Worked example: restructuring a B2B distributor site architecture in Munich in 2026

The verdict in three sentences

This worked example follows a fictional, representative company, never presented as a real client: a Munich distributor of pneumatic and drive components that restructured an 850-page site into 520 pages, with one strong German category page per product family. For €18,500 and 12 weeks of work, organic traffic rose from 4,100 to 7,300 visits a month in 8 months, and requests for quotation from 31 to 54 a month. The main lever was merging pages that competed with each other, not publishing new ones.

The starting point: 850 pages competing with each other

The fictional company supplies cylinders, valves, fittings, gear motors and couplings to machine builders and maintenance teams across Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The site had grown by accretion: one page per part number range, manufacturer pages, English pages machine-translated from German, and trade show news going back seven years.

The audit found three concrete problems. Several pages targeted the same search, for example five pages around Pneumatikzylinder. Product families had no real category pages, just filtered lists with no text. And 190 pages had received no visits in twelve months.

Budget and timeline

The project ran for 12 weeks, with launch in week 10 and two weeks of monitoring. The budget is a realistic 2026 estimate for this kind of work in Munich, agency and German copywriting included.

The 330 redirects map exactly to the pages removed or merged: each one points to the closest equivalent, never to the homepage. The English section was reduced to the 40 pages that had real international demand, with hreflang tied to their German counterparts.

Results after 8 months

The RFQ rate held steady: the increase comes from more qualified visitors, not a new form. Traffic dipped about 10% for four weeks after launch before recovering, which is common after an architecture change.

Mini case study

Payback for this fictional company: the gain is 23 RFQs a month. With 30% of RFQs converted to orders, an average order of €4,000 and a 28% margin, that is 23 × 0.30 × 4,000 × 0.28 = €7,728 of margin a month.

Allowing for a gradual ramp-up over the eight months, the €18,500 project paid back roughly five months after launch. The sales director then opted for an ongoing SEO plan to extend buying guides, rather than rebuilding product pages.

FAQ

Does removing pages hurt traffic?

Not if each removed page is 301-redirected to its closest equivalent. A temporary dip of 5% to 15% for 2 to 4 weeks is common, then traffic recovers if the merges make sense.

What does restructuring an 850-page B2B site cost in Munich?

In 2026 terms, roughly €12,000 to €25,000 depending on copywriting volume. Here, €18,500, of which €6,000 went on 30 German category pages.

How long until results show?

First effects often appear after 6 to 10 weeks. In this fictional case, traffic was up 35% after four months and 78% after eight.

Should the English section be kept?

Only where there is real demand. Cutting it to 40 well-linked pages avoided duplicate content and still served international buyers.

How do we measure the effect on RFQs?

Track form submissions and calls in Google Analytics 4, isolating organic search. Compare equivalent 6 to 8-month periods to smooth out seasonality.

Get found by the customers looking for you. Start with a visibility audit at 100,000 FCFA (about 152 EUR, credited against setup if you start within 30 days), then a Traffic Engine plan sized to your catalogue, with a weekly report on traffic and RFQs: Traffic Engine. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.