Online retail is a challenging market, and to succeed, ecommerce businesses need to take every advantage that comes their way. One of the best ways to increase your online exposure and sales is through quality ecommerce search engine optimisation (SEO) services.
Choosing to use ecommerce SEO to your advantage is easy enough, but making sure you have the right SEO services at your disposal isn’t so simple. That’s why I’ve created this guide, so we can help direct you to understand the services you need – and why! I will also guide you on selecting the appropriate SEO firm for your needs!
What is Ecommerce SEO?
Ecommerce search engine optimisation is the process of optimising an online ecommerce store so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPS). It deviates from standard SEO as it concentrates on the unique requirements of online e-commerce sites.. This involves using methods and techniques designed to increase the visibility of e-commerce websites, attract more organic traffic, and convert visitors into customers.
Importance of Ecommerce SEO
Investing in ecommerce SEO has many benefits, including:
- Increased Visibility: Higher rankings in search results lead to greater visibility, driving more traffic to your site.
- Cost-Effective Marketing: Unlike paid advertising, SEO focuses on organic growth, which can be more sustainable in the long term.
- Competitive Advantage: Effective SEO can help your business outperform competitors by ensuring potential customers can easily find your products and services.
- Maintaining Relevance: With the constant evolution of search engine algorithms, staying updated with the newest SEO strategies can help your online store remain competitive and conforming.
- Enhanced User Experience: Making the website mobile-compatible, lowering load times, and optimising navigation make it easier for customers to find and purchase products.
- Higher Conversion Rate: Targeted website traffic from search engine optimisation often leads to better conversion rates than other digital marketing channels.
- Brand Credibility: High SERP rankings build trust and authority. Consumers tend to trust search engines’ recommendations and are more likely to click the businesses at the top of the search.
- Long-Term Results: Unlike paid campaigns that stop delivering once the budget is exhausted, SEO provides lasting benefits.
- Insight into Customer Behaviour: Understanding search patterns, popular products, and user demographics can inform broader marketing strategies and business decisions.
- Diversified Traffic Sources: Relying solely on paid ads or social media can be risky. SEO gives you a steady stream of organic traffic, reducing dependency on any single marketing channel.
5 Ecommerce SEO Services
Key components of ecommerce search engine optimisation include:
- Keyword Research
- On-Page Optimisation
- Technical SEO
- Content Marketing
- Link Building
Let’s look at these in more detail.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is imperative for any SEO strategy. It involves identifying the search terms that potential customers use to find products like yours. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush can help in identifying high-value keywords by providing data on search volume, competition, and trends.
Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
These are longer, more specific phrases that shoppers might use when they are closer to making a purchase. For example, instead of targeting “shoes,” you might target “women’s running shoes size 8.” Long-tail keywords often have better conversion rates and less competition.
Understand Search Intent
Consider what the user is looking to achieve with their search. Are they looking for information, making a comparison, or ready to purchase? Aligning your keywords with the right intent can improve relevance and drive better traffic.
Analyse Keyword Gaps Against Your Competitors
Research your competitors’ to find keyword opportunities and gaps that you can target. SEMrush and similar tools let you see which keywords send traffic to your competition.
On-Page Optimisation
Both your search rankings and user experience will be better if your product pages are optimised.
Titles and Meta Descriptions
Make them compelling and keyword-rich. The way these components appear in search results significantly affects click-through rates (CTR). Make sure every page has a distinct title and meta description that lures visitors in with main keywords.
Product Descriptions
Write unique, detailed product descriptions. Rather than repeating content you’ve used already, provide engaging, educational descriptions that emphasise the advantages and characteristics of the product while also naturally embeding relevant keywords.
URLs
Use clean, descriptive URLs that include target keywords. A well-structured URL is accessible for both users and search engines to understand. The URL “/womens-running-shoes” is much more descriptive than “/product1234.”
Header Tags
Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to structure your content. The H1 tag should include the primary keyword, while subheadings (H2, H3) can incorporate secondary keywords and related terms.
Technical SEO for Ecommerce Websites
Technical SEO allows search engines to crawl and index your site.
Site Speed
Optimise loading times by compressing images, using browser caching, and minimising JavaScript. Faster sites provide a better user experience and are favoured by search engines.
Mobile-Friendliness
Keep your site fully responsive to provide a seamless experience across all devices. With an increased number of mobile shoppers in recent years, a mobile-friendly site is essential for usability and SEO.
XML Sitemaps and Robots.txt
Help search engines understand your site structure by creating and submitting XML sitemaps. Use robots.txt files to guide search engines on which pages to crawl and index.
Content Marketing
Creating informative content that addresses your target audience’s needs and keeps them interested is essential.
Blog Posts
Regularly publish blog posts that answer common questions, provide tips, and discuss trends related to your products.
How-To Guides
Create comprehensive guides that offer step-by-step instructions or insights related to your products.
Product Reviews
Ask customers to leave reviews and testimonials. User-generated content creation can enhance credibility and provide fresh content for search engines to index.
Link Building and Backlink Strategies
Building high-quality backlinks helps with domain authority, ranking you better in search results.
Guest Blogging
Write articles for reputable blogs in your niche. This helps with backlink acquisition and exposes your brand to a broader audience.
Influencer Outreach
Partner with influencers who can link to your site. Influencers often have loyal followings and can bring significant website traffic and credibility to your site.
Content Marketing
Create shareable content that naturally attracts links. This could include infographics, comprehensive guides, industry studies, and other valuable resources. When your content is useful and engaging, other websites are more likely to link to it.
Measuring and Analysing Ecommerce SEO Success
To understand what works and what doesn’t, you need to measure and analyse your SEO efforts. It also helps you determine where your money should go in future. A few tools an SEO specialist might use to do this include:
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is essential for tracking metrics, with data on user behaviour, traffic sources, conversion rates, and more.
Key Features:
- Track the number of visitors from organic search.
- Analyse user behaviour metrics like session duration, pages per session, and bounce rate.
- Set up goals to measure conversions and other important actions.
Ahrefs
This tool helps with keyword research, backlink analysing, and competitive benchmarking.
Key Features:
- Monitor keyword rankings and discover new keyword opportunities.
- Analyse your backlink profile and the quality of inbound links.
- Perform site audits to identify technical SEO issues.
Moz
helps track rankings, analyse link profiles, and perform site audits.
Key Features:
- Track keyword rankings over time and compare them to competitors.
- Evaluate on-page SEO factors and receive recommendations for improvement.
- Use the Link Explorer to analyse your backlink profile and discover link-building opportunities.
SEMrush
Provides insights into keyword performance, competitor strategies, and site health.
Key Features:
- Conduct in-depth keyword research and track keyword rankings.
- Analyse competitor SEO strategies and identify gaps.
- Perform site audits to find and fix technical SEO issues.
Choosing the Right Ecommerce SEO Agency
To accomplish the correct objectives, you require the correct agency! Here are some things to consider when deciding which agency works for your business.
Experience
Agencies with a proven track record will have a better understanding of ecommerce platforms, industry trends and the challenges businesses face. You want a company that can demonstrate past success.
Specialisation
Some agencies focus on particular sectors or types of SEO services. Ensure that the agency you select is proficient in ecommerce SEO strategies, not merely general SEO professionals.
Testimonials
Client testimonials and in-depth case studies can give you an indication of the agency’s dependability and efficacy. Look for positive feedback!
Transparent Reporting
Make sure the SEO agency provides regular updates and clear reports. This is important to ask them about before you agree to any terms. Their reporting should include things like – what they did, how, why and the results achieved.
Communicative
Choose an agency that is responsive and can answer any of your questions in regard to their strategies and results.
Customisation
SEO is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Your business is unique, and your SEO should reflect that! Look for an agency that is interested in understanding you.
Questions you might ask include:
- What is your experience with ecommerce search engine optimisation?
- Can you provide case studies or references from previous clients?
- What is your approach to keyword research and on-page optimisation?
- How do you measure success, and what key performance indicators (KPIs) do you track?
- How do you build backlinks, and what is your link-building strategy?
- What tools and technologies do you use for SEO?
- How do you stay updated with the latest SEO trends and algorithm changes?
Final Thoughts
Investing in ecommerce SEO is crucial for increasing your online presence and driving sales. Businesses can improve their online visibility, drive more website traffic, and increase sales in 2024 and beyond by understanding and implementing these essential ecommerce SEO services, backed by the right agency.
BlindSeer are experts in eCommerce with case studies to prove our expertise in this field. Get in touch with us today about how we can help you achieve success with one of our custom ecommerce seo packages.
David Schneider is the owner & founder of BlindSeer. He has over 8 years of experience in SEO. In addition he offers a unique viewpoint on the way SEO works with over six years previously working in Human Intelligence understanding how people think & act and how to drive people to take action.