Insights on Search Traffic Data for the Sports Industry (August 2022)
Sports are in! If you’re a fan of getting pumped up during intense games or simply enjoying a quick sweat-out, finding the right shoes is incredibly important. A good pair will take you places (literally)—whether you need it for easier movement or cushion support as you move.
We know that there are a ton of sports enthusiasts in Australia alone. But we wonder; how much of a demand is there exactly for running shoes? We did research to find out consumer behaviour for sports, particularly footwear.
If we take a look at the SimilarWeb industry overview for Sports, particularly Running, we’ll see a positive 20.61% yearly change in unique Australian visitors compared to previous years. A total of 23% of this market’s traffic belongs to the top 1% of sites, which we’ll see below:
The top performing websites for Sports are runnersworld.com and parkrun.com.au—possibly indicating that while consumers stay interested in the current happenings around Sports, there’s also a growing interest and confidence in joining in-person events as community walks.
As we take a peek at the traffic volumes by source, we can also conclude that traffic for these Sports websites and content is intent-based. This means that people are actively searching online for Sports-related information. Organic search accounts for 45.71% of traffic, followed by direct at 37.07%.
Trending “Running Shoes” Search Keywords
Let’s dive further into organic search. Here are the specific keywords that users click through to visit websites. Through this list, we can then infer what people are looking for, which type of content they’re consuming, and what topics grab their attention from the SERPs.
These are the trending terms for the past year, as well as the percentage month-over-month increase in traffic volume:
- Running shoes (+13.63%)
- Strength training for runners (+29.59%)
- Best shoes for flat feet (+1,143.31%)
- Marathons in Melbourne (+315.18%)
What could this imply? The Australian sports market is interested in exploring running shoes through recommendations. Runners are also on the lookout for more activities outside of the track; like strength training or workouts, and community events such as marathons. These could be a result of the growing confidence and security in going out, after almost two years of working out at home due to the recent lockdowns.
This assumption is even more validated when we look at keyword seasonality for the Sports: Running industry. “Sydney marathon” and “sydney running festival” are terms that are trending for the months of August to September, and “walking shoes” is a common search keyword for July (perhaps in preparation for the fun event!).
How can we use this information? These insights are valuable if we want to adapt to the customer’s changing needs and bring them in through content, paid search assets, and more. For example, upcoming blog posts can focus on different activities you can participate in as a runner or athlete in Australia. E-Commerce brands can also optimise their landing pages to attract buyers of running or training shoes.
Traffic data offers a ton of opportunities to bring in potential buyers and loyal website visitors. Interested to see what you could learn from data in your industry? We’d love to chat – get in touch.
