Seasonal Trends
Visibility Vs Authority
Link Acquisition
Content Performance
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10 minutes
Reading time
100+
Brands ranked
Updated May 2025
"I am massively grateful for this report and there aren't many other useful ones I have found for online flower services."
- Arena Flowers, Data Scientist, Aaron Grove
"The report it was very interesting as has been the case in previous years."
- BOX, Marketing Manager, Mike Hart
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We all have different tastes when it comes to fashion, but when it comes to footwear, we all want a few key elements: good support, longevity, and a stylish flair. While style is individual, the other two translate into the business side of the footwear industry—brands want to support their users and be supported in return, and they want to stay at the top of the game for as long as possible.
That’s why we’ve tried on as many pairs as we can and walked through the catalogues of footwear brands to see who’s fresh and who may be showing their creases.
We’ve analysed a wealth of data and statistics to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the current market landscape. Our insights will help you evaluate the competition, identify top performers, and pinpoint areas that may require extra attention.
Curious about the latest trends and insights in the footwear industry? Simply fill out the form at the top of the page, and we’ll send you a free copy directly to your inbox. If you’d prefer a quick preview now, keep reading.
Who’s winning in the footwear industry?
Getting ahead of the crowd isn’t easy in any industry, but in one as iconic and as competitive as footwear? It’s even trickier. That makes what Sports Direct, Nike and JD Sports have done even more impressive. Sports Direct has stayed number one for over two years now and has had an 8% increase in visibility compared to last year!
Nike and JD Sports are hot on their heels, with both seeing a 27% visibility increase from the previous year. Special mentions also need to go out to crocs.co.uk and footlocker.co.uk, whose visibility rose a whopping 58% and 70%, respectively!
And who is losing?
While we love to laud a winner, we must also look at those lagging behind. It’s important to understand what they’re missing out on, what can be improved, and how they could still race ahead next year.
Office.co.uk has lost 14% of its visibility from last year. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones to lose ground to their competitors. Stockx.com dropped a massive 37% while Size.co.uk and Offspring.co.uk dropped 26% and 28% respectively. Pavers.co.uk also dropped 10% of its visibility compared to last year.
If you’re one of these brands, don’t feel discouraged – you can always stop these downward trends! You should see them as a sign to shake things up, explore new opportunities and experiment in areas you haven’t utilised before.
Curious about where your brand stands in this report? Get your free copy above.
Which footwear brands have the best digital reach?
Like in other industries, having a strong online presence and digital reach is crucial in the world of footwear. It's about ensuring customers remember you and rave about what you offer, making it essential to showcase your brand and generate buzz across multiple platforms. From TikTok to Instagram, a broad online reach is vital. By optimising your content and campaigns on search engines and social media, you can make a significant impact and gain much more recognition within the industry.
Because of this, we’ve taken up the task of making a digital reach league table as part of our reports. This comes together by considering monthly brand searches and social media engagement, creating a metric that helps track who is ahead in the digital scene.
So, who’s at the top of the pile? Perhaps unsurprisingly, once again, it’s Nike. Look, there’s a reason they’re the footwear industry icon; with over 300 million Instagram engagements and astronomical numbers across other platforms like Facebook and X, they’re blazing ahead of everyone.
Usually, we’d talk about second place here. And to give them credit, that’s Adidas. But no shade to them, it’s interesting to look into a slightly different part of the market with the third-place winner, Converse. Their social showing is strong, with a total owned social score of 106,187, but what’s interesting is how they’re using their organic visibility (with a combined volume of 390,960) to help feed into this, and vice versa. Considering that their shoes differ from the other lead runners, there’s plenty to learn from their tactics.
If you want to see how your brand measures up, go ahead and download the free report now.
Keyword opportunities in the footwear market
Those who’ve seen our past reports may know we love to talk about keywords. While eyes are often on the biggest search volume holders, the smaller ops often help brands make huge leaps ahead in terms of visibility. Less competition, but more conversion potential!
So, when it comes to footwear, what’s the situation? Which keywords hold the best opportunities? Are they big rollers, or is it more niche? Let’s take a quick look.
Specifics and Sales
When reviewing search data, what’s interesting this time is the emphasis on specific keywords. People want the trending footwear or are looking for an exact shoe for their needs. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
This time, “men's slippers " leads the way with 40,000 monthly searches, showing that many look for footwear they can easily and comfortably wear around the house. Other specifics include “loafers” with 39,000 searches and “clogs” with 30,000 searches. These searches revolve more around a particular type of popular footwear.
Similar to “men's slippers,” the other highly searched keywords revolve around footwear that can fulfil a specific need—“kids trainers” has 24,000 searches, “girl school shoes” has 21,000 searches, and “girls trainers” has 19,000.
There is also variation in terms of age, with “kids football boots” getting 19,000 searches whilst “womens slippers” get 17,000 searches. These would all be great options to target, with a lower general competitive rate compared to the big-name keywords in the space.
Alright, I want the report. How much is it?
Absolutely nothing. That's right—the report is completely free. Why? We’re committed to building strong relationships with market brands; we aim to be your ideal partner! So, grab your complimentary report now by filling out the form above.
Hey, where's our footwear brand in this report?
Can't find your brand in the report? No worries! Just drop us a message, and we'll create a customised report for your brand, fresh off the press and straight to your inbox.
If you want more information about the report itself or are curious about how we create bespoke SEO strategies for the brands we work with, please contact us today.
