You might have heard, ‘If you aren’t online, you are losing business!’. It is true, but only half true. The internet is open to everyone, including your competitors. Ecommerce SEO is essential to boost your website’s ranking above your competitors and improve your sales. But what do you do in Ecommerce SEO? We are here to help you with a complete Ecommerce SEO guide with a checklist to improve your search engine ranking, organic traffic, and conversions!
What is Ecommerce SEO?
You could offer the best quality products at an affordable price and still not achieve the desired success. Yes, that will happen if you ignore the power of Ecommerce SEO. Ecommerce SEO makes your website trustworthy for the search engine and your target audience. The ecommerce SEO optimization focuses on optimizing your website, product pages, and user experience on diverse devices and setting up the page for the crawlers to index your website for the search engine result pages (SERPs).
The correct application of Ecommerce SEO techniques helps you attract your target audience, retain their attention, and boost conversions. The primary tasks of Ecommerce SEO can be categorized as follows:
- On-page SEO: Optimize the visual design and content layout of the website. An Ecommerce website needs to optimize its layout, title tags, images, videos, and content.
- Off-page SEO: Build your website’s authority to rank higher on the SERP by building credible backlinks.
- Technical SEO: Enhance the user experience by optimizing the page loading speed, removing broken links, securing the website, establishing sitemaps, and more.
- Local SEO: Strengthen your local presence by establishing your presence on the local directories and regional keywords and being active in local communities.
- Global SEO: Expand your business beyond the physical boundaries by optimizing the page for a global audience through multilingual SEO, listings, and more.
Ecommerce SEO checklist for better ranking & sales
Navigating through each of these SEO stages can be confusing for beginners. Therefore, we have created a checklist with ecommerce SEO tips to help you kickstart your Ecommerce optimization journey. You can do advanced SEO after mastering these basics!
Optimize the site architecture
The site architecture refers to the page layout of your website. It is essential for users and search engine crawlers to understand what your website offers and make navigation easier. Follow a flat structure to make each product category page available with 2 – 3 clicks. It keeps the user engaged and increases their time spent on your website. You should add a navigation bar to show their location on the product or category page on the website and how they can go back to the previous page.
Do keyword research
Keywords are the lifeline of an ecommerce website. It helps your website rank and drive organic traffic. Your keywords are the queries that your target audience searches online. You can look for these words in the auto-fill search queries on search engines, online communities, and the auto-fill search bar on e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart. Use keyword research tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Google Keyword Planner.
You should focus on the keyword’s volume, competition, relevancy, and intent before finalizing your target keywords. The key to choosing the best keyword is to focus on relevance and diversify the keywords based on intent. Choose LSI and long-tail keywords with 5-6 words, like ‘vegan lip balm for dry lips,’ for product pages, and rank on SERP.
Each search by your target audience has a purpose, an intent. The following are the four types of intent to choose a compelling mix of keywords to boost your ecommerce site’s traffic and conversion.
- Informational: The informational intent focuses on offering information to the user. It includes the what, why, and how type of questions or keywords seeking knowledge. They are ideal for blogs, educational content on a website, or the FAQS of your product page. Informational keywords are essential to establishing authority in the search engine.
- Commercial: Commercial keywords are used when the user wants to explore the product/service before purchasing by reading reviews and making comparisons. A few examples are ‘best [product] near me,’ ‘[product] vs [product],’ ‘is [product] worth,’ and ‘[product] reviews.’
- Transactional: The users who want to purchase or subscribe use these transactional keywords. The transactional keywords include the product name and the action the user wants to take. For example, ‘buy [product] online,’ ‘Subscribe to [service],’ or ‘get quotes for custom [product]’ are a few transactional keywords. They are ideally used for CTA in service and product pages.
- Navigational: The audience uses navigational keywords to reach a specific brand webpage. It is ideally used by customers wanting to purchase or seek specific information. For example, ‘[Company] Log in’, ‘[Company] membership’, and ‘[Company] India’. Incorporate these in your website pages for better reach.
Informational, commercial, and transactional keywords help you create a funnel to attract, retain, and convert your target audience. Therefore, always use a combination of these keywords for best results.
Optimize the images
Visual searches, including images, have an 8-10% conversion rate (source). For ecommerce brands, product images are essential to help customers make the final decision. Compress the image to reduce the loading speed of the product page. Additionally, you must use a descriptive image file name to make it rank on the search engine image results.
Furthermore, alt text can be added to reach the visually impaired audience and be indexed by search engine bots. Ideally, your alt text should be 125 characters and describe the image. Use keywords in the alt text and image file name to help you with the ranking.
Mobile optimization
Mobile is one of the most used devices in our lives. Whether socializing, relaxing, shopping, or doing work, everything can be done on the phone. Therefore, it is no surprise that 55.4% of internet users shop online using a phone (source).
If you want to retain your users, you must ensure that your ecommerce website works seamlessly on the phone. Invest in creating a responsive design for diverse devices, including mobile phones. Focus on the layout, image quality, loading speed, and navigation links for the best user experience.
Prioritize Local SEO
Local SEO is essential to help you rise on the local search queries. Local SEO is used to boost your local visibility on geographic searches and local listings. Therefore, you must manage a Google My Business profile, find relevant local keywords, create and maintain a local directory profile, and ensure that all your online profiles have the same Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP). Gaining the trust of the local people boosts your sales and brand image and drives traffic for a better ranking.
Improve loading speed
The fast-paced world has shortened the attention span of most people, especially when it comes to shopping. The rise of fast Internet and competitors makes your loading speed a critical factor for ecommerce success.
Per the industry standard, a 1 to 5-second loading speed is optimum for retaining the users. 82% of B2B and 86% of B2C sites load in 5 seconds or less (source). Thus, users will switch to a competitor’s site if your website takes longer than 5 seconds to load. Ensure the media files and the shop theme don’t increase the loading speed. Incorporate lazy loading to boost the loading speed and user retention rate
Focus on voice search optimization
As per research, 35% of shoppers prefer voice assistance instead of buying through mobile, and 24% choose voice assistance to shop rather than online (source). More people are switching to voice search because it’s convenient. Therefore, you must optimize your website for voice search to maximize your reach to the target audience.
Focus on choosing a natural language your user will use and incorporate the long-tail keywords to make the content more relevant. Use tools like Answer The Public, Google Keyword Planner, and Wordstream to find relevant keywords.
Create a content marketing strategy
Content is the most critical part of Ecommerce SEO. The content on your product page and website isn’t just to connect with your audience but also to build authority on the search engine for better ranking. You need to create content based on the sales funnel, catering to your users’ needs at different stages of the buying journey. Your content should be a good mix of informative, conversational, and commercial intent.
The following are a few ecommerce SEO tips for content management:
- Use Ecommerce SEO tools to find the search queries and keywords to understand their needs and tailor your content to those queries.
- Avoid keyword stuffing in content, as it affects your authority and ranking.
- Focus on product-led content to boost sales. Highlight how the product helps resolve a particular problem.
- Add unique content on each page. Focus on writing SEO-friendly and unique product titles and short descriptions for each product. It enables you to avoid duplication.
- Use hreflang tags to highlight which page will be displayed based on the regional language and location. It is essential if you want to globalize the ecommerce store.
- Create content based on the ecommerce buyer funnel to attract, retain, and convert the target audience.
- Market your content on other platforms to drive traffic.
Build credible backlinks
The ecommerce store’s trustworthiness is among the most important factors influencing its ranking. The backlinks from other websites to yours affect your website’s trustworthiness. Therefore, focus on creating credible and high-quality backlinks for your website.
The following are a few ways to build credible backlinks for an ecommerce store:
- Guest posts relevant to your niche and used by your target audience.
- Work with third-party press writers and websites to get press mentions.
- Identify and claim unclaimed mentions of your brand on the Internet.
- Reach out to the website that links to your competitors to see if they’ll link to your website.
Set up an XML sitemap
The XML Sitemap and robots.txt files help search engine crawlers understand the important pages and which pages to crawl based on the search query. It boosts your indexing rate and leads to better ranking. While most ecommerce website hosting platforms create a sitemap, cross-check it on credible tools like the Google Search Console.
Boost your website’s performance with our expert Ecommerce SEO services!
The basic Ecommerce SEO practices are simple to follow. However, in a practical setting, the whole process is more complex and needs expert knowledge. When you are running your business, managing SEO can be a tedious task. That’s where we can help you!
Riofos Technologies is an expert e-commerce SEO company with years of experience in diverse niches. Our SEO experts create a tailored SEO strategy based on your Ecommerce business needs. Whether you want to boost local visibility, improve sales, and enhance user experience, we can help you make your ecommerce business a trusted brand that ranks on SERP, drives organic traffic, and has a good conversion rate.
Our SEO charges are as unique as your project, so let’s discuss your project more on a consultation call now!
Conclusion
Ecommerce SEO is the key to making your online business thrive. This Ecommerce SEO guide will walk you through all the essential steps to optimize your ecommerce website for better ranking, traffic, and conversions. You need to focus on creating a clear site layout, choosing relevant keywords, creating a responsive website design and product pages, improving loading speed, and creating engaging content to enhance user experience. Local SEO, voice search, image optimization, credible backlinks, and setting up an XML sitemap help search engine crawlers understand your website better and boost your ranking. Riofos offers reliable ecommerce SEO services to boost your website’s ranking and sales. Contact us to learn how we can help your e-commerce business grow
FAQ
What are the benefits of Ecommerce SEO?
Ecommerce SEO is a tool to boost your ranking for long-term results organically. Ecommerce SEO helps you boost your visibility and ranking on the SERP, improve organic traffic, enhance user experience, and generate authentic leads and sales. If you want sustainable growth for your ecommerce business, Ecommerce SEO is a must for you!
What are the best E-commerce SEO tools?
The best Ecommerce SEO tools depend on the tasks. For example, Google Search Console is the best to track your website’s performance metrics. Semrush and Ahrefs are good for keyword research, while RankMath and Yoast are best for any on-page SEO task. Screaming Frog helps you with site audit and analysis.
How long does it take to see results from Ecommerce SEO?
It can take 3 – 6 months to see any results from the Ecommerce SEO. However, if you are in a competitive niche, it might take a little longer. Remember that SEO is a long-term, sustainable practice to boost your organic ranking, traffic, and sales. Therefore, be patient when doing Ecommerce SEO.
Can I do Ecommerce SEO by myself?
Yes, you can do Ecommerce SEO by yourself to kickstart your store with the help of our Ecommerce SEO guide. However, you can work with SEO experts for better results and time management!
What are the differences between SEO and Ecommerce SEO?
The generic SEO focuses on all the website pages and content for website traffic and lead generation. However, ecommerce SEO is focused on sales and conversions. Therefore, an Ecommerce SEO expert optimizes the product pages, site layout, technical aspects, and more for a better user experience to boost sales.