Ecommerce SEO

Search engine optimization is the method used by webmasters around the world to help improve the ranking of their websites in the organic search results of a search engine. There are two ways that a website can be included on a search results page, either through paid search or organic search. Paid search involves paying the search engine company to display an ad with a link to your website in the special area designated for ads. Organic search refers to website listings that appear naturally when a user searches for a relevant term. SEO can only help improve your organic search results. Unlike paid search, the results are not instantaneous, but you will find that it is very beneficial for your site in the long run.

Unlike other types of websites, e-commerce sites are among the most difficult to optimize in search engines. This is due to an ineffective amount of unique content. Search engines love sites with lots of original and detailed content. Ecommerce sites are quite the opposite, they are made up mostly of product images and offer very little in terms of detailed descriptions. For online shoppers, a picture is worth a thousand words and they are more likely to make a purchase based on the look of the product. Product descriptions are often lacking in detail, it is common practice for most online stores to simply use the manufacturer’s description when describing a product. On top of all that, the internal link structure is weak and more attention is paid to the back end as most ecommerce sites use shopping cart software to list their products online. As a result, online stores tend not to rank very well in search engines.

If you already have an ecommerce business or are planning to start one, don’t despair, there is still hope for you. There are actually a number of ecommerce SEO techniques that will help improve your site’s ranking in search engines. Below is a breakdown of all the techniques you should use if you want a search engine friendly and optimized online store.

Ecommerce SEO Meta Tags

Meta title – this is the title that only search engines can see, it can be the same as the page title or different, but it should contain the most relevant keywords to describe the product

Meta description – this is the description that only search engines can see, it can be the same as the page description or different, make sure it is detailed and describes exactly how the product looks and how it works

Meta keywords – these are the keywords that only search engines can see, it is used as tags to describe the product, use only the most relevant keywords

Ecommerce SEO URL

Dynamic static HTML pages – these are pages that have relevant keywords in the URLs instead of generic numbers or product id, make sure each of your product pages, category pages and content pages have their own unique and descriptive URLs

Canonical tags – these are tags that are used to eliminate duplicate content that may have been created by having multiple versions of the same page

Ecommerce SEO Elements On Page

Header tags – use these tags when writing page or product titles, emphasize keywords to help search engines know they are important

Keywords – use relevant keywords on all your pages so that you can demonstrate exactly what is on the page

Unique Description – make sure you have original content that cannot be found in any other online store that sells the same product

Alt and title tags – add these tags to all your images so that they will not only find you in normal search results, but also in image search

Other Important Ecommerce SEO Factors

Breadcrumb navigation – text navigation on the page that adds an internal link structure that is very necessary in an e-commerce website

Google XML Sitemap – shows Google each and every page on your site and alerts them to new content so they don’t forget to go back and crawl your site

It is critical that you implement all of these ecommerce SEO elements throughout your online store. Some of these small changes can go a long way and get you ahead of your competition, so don’t overlook their importance. It is a long-term strategy that will gradually help increase your traffic and income.