To succeed in the competitive world of eCommerce, it’s imperative to have a solid understanding of eCommerce SEO. Leveraging the power of eCommerce SEO can significantly increase the visibility of your online store, catapulting your products to the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) and boosting your eCommerce site’s organic traffic.
One specific eCommerce SEO essential that every online retailer must focus in-depth on is keyword research. Keywords are the backbone of SEO. They help search engines identify the relevance of your website content to search queries made by users.
The details of keyword research might seem overwhelming initially, but the correct tools can simplify the process. Google Keyword Planner is a prime example. It provides details about the average monthly search volume of the keywords, the level of competition for them, and even suggests other similar keywords that you might not have considered.
The key to successful keyword research is understanding customer intent. It demands putting yourself into your customers’ shoes, comprehending their pain points and what they may be searching for. For instance, a customer searching for ‘organic dog food’ is not just looking for dog food; they want the dog food to be organic. Therefore, ‘organic dog food’ is a much more targeted keyword than just ‘dog food’. These are long-tail keywords, consisting of three or more words, which are more specific and less competitive.
Once the keyword research is done, the next step is to optimise your website using these keywords. While it is essential to have these keywords in your product titles and descriptions, overdoing it, also known as “keyword stuffing”, could hurt your SEO efforts as search engines may consider it as a spammy tactic. It’s crucial to maintain a natural flow of the content and insert the keywords in a way that doesn’t detract from the user experience.
Another crucial aspect of eCommerce SEO is the site’s architecture. A well-structured, easy to navigate website can significantly improve the user experience, therefore, increasing the chances of conversions. Incorporating a breadcrumb navigation on your website helps users understand their location on your site relative to the homepage. This can also help search engines to understand the structure of your website.
Furthermore, mobile optimization has never been more important. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. Therefore, your eCommerce site should not just be mobile-friendly, it should be designed with mobile as a priority.
Lastly, setting up an SSL certificate for your website is crucial as it increases site security and helps build customer trust. Google has confirmed that HTTPS is a ranking signal, so having an SSL certificate can also aid your SEO efforts.
In conclusion, eCommerce SEO is an ongoing process and requires constant updating and optimizing. It starts with comprehensive keyword research and then cascades to every facet of your website, from content optimization to technical SEO. Mastering these eCommerce SEO essentials can bring a significant improvement to your website’s organic traffic, visibility, and ultimately, sales.
