One of the most complex SEO practices to be effectively implemented are the ones in the eCommerce world. The reason is that there is so much competition on a global level and not so much space to maneuver efficient SEO strategies.
Still, a solution is always waiting around the corner; you just have to grab it. In this case, it’s more than essential to use an eCommerce SEO Checklist to establish an SEO guide that will bring you to an effective SEO eCommerce strategy.
That’s why here we will address the top 10 tips that will help you increase your organic traffic and get ahead of your competitors. Let’s begin.
Table of Contents
A Thorough Keyword Research Is a Must
One of the first and crucial steps you have to take to improve your organic search rankings is to do thorough keyword research. Extensive keyword research will give you the advantage of discovering the top-searched keywords related to your particular eCommerce industry and niche.
The ultimate goal is to use this information to see which search queries are most popular among people and use these keywords in your eCommerce site. Once you optimize your website with these keywords, your overall content will reach many more people faster.
It is best to start by researching your competitors and the keyword search volumes. Perfect keywords are the ones that have low competition and are high-volume simultaneously. This means that the average monthly searches are high for these keywords, but the chances for the competitors to rank for the same ones are low.
Undoubtedly, the keyword research tool Ahrefs is one of the most popular and effective ones. You can use it to perform competitor research, SEO practices, backlink analysis, topic analysis, and more.
Find and Resolve 404 Errors
Yet another important aspect of your SEO strategy is not just to implement things but also to discover and resolve your previous mistakes. One of the crucial ones is to find and fix 404 errors.
For instance, an “Error 404 - Page Not Found” is unacceptable regarding both SEO and the overall user experience. These errors usually happen when you remove content from your eCommerce site, change your permalink, or when your eCommerce site is linked to another one with an incorrect link.
However, as mentioned above, there’s always a solution, and you can resolve the 404 error on your eCommerce site by using a 301 redirect. By implementing this, the user that comes to your site or 404 error page the 301 redirects will automatically redirect them to your site’s new URL, and there won’t be a negative user experience.
Nevertheless, don’t forget to move the site all the time to avoid getting into trouble with the link later. Using graphic design tools for your eCommerce site is essential, but it won’t matter if you have too many 404 errors. Also, it’s not the end of the world if 404 errors sometimes happen since this will happen in the future, but it’s essential to pay attention to it and resolve them on time.
Always Use Unique Title Tags
You have to always use unique title tags on every single page of your eCommerce website and include the exact term visitors search for in the title tag for much better SEO efficiency.
When users click on some of your eCommerce links, they have to be directed to the particular site pages that include the services and products they search for, which will bring them directly to what they want. Of course, this will create a much better user experience, and you will have more and more loyal customers.
In short, using relevant title tags will increase your site’s click-through rate in organic search results on all search engines.
It’s Similar to Your Heading Tags
You have to optimize your H1 headings on every site page to make them unique and suitable for the page’s topic. H1 headings are one of the highest priorities regarding content on your eCommerce pages.
It’s essential to use keywords in your headings, but also implement H1, H2, and H3 headings accordingly throughout the content headings of your eCommerce web page.
Keywords in Your eCommerce URLs
Users a lot of time first notice the URL since it is the first thing that pops up on Google and other search engines. So, an easy-to-read URL is valuable both for people and search engines.
You should use keywords in your site’s URL to rank higher in organic searches, but don’t overuse them since they can have the opposite effect. Also, don’t use the same ones all the time, and make sure people understand what your eCommerce site is about via these words.
Pay Attention to Rich Snippets
Using rich snippets will allow search engines to display more info about your page, including product availability, prices, reviews, etc. The reason is that your meta description, URL, and title tag are displayed once your eCommerce site shows up in the SERPs.
Rich snippets can improve your eCommerce site’s ranking in organic search results, but they are not always temporary since Google uses an algorithm to display the most relevant things for people, and it changes and updates continuously.
Alt Text and Image File Names Optimization
You mustn’t overlook the importance of alt texts and image file names since it’s how Google understands the context. In addition, this helps visually-impaired people since you describe the images on your eCommerce website.
Furthermore, it’s crucial for SEO ranking, so the images need to have a user-friendly title and describe what the image has or who is on the image. This optimization is valuable since it allows Google to differentiate between two types of products, and if your description is better, it will increase your online visibility.
Keyword Stuffing Is Dangerous
Keyword stuffing is when you add many more keywords to your page than necessary. In the past, this was an effective practice to boost rankings, but since now there are too many websites, Google can even penalize you if you use too many keywords on your pages.
It’s not just about using too many keywords; it’s also essential to use them naturally. Your keywords must be relevant to your eCommerce content and give potential customers what they are looking for.
Off-Site SEO Optimization with Valuable Backlinks
You should also pay attention to off-site optimization since backlinks show Google that your eCommerce pages are trustworthy since they are backed by others as well. Of course, if they are appropriately used, they will increase the rankings on every search engine.
But for this to happen, you need to have backlinks from authoritative sites, so avoid spam sites from linking to your eCommerce website.
Last Tip - Implement Everything
Last but not least, implement all these strategies mentioned above since using only some of them might not have the desired effect. The online competition is massive, but it’s even more challenging in eCommerce.
So, please don’t waste any more time and start implementing these SEO tips as soon as possible because your competitors are already doing it, and the last thing you need is for them to get ahead of you on all search engines!