DGTL-House | Effective SEO business promotion on the Internet

Client

INTERTOP

Niche

Fashion

Service

SEO Optimization

Tools

Ahrefs

Google Analytics

Google Search Console

Serpstat

SE Ranking

in-house tool:

AI META Generation

SEO Copywriter Brief Generator

SEO AI Backlinks Calculator

Client

INTERTOP is one of the largest fashion retailers in Ukraine and a multibrand online marketplace that brings together top global and local brands of clothing, footwear, accessories, and cosmetics. The company stands out for its carefully curated assortment and strong focus on the needs of the modern consumer.

Task

Achieve the #1 position in organic search for the “Footwear” category — one of the most competitive niches in Ukraine’s e-commerce market.

Initial Data

INTERTOP’s long-term strategic goal was to rank #1 in search results for the “Footwear” category (the complete semantic core included over 45,000 queries). This objective had remained out of reach for years due to intense niche competition, technical limitations, and other factors.

At the start of the project, it was clear that the entire “Footwear” section needed a complete overhaul — from page structure to content, technical health, and external optimization.

Lack of a clear, SEO-driven structure in categories, filters, and navigation

Duplicate pages and content that hindered proper indexing and reduced relevance in search engines

A weak and unbalanced backlink profile with no focused effort on the key “Footwear” section

Ongoing technical bugs that slowed SEO progress and required constant monitoring

Irrelevant or missing meta tags that failed to reflect search demand

Most importantly, the strategy used by the previous SEO provider, in our view, was ineffective for promoting a marketplace. To achieve such an ambitious goal, it became clear that a comprehensive SEO approach was required — with clear prioritization of key areas.

A systematic analysis became the starting point for reaching what once seemed unattainable: Top 1 in the “Footwear” category in one of the most competitive segments of Ukrainian e-commerce.

Solution

To reach the #1 position in the “Footwear” category, we had to begin by building a new, effective, and scalable SEO strategy focused on promoting a full-fledged marketplace—not just a typical online store. This required a different approach to site structure, content, and link profile, considering the broader product range, filtering capabilities, brands, and dynamic page behavior.

Special attention was given to budget optimization. The main goal was to achieve maximum efficiency from every unit of invested resources. Our proprietary in-house tools played a key role here, not only speeding up processes but also significantly reducing client costs:

AI META Generation — an automated tool that accelerated meta tag creation by 10x while maintaining accuracy, relevance, and SEO effectiveness.

SEO Copywriter Brief Generator — a tool that increased content production volume by 6x, ensuring quality and full alignment with key search queries. This saved the client tens of thousands of dollars in content production costs.

We approached the “Footwear” section comprehensively — from a new structure, meta tags, and texts to a dedicated link-building plan. All actions were integrated into a single strategy with a clear KPI: dominance in the “Footwear” category in organic search.

Result

1. Starting Point (August 27, 2023)

At that point, INTERTOP had limited visibility in search — 45.6%, with an average keyword position of 15.

The first cut of positions by full semantics was recorded on August 27, 2023. This indicated a great potential for growth, but also a serious need for systemic SEO optimization.
The distribution of positions at that time was as follows:

Top 1:6,212 queries

Top 2–3:7,154 queries

Top 4–5:6,648 queries

Top 6–10:9,054 queries

Top 11–30:8,886 queries

Top 31–100:3,054 queries

These numbers reflected a decent presence in the visible segment of search results but also highlighted substantial room for improvement. The main objective was not just to maintain positions but to push competitors out and elevate as many queries as possible into the Top 1.

2. Positioning Among Competitors at the Start

At the beginning of the project (August 2023), the website intertop.ua had a visibility score of 45.6%, placing it only 4th among its closest competitors in the fashion niche. For comparison:

Shafa.ua — 56.9% visibility, 87.2% in the Top 10
Kasta.ua — 47.3% visibility, 47.1% in the Top 10
Rozetka.com.ua — 93.7% visibility, 92.3% of queries in the Top 10

At that time, INTERTOP was a well-known brand but was losing the SEO race due to a lack of optimized site structure, weak internal linking, and the absence of a systematic SEO approach.

3. Current Position — INTERTOP Ranks #1 in the “Footwear” Category

As of May 26, 2025, INTERTOP holds the #1 position in search visibility for the “Footwear” category, with a visibility score of 76.8% — the highest among all major competitors in Ukraine’s fashion retail market.
For comparison:

Rozetka — 69.5%
OLX — 32.4%
Miraton — 18.7%
Puma UA — 18.3%

№1

ranking in terms of search visibility in the “Shoes” category

93,7%

visibility of in the category “Shoes”

+1,7%

WoW

Back in August 2023, Rozetka had a commanding 93.7% visibility in the “Footwear” category — nearly double that of INTERTOP. By May 2025, the situation had shifted dramatically: INTERTOP rose to first place with 76.8%, while Rozetka dropped to 69.5%. This indicates a significant share of the search market has moved from Rozetka to INTERTOP.

The website has not only reached the top but has consistently maintained its leadership in one of the most competitive categories, showing steady week-over-week growth (+1.7% WoW), while most competitors are losing ground.

Position Distribution

Leadership in Both Visibility and Quality of Presence.
The chart shows that INTERTOP.UA demonstrates:

One of the highest average positions within the Top 10 — around 3.5, indicating not just wide coverage but high-quality visibility across key search terms;
The largest number of keywords in the Top 10 among competitors — over 45,000.

Thanks to a systematic approach and the effective execution of the SEO strategy, INTERTOP achieved not just strong rankings — but true dominance in the category

Key achievements:

Visibility increased from 45.6% to 76.8% — a +33.2% growth that propelled the site to #1 among competitors
Average position improved from 15 to 3 — indicating widespread entry of key queries into the Google Top results
Number of keywords in Top 1 doubled — from 6,212 to 12,318 (+6,106), significantly increasing traffic-driving positions
Top 3 coverage: Over 24,000 queries now rank in Top 1–3, forming the core of INTERTOP’s SEO traffic

Chart Dynamics:

The visualization shows that even during short-term technical setbacks (late December to February), rankings recovered quickly thanks to agile monitoring and response by the team. The overall trend reflects steady and continuous growth in both visibility and share of Top 10 results.

How Visibility Growth Translated into Real Business Results

Search rankings are just the tip of the iceberg. To understand the true impact of our SEO efforts, we analyzed actual data from Google Analytics for the “Footwear” category.

+95.11%from organic traffic to “Footwear” category pages

+98.73%users didn’t just visit the site, they actively interacted with it

+81.52%SEO didn’t just bring traffic, it brought the right traffic that significantly boosted sales

What makes these results especially impressive:

The entire project period coincided with a full-scale war, during which overall demand for fashion products was declining
The comparison period (2021–2023) included stable, “peaceful” years with high consumer demand and a growing market

Despite these challenging market conditions, we not only maintained visibility — we nearly doubled the category’s key traffic and revenue metrics.

Visibility in Action: What the Results Look Like in Search

To illustrate how improved visibility translates into tangible outcomes, here are examples of INTERTOP’s positions in search results for high-frequency queries in the niche.

These are commercial search terms with clear purchase intent — the kind that drive the most traffic and conversions.

Below are examples from Google search results showing INTERTOP consistently ranking at the top for queries such as:

"женская обувь" (women's shoes)
"мужская обувь" (men's shoes)
"чоловіче взуття" (men’s footwear)

INTERTOP holds a stable Top 1 position across all of these queries.

Conclusion

This case is a clear example of how systematic SEO — grounded in deep analytics, smart prioritization, and a focus on business goals — can elevate a brand to leadership even in an extremely competitive niche.

We didn’t just improve the website — we rebuilt the entire foundation of its growth: a new strategy, restructured architecture, proprietary automation tools, and a focused effort on the “Footwear” category, combined with close collaboration with true professionals — the INTERTOP team. The result? Top 1 in organic search, +95% organic traffic, and over +80% revenue growth in the “Footwear” category.

This is a case about how a shift in approach, strong team synergy, and clear market understanding can drive strategic success — even under the toughest competitive conditions.

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