Welcome to our comprehensive guide to Ecommerce SEO. SEO is the backbone of online visibility and its importance cannot be overstated in e-commerce, where competition is fierce and visibility directly translates into sales.
In this guide, we’ll delve into the what, why, and how of e-commerce SEO. From understanding the basics to the technical aspects to the kind of content you might use, you’ll gain insights on keyword usage, website structure, on-page, and off-page SEO.
We’ll also address some frequently asked questions about e-commerce SEO. This guide aims to provide valuable knowledge that can be applied right away to enhance your e-commerce website’s SEO strategy.
Let’s get started!
What Is SEO for E-Commerce?
SEO for e-commerce is the process of making your online store more visible on search engines like Google. It involves optimising your website so that search engines can understand and index it efficiently, thereby ranking it higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be achieved through a variety of techniques, which we’ll get into below.
In the context of e-commerce, SEO is even more critical as it helps your products get discovered by potential customers. Through strategic use of relevant keywords, intuitive site architecture, compelling product descriptions, and more, e-commerce SEO aims to bring in more organic (unpaid) traffic to your online store.
Simply put, SEO for e-commerce is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on enhancing the online visibility of your online store and products. It forms a bridge between your business and potential customers by making your store easily discoverable through search engines.
Why SEO Matters for E-commerce Websites
1. Increased Organic Traffic
Properly executed e-commerce SEO strategies can significantly boost your website’s visibility on search engine results, thereby attracting more organic traffic. This is equivalent to more people coming through the door of your shop to look at your products. This traffic, in turn, can lead to increased conversions and sales – if you’ve thought through your keyword intent and content properly.
2. Cost-Effective Marketing
Unlike paid advertising which requires continuous funding to maintain visibility, SEO is a cost-effective long-term strategy that continues to provide value over time. Although SEO does need to be an ongoing process, strategies and results snowball over time making it quite cost-effective in the long run.
3. Improved User Experience
Good SEO practices often align with providing a better user experience. Aspects such as page load speed, mobile optimisation, and intuitive site structure contribute to better user satisfaction and engagement, leading to higher conversions.
4. Competitive Advantage:
In the highly competitive e-commerce landscape, SEO can provide you with an edge over competitors who may not have a robust SEO strategy in place. High visibility on SERPs allows your brand and products to stand out among others.
How to do e-commerce SEO
To improve your e-commerce SEO, there are a variety of tactics and strategies to consider. This guide will delve into key aspects like URL structure, keyword usage, technical SEO audits, and on-page and off-page SEO strategies. Each section will provide you with expert insights and actionable tips to optimise your e-commerce website effectively. Let’s delve deeper.
Use Keywords
This might seem basic if you know anything about SEO, but keywords are crucial as they connect what users are searching for to the content you provide on your e-commerce website. Strategically integrating relevant keywords into your website content can significantly improve your visibility on search engines. This is particularly important on product pages where the opportunity for content and keywords is scant.
A keyword with the wrong intent for a product name could mean that no one ever finds your products, or that people will find your products but quickly leave the page as it wasn’t what they were looking for or expected to find there.
Start by identifying a set of primary and secondary keywords that are relevant to your business. Primary keywords are the main keywords that define what your product is, while secondary keywords are related terms or phrases that users might use to find similar products. For instance, if you’re selling running shoes, your primary keyword might be “running shoes” while secondary keywords could include “athletic shoes”, “jogging shoes”, “women’s running shoes”, etc.
Once you have your keywords, incorporate them strategically into your website’s content, including product titles, descriptions, meta tags, URLs, and image alt text. However, remember to avoid keyword stuffing as it can negatively impact your SEO and user experience. The aim is to create natural, valuable content that seamlessly integrates your keywords.
Make Sure Your Site Is User Friendly
A user-friendly site is crucial for retaining visitors, encouraging them to spend more time on your pages, and ultimately converting them into customers. Moreover, search engines like Google also factor in user experience when ranking websites. There are several aspects to consider when optimising your e-commerce site for user-friendliness (We’ll repeat a few of these points later on too since they’re so important).
Site navigation should be intuitive and straightforward, enabling users to find what they’re looking for with minimal clicks. A well-structured site with clear categories and subcategories, and simple URL structure improves user experience and also aids search engines in understanding your site content.
Page load speed is another critical factor. A slow-loading site can frustrate users and lead to higher bounce rates. Google also considers page speed as a ranking factor, making it doubly important.
The most important content will be your products, so user experience needs to be on-point here. Providing clear and detailed product information, including high-quality images and customer reviews, can greatly enhance user experience and trust in your products.
Make sure your site is mobile friendly
Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses a page’s mobile content for indexing and ranking. Therefore, your e-commerce store must provide an optimal user experience across all devices. Consider factors like responsive design, easy navigation, text readability, easy checkout process, and touch-friendly buttons and elements.
Remember, a mobile-optimised site is not just about shrinking your website to fit a smaller screen but ensuring usability and a seamless shopping experience on a smaller device.
Mobile optimisation is no longer optional, with a significant portion of online shopping happening on mobile devices. Ensure that your e-commerce site is responsive and offers a seamless shopping experience across all device types.
Technical SEO for e-commerce
Technical SEO forms the foundations – the backbone – of your e-commerce SEO strategy. It involves optimising your website’s infrastructure so that search engines can easily crawl, interpret, and index your site content. A well-optimised site will have fewer technical issues, leading to better visibility on search engines.
How to Run a Technical SEO Audit on an e-commerce Website
Before you can fix technical issues you need to know what issues you have. Conducting a technical SEO audit allows you to identify and fix potential issues that may hinder your site’s performance and visibility on search engines.
Start by crawling your website using tools like Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) or SEMRush site audit (paid). You’ll discover issues such as broken links, duplicate content, incorrect redirects, missing meta tags, and slow loading pages. You can make a note of these issues by exporting them to a spreadsheet and adding extra columns with the date the issue was found and a tick box to show that the issue has been fixed.
Check your website’s mobile-friendliness using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool. With Google’s mobile-first indexing, ensuring your site is optimised for mobile users is crucial.
How to Fix Common Technical SEO Issues On e-commerce Sites
Once you’ve identified technical issues on your site, the next step is to fix them.
For broken links or 404 errors, implement proper 301 redirects to guide users and search engines to the correct page.
For duplicate content issues, use canonical tags to indicate to search engines which version of a page you want to be indexed – or delete the duplicates.
Ensure every page has unique and descriptive meta tags. Duplicate meta tags can negatively impact your SEO. According to Google, it’s actually better to have no meta tag at all than to have duplicate meta tags, so think about that before you duplicate a product page a thousand times without changing the meta description!
Optimise URLs
When it comes to optimising URLs for your e-commerce store, the key is simplicity and relevance. A well-optimised URL is easy to read, understand, and remember, which is beneficial for both search engine crawlers and human users. It is best to keep URLs as short and straightforward as possible, with each URL accurately reflecting the page’s content. You should also try to get the keyword in there when appropriate, but don’t do this at the expense of user experience.
This not only signals to search engines what the page is about but also gives users an idea of what to expect before they even click on the link.
Changing URL structure can be costly
An important thing to mention here is that changing your URL structure after the fact can have huge, usually negative effects on your SEO, traffic and conversions. Don’t mess with URLs once they are in place without seriously considering the impact that your decisions will have.
Avoid Stop Words in URLs
Stop words are common words such as ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘in’, ‘on’, etc., that search engines tend to ignore because they’re too frequent and carry little semantic value. In e-commerce SEO, it’s beneficial to avoid including stop words in crucial parts of your site like URLs, title tags, headers, and meta descriptions.
For instance, if you’re selling men’s running shoes, rather than using a URL like `www.yourstore.com/in-the-category-of-mens-running-shoes`, opt for `www.yourstore.com/mens-running-shoes`. The second URL is not only shorter and more user-friendly, but it’s also more SEO-friendly as it gets straight to the point without unnecessary words.
Removing stop words helps streamline your content and makes it easier for search engines to understand. However, remember that readability for users should always come first. If removing a stop word makes a sentence awkward or unclear, it’s better to leave it in.
Optimise Internal Links
Internal linking helps search engines understand the relationship between different pages on your site. A well-planned internal linking structure can significantly improve site navigation, enhance user experience, and boost your SEO efforts.
When you link from one page on your site to another, you’re effectively passing ‘link juice’ and helping distribute this value throughout your site. This contributes to the overall site hierarchy and helps search engines understand the context and relationship between pages.
Use descriptive anchor text for your internal links and aim to create a logical and comprehensive link structure that guides users and search engines through your site. This provides the added benefit of giving users relevant, valuable information where it might be needed, and keeps them engaged o the site for longer as they click through links to view new content.
The end goal of a good internal linking strategy is to guide search engines and visitors through a logical path, eventually leading them to a conversion-focused page. So, be sure to link to your most important pages more often. Also, avoid excessive linking, as it can dilute your link value and confuse users and search engines.
Optimise Page Load Speed and Mobile Friendliness
Page load speed is a crucial factor in user experience and SEO. In fact it’s a confirmed Google Ranking Factor.
Slow-loading websites lead to high bounce rates, as users typically abandon a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Search engines like Google also consider page load speed as a ranking factor, so faster sites are more likely to rank higher in the SERPs.
To optimise your page load speed, you need to focus on elements like image optimisation, CSS & Javascript code minification, use of CDN, browser caching, and choosing a reliable hosting provider. Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights can provide insights into your site’s performance and offer suggestions for improvement.
You can analyse your site’s loading speed with a page speed test website like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTMetrix. Slow-loading pages can hurt both user experience and SEO.
Optimise Your Images
Images give users a visual representation of your products and provide engaging site content. However, unoptimised images can slow down your site and negatively impact your SEO efforts. To ensure your images don’t hinder your site’s performance, you need to focus on several elements.
Firstly, choose the right format for your images. JPEGs are generally best for complex images or photos with numerous colours, while PNGs are ideal for simple or transparent images. Secondly, compress your images to reduce file size without compromising quality. Tools like TinyPNG or compressor.io can help with this.
Next, ensure you provide descriptive file names and alt text for your images. Image file names and alt text can help search engines understand what an image is about, which is particularly important as search engines can’t ‘see’ images. File names can also helo you keep track of and easily find images in your database. Alt text also enhances accessibility for users with visual impairments using screen readers.
Lastly, consider using lazy loading, which allows images to load only when they come into the viewport. This can speed up initial page load times and save bandwidth for users who don’t scroll all the way down on your pages. However, ensure that your implementation of lazy loading is SEO-friendly, so search engines can discover and index these images, otherwise these parts of the page will be invisible to search engines and won’t help you to rank.
How to Perform E-commerce Keyword Research
Keyword research is at the heart of a successful SEO strategy. It involves identifying words and phrases potential customers might use when looking for the products or services your e-commerce store offers.
You want to make sure you’re using the right keyword for a given page. As mentioned earlier, keywords intent is important, but you also want to make sure they are relevant and that you will have a chance to rank for them depending on your strategy.
Using a variety of keyword research tools, like SEMrush, or Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Planner can give you a comprehensive understanding of which keywords can drive the most qualified traffic to your store – i.e that attract people that are actually interested in your products.
Keyword Relevance & Intent
Understanding keyword relevance intent is crucial to ensure you’re targeting keywords that match your content and user’s intent.
At the most basic level, there are four types of keyword intent:
- informational (looking for information),
- navigational (looking for a specific website),
- transactional (looking to make a purchase),
- commercial investigation (looking to compare products/services before purchasing).
In general, for e-commerce SEO, focusing on transactional and commercial investigation keywords can drive more qualified traffic to your site although as we’ll see, informational keywords are also extremely important.
The relevance of the keyword means that it accurately matches your content and users’ expectations.
These concepts are so important but are often forgotten even by SEOs. Don’t get lured into spending time and effort trying to rank a product page for high-volume keywords with informational intent. It’s not going to happen and you’re wasting valuable resources.
Sometimes this might require you to manually view the search results for a given keyword to check that you’re not accidentally targeting the wrong intent with a keyword, or for example another powerful brand’s name with a navigational keyword.
Commercial & transactional Keywords
Commercial and transactional keywords are terms that users search for when they’re ready to buy something. These often include specific product names or brands, and may also include terms like “buy,” “discount,” “deal,” “review,” etc. They can also include long-tail phrases that specify a user’s exact needs, like “buy organic fair trade coffee beans online.”
Commercial investigation keywords often include “best,” “top,” “compare,” or “review” and indicate that a user is in the final stages of the buying cycle, comparing different products or vendors. These can be slightly more challenging to target and the top places are often taken up by affiliate sites and listicles, but it highlights the importance of reviews and comparisons. Some sites even resort to direct comparisons with their competitors, even linking to them and allowing their USPs to speak for themselves, thus letting consumers to make the final decision – it’s a bold strategy.
These keywords represent users who are at the bottom of the sales funnel—they’re ready to make a purchase. Ranking well for commercial keywords can bring in highly qualified traffic to your site, leading to increased conversions and sales. However, competition for these keywords can be high, so you’ll need to focus on creating high-quality, relevant, and unique content that meets the needs of these users.
On-page SEO for e-commerce websites
On-page SEO involves optimising the content and HTML source code of individual web pages for relevance and search engine visibility. This includes targeting the right keywords, creating engaging and unique content, optimising meta tags, and more.
Optimise Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are HTML elements that summarise your page’s content for search engines and users. The title tag appears as the clickable headline in SERPs and the browser tab, while the meta description appears under the title tag in SERPs.
Optimise your title tags to include relevant keywords and accurately represent your page content. Aim for a length of 50-60 characters to prevent truncation in SERPs. Every title tag on your site should be unique to avoid duplicate content issues.
Craft compelling meta descriptions that encourage users to click on your page. Include your target keywords, highlight unique selling points, and keep the length under 160 characters. Again every meta description should be unique – it’s better to have no description than duplicate descriptions.
Examples of Titles & Metas for Products
Here are some examples of good title tags and meta descriptions for fictional product pages:
Product 1: SunTrek All-Weather Hiking Boots
Title Tag: “SunTrek All-Weather Hiking Boots | Unbeatable Comfort & Durability”
Meta Description: “Experience the perfect blend of comfort and durability with our SunTrek All-Weather Hiking Boots. Ideal for any trail. Shop now and step up your hiking game!”
Product 2: BeautyGlow Hydrating Facial Serum
Title Tag: “BeautyGlow Hydrating Serum | Revitalise Your Skin Today”
Meta Description: “Achieve radiant, healthy skin with our BeautyGlow Hydrating Serum. Packed with essential nutrients for ultimate hydration. Order yours today!”
Product 3: SmartFit Bluetooth Running Headphones
Title Tag: “SmartFit Bluetooth Running Headphones | Exceptional Sound Quality”
Meta Description: “Elevate your workout with SmartFit Bluetooth Running Headphones. Superior sound quality, comfortable fit, and sweat-resistant. Buy now for an unparalleled audio experience!”
Examples of TItles & Metas for Categories
Category 1: Outdoor Adventure Gear
Title Tag: “High-Quality Outdoor Adventure Gear | Explore with Confidence”
Meta Description: “Discover our wide range of durable outdoor adventure gear, designed to equip you for any challenge. Explore with confidence – Shop now!”
Category 2: Natural Skincare Products
Title Tag: “Natural Skincare Products | Unleash Your Skin’s Natural Glow”
Meta Description: “Experience the power of nature with our Natural Skincare Products. Sourced from organic ingredients for healthy, radiant skin. Start your natural skincare journey today!”
Category 3: Fitness Tech Accessories
Title Tag: “Fitness Tech Accessories | Enhance Your Workout Experience”
Meta Description: “Boost your fitness journey with our advanced Fitness Tech Accessories. Superior functionality meets style. Elevate your workout routine – Shop now!”
Create Unique and Descriptive Product Descriptions
Product descriptions are an opportunity to showcase your product’s features and benefits, convince customers to buy, and incorporate target keywords for SEO. A common mistake many e-commerce sites make is using manufacturer’s product descriptions. This can lead to duplicate content with other sites who are also copy-pasting the manufacturer’s content (not to mention with the manufacturer themselves).
Instead, create unique and engaging descriptions for each product. Remember that your product descriptions should not only be informative but also persuasive. The goal is to convince the potential customer that your product is the best choice for their needs. Consider your audience’s language, needs, and pain points when crafting your product descriptions, and don’t forget to include any crucial details like size, material, care instructions, and any other information that users will find valuable and help tip the scales to get them to buy from you.
Category Descriptions
In addition to individual product descriptions, it’s also crucial to create unique and informative descriptions for each product category. These descriptions can help users understand what they can find in each category, making it easier for them to navigate your site. They also provide an excellent opportunity to include relevant keywords, further enhancing your SEO efforts.
Ensure that your category descriptions are clear, concise, and descriptive. They should give users a quick overview of what to expect in a particular category and help guide their shopping experience. Just like with product descriptions, avoid duplication, and strive to make each category description unique.
Product-led Content & the sales funnel
Product-led content is informational content like blog posts, buying guides, tutorials featuring your products, FAQ sections, and blog posts answering common questions about your products or industry. can attract potential customers, increase the time spent on site, and improve your overall SEO. This kind of content allows you to target more long-tail keywords and answer specific questions your potential customers may have about your products or industry.
For instance, if you’re selling kitchen appliances, you could create a blog post on “How to Choose the Right Blender,” featuring your top blender models, or a tutorial on “10 Unique Smoothie Recipes,” encouraging the use of your blenders. Such content can attract users in different stages of the buying cycle and gently push them towards making a purchase.
This type of content targets more top-of-the-funnel users who are still in the research phase and helps build trust in your brand, but the type of content you create will depend on the goal. Of course, the end goal is usually for the consumer to buy a product but considering where they are in the sales funnel will help you to create more targeted content.
For example, “10 Unique Smoothie Recipes” might create more awareness of your brand with people who make smoothies, whereas “How to Choose the Right Blender” is more geared towards helping a customer make a decision – i.e they are closer to the end of the sales funnel.
Buying guides can be particularly beneficial for e-commerce SEO. They can target broader, more informational keywords and provide valuable information to your potential customers. For instance, a buying guide for “Choosing the Right Mountain Bike” can attract users looking for information on this topic and introduce them to your product offerings.
By providing useful, relevant information, you can position your brand as an expert in your industry, building trust with your audience and encouraging them to choose you when they’re ready to make a purchase.
Off-page SEO for e-commerce websites
Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). This primarily involves building high-quality backlinks to your website from other reputable sites. While on-page SEO focuses on optimising your own website and content, off-page SEO involves enhancing your website’s reputation and authority in the eyes of search engines and users alike.
Why Is It Important
Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites. They signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy, improving your site’s authority and rankings. In the context of e-commerce, having backlinks from relevant, high-quality sites can drive targeted traffic to your products and increase your credibility.
Moreover, backlinks are crucial to Google’s algorithm, and having a healthy and diverse backlink profile can significantly boost your SEO. A diverse backlink profile means you have different types of backlinks (editorial, guest blogging, business profiles, etc.) from various high-quality websites, indicating to search engines that your website is a trusted and authoritative source in your niche.
How to Do It
Building high-quality backlinks to your e-commerce website involves a multi-pronged approach. First, create high-quality, unique content that others would naturally want to link to. This could be in-depth product reviews, high-quality how-to guides, unique industry insights, or even infographics. Statistics and studies work particularly well as other related websites are always looking for stats to link to to back up their claims.
Guest posting on other relevant blogs or websites is another effective strategy. By offering valuable content to other sites in your niche, you can secure a backlink to your site and reach a larger audience. When guest posting, ensure the content you provide is of high quality and adds value to the host site.
Lastly, influencer collaborations or partnerships with other relevant businesses can also result in valuable backlinks. Reach out to industry influencers or complementary businesses for collaborations, giveaways, or product reviews. In exchange, they can link back to your website, driving their audience to your e-commerce store.
This last strategy also works with your current partners. Do you already work with reputable brands or know other E-commerce site owners or employees who can arrange a link to your site from theirs? This can often be done by sending them an attractive piece of content (a guest post) for them to post on their site in return for a link.
Other Important Elements of Ecommerce SEO
Use Social Proof & Reviews
Social proof, in the form of customer reviews and ratings, can significantly improve your e-commerce SEO. Reviews not only add fresh user-generated content to your website, which search engines love, but they also help build trust with your potential customers.
Encourage customers to leave reviews by making the review process easy and intuitive, or consider sending follow-up emails asking for reviews after a purchase. Make sure these reviews are prominently displayed on your product pages to show customers that others have had positive experiences with your products. Google can also display these reviews in search results using schema (which we discuss below), further improving your click-through rate.
We’ve spoken in more depth about the importance of reviews for E-commerce SEO in another blog.
Schema Can Help You Stand Out
Schema markup is a form of microdata that provides search engines with additional information about your website’s content. It can be particularly useful for e-commerce websites, as it can provide detailed product information, including price, availability, and reviews, directly in search results.
This can result in enhanced listings or “rich snippets” in search results, which stand out more than standard listings and can lead to improved click-through rates. Schema markup can be added directly to your website’s HTML and there are various types of schema, including product, review, and organisation schema, that could be useful for your e-commerce site.
In some cases it may even be necessary to use schema just to keep up with the competition who are already doing so.
Make Sure You Have a 404 Page
In the context of a bustling e-commerce website with multiple product pages that are frequently added or removed, it’s inevitable that some users will land on a non-existent page. Having a custom 404 page can significantly improve user experience, helping to retain users who might otherwise bounce off your site.
Your 404 page should include a friendly error message explaining that the page the user is looking for doesn’t exist and guide them back to working pages on your site. Including a search bar or links to popular or recent products can also encourage users to continue browsing your site, reducing the potential loss in traffic.
Optimise Calls-to-action
Every e-commerce website aims to guide its visitors towards making a purchase. This is where calls-to-action (CTAs) play a crucial role. A CTA prompts users to take a specific action, like “Add to Cart,” “Buy Now,” or “Sign Up for Newsletter.”
Ensure that your CTAs are clear, compelling, and prominently placed on your website. Use action-oriented language and create a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage users to act immediately. A well-optimised CTA can significantly improve your conversion rates, turning visitors into customers. Also, make sure your CTAs stand out visually on your site by using contrasting colours or design elements.
It’s tempting to place loads of CTAs on a page every time you mention something new, but really you need to keep it simple.
Try to get them users to complete ONE action on a given page. This streamlines the process for the consumer, and probably your thinking too. It will help you to gear the whole page towards getting users to complete that one action with no distraction. This reduces friction and confusion and makes it clear as day, making it more likely that users will take the desired action.
Conclusion
SEO for e-commerce is a comprehensive, ongoing process that involves optimising your online store for search engines and users alike. From structuring your URLs and optimising your content for relevant keywords, to improving your site’s technical performance and leveraging the power of off-page SEO, every aspect plays a crucial role in your online success.
By adopting the best practices discussed in this guide, you can increase the visibility of your e-commerce website, attract more organic traffic, and convert more visitors into customers. Whether you’re new to e-commerce SEO or looking to improve your current strategy, this guide provides a strong foundation for taking your online store to the next level.
Remember, successful SEO is a long-term investment that can significantly enhance your online presence and profitability.
TALK TO ATOMIC DIGITAL MARKETING’S UK Agency ECOMMERCE SEO EXPERTS NOW TO GET A QUOTE FOR YOUR WEBSITE OR QUOTE FOR AN ALL-INCLUSIVE DIGITAL MARKETING PACKAGE UNDER DIGITAL 360.
Frequently Asked e-Commerce SEO Questions
What is E-Commerce SEO?
SEO for e-commerce refers to the techniques and strategies used to increase the visibility of online stores in search engine results pages (SERPs). It involves keyword research, on-page and off-page optimisation, technical SEO, and user experience optimisation, with the goal of attracting more organic traffic and converting them into customers.
IS SEO IMPORTANT FOR E-COMMERCE?
Yes, SEO is crucial for e-commerce. As online competition continues to increase, SEO is one of the most effective ways to attract high-quality traffic to your online store. It helps your site appear in search results when potential customers are looking for the products you sell, ultimately leading to increased visibility, traffic, and sales.
HOW DO I START E-COMMERCE SEO?
To start with e-commerce SEO, first conduct a website audit to identify any existing issues. Then, perform keyword research to identify what terms your potential customers are using to find products like yours. Incorporate these keywords into your site’s content, meta tags, URLs, and image alt text. Also work on technical SEO, like improving site speed, mobile-friendliness, and URL structure. Lastly, develop a strategy for off-page SEO, like link building.
HOW IS SEO FOR E-COMMERCE DIFFERENT?
SEO for e-commerce is different in that it involves optimising a large number of product and category pages, each with its own unique title, description, and URL. It also requires addressing unique challenges like duplicate content from product descriptions, handling out-of-stock products, and optimising site structure for a large product catalogue.
HOW DO I FIND THE RIGHT KEYWORDS FOR MY E-COMMERCE STORE?
Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMRush, or Ahrefs to find keywords relevant to your products. Look for keywords with high search volume and buyer intent, i.e., keywords that users search for when they’re ready to make a purchase. Don’t get lured in by high-volume but irrelevant keywords – make sure your keywords make sense and that the user intent is right for your page.
WHAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED IN ECOM SEO?
Avoid black hat tactics like keyword stuffing, hidden text, and buying links. Also, avoid using duplicate content, like copying product descriptions from manufacturers. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly and has fast loading speeds to avoid high bounce rates.
WHAT IS THE MOST OVERLOOKED ASPECT OF SEO FOR E-COMMERCE BRANDS?
One of the most overlooked aspects of SEO for e-commerce is user experience. This includes factors like site speed, mobile optimisation, easy navigation, and clear, compelling product descriptions. A positive user experience not only helps to improve rankings but also encourages visitors to stay longer and convert into customers.
HOW MUCH DOES SEO FOR E-COMMERCE COST?
The cost of SEO for e-commerce can vary greatly depending on the size of your online store, the competitiveness of your industry, and the extent of services you require.
It can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month.
Remember that SEO is an investment that, when done right, can deliver significant long-term results.