QLU: A new look at categorization and SEO in sportswear

Case Study: QLU Sportswear — SEO-Driven Information Architecture and User Experience Transformation

Agency: Nodus Works
Brand: QLU
Sector: Sportswear/E-commerce
Project Period: 2025 Q1-Q2
Objective: Increasing search visibility, enabling users to reach products faster, and optimizing the in-site experience.

1. Project Summary

QLU had entered an era in which users struggled to find the products they were looking for, the category structure became complicated, and SEO visibility remained limited.
Site with the brand as Nodus Works SEO-oriented, data-driven and centered on user experience reconfigured with an information architecture.

Conclusion:

• 62% organic traffic increase (within 3 months)
• 28% increase in average session time
• 19% improvement in conversion rate from category pages

2. Current Situation Analysis

🔍 SEO Status

• Category structure in terms of SEO too deep and keyword consistency is poor was.
• Product variants (color, size, model) are listed on the same page, indexable subpages was not created.
• Title, meta and H1 structures keyword cannibalization (keyword conflict) was present.

👥 User Experience Analysis

• The average time for users to find products was 3.4 minutes.
• Filters were insufficient (for example, filters such as “Color”, “Activity”, “Fabric type” were mixed).
• The availability of filters on mobile was poor; 70% of users were on mobile.
• Variants (color/size) were shown mixed on the product detail pages, which Decision-making time He was extending it.

3. Strategy

The project proceeded in two main focuses:

1. SEO and information architecture redesign
2. User experience optimization (UX + UI + Behavioral Analysis)

3.1 SEO Oriented Information Architecture

• The entire product range has been reclassified:
  • Top level categories: Women, Men, Children, Accessories
  • Subcategories: T-shirt, Leggings, Shorts, Tracksuit, Sports Bra, Outdoor etc.
• To each category Long-tail oriented A landing page has been created (e.g. “Women's Running Tights”, “Men's Yoga T-Shirt”).
• Breadcrumb structure Simplified and aligned with Google rich results.
• The URL structure has been redefined:
  qlu.com/kadin/ti-black → qlu.com/women-tisort/
  • Short, keyword compatible, linguistic consistency was achieved.
• Product color variants with separate URLs represented by:
  • qlu.com/product/woman-leggings-black
  • qlu.com/products/women-leggings-gray
    In terms of SEO, “color-based search intent” was targeted.

3.2 Technical SEO Improvements

• Added schema.org structured data (Product, Breadcrumb, Review).
• Lazy-load and CDN integration reduced page load time by 38%.
• Robots.txt and sitemap.xml have been reconfigured.
• Fixed 404 errors and canonical issues.

4. User Experience (UX) Transformation

4.1 Redesign of the Filter and Search System

• In all product lists multilayer filtration system established:
  • Color, Size, Activity, Fit, Fabric Type, Price Range
• Filter interactions were optimized by heatmap and session replay analyses.
• Colors are now visually (with color chips) is represented.
• Added “Clear filter” and “Quick preview” features.

4.2 Navigation and Mobile Experience

• Mobile menu structure Responsive to scroll behavior transformed.
• The supercategory and subcategory transitions were made accessible in two steps.
• The modules “Recently visited products” and “Recommended combinations” have been added.

4.3 Product Detail Page Improvements

• Image galleries, by variants automatic color transition Renovated with.
• The “similar products” algorithm was retrained according to user behavior.
• Product descriptions rewritten in SEO + UX balance:
  • In the beginning area of active use (eg “breathable tights for running”)
  • Followed by material/technology details
  • In the last part care and washing information

5. Analytics and Measurement

📊 Tools Used

• Google Analytics 4 (behavior and conversion measurement)
• Hotjar (heat map and user records)
• Google Search Console (visibility & indexing)
• Ahrefs/Semrush (keyword tracking)

6. Outcome and Lessons

The restructuring for QLU will not only improve the SEO visibility, but the brand digital experience standard He also raised it.
Dealing with SEO and UX together, to the product users are looking for faster, more intuitive He made it arrive in form.

At Nodus Works, this project taught us better:

“Growth on an e-commerce site is possible not only by driving traffic, but by aligning the information architecture that drives that traffic with the user.”