The Container Store – A Review of On-Page SEO Tactics

The Container Store is the leading storage and organization products retailer in the United States. Since opening the first store in 1978, the company has grown to 79 retail locations. The Container Store’s mission is to help customers be “more productive, relaxed and happier by selling customized, completed solutions (The Container Store Investor Relations, 2016).  The Container Store has more than 11,000 products and has been on Fortune magazines 100 Best Companies To Work For® list for 17 consecutive years (The Container Store Investor Relations, 2016).  Internet Retailer estimates $71.9 million in FY 2015 sales for The Container Store’s e-commerce site. That’s an 11% increase from the previous year (Linder, 2016). The company credits part of this increase in online sales to the following FY2015 objectives:

• ·      Enhancing the company’s website;
• ·      Strategic improvements to targeting and organic search programs;
• ·      Introducing free shipping for purchases over $75; and
• ·      Introducing the ContainerStories® lifestyle blog (The Container Store Investor Relations, 2016).

Exploring the website

            The Container Store’s homepage features promotions above the fold and product categories within those promotions below the fold. When the screenshots below were created, the current promotions were a sale on all items related to travel and free installation of elfa® shelving systems. The free shipping offer appears on the homepage three times, beside the logo at the top of the page and twice on the product categories below the fold, reminding site visitors of the free shipping offer no matter which part of the screen is currently in view.  The bottom of the homepage includes a link to the loyalty program and invites visitors to share photos of their organization projects or to browse photos for inspiration and encourages sharing photos using the hashtag #containyourself.

Screenshots of The Container Store homepage. 

Source: www.containerstore.com

Product categories are clearly listed across the top of the page, and when selecting a category (e.g., storage) the top of the page has links to related videos, organizational tips and blog stories. Using the left-hand links, visitors can sort further by category (e.g., bins & baskets, trays, and drawers), by price range, by color, by customer ratings and by smaller categories (e.g., sale items, green items, and in stock/ready to ship items).

Screenshot of The Container Store Storage webpage. 

Source: www.containerstore.com/s/storage/1

SEO Tools and Techniques

The Container Store’s SEO department began in 2014. According to Cade Burk, the company’s first SEO manager, the priority was to complete a site-wide evaluation of the website and to improve the user experience on smartphones. The company started a lifestyle blog, added written and video tips and projects to their website and social media channels and refreshed product content to increase page performance. The Container Store began working with BrightEdge ContentPerformance Marketing to analyze keyword performance and to use advanced analytics to better understand consumers search needs (BrightEdge, 2015). The Container Store focused their SEO efforts on organic search traffic, creating page groups, determining the best performing keywords, mapping backlinks and targeting new sources for backlinks. In the first 7 months of this new on-page SEO focus, The Container Store saw a 30% increase in top-ranked keywords. Organic traffic increased by 93%. Organic traffic conversion increased 68% and organic traffic revenue increased by 96% (BrightEdge, n.d.).

The Container Store’s job description for SEO manager includes the following priorities among the position’s duties:

• Recommending text elements, page titles, meta descriptions and meta tags:
• Conducting keyword analysis and determining which keywords are too competitive and which fit product niches; and
• Analyze webpages for content, keyword density, word counts, meta descriptions and meta tags (Source: https://containerstore.ats.hrsmart.com/cgi-bin/a/highlightjob.cgi?jobid=601).

I selected these duties in particular (out of many listed in the description) because according to Michael H. Fleischner’s SEO Made Simple, The Container Store is not utilizing all the on-page SEO techniques they should. To illustrate areas where The Container Store could improve on-page SEO, let’s look at the SERPs and analyze the webpage.

            The Container Store was the top organic search result when searching by browser window and by private browser window. (I also searched in a private browser window, since I am a customer.) The Container Store was also the top paid result on both browsers. In the screen shots below, the second company listed in the organic search is Organize-It. To examine the on-page SEO techniques, let’s compare The Container Store with Organize-It, the top competitor in organic search results.

 Screenshot of search for “home organization products”

Screenshot of private browser window search for “home organization products”

     Organize-It is primarily an online retailer with only one store location in Shelby Township, Michigan. Organize-It began in 1997 as a custom closet design and installation company, but soon expanded to offer other organization products, launching its e-commerce site in 1999. Organize-It offers more than 10,000 products (Organize-It, n.d). The products and services are similar to those offered by The Container Store.

The Organize-It home page is busier than The Container Store. Instead of focusing on product categories, the home page features individual products and prices.

Screenshot of Organize-It homepage. 

Source: http://www.organizeit.com/

Comparing the homepages of these two companies reveals that Organize-It is taking advantage of some of the on-page SEO techniques that The Container Store is missing. Internet Marketing Ninjas Side-by-Side SEO Comparison Tool (http://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/seo-tools/seo-compare/) shows us the differences between the two companies.

The Container Store uses the company name and tagline in the title field and does not use the meta description or meta keyword fields. Organize-It packs all three of these fields with keywords.

The Container Store doesn’t use H1 or H2 heading text, and Organize-It uses keywords in the H1 field. The Container Store does have more keywords on the homepage, but Organize-It has greater keyword density with “organization” and “storage”.

Both companies use internal links to other pages within the websites and The Container Store includes subdomain links to information about their company and their commitment to customer service. Both companies use external links to their social media channels. Organize-It includes product names and prices on the home page and The Container Store uses more navigation and company information, listing product categories, but not actual products.

Uses for collected data

            The Container Store collects data from visitors to the website and uses it for retargeting. For example, the first screenshot below shows products I have searched for on the right side of the screen and that area is blank in the screenshot from the private browser window.

Screenshot with product suggestions from my search history.

Screenshot from private browser window with same product with no search history on the right side of the screen.

The Container Store also uses search history for email marketing to customers, featuring products that customer has searched for on a previous visit to the website.

Suggestions

            The Container Store had an estimated $71.9 million in online sales for FY2015, a double-digit increase over 2014 e-commerce sales (Linder, 2016). The company also appears first in both organic and paid search results for home and closet organization products searches, so the company is successfully navigating their on-page SEO strategy. However, based on the techniques outlined by Michael Fleischner, The Container Store could incorporate more keywords in the following fields: page titles, meta descriptions, meta keywords and headings fields. As part of the ongoing review of the website, The Container Store should add different meta tags using keywords to the website pages. Submitting a sitemap via Google’s Webmaster Tools can help Google find more URLs within the website, which can lead to more visibility. Adding alt tags incorporating keywords to graphics can increase the keyword density on a page. The company should continue to look for opportunities for backlinks and promote their video tips, blog and social media channels to maximize the search results.

Sources:

BrightEdge. (2015, Aug. 24). Implementing SEO as a major brand with Cade Burk at Share15. BrightIdeas, The BrightEdge Blog. Retrieved from http://www.brightedge.com/blog/implementing-seo-as-a-major-brand-with-cade-burk-at-share15/

BrightEdge. (n.d.). The Container Store Case Study. BrightEdge Resources. Retrieved from http://www.brightedge.com/resources/case-studies/the-container-store

Linder, M. (2016, May 9). An online exec moves up to chief marketer at The Container Store. Internet Retailer. Retrieved from https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/05/09/online-exec-moves-chief-marketer-container-store

Organize-It. (n.d.). Organize-It About Us. Retrieved from http://www.organizeit.com/about-us-information.asp

The Container Store Investor Relations. (2016, April 25). The Container Store Group, Inc. announces fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2015 financial results. Press Release. Retrieved from http://investor.containerstore.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2016/The-Container-Store-GroupInc-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Fiscal-Year-2015-Financial-Results/default.aspx