Who this case is for
Wholesale and B2B businesses that are about to build a website and want to know, before spending money, how much SEO can really help.
This case differs from our others because the answer is not “do SEO and customers will pour in.” The data shows the search market for wholesale is small, so we recommended setting realistic goals, and we also said what is not yet worth investing in.
There is a checklist at the end for businesses about to build a website.
We do not name the company, its domain or competing websites.
1. An air conditioner wholesaler asked us to look at the market before building a website
The company runs 3 businesses:
- Wholesaling air conditioners to contractors nationwide, its core business
- Installing solar rooftop systems
- Selling auto parts
The company has no showroom, does not want to show prices on its website, and wants the site to build trust and lead contractors to call or message to discuss pricing themselves.
There was one question before starting the website: is investing in SEO for this site worth it, and how much should we expect? We answered from 4 things:
- Real search volumes for 203 keywords from Ahrefs, Thai market
- Keyword difficulty (KD) and the traffic the #1 page actually gets (TP)
- The real search results: who holds page one, how strong they are and who is searching
- Domain registration data for the domain the company planned to use
2. What we found
A small search market for wholesale, but very weak competitors
Not many people type “แอร์ราคาส่ง” (wholesale-price air conditioners) or “ขายส่งแอร์” (air conditioner wholesale) directly. But the sites on page one for these terms are old sites with thin content, and almost all have DR 0–5. Some are built on outdated structures, positions 4 and 7 are a Facebook page and a marketplace storefront, and a site with a domain under 2 years old also made page one.
This means no AC wholesaler with serious content holds these terms yet, and domain age is not a wall.
The terms people really search are air conditioner types and brand names, searched by contractors and homeowners alike.
| Keyword group | Examples (monthly searches · KD) | Who searches |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale terms | แอร์ราคาส่ง (wholesale-price air conditioners) (100) · ขายส่งแอร์ (air conditioner wholesale) (10) · ตัวแทนจำหน่ายแอร์ (air conditioner dealer) (10) | Contractors, the closest match |
| Project-type AC units | แอร์แขวน (ceiling-suspended AC) (2,700 · 1) · แอร์ฝังฝ้า (ceiling cassette AC) (2,000 · 0) · แอร์สี่ทิศทาง (4-way cassette AC) (600 · 0) | Contractors and business owners |
| Installation materials | น้ำยาแอร์ (AC refrigerant) (2,300) · รางครอบท่อแอร์ (AC pipe trunking) (1,600) · ขาแขวนแอร์ (AC mounting bracket) (1,100) | Contractors buying in bulk |
| Central systems | chiller (2,200 · 1) · แอร์ VRV (VRV system) (200) · แอร์ VRF (VRF system) (150) | Large-project clients, high value per job |
| AC brands | The most-searched brand gets 11,000 searches · KD 0 | Mostly consumers comparing models |
KD 0 on brand terms looks easy, but it is misleading. The results show an AI Overview with the brand’s official site on top, and the searchers are consumers comparing models. So brand pages exist to confirm that the company really distributes that brand, rather than to bring in traffic.
AC shops with high traffic win with page count, not links
We also looked at AC shops that do SEO seriously. This group gets 9,000–28,000 visitors a month, and several have very low DR, some under 3.
What makes them win is hundreds of product pages by model and brand, knowledge articles and comparison pages, and every one of them sells retail with prices shown.
If the company does not show prices or build model-level pages, competing at this level would take a huge amount of content and several years, which does not fit the wholesale model the company wants. So the report did not recommend chasing this group.
3 businesses, each in a different position
We scored all 203 keywords by whether the searchers match wholesale customers, not just by how many people search.
Auto parts is a good example that high search volume does not mean opportunity. A term like “แบตเตอรี่รถยนต์” (car battery) gets 23,000 searches a month, but page one is held by car service center chains with DR 29–43 and thousands of product pages. Most searchers are car owners trying to diagnose a fault or find a shop nearby, not garages buying wholesale. The term closest to the model, “ขายส่งอะไหล่รถยนต์” (auto parts wholesale), gets only 40 searches a month.
The gap that remains is specialist shops with DR near 0 that still reach page one for brake pad terms, because they have clear category pages by vehicle type. Specialist individual parts such as engine mounts or timing belts are still workable, if the company actually stocks them.
This data confirms the priorities: air conditioning first, solar second, and auto parts as a service introduction page.
The real return is not in visitor numbers
Measured only as advertising cost saved, SEO for AC wholesale is not a big number, because clicks on AC terms in Thailand are cheap and few people search wholesale terms.
The real value is one contractor who finds you on Google and keeps ordering all year, which is worth far more than the clicks. So the report recommended measuring results by the number of calls and chats from contractors, not by visitor count.
| Area | Opportunity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Finding the site by searching the company name | High | Contractors who got the number from someone they know search the name before calling. A site that looks like a real company helps close the sale |
| Wholesale terms | Good | Competitors have DR 0–5 and thin content, but search volume is small |
| Project-type AC terms | Medium | KD 0–1, but needs real content on choosing BTU and project photos |
| Solar Rooftop | Medium | High search volume and clear hiring intent, but there are big players; needs real installation projects as a base |
| Brand terms / standard wall-mounted AC | Low | Searchers are consumers, and competitors have hundreds of product pages |
| Broad auto parts terms | Low | Large chains hold page one, and searchers want a shop nearby |
Check the domain before choosing it
The .com domain the company planned to use had been registered by someone since 2015, and Ahrefs found many linking domains, mostly automated spam sites. The .co.th domain with the same name showed no registration.
The report recommended first confirming whether the .com domain really belongs to the company. If someone else used it before, the link history must be checked first. A .co.th domain suits a Thai registered company and adds credibility with B2B customers.
The page structure to have from day one
The report adjusted the structure the company had planned: the homepage as the main page focused on air conditioning, plus a small number of sub-pages to cover each keyword group.
| Page | Target keywords | What it must include |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage | แอร์ราคาส่ง (wholesale-price air conditioners) · ขายส่งแอร์ (air conditioner wholesale) for contractors | An H1 that clearly says it wholesales AC to contractors nationwide · Logos of brands distributed · Floating call and LINE buttons on mobile · A projects block |
| Ceiling cassette / ceiling-suspended / wall-mounted AC | AC type names | What each is used for, available BTU sizes, brands it can supply, real project photos · no prices needed |
| Installation materials | รางครอบท่อแอร์ (AC pipe trunking) · ขาแขวนแอร์ (AC mounting bracket) · น้ำยาแอร์ (AC refrigerant) | Build only if the company also sells materials, since contractors buy them with the units |
| VRV / VRF systems | แอร์ VRV (VRV system) · VRF · Chiller | Build only if the company can really supply these systems |
| All brands | ตัวแทนจำหน่ายแอร์ (air conditioner dealer) + brand name | One page for all brands first; split later if there is enough information |
| Solar Rooftop | ติดตั้งโซล่าเซลล์ (solar panel installation) · solar rooftop | Installation steps, permits, projects with kW sizes |
| Auto parts | ขายส่งอะไหล่รถยนต์ (auto parts wholesale) | State that it wholesales to garages and shops · Sub-categories only for the 3–5 categories actually in stock, in phase two |
| Projects | ผลงานติดตั้งแอร์งานโครงการ (project AC installation portfolio) | Job type, province, number of units, real photos |
| About / Contact | Company name | Company registration number, address, LINE OA, map |
Off-site work to do alongside: a Google Business Profile set up as a service-area business (no showroom needed), LINE Official Account as the main channel for contractors, and tracking call and LINE taps in GA4 from day one.
3. Expected results
This report does not set monthly target numbers, and it states clearly that it does not guarantee rankings or customer numbers. It confirms 3 things:
- The search market for AC wholesale is small, and competition in this group is not strong
- The return you can reasonably expect comes from credibility and a few contractors who become regular customers, more than from visitor volume
- The typical timeline for a new site in a market like this is seeing wholesale terms start to move 3–6 months after launch, while AC type terms take longer, depending on content quality and how consistently new projects are added
Our views in the report are summed up in this table:
| Topic | Our view |
|---|---|
| The site’s main role | Building trust with contractors who already know the company from other channels and search its name. Worth it from day one |
| SEO worth investing in | Basic on-site SEO and 4–5 AC type pages, a one-off, low-cost job in a market with weak competitors |
| Not yet worth investing in | Monthly SEO with lots of articles to compete for brand terms, because the searchers are consumers and do not fit the wholesale model |
| Google Ads | A small test on wholesale terms is fine. The data will confirm which terms contractors really search before deciding to put more effort into SEO |
| What the company needs to prepare | A list of AC brands it distributes, real project photos with details, solar projects and a list of auto parts |
The website has not launched yet. We will update this case when we have real data after launch.
Pre-launch checklist for wholesale and B2B businesses
Answer each item before hiring someone to build your website.
Business side
- You know who your real customers are (contractors, garages, shops) and the words that group searches
- You have decided whether to show prices, and you know which search terms not showing prices rules out
- You have real project photos with details, not just brand product photos
- You rank your businesses by profit, not by search volume
- You have checked that the domain you will use really belongs to the company and has no spam history
Website side
- The homepage H1 clearly says who you wholesale to
- Call and LINE buttons are visible right away on mobile
- The About page shows your company registration number and address
- You have a Google Business Profile even without a showroom
- Calls and LINE taps are tracked in GA4 from day one
If you cannot answer all the business items, settle them before website design starts.
Questions wholesale businesses often ask us
Wholesale terms get few searches. Should we still build a website? Yes, but for a different reason. Contractors who get your company name from someone they know search it before calling, and a site that looks like a real company helps close the sale from day one. Wholesale terms are a bonus you get because competitors are still weak.
Can we rank without showing prices? Wholesale terms and project-type AC terms can still rank if the pages explain use, sizes and brands and show real project photos. But a term like “ราคาแอร์” (air conditioner price, 5,100 searches a month) needs prices shown to compete. Know this before you decide.
High search volume and KD 0 means easy, right? Not always. Many AC brand and auto parts terms have KD 0, but the searchers are consumers who are not buying wholesale. Always open the real search results to see who is on page one and what searchers want before choosing a term.
Should we do monthly SEO? For a wholesale business in a small search market, do not start there. Get basic SEO right when building the site, run a small ad test to see which terms real customers search, then decide whether to invest more based on the data.
We help businesses like this plan before building a website
If you are about to build a website and want to know first how much to expect from Google, start with a free website audit. We will tell you plainly what is worth it and what is not yet worth investing in. Or see our website development and SEO Audit services.