Electronics and home appliances on otto.de: what is different when ranking washing machines, coffee machines and more

How shoppers search for appliances

Someone looking for a sofa describes what they have in mind. Someone looking for a washing machine has often compared already and knows the brand, the capacity or even the exact model number. That gives three typical search patterns for appliances:

• Model search: brand plus model name, such as the exact type number from a test report.
• Feature search: 'waschmaschine 8 kg', 'kaffeevollautomat mit milchsystem', 'staubsauger beutellos'.
• Head term: 'waschmaschine', 'kühlschrank' – high demand, a lot of competition.

Each pattern needs a different strategy and its own group in rank tracking.

Model numbers: the terms with the highest purchase intent

Someone who types a model number wants to buy exactly that appliance and usually compares only price and delivery time. For these search terms there is only one good result: your offer at the top. Make sure the model name in the title is written exactly as the manufacturer and shoppers write it – with or without a hyphen, with the full suffix.

For your highest-revenue appliances, track the model number as a search term of its own. If your product isn't in the first places there, the spelling is usually off or another seller offers the same appliance more cheaply.

Technical attributes decide the filters

For home appliances shoppers use filters especially often: capacity, width, power, noise level, energy efficiency class. If an attribute is missing, your product drops out of the filtered results list, even if it ranks well in the unfiltered search.

Check for every appliance that all technical fields of the category are filled in in Partner Connect. For many electrical appliances the energy label and the product information sheet are also legally required – if they are missing, you risk more than just lower visibility.

Competing for the same appliance

Unlike own brands, branded appliances are often sold by several sellers as exactly the same model, frequently by OTTO itself too. Then you don't compete only on copy and images but above all on price, delivery time and service. For your most important appliances, watch who stands above you for the model number and at what price.

For own brands and lesser-known manufacturers it is the other way round: hardly anyone searches for your model number. Feature searches count here, and your target is the long-tail terms that branded appliances don't fit perfectly.

A keyword set for appliances

A proven structure per appliance:

1. One or two model searches (brand plus model number, possibly a short form).
2. Two or three feature searches with the values shoppers filter by.
3. One head term of the category as a yardstick for your general visibility.

Evaluate the groups separately. A loss on the head term is normal and often temporary. A loss on the model search costs revenue directly.

Appliances have seasons too

Home appliances have seasons as well: fans and air conditioners in summer, fan heaters in autumn, food processors and coffee machines before Christmas and during Black Week. Add the seasonal terms early so that you have a reference value before demand rises.

Frequently asked questions