Search engine optimization, or SEO, for an online store is the process of improving the store's organic visibility in search engines. In practice this means, for example, ranking as high as possible in Google's search results. Ecommerce SEO grows organic traffic and therefore also order volumes. In this article I go through 8 important points that improve your store's ranking in search results.
In many industries the competition is getting really tough, and many struggle to even reach the first page of organic search results. Usually most resources and budget go into PPC advertising (paid advertising such as Google Ads). Although paid advertising is a very important, in my opinion even the most important, single element and action in growing an online store's conversions, it is still worth taking care of at least the SEO basics. That is because organic rankings usually have more lasting value.
Reaching and maintaining significant organic (i.e. unpaid) search results takes more time and a lot of work, but through them your store gets more traffic and therefore orders. You are also not completely dependent on how ad platforms perform (as everyone who has run Meta ads has noticed when tracking rules and algorithms change).
In this post I go through eight important, proven things that help your online store rank better in search results. If you are interested in reading more about starting an online store or Shopify and Squarespace topics, check out the other topics on my blog too. I have also created products for online merchants and digital entrepreneurs. 🙌
#1 Do keyword research for your online store
Keyword research is the first and a very important step in improving organic rankings. Keyword research finds the most searched keywords and search terms related to your industry and products. Once you have found the most important keywords, you can include them in your store's content, headings and product descriptions.
Start keyword research by looking at the search volumes and competition of different keywords. Ideal keywords have high search volume and low competition, meaning the keyword's average monthly searches are high while competition to rank for it is low. Depending on your industry, finding such keywords can be very challenging.
Broad vs. long-tail keywords
Keywords are usually divided into two categories: broad keywords and long-tail keywords / search phrases. Broad keywords are general, high-volume search terms of just one or two words. Take the keyword "t-shirt" or "hoodie", for example. These queries return a huge number of results, and ranking for them is hard, especially for new online stores.
Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are much more specific and contain several words. For example, "men's black t-shirt" is already much more specific and a good example of a longer, more specific search phrase.
Generally, it is easier to rank for long-tail keywords because their search volumes are lower and competition is lighter. That is exactly why I recommend that smaller or brand-new online stores in particular focus on long-tail keywords in SEO at first. They build your store's traffic, and by ranking high you also improve your store's authority in the eyes of search engines, which in turn helps you rank for shorter, higher-volume keywords later on.
Choosing keywords
Choose one main keyword per page and 1-2 supporting keywords. The main keyword can be a broad keyword as described above, and the supporting keywords longer long-tail phrases. For small online stores, even the main keyword should preferably be specific rather than broad, so the chances of ranking on the results pages are better.
SEO tools for choosing keywords
The challenge for many online stores is finding the right keywords and search phrases that make sense and have a chance of ranking. If your store has been around for a while and you have connected it to Google Search Console and Google Analytics, you can see the keywords your site shows up for, along with their impressions and clicks, in Google Search Console.
If your store has only just launched and there is no search history in Search Console yet, I recommend taking a look at the Ubersuggest search tool. With Ubersuggest you can find different keywords, look at their average monthly searches (12-month average) and also see the competition and ranking difficulty for each keyword. You can also save keywords to lists, track how your own site develops for certain keywords and follow your competitors' progress in search results. A free alternative is Google's Keyword Planner (Google Ads).
#2 Get the meta data of your most important pages in order
However broad or narrow your store's product range, I recommend going through the meta data of the most important pages in particular, such as product categories. Meta data means the Page Title and the Meta Description. The Page Title is the heading that appears in Google's search results, for example, which users click, and the Meta Description is the description text below it. Of these, the Page Title matters most for rankings and click volumes.
When users search for your products with keywords relevant to your store, your site's meta data should be descriptive and lead users to relevant pages. This means, for example, that the products in your site's category match the user's search. Your store's meta data should include the main keyword, such as the product category name. For example, following the keyword example in point 1, the product category name and the meta title (Page Title) could be "Men's black t-shirts", which gives a direct, clear answer to the search phrase "men's black t-shirt".
A relevant, clear meta title increases your site's visibility and click-through rate in organic search results, because it matches the user's search.
#3 Include keywords in headings
Every page should have one main heading, i.e. an H1 heading. It tells the main content of the page (e.g. the product category name). So remember to optimize the H1 heading on every page of your site so that it is relevant to the page's topic and includes the page's main keyword.
I recommend using keywords in H1 and H2 headings and a few times in the page's content text. Do not "stuff" keywords into the text by force, though; content text should above all be readable.
#4 Include the keyword in the URL
Your page's URL is the first thing Google (and sometimes the user) notices. An easy-to-read, clear URL helps both users and search engines understand the page's content. Including keywords in the URL can help your store rank higher in organic search results. Avoid repeating keywords in URLs, though, to keep the URL structure simple.
#5 Avoid overusing keywords
Your store's content, such as headings and product names, should include your most important keywords that users search for on Google. Overusing keywords is still unnecessary and can actually hurt your rankings. Keyword stuffing means trying to add as many keywords as possible to a page, at the expense of the text's natural flow and readability. It was a very common practice for improving rankings at one point, but has not been for years.
When you write for search engines, remember that the text should first and foremost be natural and readable for the user. The keywords you choose should be relevant to your page's content so users get the best possible experience. When your store's visitors can understand your content, so can search engines.
#6 Optimize image alt texts and file names
Image file names and alt texts are easily forgotten, but they are very important to remember. The alt text is Google's way of understanding an image's content and context. Alt text also helps visually impaired visitors, for example, understand what the image shows.
Using alt text is not a shortcut to quick gains in organic search results, but it helps search engines better understand how the images and your store's content relate to each other. Image file names also matter for image search results. Avoid default camera names (e.g. "IMG19384759") and consider a detailed, human-friendly name instead. If an image name has several words, separate them with hyphens (e.g. mens-black-t-shirt.jpg). Google does not read an underscore as a word separator.
Image alt texts can, for example, be the same as the product names, assuming the product name describes the product well.
#7 Check and fix 404 errors and warnings
Significant errors on a site, such as "404 - Page Not Found", clearly create a negative user experience, and search engines penalize them too. 404 errors occur, for example, when you change a URL on your site, remove content from your site, or when another site links to yours with a misspelled/wrong link and no redirects have been set up.
All 404 errors can be fixed with a 301 redirect. If you make the URL changes mentioned above or remove individual pages (e.g. products) from your store, remember to create a 301 redirect from the removed or changed URL to an existing page. That way, for example, an old page ranking in organic search results is automatically redirected to your site's new URL with a 301 redirect. You avoid both a poor user experience and Google's error reports.
The easiest way to see 404 errors is with the Google Search Console tool, for example. Shopify creates a redirect automatically when you change a product or page URL (keep "Create a URL redirect" checked), and you add other redirects under URL redirects in the admin. For a large product range it is also worth considering an app that detects 404 pages automatically, because stores with hundreds or thousands of products are constantly removing, editing and adding products and pages.
#8 Use Rich Snippet data
Normally, organic search results show the Page Title, i.e. the clickable heading (see point 2 above), the meta description and the URL when your site appears on a results page. Rich snippet data lets search engines such as Google show more information about the page. For online stores, this information often includes product reviews, product price, product availability and so on.
Why is Rich Snippet data a good thing? It does not necessarily improve your rankings directly, but it can improve your click-through rate (CTR), because users see extra content right on the results pages. And a high click-through rate does matter for rankings.
If you want to test your site and whether Google understands your site's Rich Snippet data, you can use this tool. Please note that even if your pages have correctly structured Rich Snippets, they are not always shown in search results. Shopify themes generate structured data for products and blog articles automatically, so the basics are already in place.
Finally
I hope these points help you improve your online store's SEO visibility. The actions above are only one part of organic visibility, and they are very basic things in ecommerce SEO that every online store should have in order.
Hi again! 👋 Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and I really hope you use them. 🖤 Clicking a link costs you nothing extra, so feel free to explore the sites and tools recommended in this post. If you end up becoming a paying customer through my link, I get a small commission.
0 comments