What is a good position on otto.de? Benchmarks for head terms, long tail and brand keywords

Why there is no single answer for all keywords

A search result on otto.de shows up to 120 products per page. For 'sofa' tens of thousands of items compete for those slots; for 'ecksofa grau cord 250 cm' perhaps a few dozen. Position 40 is a good result for the first term and a poor one for the second. Anyone who judges every keyword by the same yardstick celebrates the wrong wins and overlooks the real problems.

That is why it pays to assign each keyword in tracking to one of three types and set a separate target for each.

Type 1: head terms of the category

One or two words, high demand, very many results: 'wasserkocher', 'ecksofa', 'kinderwagen'. Here sales history, reviews and price count more than any text.

• Page 1 (positions 1–120): the target for every product that is meant to compete seriously in the category.
• Upper half of page 1 (up to position 60): a strong result, usually only reachable with reviews and steady sales.
• Top 24: what buyers see without scrolling on a large screen. Rarely reachable for new sellers without ads or promotions.

A product that climbs from position 90 to 50 here has made a big step, even though it 'only' stays on page 1.

Type 2: precise terms and long tail

Three or more words with an attribute, size or use case: 'wasserkocher glas 1,7 liter', 'ecksofa mit schlaffunktion grau'. Fewer searchers, but ready to buy, and far fewer results.

• Top 10: a realistic target when the listing carries the attribute in title and attributes.
• Top 3: reachable when the product genuinely meets the attribute better than most results.

If a product sits at position 30 for a precise term, a detail is almost always missing from the listing; that is the first place to look.

Type 3: your own brand keywords

Terms containing your brand name: 'brand xy wasserkocher'. Here only one result is acceptable: positions 1 to 3, held by your own products. If a foreign product sits in front, whether through an ad or through a listing that contains your brand name, you lose buyers who had already decided. Brand keywords therefore belong in daily tracking, even if they do not move for months.

Your own benchmarks instead of someone else's numbers

The figures above are rules of thumb, not rules from OTTO. After four to eight weeks your own tracking gives you better yardsticks:

1. Best position of the last 90 days per keyword: it shows what was achievable with this listing. If the current position is well below it, that is a target, not a wish.
2. Median per keyword type across all your products: products below the median need attention first.
3. Page-1 share per product: the share of keywords for which the product sits on page 1. A product at 80 percent is healthy, one at 20 percent is not, regardless of individual positions.

Write the targets into the report

Put the target next to the current position for each keyword: 'ecksofa – page 1 – currently 74 – met', 'ecksofa mit schlaffunktion grau – top 10 – currently 18 – open'. Anyone, even without rank-tracking experience, can then see at a glance where action is needed. And you stop booking position 7 on a niche term as a success while the head keyword has dropped off page 1.

Frequently asked questions