How to Achieve Top Google Rankings for Commercial Keywords: An SEO Case Study

Strong sales through physical retail channels don’t guarantee high rankings in Google’s organic search results. If a website’s structure doesn’t reflect actual search demand, competitors can capture sales, even when the brand is well known.

That was the challenge facing Motul, an international motor oil manufacturer. Despite Motul’s strong market position, its website wasn’t ranking well for many commercial search queries on Google.

MixDigital improved Motul’s SEO performance by fixing technical issues, restructuring the site around search demand, expanding keyword coverage, and strengthening its backlink profile. These changes helped the brand rank higher on Google and drive e-commerce growth through organic search.

Starting Point

We started with a detailed SEO audit to identify opportunities to improve the site’s organic search performance.

The audit revealed several key issues:

• most commercial keywords ranked between positions 30 and 60 on Google;
• some organic traffic came from irrelevant search queries;
• the product catalog was structured around the product range rather than how people searched;
• technical issues affected page indexing;
• the site had fewer backlinks than its competitors, and their quality was lower.

These issues made it difficult for Motul to rank for commercial keywords in its category. Instead, marketplaces and competing brands were capturing much of that search demand.

Strategy

We made SEO an integral part of the e-commerce strategy rather than treating it as a separate technical task.

Our main objectives were to:

• improve the site’s visibility for priority commercial keywords;
• restructure the website to better match how customers search;
• align SEO with the broader digital strategy, focusing on keywords with strong purchase intent.

We focused on four key areas:

• aligning the site structure with search demand;
• fixing technical issues that held back rankings;
• expanding coverage of commercial keywords;
• building authority for priority category pages.

Execution

To turn organic search into a reliable source of sales, we worked in stages, starting with the issues holding the site back and then focusing on growth.

The work included:

• SEO audit and strategy development;
• technical SEO improvements;
• restructuring the product catalog;
• expanding keyword coverage;
• link building and ongoing optimization.

1. Technical Optimization

We audited the WordPress site and fixed several technical issues:

• duplicate metadata;
• incorrect heading hierarchy;
• indexing problems on certain pages.

These fixes improved indexing consistency and helped key category pages better match relevant search queries.

2. Website Restructuring

Next, we reorganized the product catalog to better match how customers search for products. We:

• created new landing pages targeting commercial keyword clusters;
• introduced SEO-friendly product filters;
• updated the URL structure.

As a result, the site began ranking for search queries it hadn’t previously appeared for.

3. Keyword Optimization

We expanded the target keyword list, removed irrelevant search terms, and mapped keywords to pages based on business priorities.

We prioritized categories with high seasonal search demand and strong purchase intent to attract organic traffic more likely to convert into sales.

4. Scalable Metadata Optimization

We introduced a template-based system to generate title tags and meta descriptions for category pages and SEO filter pages.

This allowed us to optimize pages at scale without updating each one manually, while keeping metadata consistent across the site.

5. Link Building

We focused our link-building efforts on strengthening priority categories.

We increased the number of high-quality referring domains linking to the site. This strengthened the site’s authority and helped improve rankings for competitive commercial keywords.

Results

Improved Search Rankings

• Positions 1-3: +32 keywords;
• Positions 4-5: +15 keywords;
• Positions 6-10: +28 keywords;
• Positions 11-30: +21 keywords.

As a result, most target commercial keywords reached the first page of Google.

This led to more clicks from organic search, improved the brand’s visibility in its category, and increased organic traffic to the site.

Changes in Search Visibility

The improvements went beyond individual keyword rankings. The site’s overall ranking distribution also changed.

More keywords ranked in the top 3 and top 10, while fewer keywords ranked outside the top 100. The site was now competing for a broader range of target commercial keywords rather than relying on rankings for individual queries.

Ranking on Google’s first page for more search queries also helps make organic traffic more stable and predictable.

Stronger Organic Search Presence

• expanded coverage of commercial keywords;
• increased brand visibility in competitive product categories;
• built a site structure that supports further organic growth without rebuilding the entire e-commerce website.

Conclusion

For e-commerce businesses, SEO plays a key role in capturing existing search demand. For Motul, improvements to site structure, keyword targeting, and technical SEO increased visibility for commercial searches and created a foundation for further growth.