Having a well-optimized e-commerce store is the best way to reach the broadest possible audience. You may be wondering why? Well, the rapid growth of e-commerce is the most obvious reason for the same.
According to Statista, e-commerce will grow by $8 trillion by 2027, making it extremely important for e-commerce business owners to optimize their online presence so that they can reach that eager audience ready to buy online.
But first, you need a great strategy that can help you get noticed online. This is where e-commerce SEO can be your ideal help.
In this blog post, we will share the top latest SEO strategies that will always work. With these SEO strategies by your side, you will be able to strategize your e-commerce SEO campaign effectively.
What Exactly is E-commerce SEO?
A website that is well-designed and offers high-quality content will always rank higher in Google and other search engines. Higher rankings imply better visibility for your store online and higher traffic.
In simple words, e-commerce SEO focuses on optimizing your site, which makes it easier for your website to get leads and conversions.
However, more than just adding keywords, you need to understand how search engines work and what they reward. To do so, it is important to consider Google’s guidelines, analyze buyer intent, and implement it in a strategic way.
Why is SEO Important for E-Commerce?
Now you might have this question in your mind, right? Well, SEO can help you achieve your business goals. In fact, a survey conducted by Conductor in 2023 states that 82% of marketers shared that SEO primarily affected their marketing performance and goals.
Marketers further anticipate that this will definitely increase in the coming years, thanks to the long-term impact of SEO and how cost-effective it is as compared to paid search advertising.
SEO offers you the extra visibility that is extremely important, as searchers don’t go beyond the first page of Google. 99% of searchers stick to the first page of one of the biggest search engines, while the top result collects upto 27.6% of Google Traffic.
To make it simple, if you’re not ranking high on search engines, you are missing out on traffic, leads, and conversions.
Now, let’s talk about strategies that will always work for your e-commerce SEO campaign.
Top E-Commerce SEO Strategies That Always Work
Do Your Keyword Research Right:
In-depth keyword research is something that every e-commerce business owner needs to do. You need to find the terms used by searchers while looking online for products and services in your store.
You should follow a twofold approach. First, you have to find your niche’s most relevant and popular keywords. Secondly, understand the user or search intent behind every keyword.
The best ways to do so include:
Using Tools for Long-Tail Keywords:
A long-tail keyword is a longer and more specific search phrase, usually with at least three words. They may not bring tons of traffic, but they are pure gold for e-commerce stores.
These particular phrases bring you higher conversion rates, which surprisingly drives a higher number of sales despite the lower traffic it has on offer.
Other alternatives to consider include:
- Start with a head term. A broad term relevant to your niche should bring up long-tail keyword ideas.
- Use the filters available on your keyword research tools. Refine results by search volumes, SEO difficulty, paid difficulty, and various other things.
- Deeply analyze your competitors’ pages. Enter their URLs into Ubersuggest to see their keyword rankings and identify long-tail keywords.
- Look at the search volume and difficulty. Tools like Google Search Console offer search volume and keyword difficulty metrics.
Optimize Product Pages to Improve Ranking:
Optimization is the most important thing to do, especially if you want to grow your traffic and acquire new customers. It’s more like renovating your storefront to make it more inviting for all potential customers passing by.
For an online store, this is where On-page SEO can be a great deal. It involves the fine-tuning of your site structure, crafting attention-grabbing meta descriptions, and using header tags to organize content.
Firstly, you should write compelling meta descriptions, which will help you increase CTRs on organic traffic. Then, use terms like “Buy Online” to give the user an idea of how to get your product before they click. This is a sure-shot way to boost CTR.
Furthermore, your title tag should not go beyond 60-70 characters. In fact, the more enticing it is, the more users will click on it.
Now, let’s talk about headings, which are easy to add. Most importantly, they improve your URL structure. For instance, you can use the product name as the H1 Header tag.
Other important elements of on-page SEO include product descriptions, schema markup, product images, reviews, links and CTA.
Ensure User-Friendliness:
UX denotes User Experience. Good design, an improved site structure, and more visually appealing aesthetics can improve the UX. However, apart from just making your website look good, you need to make it work well.
UX involves things like:
- Navigation
- Ease of use
- The overall “Feel” of the website.
- Keeping visitors engaged during browsing.
Basically, your website should give visitors the best experience possible. Specifically, the better the user experience, the higher the chances of conversions. Plus, it also influences your rankings for specific keywords.
Other things to consider while ensuring user-friendliness include:
1. Site Architecture: Breadcrumbs are tools used for navigation. The help visitors retrace the previous steps and return to where they belong. Apart from usability, breadcrumbs also offer additional SEO benefits.
For instance, if you visit a blog post from your main homepage, the breadcrumb for that post should be “Home> Blog> This Post.”
Breadcrumbs can be found in various web design tools. Plus, you can add them using markup tags or JavaScript.
2. Using a Simple URL Structure: You can make the user experience simpler and improve your SEO efforts by adding a simple URL structure. It also makes it easier to share products on social media and other platforms.
You need to ensure an easy-to-read URL structure to ensure the best outcomes. Google can also provide some great examples that will help you improve your URL structure. Plus, you can embed keywords naturally to make them more SEO-friendly.
Search engines scan your URLs and use the content to rank. For instance, if people search for “sedan for sale,” adding that keyword phrase in your page’s URL can be helpful in ranking your category page.
3. Avoiding Duplicate Content and Pages: Ever visited a website and felt you’ve read it all somewhere previously? This is something common with product and category descriptions when online retailers use duplicate images and product catalogues.
Some of the best ways to avoid such things include:
- Adding canonical tags on each page.
- Embedding a suffix to the URL.
- Using different product images.
- Doing some keyword research and adding specific keywords to other pages.
Furthermore, you need to consider your redirects and turn the 404 error pages into sales opportunities.
Optimize Your Technical SEO:
Technical SEO will reap a lot of benefits for your e-commerce venture. Optimizing your website’s technical aspects will take your SEO campaign to the next level. A technically sound website is something that users would definitely love.
Slow loading times, lack of a site map, and the lack of an SSL certificate are some of the common technical issues. They hamper the user experience, which further boosts your bounce rates.
Some essential things that you can do include:
Optimize Your Page Speed: The loading time of your page measures the time a user has to spend while opening a webpage. Page speed is an important ranking factor, and today’s users won’t wait for even a second for a site to load.
To optimize your page speed, you can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights and various other tools. These tools will help you analyze the risk elements that you can optimize.
Add a Sitemap: A sitemap of your website is a file that contains information regarding all images, videos, and other types of content. Search engines use your sitemap to efficiently crawl your e-commerce store.
It should include all the pages of your site, from category to product pages. It should also include the subcategories, products, and other content within those sections.
Earn an SSL Certificate: The “HTTPS://” before your URL signifies proper cybersecurity measures that you can take by getting an SSL certificate. Not only does it make your website safer for surfing, but it also gives users confidence to use it.
Develop Quality Content:
Apart from just images and keywords, e-commerce also needs written content. It is, in fact, the most important element of e-commerce, especially for e-commerce.
When you post regular content, you will be able to attract organic traffic, gain your customers’ trust, boost your website rankings, and cement your position as an expert in your niche.
The best things you can consider while developing content include:
Consider your audience and their requirements.
- Develop blog content
- Produce video content
- Share your content on social media.
To Summarize
When you implement a personalized SEO strategy for your e-commerce venture, you will be able to boost your website’s visibility, attract new customers to your store, and develop a loyal audience base.
There might be a lot of strategies that you can consider, but considering the ones that we have shared above can definitely help you boost your e-commerce website’s presence in a better manner.
At SEO Toronto Experts, we don’t merely craft SEO strategies. In fact, we build strategies that stay up-to-date and will help you drive more traffic and revenue for your business online. Consult us now and take your e-commerce venture to the next level.
