In the era of brutal search engine core updates, ecommerce sites are ranking higher than their blog counterparts for the same keywords. So, if you own an online store, you’re in a golden era.
You’re in the best position to implement the full benefits of ecommerce SEO, as search gods reward ecommerce sites implementing best practices.
But the question is – if Google puts out so many updates, isn’t this another fad? Are there any long term benefits of ecommerce search engine optimization? Short answer is – ecommerce SEO not a fad. Now, for the long answer:
Ageless Benefits of Ecommerce SEO
Search engines like Google use complex algorithms to determine which sites appear at the top of search results. A well-executed SEO strategy aligns your ecommerce site favorably to ‘appease’ these algorithms and appear at the top of search engine results pages.
And every ecommerce merchant worth their salt knows that increased visibility = higher traffic = more sales.
Apart from the increased visibility, here are some other benefits of ecommerce SEO that smart merchants use to justify committing resources to search engine optimization.
- Lower conversion cost. Ecommerce SEO costs significantly less than marketing channels such as paid advertising. Research shows that businesses spend 10.5% or less of their marketing budgets on SEO, with a better long-term ROI. A product that appears on Page 1 of search results stays on Page 1 after the costs of optimizing that page have been recovered.
- Level playing field. With the content marketing approach, smaller ecommerce websites appear on the same search engine results as their better-funded, bigger brand counterparts – thanks to ecommerce SEO.
- Long-term ROI. E-commerce SEO offers merchants on a budget a “set once, earn forever” opportunity. Unlike with paid ads, any efforts to improve your on-page SEO continue to bring organic traffic to your store, without burdensome financial commitments.
- Better user experience. Any efforts you make towards making your ecommerce website easier for search engines to crawl, also make it easier for online shoppers to purchase from you. Win-Win for all.
- Higher conversion rates. The phrase ” Go where you are wanted” is as true for relationships as it is true for online business. By optimizing your ecommerce website to align with the search intent of online shoppers, you are placing your site in front of the demand. With just a few tweaks, you can drastically drive organic traffic to your store and increase revenue without any “apologies for interrupting your video” shenanigans.
- Stronger brand authority. In the world of online shopping, customers perceive websites at the top of search engine results as more credible and trustworthy. Ecommerce SEO is one way to enter champagne visibility circles on a lemonade budget.
These are just some of the reasons why smart merchants don’t take ecommerce SEO lightly. The benefits of ecommerce SEO extend beyond basic “keyword tetris” wins, contributing to sustainable business growth in a more competitive online marketplace.
What Are The Building Blocks of Ecommerce SEO?
An effective ecommerce SEO strategy relies on several building blocks that work together to improve your visibility in search results and organic traffic. These key elements optimize your product discoverability and enhance the overall user experience.
Together, these form a well-organized ecommerce site structure that optimizes easy navigation, improves content relevancy, and adheres to best practices in on-page SEO to get you seen prominently in organic search results.
Keyword Research
Keywords form the backbone of any successful ecommerce SEO strategy. Thorough keyword research helps you identify the terms and phrases potential customers use when searching for your products.
Tip: Prioritize long-tail keywords as they are better for targeting specific product features or customer needs.
Specialized ecommerce SEO tools like Plug In SEO as well as general tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, etc will help you discover high-value, low-competition keywords. It is important to perform ecommerce keyword research regularly, and adapt your strategy to changing search trends and consumer behavior.
Once your research is done, integrate your the target keyword (and other relevant keywords), into product titles, descriptions, and meta tags to improve search engine visibility.
Remember to use keywords naturally in your content to avoid overstuffing. A balanced approach keeps your content marketing efforts valuable to both your visitors and search engines.
Product and Category Pages
Product and category pages are the prime “real estate” for ecommerce SEO. Optimize category and product pages as part of your ecommerce SEO campaign to make it easy to navigate your online store, and improve your user experience and accessibility.
Key ways to optimize these include:
- Using descriptive, keyword-rich product titles
- Writing unique, detailed product descriptions
- Implementing schema markup for enhanced search results
- Optimizing image alt tags with relevant keywords
Your category pages will benefit from clear hierarchical structures and internal links. This approach helps search engines understand the site’s organization and make your web pages easier to crawl through.
Technical SEO and Site Architecture
Technical SEO and site architecture play crucial roles in ecommerce SEO performance. A well-structured site reduces the frustration (and bounce rates!) of your visitors while making it easier for search engines to crawl through your store. Understanding search engine users and addressing their needs can significantly improve SEO performance.
Key technical SEO elements include:
- Implementing a logical URL structure
- Ensuring fast page load speeds
- Creating and submitting XML sitemaps
- Using canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues
Proper internal linking helps distribute link equity throughout the site and guides users to related products. A flat site structure, where pages are accessible within a few clicks from the homepage, improves both user navigation and search engine indexing.
It is important to perform technical ecommerce SEO audits using tools like Plug In SEO to help identify and resolve issues that may hinder SEO performance, such as broken links or crawl errors. This will help you stay ahead of your competitors and respond quickly if your search rankings ever slip.
How to Implement a Future-Proof Ecommerce SEO Strategy for Your Shopify Store
Some studies show businesses generate twice as much revenue through organic marketing than all other channels combined.
Let’s assume that the average shop converts 1.3% of its traffic — that’s 13 sales from 1,000 visitors or 130 sales from 10,000. Ecommerce SEO remains the most sustainable, and financially feasible way to 10x your store’s traffic and subsequently, sales.
Well-planned ecommerce SEO strategies are crucial for your long-term success, as they help attract more website traffic and marketing value to your efforts.
Here are step-by-step instructions for creating and executing an effective SEO strategy for your Shopify store.
1. Run a Shopify SEO audit
Understanding where your coming from is very important, if you want to define where you’re going.
A Shopify SEO audit helps you understand your store’s current SEO position, so that you can understand exactly what action you need to take to improve your future position.
You can either hire an ecommerce SEO expert to help you with this over weeks, or you can use the tools they use (Plug In SEO) and get your SEO audit completed in as little as 30 minutes.
2. Know Your Target Audience
It goes without saying that, it is important to understand your target audience?
Certain factors increase the likelihood of your audience choosing you over your competitors. These factors usually tell your target audience how well you understand their problems, and why your products are a perfect match for addressing their needs.
Imagine you sell high-end fishing gear to high-income earners who want the best of the best. Creating organic marketing content that positions your fishing tackle as generational heirlooms is one way you can stand above the competition.
3. Conduct Targeted Keyword Research
Once you understand your target audience, you can start researching target keywords customers use to find your products on Google. Your goal is to create content that addresses the target keywords potential customers use.
To find the best keywords to target, your research must focus on finding the highest, least competitive keywords variations for your product page(s). This is because highly competitive phrases will be very difficult to rank for unless you already have a highly active and trusted online presence.
It’s hard to research SEO keywords without specialized tools. That’s why tools like Plug In SEO, Ahrefs, and Moz exist.
For instance, you can use Plug In SEO to cut down your keyword time by scanning your store and giving you a list of the best-fit keywords to target.
4. Share Valuable Content
After researching keywords, you can start creating content around them. This includes blog posts, product pages, and even social media posts. The important thing is to incorporate keywords in the content so that the right people find your pages.
One thing to note here is that your content quality heavily impacts your optimization efforts. When quality is bad, people leave the page quickly. This increases your site’s bounce rate, which harms it in Google’s SEO algorithms.
As a rule, try to write the best content on the internet for your targeted keywords. If you don’t feel confident that you can pull this off internally within your team, it makes sense to partner with a freelance writer or content creation company.
5. Improve Technical Search Engine Optimization
Improving technical SEO is another way to reap the full benefits of ecommerce SEO. This means optimizing the site’s layout, performance, and other back-end elements.
Some ways to boost technical SEO include:
- Javascript, CSS, and image optimization
- Adding missing headings and images
- Speeding up the site’s load times
- Creating a more detailed, interconnected sitemap
- Making the website mobile-friendly
Technical SEO can quickly turn quite expensive without a dedicated developer at hand. It’s typically a smarter use of time and money to invest in an affordable tool that can do the heavy lifting. Plug In SEO and Plug In Speed are powerful tools that quickly identify your store’s technical SEO problems and tell you how to fix them.
6. Monitor Performance and Adapt
All that’s left to do at this point is to monitor how these changes impact the amount of incoming organic traffic. Just remember that it can take six to 12 months to start seeing results. If you don’t get results after some time, consider trying something new. Trial and error will be the only way to find what works best.
Reap the Benefits of Ecommerce SEO With Plug In SEO
A successful organic marketing strategy can be the difference between success or failure on Shopify. So there’s no time like the present for you to start working on your store’s SEO.
Plug In SEO makes it easy to get started. You can download the app right from the Shopify app store and audit your store right out of the box, without paying a single cent!
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