Did you know that nearly half of all product searches begin on Google? This means that your potential customers are using the world’s most popular search engine to find products like yours. And one of the best ways to make sure customers find you is by optimizing your website for search engines with eCommerce SEO.
Around 65% of ecommerce website traffic comes from search engines. It goes without saying that if your ecommerce website is not ranking on Google, you are losing out on a ton of potential customers and revenue.
The good news is that with the right ecommerce SEO strategy, you can turn things around and start getting more traffic and sales from each Google search.
In this guide, we outline everything you need to know so you can get started working on your ecommerce SEO.
What Is SEO and Why Do Ecommerce Sites Need It?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
For example, if we key in “bluetooth speaker with Alexa” on Google, these results come up:
The top results are ads from well-known sites like Alibaba and Marshall, but there are some smaller brands in the mix, with blogs linking to specific product pages.
So, how do you make sure your ecommerce website shows up in the top results?
You can improve your chances of ranking higher in SERPs by optimizing your website for search engines. The higher your website ranks, the more people will click on it, which can lead to more traffic and sales.
How to Create an Effective SEO Strategy
Here are the basic steps for creating an effective SEO strategy:
1. Perform Keyword Research
One of the best ways to create a search engine optimized website is keyword research. Finding the right keywords to target will help ensure your website shows up in relevant search results.
You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, or Ubersuggest. Just enter a seed keyword related to your product or business, and you can generate a list of related phrases you can target.
For example, the seed keyword “coffee beans” on Ubersuggest leads to related phrases like “coffee beans and tea leaves” and “coffee beans near me.” You can use these terms in your website content to improve your search engine rankings.
2. Create Optimized Website Content
Once you’ve identified the right keywords to target, you must create content that uses those keywords as naturally as possible in these key areas:
● Title tags
● Meta descriptions
● Headings and subheadings
● Product pages
● Blog posts
Title tags and meta descriptions are some of the most crucial website elements that lead to good SEO performance, so they should accurately describe what’s on the page. They should give search engines, as well as customers, an idea of what each page is about.
You can also use long-tail keywords to develop content that will lead potential customers to your page. For example, if you sell coffee on your ecommerce website, you can use the phrase “which coffee beans are the best” from the previous keyword suggestions.
You can use it as a heading on your homepage or product pages or even as the title of a blog post. Just make sure that all your website content is relevant and informative, so potential customers will want to click through to your website.
3. Build Backlinks
Backlinks come from other websites that point to one of your web pages. They improve your website’s authority, which is a crucial factor for search engine rankings. The more high-quality backlinks you have pointing to your website, the better your chances are of ranking on SERPs and boosting organic site traffic.
Ecommerce link building often involves writing high-quality blog posts about your products or services or weighing in on a topic within your niche. You can submit these guest blog posts to other websites in your industry to reach a new audience and build relationships with thought leaders in your field.
You can also participate in online forums, which will help you become a trusted voice within your industry. Try to connect with well-known figures in your industry to share your content; this will help boost brand recognition.
Finally, make sure your website is linked in your email signature so that everyone you correspond with can easily find it.
4. Optimize Your Site Architecture
Creating your ecommerce website‘s back-end architecture with the same dedication as front-end design will improve its crawlability, indexation, and overall ranking potential.
Crawlability refers to a search engine‘s ability to access, read, and analyze a website’s content. If your site isn’t crawlable, it can’t be indexed, which means it won’t appear in search results.
To make sure your site is crawlable, you need to:
● Make sure your web pages are organized and properly interlinked
● Keep all web pages three clicks away at most from the homepage
● Fix broken links
● Ensure your metas (descriptions, tags, titles) are optimized
It’s good practice to keep user experience in mind when optimizing website for SEO. Google search favors sites that are easy to navigate and visitors spend a lot of time on, so try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes when planning your website’s architecture.
For example, if you want to find an item on your site, how would you want to do it if you were a customer? You don’t want visitors getting lost in categories upon categories of items, so keep your site architecture as straightforward as possible.
The Takeaway
Ecommerce SEO can seem a bit daunting, especially if you aren’t familiar with the terms and tools related to it. However, you’ll find that your efforts will pay off in the long run as you watch your website climb the ranks in search engine results pages.
By following the tips in this article, you should see your website traffic improve in no time. Monitor your results closely, but remember to be patient if your rankings don’t improve immediately-SEO is a long-term endeavor that you must continuously work on.
If you’re looking for an ecommerce SEO service to help rank your business, look no further! Here at Intensify, our ecommerce SEO experts can formulate and execute on an SEO strategy that is guaranteed to drive organic traffic to your site.