How to Boost Your eCommerce SEO
I was cruising through Instagram, as one does, not too long ago and I came across a post from HeySugarSEO and immediately thought to myself that Alex, Founder and Creator of HeySugar SEO, would make for an awesome guest blogger here. I’m all about knowing what your niche is and seeking out experts who know their niche way better than you ever could and if there’s one topic that really takes an expert’s touch let me tell you, it’s SEO. Not that things need to be complicated (but sometimes they are)… really just that there’s so much information out there that it can sometimes know where to start. I asked Alex if she wouldn’t mind sharing with us all some of her advice on all things eCommerce + SEO and boy did she deliver! There’s a ton of great info in this post, I just know you’re going to bookmark it and come back often :) - Kristine
Search engines are our digital shopping guide, taking the random things we search and returning a strategic list of the best match, but not necessarily the best products. While you may sell the best version of a particular good, Google and other search engines may not give it the rank visibility it deserves. That's where SEO can make or break an ecommerce site. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the tactics and strategies behind most (if not all) of the leading ecommerce sites' digital strategies.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization is essentially a chess game between your site and Google. Google makes the rules and generally speaking, they're clear. But as with most things, the more technical it is, the more difficult the solution is to find. And e-commerce SEO is no exception to this rule.
SEO is a mix of research, writing, tech, and strategy that all combine to help your site rank better.
SEO can supplement or completely create traffic for sites. It's best used in tandem with branding, social, and paid campaigns, but - in my biased opinion - SEO can easily sustain a business with minimal branding and social content on the side.
93% of all searchers stop looking at links past the first page of search results. That means if you're beyond page one, only 7% of people MAY take a look at your site (and click-through rates on page two and beyond are crazy low) so SEO is of the utmost importance when it comes to getting online traffic.
Key Factors in Ecommerce SEO
SEO strategies require different mixes of tactics depending on the industry, client goals and the functionality of a site. Ecommerce is a beast of its own, with many tactics exclusive to online shopping. The categories below cover the standard and critical components of SEO on an ecommerce site.
Keyword Research
On-Page Optimization
Site Functionality and UX
Technical SEO
Keyword Research for Ecommerce Sites
Understanding what your potential clients are searching online is an ideal start to creating an online store. If you have a store already - no worries! Keyword research, along with your own experience in selling online, will help you further hone your best keyword targets.
When doing your research for the ideal keywords, it's important to understand that data doesn't lie. Here's a prime example:
Let's say you own an online candle company. You want to show up in search so you can make more sales, so you start finding your ideal keywords. Your best-selling candle is called "Peach Blossoms on a Shady Hillside" and you are determined to rank for that exact term. You probably will, which is good. But do you know how many people online search for the exact term: Peach Blossoms on a Shady Hillside? You. Only you. Well, maybe your husband when you made him search for it on his phone.
But that's it. Just because a keyword fits your brand or product name or specialty idea perfectly, doesn't mean it is the right target for your SEO.
BTW, the ideal keyword term here would be something as simple as "handmade candles" or "fruity candles," both of which have several hundred to thousands of searches per month.
In order to get the most out of your keyword research, you'll need to take a step back from the peach candle fumes and think: does this keyword have the breadth and depth I need to focus on it?
How to do keyword research
Keyword research tools are a dime a dozen, but there's a few that are worth using to get useful and actionable data from, including:
Moz offers free keyword reports (up to 5 a day on a free account) that give you clear data on search volume, competition and click-through rates. Just put in a term you're interested in and Moz will give you a look at 1,000 related keywords and their data. You can export these into csv or Excel docs to sort, filter, and clean your data. More on cleaning below!
I use this Chrome extension to see related terms on anything I search. Just install the extension and capture fresh search data on anything you search online.
This is a great tool for creating content. You can put in a search and see all variables on that term, plus any long-term keywords it may be associated with. It's a great starting point for crafting data-driven written content for your site. This site allows two reports per day on a free account.
This is probably the most "advanced" of the tools I'm mentioning here, but it does offer the most robust data. A report from GKP will include monthly keyword volume for terms you choose, plus the minimum and maximum Adwords costs, all with the added feature of zeroing in on specific geographic areas for your keywords. They can go as deep as a zip code! This is great data to use if you plan to target a specific city or state with your content.
Google itself
This is the easiest one to use with the least quantifiable data to gain. Sounds grim, but it's not! You can gather loads of information on your site, your competition, and the way your ideal customers search just by performing the search yourself. I always suggest clients search for their ideal keywords as well as their brand name as if they're a customer to really understand how and why their SEO goals matter.
Once you have some keyword data, you'll need to analyze and clean it. For instance, remember the fictitious candle brand we had? We would probably want to remove any keyword data for Yankee Candle from our reports. We don't really care how many searches a different brand name gets - we care about the nonbranded terms that can bring clients to you! Here's a quick checklist to refer to when cleaning your keyword reports:
Does this keyword reference a brand other than mine?
Could this keyword bring a client to me?
Does this keyword have enough volume (searches) to warrant my attention?
Can I create enough content to make this keyword valuable for my site?
Could this keyword be a supporting role to my main keywords?
Here's a run-through on these questions for another example brand. Let's say we're a dropshipper for tech accessories. Here's how I would evaluate their keywords if I was their SEO:
Keyword: iphone charger walmart with 1,500 searches per month
Answers:
Yes, Walmart has enough domain authority in search to outrank my site
Probably not.
Yes, 1,500 people a month is plenty!
No, creating content around this keyword would be difficult and probably turn out spammy
No, you'd just add to Walmart's keyword value
Keyword: portable charger for iphone with 750 searches per month
Nope!
Yes, and probably a good one
Yes, half of the one above, but still enough to make it worthwhile
Yes, I could wax poetic on my need for a portable charger all day long!
Absolutely. It could easily be the "lead role" in a keyword map as well.
If your keyword can't get past question one, I would strongly recommend not using it. The amount of time you would put into ranking for another brand's keyword is typically not worth the potential payoff. You can spend your SEO efforts better elsewhere.
Once you've cleaned your keywords through this system, you've got a good start on your list of keyword targets for your site!
On-Page SEO
Now that you have your best keywords, you can start plugging them into your site, most specifically your product pages and category listings. You'll hear the term on-page SEO a lot in SEO blogs, podcasts and the like. All it refers to is optimizing the visual and experiential parts of a site that a consumer could interact with, including the meta title, meta description, header tags, images and alt tags.
Meta Data on Ecommerce Sites
Every single page of your site has meta data. Whether you've set your meta data parameters or plugged them in yourself, meta data is there, waiting for some juicy SEO content to be added to it.
Meta data is sort of like a label for each page of your site. It not only tells consumers, but also Google, what content is on the page and what to expect when you see it. When you search for "summer sandals" you'll see what the SEO world refers to as blue links. The blue, larger text of each result is the meta title. The text below in smaller print is your meta description.
There's two big reasons these matter: it's one of the first things Google "sees" on your page. Google bots crawl pages from the top down and meta data is always at the very top of your page. It sets the expectation of what the bot can expect when it reads your whole page. The second reason is this is usually the very first touchpoint you get with a customer. What they read in search results can inspire them to click or prompt them to look elsewhere.
Basically, creating good meta data is a balancing game between keyword data and copy that converts.
The formula I typically stick to when writing ecommerce meta data is this: Shop [Keyword 1] and [Keyword 2] | [Brand Name]
Here's a couple of examples:
Shop Women's Flat and Heeled Sandals | Sassy Shoes
Shop Affordable Lamps and Lighting | Bright Ideas
Shop Keto and Gluten-Free Snacks | Yum Foods
I like using action terms like shop at the beginning of meta data because it's a subtle but clear call to action, especially when we can easily assume that someone searching for "affordable home decor" is most likely looking to shop.
Meta descriptions tend to get less read time from consumers, but still get plenty of attention from Google. Meta descriptions, in my opinion, are simpler to write. Just create two sentences about what's on the page and make sure you include at least one of your target keywords.
Here's a checklist to keep in mind as you create meta data:
Use your target keyword in both title and description.
Include an action word - or call-to-action - in your meta title.
Include your brand name when you can, but cut it if you need space.
Character limits: meta data should be between 40-60 characters and meta descriptions should be about 150 characters.
When you publish your meta data, go look at it from a consumer perspective. Think about what they would want to see while shopping and tweak as you see fit.
Image SEO on Ecommerce Sites
Photos are a key ingredient in online sales. If you can't touch, taste, or hear the product in person, you need all the visual cues to be able to make a purchase decision. The downfall of having several great photos of each product is the load time it forces on your site.
Site speed is a critical algorithm measurement for all search engines. The quicker and more efficiently a site loads, the better a consumer's experience is on the site, which means Google is more likely to rank that site.
Loading dozens or even hundreds of images on a single page of your site can slow your pages down dramatically. A site load lag of just half a second can move a page from the top rank spots to page 5 or more.
Thankfully, many online shopping template sites try to minimize this issue by offering pagination. Pagination is what happens when you have more products than one page of your site can handle, so it gives the user multiple pages of products to scroll through.
If you have the option, I would highly recommend limiting your single page product capacity to 10-15 products. This way, your site can load a smaller set of products per page and have an easier job loading the page quickly.
Limiting the number of images on a page isn't the only tactic. You can compress your images to smaller files, making it less of a burden on the page to load.
Here are the two image compressor programs I use all the time: Compressor.io and Web Planet Compressors. Both are free tools that let you drag an image file in and download a compressed file out. 99% of the time, this compression process will not affect the image quality. If it does, you may need to manually compress images incrementally to test the quality.
Alt Tags on Images
Alt tags, or alternative tags, are the names behind the pictures. Google bots can't see pictures and interpret them the way humans can (at least not right now - Google is up to some crazy innovative things!) But bots can read alt tags. It's essentially a text description of what's in the image.
Alt tags tend to be a place people stuff keywords, so Google is paying close attention to them. If it feels spammy, they won't like it. So keep it simple. I find that writing alt tags for ecommerce sites are easier than others because most photos are pretty obvious. You have photos of the product, photos of people using the product, different shots of the product with specs and measurements and whatnot. On many other sites, it's just stock photos of people smiling. Those are the complicated pictures to write alt tags for.
Long story short: be clear, concise, and conservative on your keyword usage in alt tags.
Site Functionality and UX for Ecommerce SEO
In case you didn't know, Google is smart. So smart in fact, that they have developed ways to quantify a user's experience on your site. User experience is CRITICAL to Google's algorithm. Their ultimate goal is to make sure they rank the pages with the best match for your search and best experience for a customer at the top of search results.
The functionality of your site plays a large role in how Google grades your site. They use Google Analytics to measure these factors.
BTW - if you don't have Google Analytics on your site, go put it in there now!
There are millions of data points in GA that measure user behavior, but these are the big ones Google pays attention to:
Session Length - does a user stay on your site for a significant time?
You want this to be a significant length! 30 seconds is a good, healthy starting point, but of course longer is typically better.
Pages/Session - how many pages does someone look at when they visit your site?
You want to see 2+ pages per session
Bounce Rate - do users see one page and immediately back out or leave your site?
Ideally, this is low. Below 25%
Conversion Rate - do consumers click, call, submit forms, add to their shopping cart, and make purchases on your site?
We all want these! The rate and importance will depend on your site and goals.
So what are things you can do to make the above numbers as Google-friendly as possible?
Make your site navigation clean and clear
Put obvious CTAs in the header, footer, and throughout the body of your site
Make sure your folder structure of products or services is logical
Keep your menu options to minimal tabs - don't clutter your nav bar!
Make your CTAs a clear contrast from the site - bold font, contrasting color, clear language
Give your pages enough good content to make them worth reading
Site Architecture and SEO
Anyone running an online shop has probably made use of the categories and tags on the backend of your site. If you need a refresher on these, Kristine has a great article on how to use both categories and tags in your ecommerce shop. The SEO magic she mentions? It's real! And it's crazy simple to implement if you know what to do.
I'll use Kristine's example here. Let's say I'm running an online t-shirt shop. To rank for the term t-shirt would be a feat - that term averages about 50,000 searches a month with some decent competition. For the amount of time, effort, and money it would take to rank at the top of that search, it's not worth it in my opinion.
So let's go one layer deeper. My most general categories are men, women, and children’s shirts. What kind of keyword volume and competition is there for men's shirts, women's shirts, and children's shirts?
I pulled this keyword data from Moz.
men's shirts - 30k/month with a 52 difficulty score
women's shirts - 3,100/month with a 46 difficulty score
children's shirts - 14/month with a 42 difficulty score
From an SEO perspective, what am I taking away from this?
Men's shirts are still too broad to tackle - I need to find a more descriptive, lower volume and higher converting keyword to name my men's categories with.
Women's shirts - it's in the ideal range of keyword volume, but probably not descriptive enough to catch high converting traffic. We gotta dig a little deeper there.
The monthly volume here isn't worth the time! But people obviously search for kid's clothes online - we need to find a better keyword to use when naming this category.
For the sake of brevity, I'll just dig into the kid's category here. After combing through my keyword data, here are the better keywords I think we could use to further sort and rank our kid's line of t-shirts:
girls shirts - 1,700/month
shirts for girls - 1,650/month
clothes for boys - 750/month
boys shirts - 750/month
boys long sleeve shirts - 700/month
kids tshirts - 625/month
While this data may push you to make more category pages, it clearly defines and targets your keyword goals, making ranking (AND SELLING) much more possible.
As for content on these pages, I highly recommend adding a couple of paragraphs of written content, a few small and fast-rendering pictures of your products with the right alt tags, and of course, meta data to match your category parameters. Be sure that your content is clearly defined on each category page so that you don't create duplicate content. That's a big no-no for Google.
The long and short of it is: take advantage of categories. If you target them correctly, they will most likely become your cash cows in terms of bringing in organic traffic. You can measure all this with the organic traffic reports in Google Analytics.
Technical SEO for Ecommerce Sites
The tech side of SEO is a harder one to define. The best way I've heard it put is that it's everything that shapes the way bots interact and experience your site. SEO is catering to two big groups: users and bots. Tech SEO is the tactics you need to make sure you're taking care of the bots.
Sitemaps
As the name explains, a sitemap is a map of your site, showing the bots around and letting them know which pages to pay attention to. If you are using Squarespace or Shopify, you're in luck! Both these tools create sitemaps automatically on your behalf. If you're using a CMS like Wordpress, I would recommend finding a plugin to make sure your sitemap is properly built.
A sitemap, in the simplest terms, is a list of all the URLs on your site with a few key details on each URL:
Is this URL crawlable? This detail requires a follow/nofollow tag.
Is this URL indexable? This detail involves an index/noindex tag.
Does this URL have a canonical source? This detail uses a canonical tag.
For the most part, you will only ever need to use an index/noindex tags. These are best used for landing pages built specifically for paid campaigns that you don't want competing with your main, organic content. Otherwise, I doubt you'll need to use follow or canonical tags.
Once you have your sitemap, you'll need to submit it to Google and other search engines for indexing. This means that instead of waiting around for Google to find your site and crawl it, you give Google a formal nudge to say, "Hey! My site is ready for you to see it!" If you need help on this process, here's a guide on how to submit your site to Google Search Console.
Schema for Ecommerce Websites
Schema! My favorite! I doubt you came here for a history lesson, but I think a brief backstory on schema may make it easier to understand its significance.
Years ago, when the internet's total amount of content was just a drop in the bucket compared to today, the crawling that search bots did was simple. There was a reasonable amount of content to crawl and few features of pages that needed to be acknowledged. Ranking was pretty simple! But then the internet grew and that made categorizing, sorting, and understanding all these pages and sites much harder.
Imagine a map with a couple of roads on it. It's pretty easy to understand. Now throw several thousand other roads, bodies of water, parks, monuments, and the like on the map without a key. Are the red lines roads? Are the dotted blue lines walking paths? Nobody knows!
Schema is the map key for this. It made an insane amount of content not only more efficient from a crawling standpoint, but also understandable.
Schema is the key to your "map" of a site. Instead of making Google bots do all the work to understand what the name of your business, logo, phone number, and products are, schema rolls out the red carpet for bots and gives them a concise digital tour of your content.
It's not just about making life on the bots easier, either! It plays a giant role in the consumer experience in search results. If you went to Google and searched for "smart home speakers," you'd get results like this:
The photo cards of products there? Those are powered by schema. The sites those products are hosted on have schema behind each product listing to make sure they can show in search results in the cleanest (and easiest for consumers to understand and click) way possible.
Using schema correctly and strategically can get your products ranking in search the same way those Google Homes and Alexas are doing right now.
If you mosey on over to Schema.org, you'll see there are thousands of types of schema. Don't overwhelm yourself by reading through them all. The main types of schema you need in ecommerce are:
Organization Schema - this schema allows your business to show up in search professionally, with content and links you control. It also validates your business for more SEO brownie points to Google
Reviews or Ratings Schema - this schema allows reviews or ratings to show up in search results for your products to make a richer SERP (search engine results page) and a better user experience for your potential customers
Product Schema - this one positions your content to rank for product cards in search, making conversions and engagement higher
There are sites to help you build and test your schema before uploading it into your site. You can also find help in building the correct schema at heysugarseo.com.
Ultimately, SEO is about user experience. If you get stuck making decisions about your site's SEO, think about what would be simplest, cleanest and most beneficial for a user to experience and purchase from your site. That will most likely be the right answer.
