SEO for Online Store. Optimization Techniques

What factors do we consider when doing SEO optimization for online stores? What are the actions to guarantee a place on the first page of Google? What are the most common mistakes online store owners make when it comes to eCommerce SEO?

SEO means getting your company's website to the top of Google search results, in other words, SEO helps your website appear in the first positions in Google results when a search is made using keywords related to your field of activity.

But how do search engines know your site deserves to rank well? These are the 4 pillars of the Google search algorithm:

Well-structured - a well-designed website can help you make a good impression on your potential customers.
Intuitive - a user-friendly website is intuitive and one that users will buy from.
Quality website - high-quality content is honest, and clear and does not serve any hidden agenda.
Relevant so that it contains useful information – From an SEO perspective, relevance refers to how well the information on a website matches a search query.

These statistics will convince you that SEO and e-commerce are deeply connected:

37.5% of all online store traffic comes from searches;
23.6% of online store orders are directly related to organic traffic;
1 out of 3 smartphone searches are performed before visiting a store;
search engine leads have a 14.6% conversion rate.

How eCommerce SEO is different from regular SEO?

Google treats queries involving financial transactions with extra care;
It is usually extremely competitive in any niche. Keep in mind that there are already tens of millions of online stores that want to rank on the first page of Google.

SEO for e-commerce is more complex because of:

product catalog management issues;
there are many categories of products that must be handled correctly;
depleted stocks and their proper management;
website architecture;
potential trust issues.

Checklist for On-Page SEO for online stores:

You need to make sure that your website pages have unique and SEO-relevant tags, unique H1, different meta descriptions and titles, "Alt" tags for unique images, appropriate image titles, etc. - all based on relevant keywords. If this is not possible to implement soon, given the extensive product catalog, the version in which some labels are autogenerated based on formulas is also acceptable, provided that each text created in this way has a certain degree of uniqueness, such as the name of the product, the price, the auxiliary services, the brand, etc.
Website Speed. If your website takes more than 4 seconds to load, 79% of visitors will not return. And 52% of those who shop online admit that website loading speed is important to become loyal to an online store. A single second of delay could cost you around 40% of your visitors!
SEO-friendly URLs - which would contain the targeted keyword (usually the product name). An address with numbers, with various filler words, and a very long URL, containing the same word 2 or more times, will be unclear not only to search engines but also to the potential buyer who landed on your product page.
Inter-linking - given that without proper internal structure, website visitors will be as confused as Google. Here the rule sounds quite simple: to be easily "understood" and indexed by Google, the internal link structure must be easy, and convenient for visitors to navigate. Also, each page must have links (give it votes of confidence) to another page that is close in terms of content, a complimentary page, or of maximum importance to the entire website. Navigating any site becomes practically easier, and more user-friendly if links to relevant pages and similar products are included.
The architecture of the site - it must be very intuitive and easy to understand, so that visitors feel like they are being carried in their arms, and not lost among the pages of an obscure online store. For your website to have an ideal architecture, it must meet the following conditions:
- Strive to keep things clear and simple.
- The website should be built in such a way that any page of the website can be reached with a maximum of 3 clicks.

What are the most important ranking factors for the E-shop site?

From many tests and research we have done and studied, backlinks are the most important ranking factor. Last time in 2017 Gary Illyes from Google confirmed that PageRank is still used in their algorithm. A lot of factors contribute to a backlink's ability to make a difference, 2 of the most important are relevance (links from sites and blogs that write about the same type of topics) and authority (links from strong sites that help the most with SEO).
Product page optimization – there is a world of opportunity to showcase your product so that it remains relevant and attractive to your customers. Remember that: Google wants to understand what the given page is about. It all starts with keyword analysis, and meta tags (add modifiers to your title tags like 'Buy', 'Cheap', and 'Offer' to get more long-tail traffic, i.e. the common terms that people use when searching for products on Google), create high-quality content that provides more product details than your competitors (do this at least for your most important products). Avoid duplicate content and stand out by taking care of your product pages.
Site Architecture and Internal Links - Site architecture should be intuitive and easy to understand/navigate. It is recommended that all product pages be 3 clicks away (or even less) from the homepage. Optimize your internal link structure to benefit from a good on-page visitor retention rate, you can also suggest products that are usually bought together or similar products. It's a great idea to offer your audience bundles.
UX/UI and Customer Reviews – What Does User Experience Mean? It's about easy-to-read content, internal links, product suggestions (for a lower bounce rate), a well-organized site, and interesting and useful content. While UI refers to websites that are designed according to user needs: with responsive design, without intrusive ads.

Customer reviews are mega important.

They build online shopper trust and boost your brand credibility: 88% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. This means Facebook, Google, and website reviews can increase your conversions and revenue. From an SEO perspective, website reviews provide additional text that may contain keywords that search engines can use to better understand the content of the pages.

The most common SEO mistakes we've seen when working with our client's online stores:

They have no or poor product descriptions;
Bad product page structure;
URLs that are not SEO friendly;
They don't use wow design elements and no color schemes that convert;
Categories sound too general (for example, the category is called "laptops", not "Apple laptops");
They do not make attractive offers and promotions;
They don't write blogs;
There is no accurate and reliable business information;
Pages with few images or images that are not genuine.

You can get more data about the SEO optimization of e-commerce from this video created by Backlinko.com.

Do you need SEO services for your e-commerce? Write to us at info{@}seolitte.com or call us today at +37 69 809 235!