In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, getting your business noticed may hinge on mastering the art of search engine optimization (SEO). For retailers in particular, stepping into ecommerce ups the stakes, demanding a more intricate version of SEO known as ecommerce SEO.
This version shares the same foundational principles as traditional SEO. However, it introduces specialized tactics to spotlight your online store in the ever-competitive ecommerce arena. To that end, this article shares the specifics of ecommerce SEO that may help your online retail business grow and thrive.
Defining Ecommerce SEO And Traditional SEO
As mentioned earlier, traditional SEO and ecommerce SEO are two sides of the same coin. Traditional SEO is all about climbing the search engine rankings and making your website more visible to people online. Contrarily, ecommerce SEO focuses on attracting potential customers and getting them to buy from your online store.
With that in mind, traditional SEO primarily rests on keyword research, optimizing website pages, optimizing for mobile, etc. With ecommerce SEO, however, the focus shifts to optimizing product pages.
Studies show that about 44% of online shoppers’ buyer experience begins with an online search. The number further rises when shoppers look for products in major retail platforms. Based on this data, an SEO agency like Sitemap.io and others recommend separating ecommerce SEO from overall SEO for the best results.
That said, here are the best practices when it comes to ecommerce SEO:
Set Up Your Product Pages For Success
Product pages are the heart of your ecommerce site. Here’s how to set them up for success:
Write engaging, keyword-rich descriptions for each product. While at this, mention factors such as product availability, variations, etc. This offers a great opportunity to differentiate your products from competitors.
Include a call to action (CTA) such as ‘Buy Today.’
Allow and encourage user reviews. This unique, user-generated content can act as social proof, boosting overall SEO.
Setting up your page using these strategies and others may make it easy for buyers to find what they’re searching for. At the same time, it makes it easy for search engines to crawl and display your site to more prospective customers.
Optimize Category Pages
Category pages are the bridge between your homepage and product pages. Their primary role is helping users navigate your site. To optimize category pages, you may need to:
Include relevant keywords in your page title and meta description to influence click-through rates.
Incorporate descriptive, keyword-rich content that explains the category and what products visitors can expect to find.
Ensure website visitors can easily access your category pages from your homepage and other major site pages.
An Example Of An Optimized Category Page
Imagine a store that sells handmade furniture. A category page might be, ‘Handmade Wooden Dining Tables.’ The title tag could be ‘Handmade Wooden Dining Tables (Your Brand).’
The meta description might be, ‘Discover our premium, handmade wooden dining table range. Perfect for bringing warmth and style to your dining room. Browse now.’
Properly optimized category pages are a good opportunity to introduce more keywords to your page. Also, they enable customers to easily navigate to a section they’re looking for. This may help them find the product that brought them there in the first place easily and efficiently.
Create An Effective Linking Structure
A well-planned internal linking structure can improve user navigation and indexing. Some of the ways to achieve effective internal linking include:
Incorporating breadcrumb navigation to guide the user back to each previous page they navigated through to get to the current page. This can make navigation easier for them and helps search engines understand your site structure.
Linking to related products to keep users on your site longer and expose them to more of your offerings
Using inbound links for the relevant blog posts or guides. This can pass link authority to your product pages and improve their visibility.
Examples Of Effective Linking Structures
Breadcrumb navigation could look like this:
Home > Handmade Furniture > Dining Tables > Solid Oak Handmade Dining Table.
Linking to related products at the bottom of the page:
‘You might also like: Handmade Wooden Dining Chairs.’
If you’ve written a blog post about ‘How to Care for Your Wooden Furniture,’ make sure to link to your dining table page where relevant.
Optimize Product Images
Images are critical for product pages but must be optimized to benefit ecommerce SEO. Some of the ways you can achieve this include:
Using descriptive file names that include your target keywords
Describing them using alt tags to help search engines understand what they’re all about
Using image compression tools to reduce their size without sacrificing quality. This can improve page load times, an essential SEO factor.
Each step contributes to a more visible, user-friendly ecommerce store that both search engines and your customers may appreciate.
Choose Your Strategy
Understanding ecommerce SEO is like having a secret weapon in the online marketplace. Hence, focusing on the strategies shared in this article can improve your store’s visibility and sales.
Whether sailing the SEO seas alone or with a seasoned SEO agency, the goal remains the same: creating an online store that’s visible, navigable, engaging, and, ultimately, profitable. In the ecommerce world, proper SEO practice might be just what you need to stand out from the competition.
The post How Does Ecommerce SEO Differ From Traditional SEO? appeared first on Retail Minded.
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