The Q4 2023 benchmarking report for UK window & conservatory suppliers has just been published. Learn how the top 6 UK window & conservatory suppliers perform across the digital space.

The latest Q4 2023 benchmarking report for UK window & conservatory suppliers has just been published. It covers the largest 6 national window & conservatory suppliers, including Everest, Anglian Home Improvements, Conservatory Outlet, Ultraframe, First Home Improvements, and EYG Home Improvements.

The research gives an inside track on who is winning the biggest share of voice online, and quantifies the gaps, risks and missed opportunities for other window & conservatory suppliers to win brand exposure, drive online traffic, and generate orders. The report highlights quick wins that will improve enquiries from your online strategy and identifies the barriers that may be reducing your site’s ability to optimise digital performance.

To see a preview and contents page of the Q4 report, click here. To get a copy of the full report and the key takeaways, please complete the enquiry form or schedule a call.

Q4 2023 WINNERS LEADERBOARD

For a glance into just 6 of the metrics we evaluated these top 6 window & conservatory suppliers on, check out our quick-look table below;

Continue reading for further detail on this quarter's best and poorest-performing window and conservatory suppliers, or request a copy of the report for the full review.

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What The Industry Research Report Covers

The 70+ pages of research benchmarks each retailer based on 50+ metrics and indicators of successful digital strategy, including organic visibility, domain authority, paid media ads, conversion performance, technical performance, site speed, universal search, content, social ads, accessibility, and mobile performance.  

Driving Optimal ROAS from Paid Media Channels

Some of the leading players in the space are high spenders on paid media channels such as Google, Bing & Facebook - but have a poor or sub-optimal conversion improvement strategy. Without an optimised, sophisticated conversion strategy that maximises the conversion rate, the return on investment is unsustainable or will underperform. Scaling spend on paid media is not achievable unless the conversion rate delivers optimal performance in the sector. Some in the space have paid media spend levels from 30k+ per month but dedicate minimal resources and budgets to conversion testing.  Given the cost per clicks on ad networks will continue to rise, we recommend spending at least 10% of your paid media budget on ongoing conversion optimisation testing schedules to ensure your paid media ROI maintains long term viability, competitive advantage, and sustainability.

Technical Website Compliance

Savvy digital marketers know that having a technically sound website is an essential component of a successful fully integrated digital strategy - plus a site capable of maximising conversion performance. Having a technically sound website will ensure prospective customers are able to find key information, such as payment plans, guides to the installation process, and product comparisons.

In our last report, Anglian Home Improvements had seen its 4xx error levels rise to 233 - the most of all window and conservatory suppliers. In Q4, Anglian has seen very minimal improvements, still returning 223 4xx errors in our audit. A sudden increase in 4xx errors can often be attributed to a broken link included in a prominent, widely used place, such as a navigation menu or footer.

Site Speed & Conversion Rate Performance

When 62% of consumers are less likely to convert if they have a negative mobile site experience, ensuring that your site is quick and easy to load makes a significant improvement on your overall conversion rates. With ways to save money, such as investing in energy-efficient, insulating windows, at the forefront of everyone’s mind during the cost-of-living crisis, ensuring your site is working to its full potential is essential for stopping customers from jumping to a competitor’s website.

In our last report, EYG Home Improvements had seen its mobile page speed score improve from nil to 23, taking the brand from having the poorest-performing mobile to sitting in the middle of our six brands. EYG Home Improvements has slightly improved this score slightly further, now achieving a mobile page speed score of 25. Conservatory Outlet has proved to have the quickest mobile site, being the only brand to exceed the 'okay' benchmark of 50, with a score of 54.

Building Competitive Advantage with Domain Authority

Domain authority is an essential metric for measuring the effectiveness of SEO performance and helps create a reliable overall gauge of how effective your site is at achieving organic traffic, i.e. ‘free’ traffic that isn’t gained through sponsored ads. Tying into the need to appeal to consumers looking to save costs on energy bills, windows & conservatory suppliers could look to creating shareable data on energy saving that is likely to be picked up by the national press, gaining both valuable backlinks and referral traffic.

A ‘good’ DA really comes down to how your competitors are performing, however it’s generally considered average between 40 and 50, good between 50 and 60, and excellent above 60. Similarly to Q3, DAs for window and conservatory suppliers sat between 27 and 63 in Q4, with Ultraframe achieving a 3 point increase. 

Organic Performance – Mobile & Desktop

A strong organic performance is strategically important as it ensures your site ranks above competitors for key, transactional keywords. When 93% of your customers won’t go past the first page of Google, your absence or lack of targeting for essential keywords will cost you conversions. While, in Q1, we expected an increase in traffic to window and conservatory suppliers, due to consumers seeking energy-efficient home improvements which would save on energy bills, moving into the summer we expect to see these figures fall. With summer trade being more dependent on the home expansion side of these businesses, consumers are less likely to seek out these non-essential services and products.

All six window and conservatory suppliers saw a decrease in organic traffic year on year. First Home Improvements, which had seen the biggest loss in Q3, is now seeing the second smallest loss in traffic, securing 26% fewer organic visitors than in 2022. Window and conservatory suppliers must ensure they are optimising for topical keywords, in order to maximise site visitors, and not take for granted that poor performance in the sector means their competitors will be seeing the same level of loss.

Universal Search Opportunity

Google Universal Search Results is an evolving opportunity to make your pages visible on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Universal results often appear before traditional listings and are eye-catching for users. Universal search results refer to rankings on a SERP that are not the traditional ‘blue line’ Google link, and a retailer can appear for universal search results without being strong in standard rankings. Customer reviews and FAQs are a great way for potential customers to see the experience others have had with the window & conservatory suppliers and gauge which company has the happiest customers.

'Image' is now the most-used Universal Search feature for window and conservatory suppliers, with Everest making the most appearances, with 6,600. Everest has also achieved the most 'people also ask' appeareances, with 3,100 results. A great performance for 'people also ask' results usually points to a strong approach to longtail keywords, along with securing brand visibility directly on SERPs.

The Longtail Keyword Opportunity

Longtail keywords are often considered high intent and potentially more likely to convert as a searcher is being more specific. Optimising for longtail keywords also puts your content strategy in a strong position to rank for retailer new search terms as they enter Google’s index. Window & conservatory suppliers have a wide range of longtail keywords to work with, and should also take the opportunity to look at keywords including the cost-of-living crisis and ways to save money on heating.

Conservatory Outlet is still ranking for a much smaller volume of longtail keywords than its competitors, with only 48 appearances in the top three results (down from 68 in Q3). However, First Home Improvements should also be concerned as, of its 2,746 total longtail keywords ranked for, only 91 of these are within the top three. First Home Improvements should review its current ranking content, and evaluate whether further optimisations are needed to secure visits from high-intent phrases.

Facebook Adverts

With the number of Facebook users in the United Kingdom (UK) forecast to hit over 42 million users by 2022, it is not surprising that brands have jumped at the opportunity to advertise on the social media platform. Facebook’s UK digital advertising revenue has been estimated to have breached 2.6b GB pounds in 2019. Facebook ads are a great way for window & conservatory suppliers to reach a wide range of people. Ensuring they use eye-catching copy and clear CTAs helps capture the scrolling viewer’s attention.

We've included examples of EYG Home Improvement's Facebook ads below. For two of their creatives, EYG has used large, attractive photographs highlighting work on both a modern and period property, enabling the brand to appeal to a range of home owners. 

Top Social Shares & Content

When it comes to social media and on-site content strategies, it is important to release content that has a longer shelf life. An article is considered 'Evergreen' if it has maintained its relevancy to an audience for longer. It's great for your retailer engagement, but great for Google too, who will recognise content which achieves traffic over a long period of time. Window & conservatory suppliers should be taking the opportunity to share statistics on how much money new windows can save in the long run, and also any offers they currently have on.

Facebook is the preferred platform for four window and conservatory suppliers, though all companies are underusing the opportunity to gain engagement through social media. Anglian has the largest following on Meta's platforms, with 28,400 Facebook likes and 4,400 Instagram followers. This represents a pre-engaged audience that is more likely to see Anglian's organic content. 

Website Readability & Accessibility

20% of people in the UK have a disability – 2 million of which are people living with sight loss. In addition, 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some degree of colour vision deficiency. When websites are not designed to meet these needs, retailers lose customer interest as they turn elsewhere. Window & conservatories will have universal appeal, so suppliers need to ensure their site is accessible for all. They need to ensure everyone can access and use their website with ease, to stop customers from leaving for a more accessible website.

In our last report, we noted that Ultraframe had the biggest cause for concern when it came to accessibility, with 102 alerts and 75 errors being present on their website. In Q4, Ultraframe has made no improvements on accessibility, still delivering 103 alerts in audits, along with 101 contrast errors.

GET THE FULL 79-PAGE Q4 2023 REPORT

To get a copy of the full report, please complete the enquiry form. If you want to talk to us about accelerating your digital performance, please call us on 01543 410014 or schedule a call with Mike Movassaghi.

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