As an ecommerce store, your website is your shopfront - so you need to make sure people can easily find it. That’s where ecommerce SEO comes in. It’s essentially your way of getting your business on the map so that your potential customers can discover you.
In today’s guide, we’ll go over what’s included in SEO services for ecommerce and what value they offer to your business. This way, your ideal customers can find you and fall in love with your brand.
Why you need SEO services for your ecommerce business
Appearing on the first page of Google search results is not just a nice-to-have - it’s a necessity.
71-92% of Google searchers don’t go past the first page of search results. And while you can also drive traffic and purchases through things like social media, PPC advertising, and word of mouth, traffic from Google is vital for online store. Google is the most visited website in the world, and almost half of product searches begin on the search engine.
The bottom line is that there’s no value in having a great website if people can’t find it. And the way for people to find your website is through Google, the search engine that dominates over 90% of the market share.
The way to get to the first page in the SERP (search engine results page) is by utilising ecommerce SEO tactics like keyword optimisation and link building. Read on to discover the most important ecommerce SEO services.
What’s included in ecommerce SEO services?
Seeing results from your SEO efforts can take some time, often several months. However, those results provide value for a long time. This makes SEO one of the most cost-effective marketing tools in your arsenal Below are some of the strategies we use at Clear Click to improve our ecommerce clients’ SEO.
1. SEO audit
When working with an SEO agency, the first order of business should be to find out your current SEO standing. After all, if you don’t know where you are, how can you figure out where you’re going? An SEO audit for an ecommerce business will check that:
- Your website is optimised for Google to crawl your website properly
- That your website loads fast
- Your website content is SEO-friendly
- Backlinks to your website are functioning and from reputable sources
The findings from this audit will help to build an SEO strategy that addresses areas for improvement. It’s also not a one-and-done activity - you should carry out an SEO audit of your website regularly in order to evaluate the success of your SEO strategy and to make further improvements.
2. Technical SEO optimisation
As we already alluded to, in order for people to find your website, Google’s bots have to be able to crawl and categorise it effectively first. Optimising your website for SEO from the technical point of view includes things like:
- XML sitemap creation and submission
- Optimising your robots.txt file
- Schema markup optimisation
If all of the above sounds like gibberish, don’t worry - that’s what SEO experts are for! If you’d like to learn a little more about these topics, check out our recent ecommerce SEO checklist.
3. Keyword research and implementation
The way to get discovered on Google is by using the right keywords that match the search queries your ideal customers use to find what they’re looking for. There are a variety of free and subscription-based tools out there that allow you to find keywords that are relevant to your business, how popular they are, and what kind of search intent is linked to them, among other things.
Once you’ve done some keyword research, you can apply your keywords to things like metadata and existing website content from product pages to blog posts.
SEO content writing is one of the most valuable keyword implementation strategies. It helps nurture Google searchers who’d like to do a bit more research on their options before purchasing, earn quality backlinks to your website, and gain a higher ranking in the SERP for keywords relevant to your business. Publishing helpful content around your niche on a regular basis also helps to establish your business as a thought leader within your industry.
4. Product page optimisation
Your product pages are arguably the most important part of your website, so making sure they’re optimised for search engines is vital. Each page should ideally have:
- At least a few paragraphs of original, keyword-optimised content
- Keyword-optimised URL, meta description, meta title, and image alt text
- A page layout that is clear and reflects the way people shop online
- Social proof, e.g. reviews
- A clear, enticing call-to-action
5. Link building
On-page SEO is hugely important for ecommerce websites, but it’s not the only form of SEO to focus on. Link building is one of the most powerful off-page SEO activities. It relies on reputable websites linking back to your website in order to signal to Google that you, too, are a trustworthy resource.
Backlinks will naturally appear over time when you regularly publish quality content, but you can also build backlinks deliberately. This can be somewhat labour-intensive because you want to make sure each link is earned, relevant, from a reputable source, and links to high-quality content. However, the benefits of a healthy backlink profile make it worth the effort.
Your website is the biggest advertisement for your business. Investing in SEO services for your ecommerce website helps to boost your brand as a whole, while PPC campaigns will only be able to highlight a few of your product pages at a time. Both can offer great value for your business. If you’d like to learn more about SEO services for ecommerce at Clear Click, book your free, no-commitment consultation with us today.
