With the global online retail market set to exceed $8 trillion by 2027, mastering eCommerce SEO is no longer optional – it’s essential.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll find key strategies to increase your store’s visibility, attract targeted traffic, and drive substantial sales growth.
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Key takeaways
- Search Engine Optimization enhances your store’s visibility on popular search engines, attracts targeted traffic, and reduces overall marketing costs.
- Keyword research helps you identify what potential customers are searching for, allowing you to create targeted content that enhances your site’s visibility in search results.
- Combine on-page SEO techniques with technical improvements to enhance your website’s performance and visibility in search results.
- Advanced eCommerce SEO techniques, including AI-powered content optimization and voice search adjustments, can streamline your operations and improve discoverability.
- Avoid common SEO mistakes like keyword stuffing and overlooking mobile users to ensure your efforts deliver positive results.
- Spice up your SEO game by teaming with Printify to create and sell custom merchandise with your own designs.
Why is SEO important for eCommerce sites?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) fine-tunes your website to help it achieve higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Why do eCommerce websites use SEO?
- It drives organic traffic
SEO attracts shoppers looking for products or services your online store offers.
Higher rankings in search results make your store easier to find, increasing website visits and potential sales.
- It’s cost-effective
Organic traffic from SEO is more affordable than paid advertising, allowing you to invest more in your business.
- It’s a good way to raise brand awareness and trust
Consistently ranking at the top of SERPs enhances your visibility and credibility.
This leads to higher click-through rates and increased confidence among online shoppers, ultimately driving more traffic and conversions to your eCommerce store.
- It gives a competitive advantage
Strong SEO gives you a competitive edge, helping your eCommerce store stand out in search results and attract more customers than less-optimized competitors.
- It offers long-term benefits
Unlike paid advertising, which requires continuous investment, SEO offers lasting benefits. A strong ranking can sustain traffic over time without additional costs.
eCommerce keyword research
Keyword research means identifying the terms potential customers use to search for products or services like yours.
By conducting keyword research, you pinpoint terms that attract clicks and bring in buyers ready to convert.
Here’s how to do it.
- Create a list of search terms
Brainstorm keyword ideas that reflect your products or services’ features and unique qualities.
Focus on words and phrases potential customers might use in their online searches.
- Use keyword research tools
Try online tools like Semrush or Google Keyword Planner to analyze your target keywords.
A keyword research tool will show you search volume, keyword difficulty, competition, and related search terms.
- Don’t overlook long-tail keywords
These are longer, more specific phrases that expand on a target keyword to better align with search intent.
They usually consist of three to five words like “cat-shaped backpacks” or “octopus backpack for kids.”
Long-tail keywords provide lower competition and higher conversion rates.
- Monitor keyword performance
Track keyword rankings and use analytics tools like the Google Search Console to measure your site’s search traffic and performance, adjusting your strategy as needed.
eCommerce site architecture
Optimizing your site’s architecture involves organizing pages in a simple, scalable manner, ensuring every product and piece of information is easily accessible within a few clicks from the homepage.
Here’s how to perfect your store’s site structure.
Keep it simple
Create intuitive menus and product category pages with descriptive labels, ensuring visitors can easily find what they need, like Shop, Men, Women, T-shirts, and more.
Keep it fast
Make sure every product can be reached within three clicks from your homepage, improving user experience and search engine crawlability. Apparel – Women – T-shirts.
Organize for scalability
Create a site structure with a logical hierarchy that can easily expand to include new product and category pages as your store scales.
Use relevant keywords
Adding a primary keyword to your URL and relevant search terms throughout your site will improve SEO and help customers find what they’re looking for faster.
How to master on-page SEO for eCommerce
On-page optimization is necessary for eCommerce sites to rank higher on Google and other search engines. It involves optimizing individual web pages with elements like content, keywords, and meta tags. Here’s what you can do.
Create compelling metadata
Write concise and descriptive title tags and meta descriptions that include your target keywords and entice clicks.
A title tag should be 50 to 60 characters long and give a good idea of what the web page is about.
Combine each title tag with a meta description of 50 to 160 characters that summarizes the page content and encourages users to visit your eCommerce site.
Spice up your eCommerce product pages
Use high-quality images and write engaging, concise, and informative descriptions for your eCommerce site’s product pages.
Include relevant keywords and clearly communicate the product’s unique selling points.
Start blogging
Identify the topics your target audience is interested in, and publish relevant, informative content like how-to guides, seasonal trends, product reviews, and industry news on your eCommerce website.
For example, if you’re targeting cat enthusiasts with cat-themed designs, you could write about cat-friendly products, pet care, or the International Cat Day (August 8, by the way).
Use commercial and informational keywords and internal linking to connect a relevant product or category page.
Ensure each blog post delivers unique insights to avoid duplicate content.
Add clear calls to action
Incorporate calls to action (CTAs) in your content to guide users toward desired actions, like purchasing a product or signing up for your newsletter.
Use action-oriented language that creates a sense of urgency or value, like “Buy Now,” “Get Yours Today,” or “Subscribe for Updates.”
Place CTAs within your content to maximize visibility and ensure they’re easy to click.
Showcase user-generated content
Encourage customers to leave ratings and reviews on your product pages to build trust and provide social proof.
Showcasing user testimonials, photos or videos of customers using your products enhances authenticity and engagement of eCommerce websites.
Avoid duplicate content
Whether it’s eCommerce category pages or blog posts, duplicate content confuses search engines about which page to index and rank, ultimately diluting the SEO value of your pages.
Ensure each page has unique content, and use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page when similar content is unavoidable.
Update regularly
To keep your web pages relevant, regularly update your content, including metadata, product descriptions, and blog posts.
To maintain a solid rank in Google search, remove outdated information and optimize older posts with keywords based on search volume and current trends.
eCommerce technical SEO
This is the behind-the-scenes optimization of your website’s architecture, ensuring a search engine can easily crawl, index, and understand your content.
What are the benefits for eCommerce stores?
- Your customers enjoy smooth navigation and quicker load times, keeping them engaged and reducing bounce rates.
- Technical SEO raises your visibility in Google search results, leading to more organic traffic and increased sales opportunities.
- Enhanced site performance and a higher search rank translate to a more competitive edge in the market and a better overall shopping experience for your customers.
How to carry out technical SEO?
Create a clear hierarchy
Build a logical navigation flow from your homepage by linking to category, subcategory, and product pages.
Add a dropdown menu to streamline access to different parts of your eCommerce site.
Make searching for products easy
An intuitive search experience can turn casual visitors into loyal customers. Add a search bar on your site to help users find products quickly.
Enhance this feature with smart autocomplete suggestions, customizable filters, and intuitive sorting options.
Use internal linking
Internal linking improves user experience and supports SEO by connecting related content across your site.
By strategically placing internal links in your blog posts, guides, and product pages, you help visitors easily find additional relevant information.
Proper internal link use also ensures that page authority is spread throughout your site, which can improve the visibility of your content.
Improve page speed
Optimize your site’s load times to accelerate its performance.
Start by using tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to measure your current performance, accessibility, SEO, and receive actionable tips on improving your website.
Focus on compressing images, enabling browser caching, and minimizing code.
Optimize your visuals
Create responsive images that adjust to different screen sizes, delivering a smooth and engaging experience on any device.
Add descriptive filenames for your images, incorporating target keywords. Instead of “IMG_1234.png,” go with something like “blue-bucket-hat-front-view.png.”
Use online tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim to compress images and reduce load times without sacrificing quality.
Additionally, adding alt texts to images is crucial for SEO. These brief descriptions enhance accessibility for visually impaired visitors.
Create user-friendly URLs
A clean URL structure helps search engines understand your content and improves user experience by making links more readable.
Use simple, descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords, whether it’s for a category page, product page, or any other section of your eCommerce site.
Avoid messy and random strings of numbers or letters, and use hyphens to separate words, improving readability.
Submit an XML sitemap
This file lists all the pages on your eCommerce site, providing a roadmap to your site structure.
Build and submit your XML sitemap to the Google Search Console, and regularly update it to reflect any changes and new content.
This ensures that search engines can easily discover and index all relevant pages, improving your site’s visibility in search results.
Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
With mobile transactions accounting for over half of all retail eCommerce sales, your mobile site needs to be as good as its desktop version.
Additionally, Google uses mobile-first indexing, so having a mobile-optimized site is essential for maintaining search rankings.
Adopt a responsive design that adjusts to all screen sizes and ensures your mobile content, including text, images, and metadata, mirrors your desktop site.
Use Chrome DevTools to simulate mobile performance and address any issues. Avoid separate mobile URLs and focus on a unified, responsive approach to improve user experience and SEO.
Make your website secure
Customers need confidence that their personal and payment information is protected.
Securing your site is simple. An SSL certificate from your hosting provider encrypts the data shared between your customers and your server.
The SSL certificate will be visible in your store’s URL as “https://” and feature a padlock icon, reassuring users that their data is safe.
Additionally, Google considers HTTPS a ranking factor, so securing your site will also positively impact your search visibility.
How to drive traffic from search engines with content
Content marketing is a powerful strategy for eCommerce businesses to attract and engage their target audience with valuable information.
When combined with SEO, it becomes essential for a successful eCommerce SEO strategy. Here are some tips for using content in your eCommerce SEO campaign.
Share valuable and keyword-driven content
Address your target customers’ search queries and informational needs using keywords you’ve found with tools like Semrush or Google Keyword Planner.
Whether it’s blog posts, how-to guides, product reviews, or infographics, ensure that your content provides actionable insights and solutions.
High-quality content is more likely to be shared, increasing your reach and driving more traffic to your eCommerce site.
Try various formats
Convert blog posts into engaging videos, create informative infographics, or produce insightful podcasts to appeal to different audience preferences.
By diversifying your content, you’ll be able to attract a broader audience and enhance the effectiveness of your eCommerce SEO strategy.
Encourage user engagement
Active user interactions signal that your content is relevant and engaging, so invite your target audience to comment, ask questions, and provide feedback.
Respond to comments and foster a community around your content to build stronger relationships with your audience and raise your content’s credibility and visibility in search results.
Create content clusters
Organize your content into clusters around core topics. Create pillar pages that cover broad topics in depth and link to related cluster content.
This is an excellent way to strengthen your content’s relevance and authority while also enhancing user experience with a well-structured content hierarchy.
Promote across multiple channels
Share your content through social media, email newsletters, and online communities.
Promoting your content helps increase visibility, drive traffic, and build engagement.
Cross-promotion also encourages other sites to link back to your content, further enhancing your SEO marketing efforts.
Update and refresh content regularly
Keep your content current by regularly updating it with the latest information and trends.
Refreshing old content can improve its performance in search results and ensure that it continues to provide value to your audience.
Use analytics tools
Track the performance of your content using tools like Google Analytics to see which pieces drive the most traffic, engagement, and conversions.
Use these insights to refine your content strategy and focus on producing more of what works.
Link building process for eCommerce sites
Acquire backlinks, or inbound links, from other websites to your online store.
These links act as votes of confidence in the digital eyes of a search engine, helping to improve your website’s authority and rank.
How to build links for your eCommerce store?
Research and identify opportunities
Begin by researching websites and blogs relevant to your niche.
Use tools like Ahrefs or Moz to identify high-domain authority sites that accept guest posts or have previously linked to similar content.
Identify broken links on industry-relevant websites and offer your own content as a replacement, earning a valuable backlink in the process.
Try guest posting
Offer writing guest posts for reputable websites in your niche. This allows you to provide valuable content to a new audience while earning backlinks to your site.
Ensure your guest posts are high-quality and relevant to the host site’s audience.
Use social media
Gain exposure by promoting your content on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Collaborate with social media influencers in your industry to create co-branded content or product reviews, which can lead to valuable backlinks and increased brand awareness.
Keep building and updating
Link-building is an ongoing process. Continuously seek new opportunities to create and promote valuable content.
Stay updated on the latest SEO trends and adjust your strategies to maintain and improve your ranking.
Advanced eCommerce SEO techniques
After you’ve mastered the basics of eCommerce SEO, consider exploring more advanced techniques to enhance your online presence further.
1. Use AI and machine learning for SEO
AI-powered tools can automate SEO tasks like optimizing content, researching keywords, and running technical audits.
AI tools can analyze your content to ensure it meets search intent and provide improvement recommendations.
Some of the best eCommerce SEO tools can also automate routine tasks, allowing you to focus on more strategic aspects of your SEO strategy.
Go through our list of the best Shopify SEO apps for automating your business.
2. Optimize for voice search
With a forecast of 157.1 million voice assistant users by 2026, optimizing eCommerce sites for voice search is becoming increasingly important.
Tailor your content to answer popular voice queries and focus on long-tail keywords that mimic conversational speech.
3. Localize your SEO efforts
If your eCommerce business also serves a local market, optimize your content for local search and use location-based keywords to attract customers from the area.
Ensure your Google Business profile has accurate information, photos, and contact details.
Encourage satisfied local customers to leave positive reviews and engage with relevant local communities to enhance your search visibility.
4. Add schema markup
Schema markup is a type of microdata that you add to your website’s HTML to improve how your page is read and represented in SERPs.
It lets you provide information on your products, prices, reviews, and other relevant data to help a search engine like Google understand your pages better.
Adding Schema Markup increases your chances of earning rich snippets in search results, which can lead to higher click-through rates.
5. Monitor technical SEO issues
Keeping an eye out for technical issues is essential to maintain and improve the rank of eCommerce websites.
Monitor the technical aspects of your site regularly to ensure your content remains optimized and functional.
Follow this technical eCommerce SEO checklist:
- Crawl errors
Use Google’s Webmaster tools to identify and fix any crawl errors that prevent accurate indexing of your pages.
- Site speed
Regularly check your site’s loading times and optimize performance to enhance user experience and SEO.
- Broken links
Routinely scan for and repair broken links to prevent negative user experience and loss of ranking.
- Mobile usability
Ensure your site is fully optimized for mobile devices to meet customer expectations and improve your performance.
- XML sitemap
Verify that your XML sitemap is updated and submitted to facilitate better indexing of your site’s pages.
Common SEO mistakes to avoid
Let’s go over some frequent and widespread mistakes to avoid.
1. Keyword stuffing and over-optimization
While keywords are essential for SEO, overloading your content with them can make it seem unnatural, reduce readability, and lead to search engine penalties.
Use synonyms and related terms to maintain a natural flow while targeting relevant search queries.
2. Ignoring mobile users
A site that isn’t mobile-friendly may lead to negative user experiences, high bounce rates, and lower search engine rankings.
Follow our tips to ensure your website is responsive, with fast load times and mobile-friendly navigation.
3. Neglecting technical SEO aspects
Ignoring technical issues like broken links or slow page speeds can significantly impact the performance of eCommerce sites.
Monitor your site regularly and address problems promptly to ensure smooth crawling and indexing by search engines, enhancing user experience and maintaining strong search rankings.
4. Forgetting to update your content
Search engines prioritize fresh, relevant content that reflects the latest trends and information, which is why outdated content can negatively impact SEO and lower user engagement.
Regularly update your title tags, meta descriptions, internal links, category pages, and other site content to ensure they remain current and useful.
Discover additional strategies to improve your SEO game and increase visibility on leading eCommerce platforms and marketplaces:
SEO settled? Time to start your eCommerce journey
Partner with Printify to seamlessly transition from actionable eCommerce SEO tips to selling custom merchandise in your online store!
FAQ
eCommerce SEO refers to optimizing an online store’s website and content to improve its visibility in search engine results, ultimately driving organic traffic and generating sales.
Effective eCommerce SEO strategies include keyword research, optimizing site architecture, applying on-page and technical SEO, using content marketing, and strategic link building.
Absolutely! SEO drives traffic to eCommerce stores from organic search results, which can lead to increased sales and other long-term benefits.
While it may take some time to see actual benefits, SEO drives traffic from organic search results and increases brand visibility, ultimately leading to more sales, which makes it worthwhile in the long run.
Start by brainstorming keyword ideas, then carry out research, optimize your product and category pages, enhance technical aspects like site speed, and create valuable content.
Follow the tips from this blog and gradually expand your efforts for a more nuanced approach.
To summarize
eCommerce SEO is essential for all online stores to improve brand visibility and drive sales from organic search results.
We’ve covered everything you need to know to get started, so all that’s left is for you to implement these strategies and watch your store flourish with increased search volume.
Partner with Printify to expand your online store offerings with print-on-demand merchandise!
