If you have ever asked yourself why your beautiful e-commerce website is not making enough sales, then be assured, you are not alone. Many a time, it seems as if you are shouting into the wind as an owner of an online store, with the hope that you will find buyers for your products. The fact is that, regardless of how well-crafted the store is, whether it is an online or in-store retail, it is not effective if it is not optimized for search engines. Well, that’s where E-commerce SEO comes into play — your golden key to increasing traffic and, thus, conversions.
In this guide, we’ll dive into some key strategies and tips to help you rank higher, sell more, and make your online store a success.
1. Why SEO is Crucial for Your E-commerce Business
The first question to answer is why should SEO matter at all. Ultimately, is SEO necessary if you are running paid ads?
Absolutely.
E-commerce SEO is the foundation for organic traffic E-commerce website traffic—the traffic that will roll in month-over-month without you needing to spend more money every 30 days. Digitally speaking, this is pretty much akin to drawing foot traffic into an actual store. But once you get your E-commerce website sitting on the first page of Google, what happens is that potential buyers start streaming in endlessly. With 90% of users never clicking beyond the first page of Google, SEO is not only crucial but also mandatory for long-term success.
2. Finding Your Goldmine: Keyword Research That Works
Keyword research is the first and essential step for proper e-commerce SEO. That is where you discover the keywords your potential customers use, and how you can tailor your products to meet those needs. Consider this the foundation of SEO, as it sets the stage for your SEO initiatives.
Know Your Customer’s Intent
Very few people conduct effective keyword research. They tend to rank for high-volume search terms only, which is wrong. Although there is a strong temptation to target something as generic as “shoes”,… You won’t be able to beat giants like Amazon on it. Probably not. Instead, concentrate on long-tail keywords — these are more niche phrases, such as “eco-friendly running shoes” or “non-slip yoga mats for beginners.”
Why long-tail? They may attract fewer visitors, but those visitors are more likely to purchase. If someone is searching for “eco-friendly running shoes,” it means they already know what they need, and you will be helping them with their discovery.
Tools to Get You Started
There are many tools to help you think smarter with your keyword research. You can explore tools like Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner, and Ahrefs to find the exact search terms your audience is using. Competitors: You can also utilise competitor analysis to identify the keywords your competition is ranking for and then outperform them.
3. Structuring Your Site: The SEO-Friendly Blueprint
The site structure is one of the most neglected aspects in SEO, yet it holds significant importance. Users become frustrated with an unorganised and confusing site, while search engines will not rank your website if it is not structured correctly. Your site needs to be easy to navigate (for humans and bots)
Keep It Simple, Keep It Scalable
Visualise your website as a pyramid. It could be your homepage at the top, followed by category pages, and then individual product pages. The home page should link to every other page on the site, and any given page should not have more than three links from the primary domain. You won’t be doing it just for a better user experience, but you could also facilitate search engine crawling and indexing your site.
As you continue to add products, be careful that your structure doesn’t become too complex and difficult for visitors to navigate. Create easy-to-read URLs that indicate to people and search engines the general subject matter of the page. For instance, yourstore.com/organic-cotton-t-shirts is much better than yourstore.com/product12345.
Internal Linking is Your Best Friend
Internal linking refers to the process of linking one page within a website to another page. This not only helps potential customers locate similar products or categories but also distributes the SEO authority across your site.
So, if you have a blog post titled “The Best Running Shoes for Flat Feet,” ensure that you link it to your product pages that sell running shoes. The more interconnection between your content and products, the more search engines will understand the importance of each page.
4. On-Page SEO: It’s All in the Details
This is an area of on-page SEO where you can showcase your optimisation skills. Here, you review and ensure that every individual page on the site has been entirely optimised for search engines. But fret not — it need not be chaotic.
The Perfect Product Page
Every product page should be optimised with:
- A compelling, keyword-rich title: Strong, keyword-crammed title. — This is the product title, where if a customer searches for this particular product on Amazon, they will most likely type what you put in your product name.
- Meta descriptions that sell: These are the snippets that appear in search engine results. Keep them neat, attractive, or basic, and include your keyphrases.
- Engaging, unique descriptions: No copy-pasting from manufacturers! Craft unique descriptions that effectively highlight the benefits and features of your products, naturally incorporating relevant keywords to enhance their visibility.
- High-quality images with descriptive alt text: A search engine cannot see an image, but alt text helps the search engine understand what is depicted in the image. For instance, instead of writing “shoes”, write “men’s waterproof hiking boots.”
5. Technical SEO: The Silent Hero
You can have the most beautiful product pages in the world, but you will not be ranked highly if your site isn’t technically sound. Just like your car engine, internal SEO is its heartbeat — ensuring that every component functions properly within the big picture.
Speed Matters
One of the most significant factors is Site Speed. If your site is slow and takes a long time to load, people will leave, and Google will recognise this. However, generally speaking, you would want to compress your images further, enable browser caching, and leverage a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to ensure that your site is lightning-fast for all customers, regardless of their location.
Make Sure You’re Mobile-Friendly
Data shows that over 70% of traffic comes from mobile devices, so not having a site that is optimised for use through these devices is simply impossible. Mobile-first indexing is the concept that search engines use to determine a website’s ranking based on its mobile version. Optimise your site layout for display across diverse devices, just as you would ensure that visitors see your pop-up form and it is functional, whether they are using a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone.
6. Blogging for E-Commerce: Not Just for Content Creators
If you’re not blogging, you’re missing out on a powerful SEO tool. Not only does blogging help with keyword optimisation, but it also allows you to build authority in your niche and gives you content to share on social media while also keeping your site fresh.
Blog with Purpose
It should be more than just random blog posts. Instead, apply it to answering customer FAQs, providing product-related tips, showcasing customer case studies, etc. If you want to start a blog and you sell organic skincare products for sensitive skin, write about how natural ingredients help make your product better or how to build a personalised routine for home care.
Each blog post is another opportunity for you to rank for that new keyword. Therefore, remember to optimise your posts by adding targeted keywords and always linking them back to your product pages.
7. Backlinks: The Stamp of Approval
Backlinks are a vote of trust for your site (a signal to the search engine). If you have a lot of high-quality backlinks, Google will consider that site as more authoritative. However, as effective backlinks, they are universally beneficial—quality links from reputable sites with high authority carry a lot more weight than arbitrary, spammy, low-quality links.
How to Earn Backlinks
Create shareable and link-worthy content. It might take the form of a thorough blog post, an infographic or an original study. Additionally, consider reaching out to movers and shakers in your industry or the blogosphere to guest write for them or collaborate on projects that naturally create backlinks to your site.
8. Track, Tweak, and Repeat
SEO isn’t a one-and-done deal—it’s a long game. After implementing your SEO strategies, you’ll need to track your progress and make adjustments over time.
To perform a comprehensive audit of your site’s performance, utilise tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track traffic, ranking, and other key metrics. Utilise the different tips to explore your content more thoroughly, identifying areas for improvement and making adjustments as needed.
Make SEO Your E-Commerce Superpower
E-commerce SEO can appear very complicated, but once done correctly, it is the most significant driver of traffic and sales. Want to know the three keys to do e-commerce SEO services that get results: Know your audience, get your site structure right, and sweat over the details (e.g., keywords, page speed, and mobile-friendliness). Do not forget to publish meaningful content and make your success work over time.
SEO is a long game, but when you play it well, there are high rewards in terms of higher search rankings, more visitors to your website and ultimately more sales. So keep at it, stay learning, and soon your e-commerce site will be doing the same!
Ignite your e-Commerce SEO with us. Contact us to know more how e-commerce SEO services can help you.