You’ve set up an e-commerce website; congratulations on this first step! Now, the next thing you need to do is make sure that it’s on the right track to get traffic and conversions. How do you achieve this? With the right on-page search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and knowing emerging SEO trends. E-commerce SEO as part of your overall e-commerce marketing can be tricky. However, once you learn that it’s all about getting the right keywords in the right places, and making sure that viewers have a holistic user experience, e-commerce SEO will give you the advantages you need.
Why SEO in E-commerce Marketing is Important
E-commerce SEO is important because it helps e-commerce websites gain more visibility, especially when it comes to search engine results pages (SERPs). The better you rank in those search results, the more people will see your products and the more traffic you’ll get to your e-commerce website.
According to FirstPageSage, ranking at the top of the organic search results in your niche or industry generates a 39.8% click-through rate (CTR) in 2023. The rest of the first page results get 18.7% to 2.2% CTR. This shows that ranking better is essential, especially for e-commerce stores.
E-commerce SEO also affects the way viewers interact with your website. It’s been found that it only takes 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about a website. This is when they’ll decide if they will stay or leave. So ask yourself: are the users finding your website easy to use? Are they navigating smoothly through every page or category? Are they finding all the details they need about your products or your shop? Making sure that your viewers have an easy time browsing and shopping is necessary to boost those conversions.
Take some time to focus on your e-commerce SEO and make sure that your websites are up and ready for customers and prospects.
E-commerce SEO Strategies to Drive Your Traffic and Sales
- Choose the right keywords
The right keywords are the first step in navigating your e-commerce marketing and SEO. There are various tools you can use to help with your keyword research. You’ll be able to find out the search volume of specific keywords, the cost-per-click (CPC) rates, as well as other relevant search terms people might look for when searching for specific products.
All of this data can help you determine which keywords to use for your website. It can also help with keywords for individual product pages, product descriptions, meta descriptions, image alternate attributes, and more.
- Learn from your competitors
It’s also wise to do competitor research and learn from the competition. Know what keywords they are using, and what tactics or SEO efforts they’re making to rank their website or their product pages in the search results. This can help you figure out which keywords, and which approach you should try for your own e-commerce website.
- Make sure your website is responsive
A responsive website is necessary for the user and overall customer experience. A responsive website means it functions consistently whether it is accessed on a computer, a laptop, a smartphone, or any other mobile device.
According to SocPub, 57% of internet users report that they won’t recommend a business, which has a badly designed website on mobile. Additionally, 88% of online shoppers may not return to a website after an unpleasant experience (WebFX).
Work with your web developers and designers to make sure that your e-commerce website looks good and works well across all devices.
- Optimize product pages
Optimizing your product pages is also a priority. You want your product pages to be detailed so that shoppers can make well-informed decisions and convert.
Make sure you have the product name right, and add all the product details in the product description. This is also a great opportunity to add relevant keywords to your title, product name, product description, or even the URL. You also need high-quality images on your product pages to help attract customers and drive sales.
- Fix page load time speed
Page load time is a crucial part of any website, and an e-commerce website is the same, if not more. In 2019, nearly 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer (Unbounce). For any e-commerce brand, that means a slow page load will cost you customers and profit.
Some of the ways you can ensure faster page load are by optimizing images, caching, and dependencies like plugins and tracking scripts. You can also avoid redirects, reduce HTTP requests, and reduce cookie sizes.
- Simplify your site architecture
Is your e-commerce website organized and structured? Your site architecture can affect your e-commerce SEO, mainly search rankings and user experience. Unfortunately, the more you add products and categories to your website, the more it gets complicated. What you need to do is make sure you have a good hierarchy and simple site structure before adding products and pages. Improving site navigation is also a good practice.
- Add blog content to your e-commerce website
Of course, content marketing can also boost your e-commerce SEO. Adding blog posts to your e-commerce website is a great way to highlight your products, attract customers, improve your website’s authority, improve brand visibility, and help build your business’s reputation and credibility.
Make sure to also write blogs that are relevant to your industry and your customers. For example, if you sell haircare and styling products, you can write tips on how to take good care of different types of hair. You can also write guides on how to do specific hairstyles or a DIY hair dyeing process. Be creative, engaging, and consistent. The more blogs you publish on your e-commerce website, the more you can attract readers and convert them into customers.
- Create backlinks
Link building is also important if you want your e-commerce website to gain visibility. High-quality backlinks boost your website’s authority and drive more traffic back to your online store. You can create backlinks by forging partnerships, doing outreach, offering expertise, joining or holding events, releasing news or press releases, and more.
E-commerce SEO is a vital part of a business’s growth. To drive traffic and sales to your website, you must consider these strategies and apply them to your own.
Need some more help with your e-commerce marketing or digital marketing efforts? Let Marketing Experts PH help you.
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