UK Flooring Direct · Flooring Supplies · Trade
Our first year together
Over the past year we audited and strengthened both sites for SEO and AI search, rebuilt key category pages, and shaped a strategy for Trade.
- AI search took off. Visits from AI tools grew on both sites, and every month was higher than a year earlier.
- UK Flooring Direct's rankings grew through the winter, and the rebuilt real wood and LVT pages are paying off.
- Clicks were harder to win. UK Flooring Direct finished September 2026 about 10% below September 2025, and Flooring Supplies fell further. We recommend focusing on the Flooring Supplies recovery over the next month or so.
This review tells that story, and sets out where we go next.
The year at a glance
Where these figures come from: we use a mix of tools. Rankings come from SE Ranking, for the keywords we track daily and our AI answer tracking, and from Ahrefs, for how each site ranks across Google UK as a whole. Clicks and AI feature impressions come from Google Search Console, and AI search sessions from GA4. How to read these figures →
The year in three chapters
Oct to Dec 2025
Laying the foundations
- Technical audits of both sites, and fixes worked through
- Category optimisation plans for UKFD and Flooring Supplies
- New copy for UKFD's focus category pages
- Black Friday shopping feed improvements
- Rank tracking and AI search tracking set up
Jan to Jun 2026
Building depth
- UKFD rankings grew steadily through the winter
- Schema, trust and expertise recommendations
- A full strategy for Trade, from audit to a /trade hub wireframe
- Recovery work after the March and May 2026 Google core updates
- Weekly search dashboards launched
Jul to Sep 2026
Proving the approach
- Top spots in Google's AI Overviews rose from two buying questions in August to five in September
- Real wood page live: clicks to the category more than doubled
- LVT hub live: now in the top two for "LVT flooring"
- Navigation audit of every UKFD collection, ready for the new theme
- Pre-launch audit and testing for Flooring Supplies' new theme
Explore
Context
How search changed this year
This was the year AI moved into everyday search in the UK. Google began rolling out AI Mode here just before our year began5. AI answers now appear above many searches, and more shoppers research with AI first. For an online flooring retailer, that changes what a ranking is worth. SEO and AI search now work together: strong, clear pages are what rank, and they are also what AI answers draw on.
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1
Shoppers started asking AI first
More than a quarter of UK retail sales now happen online (28.8% in August 2026)6, and more of that shopping starts with AI. Adyen found the share of people shopping with AI more than doubled in a year, from 12% to 28%3. Among Gen Z and millennials it passed 40%. Adobe puts it at 37% by September 20262.
For you: this is the trend behind AI search sessions growing from 4,144 to 19,930 across both sites.
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2
AI answers moved above the results
Ofcom reports that about 30% of UK searches now show an AI Overview, and cites a YouGov survey in which 53% of UK adults said they often see these AI summaries1.
For you: a page-one ranking can now sit below an AI answer, so it brings fewer clicks. That is likely part of why "LVT flooring" and "laminate flooring" brought UK Flooring Direct fewer clicks in September 2026, even though both still rank on page one. So we work on both: SEO to keep and grow rankings, and AI search work so your page is the one the answer cites.
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3
AI visitors buy more often
Adobe's UK figures show shoppers referred by AI first converted better than those from traditional web search in May 2026. By August 2026, they were converting 20% better than all non-AI traffic2.
For you: AI visits are still a small share of traffic, but each one is worth more on average. That is why we now report AI sessions and AI visibility alongside clicks.
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4
Google updates moved the goalposts
Google confirmed seven search ranking updates between December 2025 and September 2026: three core updates and four spam updates, not counting a Discover update4. Core updates are broad changes to how Google assesses content across all sites.
For you: the March and May 2026 core updates hit both sites. UK Flooring Direct's clicks from Google fell from 37,093 in March to 22,111 in May, then rose every month to 27,894 in September. Flooring Supplies fell from 25,506 in March to 19,145 in April and stayed at a similar level through the summer. Adding depth to category pages has held up best: the real wood and LVT rebuilds both lifted clicks on UK Flooring Direct.
How we are responding
We now report SEO and AI search side by side: rankings and clicks from Google, alongside AI sessions, impressions in Google's AI features and AI Overview tracking. The roadmap puts more weight on what AI and shopping results draw on: deeper category pages, product data in Merchant Center, structured data, and the trust signals that make a retailer worth recommending.
References
- Ofcom, "From apps to AI search: how the UK goes online in 2025" (Online Nation 2025), 10 December 2025. ofcom.org.uk
- Adobe, "Adobe Digital Insights: UK Online Spending Trends, January to August 2026", September 2026. business.adobe.com
- Adyen, Retail Report 2026 (UK), 9 January 2026. Censuswide survey of 2,000 UK consumers aged 16+, 21 November to 3 December 2025. adyen.com
- Google Search Status Dashboard, ranking incident history. status.search.google.com
- Google, "Google Search: Introducing AI Mode in the UK", Hema Budaraju, published 28 July 2025 (00:01 UK time on 29 July). blog.google
- Office for National Statistics, "Retail sales, Great Britain: August 2026", 18 September 2026. ons.gov.uk
UK Flooring Direct
Flooring Supplies
For most of the year, around 70% of our time went into UK Flooring Direct and 30% into Flooring Supplies. Alongside the bigger pieces of work below, we made lightweight improvements to Flooring Supplies every month.
Trade
Trade was one of the biggest strategic pieces of work this year. From January to April 2026 it was a priority workstream: we audited the Trade site, mapped the commercial opportunity and designed a /trade hub for the main site. The groundwork is ready to pick up as soon as the new standalone trade brand is confirmed, and it is ready to move into the plan for 2027.
Trade deliverables
5
Strategy, optimisation plan, page plan, hub wireframe and content review
Monthly searches for core trade terms
~1,050
"Trade flooring", "wholesale flooring", "contract flooring" and "trade flooring supplies"
Trade tab, planned
19 Oct 2026
With the new UK Flooring Direct theme
Standalone trade site
2027
Planned, split into residential and commercial
How the trade strategy developed
- 22 January 2026
Audit and strategy call
Audit of the Trade site and a plan to keep it out of Google's index while we build distinct commercial pages, so it doesn't compete with UK Flooring Direct.
- 30 January 2026
Your trade priorities
Brand pages, a showroom page, content for designers, architects, retailers and hospitality, trade guides, loyalty tiers and accessories.
- February to March 2026
Trade optimisation plan
Quick wins for business, industry and commercial searches, plus content guidelines for trade categories.
- 31 March 2026
Trade site page plan
Which commercial pages to build and in what order, ranked by search demand. Agreed: new commercial collections, a commercial menu, and every page reviewed and approved by your team before it goes into Google.
- 28 April 2026
/trade hub for the main site
A wireframe and optimisation plan for a trade hub on UK Flooring Direct: the main site attracts the trade searches, the trade site converts them.
- May 2026
Wireframe approved
The hub was approved and work started on building it. Trade page work then paused while the business decided on the trade brand.
- June to August 2026
A standalone trade brand
The business now plans for Trade to become its own brand, linked to the retail sites. The new theme was built with UK Flooring Direct and Trade tabs ready for it.
- 19 October 2026 (planned)
New theme
Trade moves to the new theme alongside UK Flooring Direct.
What we agreed along the way
Subject to change once the new trade brand is confirmed.
- Keep trade pages out of Google's index until each one is distinct and reviewed
- Trade links from UK Flooring Direct only
- Commercial collections built as product listing pages
- Trade case studies kept separate from retail ones
- Carpet tiles once commercial rankings are strong enough
What comes next for Trade
- A launch plan for the new trade brand: domain, redirects and which pages go into Google first
- A keyword and content map split into residential and commercial
- Content for each audience: designers, architects, retailers and hospitality, with case studies and trade guides
- Showroom, loyalty and accessories pages
- Bringing the /trade hub back to UK Flooring Direct to feed the new site
- Tracking trade questions in AI search
Work delivered
Everything we delivered
The year at work
A highlight from every month, and the work that ran all year
By theme
Open a theme to see the list
Month by month
Year two
Roadmap: October 2026 to March 2027
Our aims for the next six months of SEO and AI search work on each site, set out month by month.
Always included: weekly dashboards and a monthly report for both sites.
Everything else below is an aim, not a fixed commitment. We have built it around the work we think will have the most SEO and AI search impact for each site.
It can change. Priorities often shift alongside your business, so we review the plan with you each month, keep time free for new requests, and move things around when something more important comes up.
Three goals for year two
Recover and grow clicks
Recover Flooring Supplies, and grow both sites with stronger rankings, a clear structure and deeper category pages.
Measured by: clicks from Google, and keywords on page one and in the top 3
Win more AI Overviews
Be the page Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode cite for flooring questions and product searches.
Measured by: impressions in Google's AI features, and AI Overview top spots across the questions we track
Lead in AI answers
Be the retailer ChatGPT, Gemini and other assistants recommend when people ask about flooring.
Measured by: brand mentions in ChatGPT and Gemini answers, and AI search sessions
Our aims, month by month
Choose a site
Notes
How to read these figures
Where each number in this review comes from, and why some may differ slightly from the monthly reports.