SEO SUCCESS STORIES

Shoes & Sox: From Foot Traffic to Web Traffic

When it comes to children’s footwear, Shoes & Sox has been a trusted Australian name for over 35 years. However, in an era where more parents are choosing to shop online, even the most loved brands need a consistent, strong digital presence to stay ahead.

Shoes & Sox had the in-store reputation, high-quality products, and a growing eCommerce platform, but their website wasn’t reaching its full potential in organic search - step in StudioHawk!

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79%

Total users increased

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13%

Total revenue increased

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77%

New users increased

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About Shoes & Sox

Shoes & Sox is an Australian footwear retailer which has been running for over 35 years. Specialising in children’s shoes, from day one their mission has been to provide quality shoes for Australian kids at affordable prices.

With 80+ stores located across Australia, they have a strong in-store presence and an evolving eCommerce platform, the brand caters to parents searching for footwear that supports their children’s growing feet.

As the retail landscape continues to lean towards online, Shoes & Sox recognised the need to refine its digital presence and strengthen its organic search performance to drive sustainable long-term growth.

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The Need

Shoes & Sox approached StudioHawk with a clear goal: to enhance its organic search visibility and drive revenue through SEO. While the brand had a well-established reputation and customer experience in-store, its website lacked the necessary SEO optimisation to compete effectively in this competitive digital space.

The team needed an SEO strategy that not only improved search engine rankings but also enhanced user experience and maximised sales.

The internal Shoes & Sox team had limited SEO knowledge and would benefit from guidance and education to make informed decisions that aligned with their SEO goals and follow best practices.

Working with Stephanie and the StudioHawk team has been an absolute pleasure. Their seamless collaboration across all aspects of our site has made the process incredibly smooth. Beyond that, they’ve helped us build valuable SEO skills, a crucial asset in today’s digital landscape. Thanks to StudioHawk, we've seen a remarkable shift, with organic search now outperforming paid search as our top driver of sessions. This transformation has been a huge win for us!

Shoes & Sox Team

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The Plan

To achieve these their objectives for search visbility and revenue, StudioHawk devised a SEO strategy that included technical SEO enhancements, content optimisation, and user experience improvements.

The StudioHawk team worked closely with Shoes & Sox to identify priority product categories and untapped opportunities within their existing eCommerce site structure.

The budget was limited —allocated as part of a broader campaign for parent company Brand Collective—which meant our strategy had to be both efficient and impactful. We prioritised high-value initiatives that would drive the best results while ensuring that the Shoes & Sox team was equipped to maintain and build on our work over time.

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The Execution

Crafting a Data-Driven SEO Strategy

The first step was doing an in-depth technical SEO audit of the website, identifying areas where improvements could be made. From the audit, we uncovered gaps in the site’s structure, particularly in the lack of dedicated collection pages for high-intent product searches. By leveraging keyword research, we identified numerous high-demand product categories—such as kids’ soccer boots—that lacked the necessary pages to capture relevant organic search traffic.

To address this, we developed new collection pages tailored to these high-value categories. Each page was crafted with SEO-rich content to improve relevance, ensuring that it not only attracted organic traffic but also engaged users effectively. We optimised the title tags and meta descriptions to align with search intent, improving the click-through rate (CTR) from search engine results pages (SERPs).

Enhancing Site Structure, Navigation, and User Experience

A key component of our strategy involved improving the website’s overall structure. We made targeted enhancements to the mega navigation (main menu), streamlining the user journey and strengthening internal linking to critical pages. This helped both users and search engines find relevant content more efficiently, increasing search visibility and overall engagement.

To further support discoverability, we introduced internal linking widgets on collection pages. This strengthened the internal link architecture, improving both SEO and the user experience by making it easier for visitors to navigate between related products and categories.

Technical SEO and Core Web Vitals Optimisation

Beyond content and navigation improvements, we focused on optimising the website’s technical SEO. We conducted a comprehensive technical audit to identify and address issues affecting crawlability and indexation. This involved fixing broken links, optimising URL structures, and ensuring that key pages were being indexed correctly by search engines.

Another crucial element was improving Core Web Vitals. By enhancing site speed and responsiveness, we boosted user engagement and satisfaction. Faster load times meant users were more likely to explore the site and complete purchases, directly impacting conversion rates and overall organic search performance.

Strengthening Product Visibility in Organic Search

To drive Shoes & Sox’s search result rankings, we revamped product descriptions to improve content depth and relevance. By incorporating strategic keyword targeting, we made sure individual product pages more discoverable in search engines, providing shoppers with useful information to support their purchase decisions.

We also optimised the Google Merchant Center to enhance product visibility in search results and improve the appearance of rich snippets. This helped Shoes & Sox’s products to stand out in an increasingly competitive online marketplace, further boosting search engine rankings and conversion rates.

Overcoming Challenges

One of the challenges we faced was the lack of technical SEO knowledge within the Shoes & Sox internal team. This created roadblocks in the approval process, particularly for larger-scale changes such as mega navigation improvements. To address this, we conducted workshops and training sessions to educate stakeholders on the importance of SEO and how these changes would drive results.

By providing clear data-backed forecasts, we demonstrated the tangible impact of our work, helping to secure buy-in from key decision-makers. This approach not only accelerated approvals but also empowered the Shoes & Sox team to make more SEO-backed decisions moving forward.

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The Results

The impact of our strategy was undeniable. By implementing a structured, data-driven SEO approach, we achieved substantial growth across key performance metrics, improving search visibility, user engagement, and revenue generation.

Year-to-Date Performance (1st Jan - 20th Sep)

Overall Site Performance:

- Total users increased by 79%

- New users grew by 77%

- Total revenue rose by 13%

Collection Page Performance:

- Total users surged by 263%

- New users increased by 293%

- Total revenue skyrocketed by 225.50%

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Conclusion

By addressing technical SEO issues, enhancing site structure, and strategically expanding their content, we made a huge impact on Shoes & Sox’s organic search performance. The combination of creative problem-solving and data-driven execution resulted in an increase in both traffic and revenue, reinforcing the importance of a holistic SEO approach for optimising eCommerce websites.

More importantly, this project empowered the Shoes & Sox team with the knowledge and tools to continue optimising their website beyond the scope of our work. By fostering collaboration and providing ongoing support, we have made sure that SEO remains a core pillar of their digital strategy moving forward.

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Total clicks increase (YoY, over 3 months):

A strong in-store reputation, but some serious online optimisation needed for this much-loved Australian women's clothing brand.

Shoes & Sox: From Foot Traffic to Web Traffic

Crafting a Data-Driven SEO Strategy

Enhancing Site Structure, Navigation, and User Experience

Technical SEO and Core Web Vitals Optimisation

Strengthening Product Visibility in Organic Search

Overcoming Challenges

Year-to-Date Performance (1st Jan - 20th Sep)

Helping Australia’s Best Brands Level Up With SEO

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