The Q1 2024 benchmarking report for UK diamond dealers has just been published. Learn how the top 8 UK diamond dealers perform across the digital space.

The latest Q1 2024 benchmarking report for UK diamond dealers has just been published. It covers the largest 8 national diamond dealers, including Purely Diamonds, Austen & Blake, Blue Nile, 77 Diamonds, London Diamonds, Diamond Heaven, The Diamond Store,  and Diamonds Factory.

The research gives an inside track on who is winning the biggest share of voice online, and quantifies the gaps, risks and missed opportunities for other diamond dealers to win brand exposure, improve technical site performance, and generate online orders. The report highlights quick wins that will improve enquiries from your online strategy and identifies the barriers that may be reducing your site’s ability to optimise digital performance.

To see a preview and contents page of the Q1 report, click here. To get a copy of the full report and the key takeaways, please complete the enquiry form or schedule a call.

Q1 2024 WINNERS LEADERBOARD

For a glance into just 6 of the metrics we evaluated these top 9 diamond dealers on, check out our quick-look table below;

Continue reading for further detail on this quarter's best and poorest-performing UK diamond dealers or request a copy of the report for the full review.

Request the report

What The Industry Research Report Covers

The 70+ pages of research benchmarks each site based on 50+ metrics and indicators of successful digital strategy, including organic visibility, domain authority, paid media ads, conversion performance, technical performance, site speed, universal search, content, social ads, accessibility, and mobile performance.  

Driving Optimal ROAS from Paid Media Channels

Some of the leading players in the space are high spenders on paid media channels such as Google, Bing & Facebook - but have a poor or sub-optimal conversion improvement strategy. Without an optimised, sophisticated conversion strategy that maximises the conversion rate, the return on investment is unsustainable or will underperform. Scaling spend on paid media is not achievable unless the conversion rate delivers optimal performance in the sector. Some in the space have paid media spend levels from 30k+ per month but dedicate minimal resources and budgets to conversion testing.  Given the cost per clicks on ad networks will continue to rise, we recommend spending at least 10% of your paid media budget on ongoing conversion optimisation testing schedules to ensure your paid media ROI maintains long-term viability, competitive advantage, and sustainability.

Technical Website Compliance

Savvy digital marketers know that having a technically sound website is an essential component of a successful fully integrated digital strategy - plus a site capable of maximising conversion performance. When customers are looking to invest in high-value items, such as diamonds, an exceptional site experience is essential for not losing trust in your brand before they can reach the item they want.

In the last report, Purely Diamonds had 255 4xx errors, which it’s increased to 393 in this quarter. Austen & Blake was the one to watch in our last audit, and it’s since reduced its 4xx errors to 45 (from 53 in the previous quarter).

Site Speed & Conversion Rate Performance

When 62% of consumers are less likely to convert if they have a negative mobile site experience, ensuring that your site is quick and easy to load makes a significant improvement on your overall conversion rates. As with minimising technical errors, diamond dealers will want to ensure their site is quick and easy to use, in order to maximise buying-potential in their luxury items.

This quarter, the site speed ranged from 66 to 7, with 7 of the 8 brands falling below the recommended 50%. Diamond Heaven and Austen & Blake both scored 7 — the lowest score of all brands. Both diamond dealers should add lazy loading to their websites to increase their site speed for the next quarter.

Building Competitive Advantage with Domain Authority

Domain authority is an essential metric for measuring the effectiveness of SEO performance, and helps create a reliable overall gauge of how effective your site is at achieving organic traffic, i.e. ‘free’ traffic that isn’t gained through sponsored ads. For diamond dealers, working with a digital PR strategist will enable them to target niche opportunities to build links, in a way that fits their luxury image.

A ‘good’ DA really comes down to how your competitors are performing, however it’s generally considered average between 40 and 50, good between 50 and 60, and excellent above 60. The DA range for this quarter ranged from 76 to 14, with London Diamonds sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard. This diamond dealer must adopt a PR strategy to increase its backlinks, given that it has the lowest of all brands.

Organic Performance – Mobile & Desktop

A strong organic performance is strategically important as it ensures your site ranks above competitors for key, transactional keywords. When 93% of your customers won’t go past the first page of Google, your absence or lack of targeting for essential keywords will cost you conversions. Across all sectors, we are seeing brands selling luxury, or treat, items fall in traffic year on year so, diamond dealers are likely to be competing for a smaller pool of organic visitors.

Two of the 8 brands — Austen & Blake and London Diamonds — encountered an increase in organic mobile traffic year on year. Most impressively, Austen & Blake had a 1320% traffic increase. On the other hand, Blue Nile saw the biggest traffic loss of -76%.

Universal Search Opportunity

Google Universal Search Results is an evolving opportunity to make your pages visible on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Universal results often appear before traditional listings and are eye-catching for users. Universal search results refer to rankings on a SERP that are not the traditional ‘blue line’ Google link, and a brand can appear for universal search results without being strong in standard rankings. 'Image pack' results would be a useful universal search result for diamond dealers wanting to show their products directly on the SERP, while results such as 'FAQs' and 'people also ask' content can assist and build trust with buyers looking to make a one-off purchase.

Diamonds Factory had the most appearances for overall Universal Searches, ranking the highest for the ‘image’ category with a total of 9,500 appearances. The Diamond Store scored a close second in this category with 9,200 appearances. On the other end of the scale, London Diamonds had the least appearances for overall Universal Searches, scoring only 233 for the ‘image’ category.

The Longtail Keyword Opportunity

Longtail keywords are often considered high intent and potentially more likely to convert as a searcher is being more specific. Optimising for longtail keywords also puts your content strategy in a strong position to rank for brand new search terms as they enter Google’s index. Diamond dealers appearing for FAQ and people also ask universal search results may find their performance is strong for longtail keywords, putting them in good stead for one-off or first time diamond customers looking for helpful information before making their purchase.

Diamonds Factory reported the highest overall total longtail keywords and scored the most appearances for the top three search results. Diamond Heaven is the brand to watch, as it outperformed The Diamond Store for the top three search results.

Facebook Adverts

With the number of Facebook users in the United Kingdom (UK) hitting over 44 million users in 2023, it is not surprising that companies have jumped at the opportunity to advertise on the social media platform. Facebook’s UK digital advertising revenue has been estimated to have breached 2.6b GB pounds in 2019.

We’ve included examples of 77 Diamonds’ Facebook posts. All three posts utilise a vertical video, which is a wise strategy for mobile users. However, one of their ads spans across five lines and another across four lines. Facebook suggests 1–3 lines at most.

Top Social Shares & Content

When it comes to social media and on-site content strategies, it is important to release content that has a longer shelf life. An article is considered 'Evergreen' if it has maintained its relevancy to an audience for longer. It's great for your brand engagement, but great for Google too, who will recognise content which achieves traffic over a long period of time. Diamond dealers can create engaging content on the history of diamonds, common settings and shapes, and education pieces around technical terms used by retailers.

Most diamond dealers favour Facebook, while Diamonds Factory prefers Pinterest — a recommended social media platform to help increase your website’s traffic. Blue Nile continues to secure the most Facebook likes (1.8m) and Instagram followers (219,000). London Diamonds is at a confident second place for Instagram, with a total of 179,300 followers.

Website Readability & Accessibility

20% of people in the UK have a disability – 2 million of which are people living with sight loss. In addition, 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some degree of colour vision deficiency. When websites are not designed to meet these needs, brands lose customer interest as they turn elsewhere. Diamond dealers will want to ensure their sites look sleek, clean, and elegant. However, diamond dealers must ensure that form is not taking priority over function, and that any aesthetic choices do not come at the cost of accessibilty.

In the last quarter, Austen & Blake flagged 287 alerts, and Diamonds Factory saw 276. In this report, Diamonds Factory increased its number of alerts to 299, while Austen & Blake decreased its alerts to 192. Upon closer inspection, Diamonds Factory must add alternative text and address all empty links. This diamond dealer must also address its 58 contrast errors — the highest of all brands.

GET THE FULL 70-PAGE Q1 2024 REPORT

To get a copy of the full report, please complete the enquiry form. If you want to talk to us about accelerating your digital performance, please call us on 01543 410014 or schedule a call with Mike Movassaghi.

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