Case Study Driving Global Consistency with Localized Impact for a Sportswear Leader
How a global sportswear giant redirected traffic to its new India storefront, driving 1M+ impressions and lifting CTR to 14%.
1M+
Regional organic impressions
+46%
Demo & consultation sign-ups
14%
Click-through rate (CTR) achieved
The Client
A leading global sportswear brand establishing its digital footprint in India.
The client is a globally recognized sportswear giant famous for its athletic apparel, performance footwear, and accessories. With a strong brand presence in major international markets, the company has built its reputation on product innovation, high-profile athlete sponsorships, and distinct marketing campaigns.
To capture the rapidly growing Indian e-commerce market, the brand launched a dedicated India-specific e-commerce site (.in). This localized platform was designed to serve regional consumers directly, offering localized shipping, regional pricing, and product catalogs tailored to the sport preferences of Indian consumers (such as running, training, and cricket).
However, launching a regional website is only the first step in establishing a market presence. The brand needed to transition its massive organic search visibility from its global web properties to the new domestic store, requiring specialized technical SEO and regional localization strategies.
The Challenge
Local traffic landing on global storefronts, stalling the regional launch.
Despite the launch of the India-specific storefront, the regional launch struggled to gain digital traction. The primary issue was that the majority of search traffic from India continued to land on the brand's global (.com) site. Because the global site did not support regional shipping, local currency transactions, or local inventory, Indian consumers bounced, leading to low conversions.
The brand needed to implement a geo-targeting and SEO strategy to redirect local search queries to the India (.in) site. This migration had to be executed while maintaining global brand guidelines and complying with international digital standards, ensuring the localized experience felt seamless and aligned with the brand's global identity.
9%
Baseline Click-Through Rate (CTR) for Indian search queries before localization.
.in
The newly launched regional domain that was starved of search traffic.
Indian search traffic landing on the global (.com) site instead of the localized (.in) store.
Low conversion rates as Indian consumers were unable to check out on the global site.
The need to align localized site changes with strict global brand guidelines.
Low search visibility for the new India domain on local search engine results pages.
What our audit found
Identifying hreflang errors and geo-redirection failures.
Our diagnostic began with an audit of the brand's global and regional website structures, indexing status, and search console accounts. We identified that the primary reason for the traffic split was the absence of hreflang tags. Without these localization tags, Google could not identify that the (.in) site was the intended destination for searchers located in India, default indexing the (.com) pages instead.
We also found issues with the geo-redirection setup. The site's redirect rules did not match incoming user IP addresses with the correct regional site, or they did so with high latency, causing users to bounce. Additionally, several popular product categories were missing localized search metadata, preventing the (.in) site from ranking for regional search queries.
Missing hreflang tags on global and regional sites, causing indexing errors.
Slow and misconfigured geo-redirection rules that increased bounce rates.
Unoptimized search metadata on high-demand product categories.
Global product pages ranking in India for products out-of-stock locally.
The Solution
How we turned it around.
Enhancing metadata and local keyword targeting.
To improve search visibility in the Indian market, we overhauled the metadata structure of the India (.in) site. We updated page titles, meta descriptions, and image alt tags to align with localized search patterns.
We integrated local search terms into the metadata, matching spelling conventions, product naming, and search queries popular in India. This metadata optimization helped search engine crawlers associate the new domain with local search intent, laying the groundwork for improved search rankings.
What we shipped
- Meta titles and descriptions updated across core product categories.
- Localized search terms integrated into the site's metadata.
- Automated templates deployed to maintain consistent metadata formats.
Implementing targeted localization and hreflang tags.
To resolve the indexing issues, we implemented hreflang tags across both the global (.com) and India (.in) websites. This code implementation mapped the relationship between the domains, instructing search engines to serve the (.in) URLs to searchers located in India.
We also resolved the redirect conflicts. We configured a geo-redirection engine at the network edge to detect user IP locations and recommend a transition to the localized site without delaying page load times. This configuration helped redirect searchers to the storefront where they could complete transactions.
What we shipped
- Hreflang tag structures implemented across global and regional domains.
- Geo-redirection engine configured at the network edge to improve redirect speeds.
- Custom redirection pop-ups deployed to guide users to the localized store.
Structural site and UX enhancements.
To convert the redirected search traffic, we made targeted improvements to the site's structure and user experience. We focused on optimizing the path from landing page to product checkout, making it easier for local visitors to navigate.
We simplified the checkout forms and added regional payment options, such as UPI and local net banking. We also optimized the mobile layout of the store, ensuring fast page load speeds and smooth navigation on mobile networks. These enhancements helped reduce cart abandonment rates and improved overall conversion rates.
What we shipped
- Checkout flows updated to support UPI and local payment methods.
- Site navigation simplified to help users find products quickly.
- Mobile layouts optimized to ensure fast loading on local cellular networks.
Localizing product catalogs for compliance.
A key part of the localization project was audit and alignment of the product catalog. We worked with the brand's merchandising team to identify products that required compliance adjustments for the Indian market, such as specific labeling, sizing conversions, and import disclosures.
We localized the product descriptions to match local sizing standards (converting UK/US sizes to regional formats) and updated product compliance labels. This catalog audit ensured the brand met all regulatory standards while presenting a catalog that matched the preferences of the local market.
What we shipped
- Sizing charts converted to match regional shopping preferences.
- Product descriptions audited and updated with required regulatory disclosures.
- Product catalog filtered to display only inventory ready for local shipping.
The Numbers
Outcomes we can talk about.
The technical SEO and localization optimizations helped drive traffic to the new regional storefront. Within six months, the India (.in) domain achieved 1M+ organic search impressions, establishing its visibility in the local market.
By implementing hreflang tags and correcting redirect rules, search click-through rate (CTR) for Indian search queries rose from 9% to 14%. This improvement confirmed that search engines were serving the correct, localized URLs to target users.
Furthermore, these optimization efforts supported customer acquisition, driving a +46% increase in regional demo and sizing consultation sign-ups. By resolving the traffic split and directing searchers to the correct store, we helped the brand establish a stable digital foundation in India.
1M+
Regional organic impressions
+46%
Demo & consultation sign-ups
14%
Click-through rate (CTR) achieved
What We Built
What's Next
Expanding localization to regional languages and search tools.
With the core English-language storefront optimized, the next phase is exploring localized search capabilities in regional languages. This will involve implementing multilingual search configurations to capture non-English search queries in India.
We are also planning to integrate automated inventory tracking with the search metadata. This will allow search engines to display real-time local product availability directly in search results, helping to drive high-intent shoppers to local retail outlets.
Frequently Asked Questions
About This Project
The questions teams usually ask when they want to run a similar engagement.
The main issue was the absence of hreflang tags, which prevented Google from identifying that the new (.in) site was the correct destination for users in India, causing it to default to the global (.com) site instead.
The Real Numbers
Need real numbers? Let's talk.
We kept the names off the page. The story is real, the outcomes are real, and we're always happy to walk a serious team through the rest of it.
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