We have made a major shift in recent years, and everything is going digital at a rapid pace. Rather than opening brick-and-mortar stores, people are prioritizing digital, specifically eCommerce, for delivering goods and services.
eCommerce is completely different from the old model. It requires much more attention to driving organic traffic, converting visitors, and enhancing the user experience (UX). And if you want to make it work, you need to master eCommerce SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
If you want to succeed with online business, you simply MUST take SEO seriously. Most customers are dependent on search engines to start the shopping process. In fact, a prospect is seven times more likely to find you via a search engine, rather than on social media.
But what exactly is organic traffic? It is the volume of visitors that arrive on your website via Google, after searching for keywords or products and clicking the natural (free) listings from your domain.
Without eCommerce SEO, you will definitely miss out on getting in front of many more potential buyers.
In this post, we’ll discuss more about what eCommerce SEO is and how you can use it to your advantage. Be sure to read and understand all of the information below so you can get up and running faster and without errors.
What is eCommerce SEO?
eCommerce SEO involves all of the little things you do to get your product pages ranking on the right Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Your goal is to push as many pages as possible up into the top four positions on each SERP if possible.
This strategy has become even more important since the pandemic began. Over the past couple of years, eCommerce has thrived amidst Covid-19, far better than we saw before it hit.
Even more importantly, historical data shows that organic traffic delivers the highest revenue per visit of all marketing channels. If you rank well, you’ll make more profits.
So we’ve talked about what it is and why you need it. Let’s dig into some of the things you can do to start showing results for your own eCommerce SEO efforts.
Keyword Optimization
Keyword research is important for every SEO effort. You want to find keywords with high search volumes, but also filter through them for keywords that are less competitive for ranking purposes.
You can identify potential keywords using tools like the Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Ubersuggest. Then filter them for volume and competition, and off you go.
Once you know what to target, then you simply build those keywords into your website structure and content (on-page optimization).
Be sure to understand the right way to optimize your on-page SEO before digging in. You’ll want to place keywords in specific locations, such as your page titles, URLs, meta descriptions, and Image Alt-Texts.
And of course, push to get these keywords into product names / titles and descriptions if possible. You want to use them multiple times per page, but don’t overstuff the page with repetitive language just to get more keywords on the page. That can actually hurt your eCommerce SEO results.
Create Quality Content
Create relevant, valuable, and intriguing content for your visitors. High-quality content will better resonate with your target audience, and can positively impact their decision-making process.
First, be sure to identify your audience and create content that will pique their interest. Before you start writing the content, you’ll want to take all of the following tips into account:
- Be sure you are an expert in your chosen your topic.
- Take time to outline your content in advance to improve readability.
- Aim to generate content that is unique, easy to comprehend, and highlights your products in creative ways.
- Maximize how engaging your content is, enough so that readers will stick around longer than the 20 second eCommerce average dwell time
- Create all content to be search-engine friendly. Content that pleases readers and visitors will fit this description.
- Address the genuine problems of your customers and provide effective solutions for those problems.
- Be consistent, and always work with the buyer personas to ensure your tone and voice resonate with them.
With these steps, you should be able to write well for your target audience and deliver the impact you desire.
Research Your Competitors
Competitors can be one of your best sources of data for improving your own performance. Be sure to stay abreast of what they are doing to promote their own eCommerce stores.
You can conduct competitor research using competitive analytics tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs. Either of these platforms can help you determine what is working for the competition.
These tools also help you figure out the right keywords for your brand and what you need to focus on to outrank the other domains.
Acquire Quality Backlinks
On-page is insufficient for ranking keywords all by itself. You’ll also need high quality backlinks (off page SEO) to see your eCommerce SEO delivering results.
I recommend reviewing the links your competitors have acquired during the competitive research mentioned above. Domains that link to them might be willing to also link to your own website.
For example, make a list of websites where they have placed guest posts on the blog, and pitch your own content as a guest post.
You can also find some easier link building opportunities on directories and forums on their list.
These links will help boost your rankings, but they offer even more value.
First, links from good domains can boost brand recognition and drive referral traffic directly to you.
Second, links help search engine crawlers find and index your own content. With solid internal linking strategies on your own website, you should be able to get everything indexed and ranking with the right assortment of links.
Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
eCommerce websites need to be mobile-ready from the start. With mobile driving over half of search volumes today, it should be your top priority.
You should also note that Google has moved to mobile-first indexing on most websites by now. Basically, you will only be able to grow organically if you make this a focal point.
Both the design and content on your eCommerce store should be mobile-friendly. This way, mobile users can access everything easily and enjoy an outstanding user experience.
Don’t overlook image optimization for mobile. Ensure they will easily fit on smaller screens. Space them far enough apart as to prevent accidental clicks.
And of course, make sure you choose fonts that are legible on smaller mobile formats such as smartphones. Fonts are often underappreciated with regards to overall readability and UX.
Mobile-friendly designs help engage visitors on different screens and browsers, which makes the shopping experience joyful for shopaholics.
Conclusion
These are some of the hacks you can use to optimize your eCommerce store to generate organic traffic.
If you want to boost traffic and conversions, take initiative to streamline your website’s structure, accelerate load times, optimize for mobile devices, and aim to perfect the onsite user experience.
I do recommend that you start with very realistic expectations of progress. eCommerce SEO is not a one time, set it and forget it type of strategy.
Plan to pursue organic results over months and years. Good eCommerce SEO takes time and patience. Do the right things, remain consistent, and never lose faith.
Feature Image Credit: Pixabay Free for Commercial Use License
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
This guest post brought to you courtesy of Return On Now, Professional Austin SEO and PPC Services Company.
Pallabi Nandi
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