: the equipment query moves from position 35 to 4, the “manufacturer” query from 8 to 2 (January -> June 2023).
• Product page aligned with the generic term: organic traffic +50% in one year, +70% in the United States (Q1 2023).
• Non-brand organic traffic: United States +77%, Canada +78%. Brand: United States +17%, Canada +130% (Q1 2024 vs Q1 2023).