Longtime competitor Alfred Angelo goes belly-up without warning, so what does David’s Bridal do? Make an irresistible offer on an expertly-optimized page that a panicked bride will click on if she sees it in the search results.
In its coverage of Alfred Angelo’s demise The Washington Post mentioned David’s Bridal’s well-timed tweet.
Brides & bridesmaids impacted by #AlfredAngelo store closures, we’re offering special discounts for you: https://t.co/XV5wRU4Utr
— David’s Bridal (@davidsbridal) July 14, 2017
Less-covered has been the quick thinking on the part of their SEO guy or gal.
Just look at that description tag (above). The “wedding of their dreams” is no mistake; that’s what Alfred Angelo promised, and what now only another, solvent company can deliver on. The click-through rate on that page must be insane.
The URL is named relevantly: http://www.davidsbridal.com/Content_Bridal_alfredangelo
The content of the page is clear and on-topic – no gimmicks.
What’s interesting is that the page itself doesn’t have a lot of links (yet?).
(Yet another reason I don’t believe Google’s claim that they “don’t have anything like a website authority score.”)
It just goes to show some of the practices that separate a smart SEO person from a hack:
- Pay attention to the news. “But I’m not a publicist!” Yeah, that’s what the SEO chief at Alfred Angelo, Sports Authority, and Blockbuster probably said.
- Do the basics well, but don’t overdo them. Notice the lack of keyword-stuffing on the page.
- Work all the channels – to get customers onto the page BEFORE it ranks. Remember the early-morning tweet? Google seems to notice that kind of activity. WaPo certainly did.
- Wordsmithing. The David’s Bridal’s search result (particularly their description tag) is sticky, and the page is well-written – for people, not for Google.
The only way (I can think of) that David’s could do even better is if they updated all their store-locator pages (example) to include a banner for the Alfred Angelo special offer.
Your competitors don’t need to be large corporations that fail spectacularly and suddenly for you to make a kill-shot like this one. Next time a competitor screws up enough to make the local rag, see what kind of special offer you can make to help his/her disappointed customers. It’s got to help them out of a bind (as David’s did), or you won’t look much better than the other company.
Any other lessons from David’s Bridal? Similar stories? Leave a comment!