How Houtplex reached page one and AI search recommendations for its core hardwood products
- Organic traffic up 214%
- Page 1 rankings on core hardwood products, now recommended in AI search results
- Inbound quote requests up 150%+
45+ years importing tropical hardwood — now found where B2B buyers actually search
Houtplex B.V. has been a leading importer of tropical hardwood in the Netherlands since 1977 — 45+ years in the trade. From their Haaksbergen facility, spanning 15,000m² of storage and 5,000m² of production space, they finger-joint, laminate, and finish species like Sapelli, Iroko, and Meranti, alongside their own FSC-certified HPX Ultimate door panel line.
The product range and production capability were never in question — the site needed to be found by the B2B buyers actually researching hardwood suppliers, on Google and in AI search tools alike.
A vast catalogue, but invisible to the buyers searching for exactly what it holds
- No structured SEO presence across dozens of hardwood species and product pages
- No visibility in AI search tools, where B2B buyers increasingly start their supplier research
- A complex catalogue — species × finish (raw, finger-jointed, laminated) — with no search-friendly structure
Houtplex's catalogue spans dozens of hardwood species — Sapelli, Sipo, Meranti, Iroko, Merbau, and more — each available in multiple finishes. That range is a real strength, but without a search-friendly structure, most of it was invisible to the B2B buyers searching for exactly those specifications.
On top of that, buyers were increasingly starting their research in AI tools rather than Google alone — a channel Houtplex had no presence in at all.
3 workstreams, one connected strategy
Technical SEO & Site Structure
Rebuilt the site's category and product architecture around how buyers actually search — by wood species, by finish (raw, finger-jointed, laminated), and by application. Fixed technical issues that were holding back crawlability across the large catalogue.
Content & Keyword Strategy
Built out dedicated content for each core wood species and product line — Sapelli, Iroko, Meranti, HPX Ultimate and more — mapped to the exact commercial search terms B2B buyers use.
GEO — Generative Engine Optimization
Structured content and external signals so AI tools can identify and recommend Houtplex for hardwood sourcing queries — a channel the business had zero presence in before.
From an unindexed catalogue to page-one visibility — on Google and in AI
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