While getting more online traffic to your e-commerce website or store is one of the most effective ways to get your brand in front of new customers, growing your online traffic is easier said than done, especially with new search engine feature updates and frequent algorithm changes.
The importance for e-Commerce websites and online stores to rank at the top of various search engines, such asGoogle and Bing, continues to grow. Although paid searches may lead to quick success, you probably know that they are very expensive, especially in the long run. And this is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into the picture.
SEO comprises tactics and measures that help e-commerce shops or online stores to appear as high as possible when relevant search terms and phrases are entered on search engines.
Why SEO is Important for E-Commerce Stores
Did you know that 44 percent of people begin their online shopping journey with a Google search? Also, keep in mind thatthe number one result on Google gets more than 31 percent of all clicks. This is why ranking at the top of search engines must be one of the toppriorities if you manage or own an e-Commerce store.
The advantages of e-Commerce SEO are almost endless, from creating brand awareness and helping to drive traffic to boosting sales, an SEO-optimized site can help you achieve your business goals. However, with changing trends and practices, the e-Commerce landscape has evolved.
While you should focus on making your WooCommerce or Shopify-based e-Commerce site aesthetically appealing, you must also focus on e-Commerce store SEO to draw more customers to your website to increase sales.
Here are a few expert SEO tips to consider when optimizing your online store.
Conduct Comprehensive Keyword Research
You may know that the foundation of any effective and efficient e-Commerce SEO campaign is thorough and savvy keyword use. So, you should start with a round of careful keyword planning and research to get off on the right foot.
Also, remember that a big part of keyword planning and research is intent. You have to ensure that your keywords and phrases align with what the shopper or buyer truly wants. If you’ve a few primary key terms in mind, use these as a jumping-off point.
However, if you do not, you canstart by listing four or five broad topics that are important to your buyers. It is best to put yourself in your buyer’s shoes and consider the terms and phrases you may use to find products like those listed on your online store.
Avoid Duplicate Content
Regardless of how you look at it, duplicate content is bad for SEO, including across product pages and categories.
However, it is one of the common problems in e-Commerce. This is whyit is essential to make sure that your content is as original or unique as possible.
While internal content duplication within a single website is not as big a deal, you do not want your copy to be too similar to anything else on any other website. Did you know that the quality of your content considerably impacts how high your e-Commercewebsite ranks in search engines? Similar or duplicate content reduces your search engine rankings.
This is particularly true if you tend to use content that’s also found elsewhere, such as manufacturer’s product descriptions. It’s a big no-no that you must avoid. You should always post relevant,unique, andengaging content. Another crucial thing to consider is to make sure that you post other types of high-quality content, like videos and pictures.
And ensure that these pages are adequately optimized for bothusers and robots, with their unique keywords, internal and external links, keyword count, and structure.
Improve Trust by Increasing the Authority of Your Webpage
Similar to unique content requirements, the trust and authority of your page play an important role in the off-page SEO aspect. Backlinks -links from external pages- are important indicators for search engines that your page is trustworthy and more authoritative than other pages with fewer backlinks.
As trust andauthority of a page impact search rankings, pages with a better backlink structure are usually preferred over pageswith fewer backlinks with comparable content.
Focus More on Your Product Descriptions
Many e-Commerce stores and online merchantsdo not adequately optimize each of their product pages as well as the detailed sections within them. If you make the same mistake, you will end up with boring and dull product pages with uninteresting content that no onewill read.
This is why each product page must have more than merely a price, image, and title. Your product pages should also feature a detailed and engaging description that “sells” the product — to online shoppers and search engines.
By crafting creative, unique, and optimized product descriptions with the right keywords, you will be able to create a more effective and simpler-to-rank product page adequately. This will help you achieve higher rankings, especially for long-tailed keywords, driving qualified online traffic with high commercial intent.
Improve Page Load Speeds
Here is an interesting stat; nearly 70 percent of online consumers claim that page load speeds directly affect their willingness to purchase from a specific online store. And most people are willing to wait about 4 seconds for a webpage to load, but the average loading time is much higher.
If your e-Commercewebsite speed isn’t up to the mark, you cando the following:
- Minify the codes, including CSS,HTML, and Javascript
- Minimize the number of redirects
- Optimize the images or photos on your website
- Activate browser cashing
Refrain from cluttering your online store with too many unnecessary applications, and avoid sliders where possible.
Make Your E-Commerce Site Mobile-friendly
This is essential to any SEO strategy for an e-commerce site. Why? This is because people love shopping on their smartphones. According to mobile commerce stats, mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is projected to be almost 70 percent of all e-Commerce sales, and mobile payment technology will improve.
As Google is moving towards a “mobile-first” index, all e-commerce websites and online merchants should ensure their websites are optimized for this major change.
Final Thoughts
Streamlining your online store using the above essential SEO tips is a great way to propel your e-commerce store to the top of the SERPs. By following these tips, your e-Commerce website will rank higher in the search engines, generating more prospects for your conversion rate optimization efforts. A fully-optimized and well-maintained online store is the key to boosting conversion rate, winning your customers’ trust, and turning your online brand into a household name
