With regular changes in algorithm, updates on search engine features, and conflicting advice, many e-tailers are still not sure where to start with an eCommerce SEO strategy. That’s why we’re sharing our tried-and-tested eCommerce SEO strategies that can drive results for your business.

How to improve your eCommerce SEO Strategy

These tips will help you to improve your organic search rankings, increase website traffic, improve brand awareness and enhance conversion.

·         Decrease the load time

·         Optimize for mobile

·         Get rid of the site errors

·         Enable canonical tags

·         Add customer reviews

·         Use markup to enable knowledge graphs and rich snippets

·         Add breadcrumbs

·         Optimize the content

·         Optimize for site search

·         Monitor the SEO visibility

 

  1.   Decrease the load time

Fast load times not only give a great user experience but also significantly impact search rankings. We think, 100-200s of milliseconds load time is a great benchmark. There are many ways to improve site speed but image compression generally makes an immediate impact. You can use Google Tag Manager to take inventory of active scripts on your site. If the list looks like a novel, you might have to remove excess cell that is slowing down your site.

 

  1.   Optimize for mobile

If your site is not optimized for mobile, you’re in a disadvantageous position. Evolving user habits are important as they make responsive design essential from both an SEO and user experience angle.

If you want to take things a step further, Google’s AMP format can further optimize mobile experiences by decreasing load time and improving mobile search rank. You can use HubSpot’s Website Grader which has Viewports configured. It can check whether your site is mobile responsive.

 

  1.       Get rid of the site errors

Do continuous monitoring of Google Search Console (Google Webmaster Tools) to keep your site clean. There can be different types of site errors like broken links, indexed 404 pages, or errors in sitemap files. Resolving errors improves Google’s ability to index your site though they are not created equal. It can affect positively search rankings.

 

  1.       Enable canonical tags

 Canonical tagging, also known as canonicalization, tells search engines that the URL of the page actually represents a default master page. This becomes useful when you have pages with over one URL (e.g. your home page or blog listing pages).

In this instance, canonical tags send SEO credit from duplicate URLs to the default page that you want to rank on the first page of Google. It’s a simple but necessary fix that leaves a big impact on search rankings.

HubSpot showed a way to add canonical tags directly in the blog post and COS. This makes the tag implementation easier for both SEO experts and novices.

 

  1.       Add customer reviews

Search engines consider customer reviews as new website content and engagement, which are all factors that influence rankings. Add customer reviews to improve your eCommerce SEO strategy which will improve the user experience by adding third-party credibility to your business.

If you’re working with BigCommerce development then you get access to thousands of apps in their app store. Also make sure to utilize Schema.org language so that your reviews, stars, and number of reviews show up on search engine results pages.

 

  1.   Use markup to enable knowledge graphs and rich snippets

As an e-tailer, you have the option to give search engines detailed product information to display like price, availability, and review ratings. You can give the information right on the search page. Google and other search engines every day roll out new formats for search results.

Sites that get featured in knowledge graphs and rich snippets are now the first place where visitors prefer to click. Getting featured in this part of SERP will help garner clicks. This eventually leads to more visitors to your page. Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to check whether your pages are rightly using Schema.org markup formatting.

 

  1.       Add breadcrumbs

Website breadcrumbs permit both Google and your customers to comprehend specific parent-child relationships when it comes to products and product categories. Consider it as a roadmap that makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website. This is a tried-and-true tactic that can help you to improve user experience and rankings with minimal effort.

 

  1.   Optimize the content

This category is huge. But the two main areas are product descriptions and category pages.

Product Descriptions

Product descriptions become challenging for e-tailers who sell products from manufacturers that also have an e-commerce presence. To make yourself different from competitors, focus on the psychology behind the product. Think why someone would buy this product. Give more details that the manufacturer offers.

From an SEO perspective, gauge about the terms that you wish to rank for. Keyword stuffing is never encouraged. So spend some time researching keywords that make sense of your products and add where they make sense.

Category Pages

From a content perspective, consider category pages as individual home pages. Optimize your content for the term you are trying to rank for. This will allow for a broader sense of content and increase your chances of ranking for broader terms.

 

  1.   Optimize for site search

This is not a specific SEO tactic. But it is an important website feature that affects how customers find products. For your product pages, place keywords with high search volume (internal) into H1 & H2s along with body copy and Meta descriptions. This will help you to focus on your keyword and product placement within search engine results pages.

 

  1.   Monitor the SEO Visibility

Google every year roll out 2-3 algorithm changes. So be sure to frequently check your SEO visibility via third-party tools like Searchmetrics and MOZ Site Explorer.  If you’re proactive in the case of organic performance then it can help you to stay ahead of the competition.

 

11) Target long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords work like charm. They have the potential to rank your e-commerce site on top of Google within a few days, provided that you hit the right spot. Long-tail keywords are less competitive and feature good search volume. Anyone can rank for these keywords by creating good content and some links. 

Following are the examples of long-tail keywords: