Search clicks up 15x for a functional knitwear ODM manufacturer

Client background

This client is a functional knitwear ODM manufacturer. It makes Merino base layers, yoga wear and compression socks to order for retailers and direct-to-consumer brands. Buyers are retail product teams and D2C founders who need private-label production at volume, not finished stock.

The query languages in the pack are English, which points to the UK, North America, Australia and other English-speaking target markets. The product line splits into three demand stories: wool and natural-fiber sourcing questions, yoga and base-layer fit questions, and compression and recovery questions from sports and medical-adjacent shoppers.

Starting point

The first quarter of the tracked period averaged 17 clicks per week and 3.5K impressions per week. The site was not invisible, but it was not competing. It lacked the things a technical knitwear supplier needs to rank: no clear keyword and topic map across merino, compression and base-layer themes, weak on-page signals on product and category pages, and no content that answered the questions buyers actually type. The result was a low ceiling on clicks even where impressions existed.

What RAGSEO did

RAGSEO ran the standard SEO method for this manufacturer, tied to the knitwear themes visible in the data.

• Keyword and topic research across merino and corespun sourcing, base-layer fit, compression wear and recovery questions, plus seasonal face and sun protection terms.
• Website diagnosis and on-page fixes: title and meta tags, internal links, image ALT text, site architecture and site speed with LCP at or under 2.5 seconds.
• A RAG knowledge base built from the client's own product specs, fabric details and order process, so drafts used real material facts.
• Content creation with AI-assisted drafts reviewed by professional editors, published after client approval, covering the themes behind the first-page keywords and the most-cited AI pages.
• Off-page optimization through backlink analysis and management, with monthly Search Console reporting and strategy adjustment.

Results in Google Search Console

Over 70 weeks of web search data ending 2026-08-17, the site recorded 6,310 clicks and 2,008,605 impressions. The weekly trend is the real story: clicks per week moved from 17 in the first quarter to 192 in the last quarter, and impressions per week moved from 3.5K to 58.7K.

First-page keyword wins show where the content landed. The strongest is how to reduce swelling in legs quickly at average position 1.0, a recovery query that fits compression socks. Merino and corespun sourcing terms sit at 7.1 and 7.7, natural fiber compression shorts at 7.5, best face mask for sun protection at 8.1 and sweat proof shirts at 9.6. Most of these are mid-page positions, which means the pages rank but still leave clicks on the table.

Third-party view: Semrush and AI search

Semrush organic keyword and traffic data is not available for this client, so there is no third-party keyword or traffic trajectory to quote here. The Google Search Console numbers stand on their own.

AI search data is available for the last 3 months: 104,148 AI search impressions in Google AI features. The most-cited content was What Materials Are Soccer Jerseys Made Of with 6,032 citations, Should Base Layers Be Tight or Loose with 5,196 citations, and Compression Gloves: Pros and Cons of Daily Use with 4,406 citations. Those three pages show that fabric, fit and daily-use questions are what generative engines pull from this site.

What the data says and what comes next

The honest reading: this is strong compounding growth, but it is not evenly distributed. Impressions grew 16.6x while clicks grew 10.8x from first to last quarter, so the site is being seen far more than it is being clicked. The peak week was 249 clicks at week 64 of 70, and the last 4 weeks average 188 clicks per week. That dip after the peak is normal after a strong run, but it needs attention rather than applause. Average positions in the 7 to 10 range on commercial terms mean page-one presence without page-one click share.

The next step is to push mid-page rankings into the top 3 to 5 on the queries that already convert, tighten titles and meta descriptions for click-through, and build more content around the fabric, fit and compression themes that AI features already cite. RAGSEO will keep reporting from Google Search Console and adjusting the keyword and topic map each month.