What is E-commerce SEO?
E-Commerce SEO is the process of increasing the visibility of your online store in search engine results pages. You want to rank high on search results pages (SERPs) so that people can find the products you sell.
Ecommerce SEO involves optimizing headlines, product descriptions, navigation structure to improve user experience. Every product that you sell should have its own page to attract traffic from search engines. You don’t want static pages that aren’t product-oriented on your website to be forgotten, like the following:
- Index page or Homepage
- About us page
- FAQ page
- Blog articles
- Answers to help center
- Contact us page
How do you approach SEO for e-commerce sites?
A structured approach is the best way to optimize your online shop. You need to create a plan that covers all aspects of SEO. Here’s a list that will help you to identify and optimize your website:
Step 1: Technical SEO:
When performing a site review, or a search engine optimization audit, technical SEO is the first step. Search engines will index and crawl your shop easily using technical SEO. These are the most important tasks in technical SEO:
- Google Search Console Optimization Settings
- XML sitemap optimization
- Robots.txt should be set correctly
- SEO-friendly URLs with proper permalink structure
- Page speed optimizations
- Structured Schema Optimization
- Linking Structure
- SSL Enabled
- Redirection Error & 404 Error
Step 2: Keyword Research:
After you have mastered technical SEO, the next step is keyword research. Keyword research is essential for all websites, but even more so for eCommerce websites. Targeting the wrong keywords will result in traffic, but not sales. The keyword research results will help you to understand the structure of your shop. You can also optimize your category pages, home pages, and product pages.
Step 3: Optimize the structure of your shop
Optimization of your site structure by simplifying it is an essential part of any SEO strategy. This will help you both crawl and usability. This is important for eCommerce sites. It means that your site’s navigation should be easy to use and search engine friendly. Your site should be organized so that visitors can only click a few times to reach any product on the homepage. This will help improve user experience and reduce bounce rates. SEO-wise, this will make it easier for search engines to crawl your site (important to rank) and maintain link authority. This authority decreases the further a product page is away from your homepage. It is the most authoritative site for e-commerce sites and concentrated authority can be one way to help your e-commerce pages rank.
Design with Buyers or Shoppers in Mind:
The website and product pages should enhance the shopping experience, not hinder it. Even if your products are the most sought-after in your industry, they will not be the most affordable. A shopper may leave your site if it is difficult to navigate or impossible for them to find. Ecommerce websites should be simple to navigate. Use sensible navigation options or menus that tell users what they will see when they click on a link. Images should be used sparingly as a slow load time can lead to impatient shoppers clicking the back button. It is in your best interests to keep your pages loading as quickly as possible.
Step 4: Homepage SEO:
Optimizing your shop’s homepage is different from optimizing your blog’s homepage. There are many roles that the homepage plays in an e-commerce website’s success. The landing page must be highly conversion-friendly, but also informative and welcoming for users.
Step 5: Optimize Your Shop Category Pages for Your E-Commerce Site:
A lot of category pages are normal for an e-commerce site. While category pages are not used for SEO purposes on most websites, this is not true with online shops. These pages are very useful for SEO purposes, and they are crucial for navigation.
Step 6: Product Page Optimization:
The most important pages on e-commerce websites are the product pages. They must be optimized for search engines as well as users. Optimizing your product page can be difficult, especially if you sell products that are also sold on other websites. Failure to optimize your product pages for SEO will lead to low traffic and greater reliance on SEO methods to drive traffic to your site.
Step 7: Check out and cart PAGE Optimization
Ecommerce SEO can help you build a more conversion-oriented website. To do this, optimize your checkout and cart pages. Different types of shops have different ways of getting customers to the checkout and cart pages, but only a few of them actually convert. It is easy to optimize your checkout and cart pages. Once you do it correctly, you can move on to other areas of the shop that require more attention.
Step 8: Link Building for E-Commerce site:
Backlinking, also known as link building, is a long-term strategy for traffic building. You will see the results of your hard work and dedication over time, much like compound interest. You need high traffic to your website to convert visitors and to make sales. SEO methods will ensure that your site is optimized and ranks well. You need good Off-page SEO to get your pages to the top. Link building is one of the most important off-page SEO tasks that you should master.
Step 9: Market your shop:
SEO is not the only method that can affect your SEO efforts. SEO can work with things like Facebook marketing, social media marketing, retargeting, and email marketing to help you reach your business goals.
The Benefits of E-Commerce SEO
Search engines exposure
Ecommerce websites are in fact online businesses. This website is not for hobbyists or people who just want to have fun. It is a business that must make sales, grow, and profit over time. Millions of queries are answered daily by search engines, many of which relate to e-commerce. In addition to going directly to Amazon or eBay, thousands of people use search engines every day to find the right product. Ecommerce SEO can help you get more traffic and exposure through search engines.
High rankings for keywords that matter
Although getting traffic from search engines is the first step, it’s not enough. Users who are clear about what they want receive targeted organic traffic. These users have a clear intention and express it when they enter a query into the search box. If a user searches for “buy HD waterproof video camera”, it is clear that they intend to buy it. If you have an online store selling video cameras, this user will most likely convert. Ecommerce SEO will allow you to identify and optimize long-tail keywords that could help you rank higher and make a significant impact on your business.
SEO can help increase your conversion rates
SEO can help you improve your conversion rate. i.e. sales.
Conclusion
All shops should have Ecommerce SEO. Optimized shops will rank higher on search engines, which means more traffic and sales.
