What SEO solutions does IKEA use? Their store is a Polish e-commerce leader

In our report “e-commerce in Poland 2021. Online stores with the best SEO” IKEA.com ranked 25th among the most visible e-commerce sites on Polish Google. This is a very good result, considering the store’s thematic category (Interior Decoration, in which it has the 2nd place) and the fact that IKEA operates not only in an online model, but relies heavily on stationary sales. Despite its strong brand, the Swedish furniture company cannot neglect SEO efforts if it wants to remain visible online. What solutions does IKEA use in this regard? Let’s find out.

To begin with, a small note: in drafting the following description, I focused on what IKEA’s positioners do well. If we were to do a comprehensive audit of the site, there would certainly be something to improve – as with any service. This time, however, let’s highlight the good practices and SEO solutions that work for the success of the IKEA brand in Poland.

Products

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Of particular note is the strategy for product pages. A large part of the colors of each model has a unique description. Some elements may be repeated, but overall the text is unique.

By developing the content, the site minimizes the negative impact of internal duplication.

Product differences are further highlighted in the <title> and <h1>. Particularly noteworthy isbuilding customer engagement by adding indexed reviews – this is important, unique content.

On the plus side on-site solutions, there will be three or four (depending on the product series) link elements – carousels for assortment from:.

• Recently viewed

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• More from Series (section displayed when product came out in series)

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• Fits in

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• Other also viewed

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We have introduced breadcrumbs (crumb navigation), self referencing canonicals (canonical tags of pages that point to themselves) and alt descriptions of images.

The strategy for products that are not available online or stationary is carried out very sensibly. Items are not removed – at least not immediately, so as not to lose visibility. In addition, they may interest a user who comes to such a page with an alternative assortment.

It is worth noting that IKEA sticks to Swedish nomenclature. This can make it difficult to inquire about a particular model in the store, e.g. VÅGSTRANDA is pronounced more difficult than Basic mattress,but in a search engine the TOP 1 for this phrase is at hand..

Read also: 18 tips on how to create great product descriptions.

Categories

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We can observe a relationship that the main categories are just a hub for the lower-level categories. The focus is on the subcategories, where the products are an additional element, integrated into the inspiration. Not on the principle we have been accustomed to in e-commerce – product listing. Although sometimes duplicate keywords (in furniture, the header indicates a sofa, for example):

these build a clear structure of information. It is only in the subcategories that you can get acquainted with the products.

The Pagination was organized under button “see more”:

For IKEA, products are important, so in the structure we can find self referencing canonical on pagination subpages.

Read also: Category descriptions. Check out what you might not know about them!

Additional reasonable SEO solutions:

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1. filters have canonical to the category homepage, example:

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2. pages have unique descriptions and link from the content to other related categories

General considerations

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When analyzing https://www.ikea.com/pl/pl/, it is important to remember how big a brand IKEA is and how much of the traffic is brand-related queries. Over the many years the brand has been in operation, an opinion has been forged about pricing policy and product quality. It is worth citing here just how many searches the phrase IKEA alone has:

Therefore, when analyzing external linkingit is not surprising to see a high share of natural links. On the other hand, sponsored articles focus on the message rather than the SEO aspects (e.g., follow links). The brand has a natural and rich link profile, so it doesn’t need to focus on acquiring those extra paid ones.

This is especially evident in blog content, where long tail keywords are not exposed – specially highlighted in headlines, so much like arrangements, inspiring you to buy several matching products.

It is also worth noting that the available localizations (language versions) have been gathered around a single domain https://www.ikea.com/. This means that all sub-sites work for the global success of the company. The complexity of such a solution probably precluded the introduction of hreflangs. However, in the end, it positively affects the brand’s visibility on Google.

Worth noting, a major challenge for the IKEA team will be to prepare the site for the Core Web Vitals update. Especially when it comes to mobile devices:

Summary

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IKEA is meeting the expectations of today’s consumers. It offers solutions tailored to their needs, creating industry trends around the world. At the same time, its example shows that the sheer strength of a brand should never be an excuse to settle on its laurels and neglect any of the key elements of promotion – such as SEO. While certain elements of SEO can certainly be improved – the above description does not mention them, as it focuses on what is done well – overall, the SEO team at Poland’s IKEA is doing a solid job.

Thanks for reading!

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