Launching a website or online store is a real challenge for businesses that are not yet Digital. In 2024, it is not enough to launch a website with a simple structure (genre: Basic Landing Page) and wait for the avalanche of customers. How do you think they will find you if they haven't heard of you and your products/services yet?

To be as close as possible to them, you need effective Google promotion and website optimizations that will help you attract your target audience and have as many conversions as possible.

If until now you didn't know exactly what SEO optimization actions you need to do before launching a website or online store, then this article is for you.

Below, the SEOLITTE team provides you with a list of site improvement activities that you must do before launching your campaigns to promote your products and services online.

Let's get started:

Pre-launch SEO work of the e-commerce site

The question that arises at the initial stage is: what volume of keywords will be worked with? In other words, how many keywords do you want your site to rank for in search engines? You must know an important detail, keywords are the "backbone" of an SEO strategy. They provide you with valuable information about:

• The volume of searches in your niche and the level of consumer interest in your business;
• Concerns of potential customers;
• The difficulty of ranking at the top on the most competitive keywords (the level of competition in the SERPs);
• Opportunities to outperform your competitors in your niche.

In general, the volume of keywords used depends on the size of the project you want to launch online. The recommended volume depends on the size of your website and the competition in the niche, as follows:

• 200 keywords (small and medium-sized online stores where the competition is low to medium);
• 200-750 keywords (online stores, large websites with competitive niches);
• Over 750 keywords (online stores, large websites with over 10,000 pages in very competitive niches).

To decide which keywords you want your e-commerce site to rank for, we recommend starting with the first phase:

(Phase I - strategic) - Steps taken:

• Competition study and online business niche study. At this phase, the target audience is identified, the goals that the audience has when they visit the site are determined, and the functional requirements of each user are determined (what they are accessing the page for, what they are looking for, for example, they are looking for a message box to contact a store representative, etc.).
• Analyzing specific keywords for service/product groups, then grouping keywords per site page.
• Establishing the architecture of the site with a focus on marketing (at this stage you get suggestions for creating new categories and subcategories that will contain new keywords that you will be able to rank in Google).
• Facilitating correct indexing by Google by setting up SEO tools such as Sitemap.xml, Schema.org, etc. You can't do effective SEO optimization for your website if you don't pay maximum attention to website indexing. Schema.org and Sitemap.xml will make search engine bots analyze the complete structure of your site and permanently increase its indexing speed and quality.
• Building a long-term strategy to deliver SEO results along the way. Such a strategy will help your website maintain its position even after a year after the SEO works have been implemented on the website.

(Phase II - operational) On-Page SEO

In the second phase of SEO actions, we talk about an analysis of the site's accessibility. To make sure that Google will crawl your website correctly and to see the level of UX (User Experience), you need to answer the following questions:

1. Are the pages and content on the website search engine friendly?
2. Is the content accessible to the general public, across all devices and browsers?
3. Do the website pages load quickly on all devices (smartphone, tablet, PC, etc.)?
4. Is the design, user interface, and experience pleasant and easy for all users?

If you don't have exact answers to at least 2 questions, then you need to move on to concrete SEO actions that must be carried out on the site, namely:

• Setting up statistical and impact analysis/tracking tools (Google Analytics; Google Search Console, etc.)
• Creating Open Graph tags
• Creating and implementing appropriate meta tags (title, meta descriptions)
• Creating and implementing Anchor and Header Texts (H1, H2, ..., H6)
• Optimizing images, creating and adding ALT texts
• Basic tips on optimizing your website speed. At this stage, the SEOLITTE team comes up with some tips that are sent to developers so that they can improve the website's operating speed on all devices.

So here are our recommendations:

1. Install a responsive theme on the site (if the site is on the WordPress platform, in the settings you can find a lot of responsive themes that will help your site have a user-friendly structure).
2. Simplify the menu (the simpler the menu, the faster the user will reach the page they need).
3. Keep website forms as short as possible  (we are talking about the forms that the user must fill in when placing the order on the website). So simplify them as much as possible so as not to waste the user's time.
4. Optimize the size of images on the site (do not upload large images, they reduce the site's loading speed).
5. Reduce the number of plugins on the site (leave only the plugins you use, the non-functional ones you can delete without problems).
6. Minimize the number of JavaScript and CCS files (a large number of files fills the site's code and slows down its speed).
7. Use the site's cache.
8. Use a simple font for your website text.
9. Detect and remove 404 errors.

Know that your work on organic promotion in Google does not stop there. After the website launch, you will also have to work on-site maintenance. The giant Google appreciates when the site is updated and optimized as best as possible for users, but also for the fastest indexing of website pages.

Not sure if SEO is right for you or have questions about these actions? Call us at +373 69 809 235 and we offer you a FREE consultation for all SEO and digital promotion services. Together we look for customized solutions to help your business grow. SEOLITTE – your ally in marketing that sells!

P.S. Do you want to optimize an already launched e-commerce? See here how to do SEO at the online store!