Optimizing your ecommerce site for search engine visibility is critical for driving qualified organic traffic that converts to sales. With over half of shopping searches now happening online, effective SEO is mandatory for reaching and engaging those customers.
By making your website easily discoverable and accessible through strategic optimization, you can substantially expand revenue. Follow this comprehensive guide to ecommerce SEO success.
Keyword Research
Start by identifying the terms and phrases your potential customers are using to search for products in your space.
- Analyze keywords driving traffic to your competitors’ sites using tools like SEMrush.
- Review autocomplete suggestions for product categories relevant to your inventory.
- Research broader terms around product uses or benefits, like “dresses for women over 50”.
- Include related long-tail variations like “blue floral maxi dresses”.
- Factor in misspellings and typos people may search.
Build out a comprehensive keyword list to target through content and optimization.
Product Page Optimization
Ensure individual product pages implement ecommerce SEO best practices:
- Include your primary keywords in titles, product description, and specs.
- Write long, detailed product copy focusing on features, materials, uses and differentiators.
- Use high-quality images with optimized filenames and alt text describing each product.
- Add unique meta descriptions that make users want to click.
- Include structured data markup like product schema, JSON-LD, etc.
- Feature customer images, videos, ratings and reviews to build trust.
Optimized product detail pages drive conversions from search traffic.
Category Pages
Build out category pages around your site’s main products, services or styles.
- “Dresses” or “Shoes” general category pages.
- “Wedding dresses” or “Running shoes” for subcategories.
- Location or benefit-based categories like “Eco-friendly clothes”.
- Keep copy focused on the category purpose with relevant keywords.
These pages help searchers easily browse and segment your inventory.
Site Architecture
Structure your site effectively for both users and search bots:
- Organize products logically into nested categories and subcategories.
- Use descriptive categories, filenames, alt text and page titles.
- Implement faceted navigation and filters to refine searches.
- Ensure site search is robust and keywords return relevant results.
- Include links to related products and complementary purchases.
- Limit use of images or Flash that can’t be parsed by search engines.
Solid IA improves crawlability and indexation for SEO.
Blog Content & Resources
Create dedicated content beyond just product-focused pages:
- Blog articles on your industry, latest trends, buying guides, etc.
- Curated lists of top product recommendations.
- Informative guides on selecting, using and caring for products.
- Interactive tools like quizzes identifying ideal products for customers.
- Visual assets like infographics, charts, photos and videos.
Valuable content builds authority in your space and converts searchers.
Local SEO
For ecommerce brands with brick-and-mortar stores, ensure your locations are fully optimized:
- Complete your Google My Business listings with images, descriptions, hours and services.
- Include city pages targeting searches for “X products in Portland”.
- Add local business schema and JSON-LD structured data to location pages.
- Build location-optimized landing pages and content.
- Get customer reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp and other important local sites.
Local SEO connects nearby searchers with your physical stores.
Technical Considerations
Optimize technical elements for a search-friendly site:
- Fast load times on mobile and desktop. Compress images, minify code, and optimize caching.
- Seamless mobile experience using responsive design and mobile-first indexing.
- Strong internal linking structures and architecture.
- Proper use of headings, alt text and structured markup.
- Clean URLs and XML sitemaps.
- Fix crawling errors, broken links and other issues identified in Search Console.
A fast, technically-sound site improves crawling and conversions.
Link Building & Brand Awareness
- Produce truly helpful resources and linkworthy assets that can be pitched to related sites.
- Guest post on reputable blogs in your industry. Ensure contributor guidelines are followed.
- Participate in HARO requests and secure earned media placements and links.
- Build relationships with influencers and partners to collaborate on co-marketing.
- Sponsor giveaways and contests to build links and social shares.
- Expand brand mentions and organic links through PR outreach.
Diverse, quality links signal authority to search engines.
By investing in these core areas of technical and content ecommerce SEO, your site will attract higher quality search traffic that converts at a greater rate. Dedicate resources to optimizing the end-to-end customer journey, from initial product discovery to website experience leading to purchase and beyond.
The ongoing effort delivers exponential returns by tapping into customer demand and boosting visibility when consumers are ready to buy. Pair your ecommerce SEO with paid ads and social promotion to maximize sales from every channel.