SEO is quite straightforward when it comes to blogging but in the world of e-commerce and optimizing your online store for search engines, that’s a completely different ball game.
So, what’s the formula in turning a product, or service-based website into something that tops the search engine results pages, drawing in high-quality leads and customers?
Well, that answer to that is e-commerce SEO.
How Vital Is SEO For E-commerce?
Although there are a lot of marketing tactics that you, as an e-commerce business can use, one of the best strategies that help drive results for e-commerce sites is SEO.
Why is that? Well, although SEO will need initial investment and long-term commitment on your part, it helps drive sustainable traffic to your site, as long as you get it right.
Meaning, you don’t need to consistently put cash in it to drive results, just like with paid social media campaigns, and PPC.
Investing in e-commerce SEO helps bring in dividends for your business for years to come.
In this post, we’ll be talking about e-commerce SEO tips that allow you to reach more customers:
1. Choose The Right Keywords
SEO mostly relies on keywords. These keywords will eventually determine whether your site will show up when people search on search engines, such as Google.
When you pick the right keywords, you’ll show up in the right search results as well.
So, to figure out which keywords you’ll be using in your campaign, you need to conduct first thorough keyword research. There are several keyword research tools that you can use to look for the right keywords for your campaign.
Now, when doing your keyword research, the most important thing here is focusing on long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are usually keywords that are made up of three or four words.
Ideally, long-tail keywords are a much better option for businesses than short tail keywords (which contains one or two words only.) Most short-tail keywords are often generic, and won’t specifically tell what a user is searching for.
2. Produce Relevant Content
Your keywords won’t mean anything without great content. So, craft your content in a way that isn’t just a vehicle for keywords.
Instead, use it to your advantage to convert your prospects, offer them something valuable, as well as a resource that’s sharable which you can use to reach out to new audiences.
So, because your prospects are browsing the internet about information regarding a product or service, chances are, they’ll be coming across web pages, social media posts, blogs, and other content which are all designed to offer them helpful information, provide answers to their questions, and in some cases, push them into a purchasing decision.
When you strive to provide users with the best, engaging, relevant, and helpful content out there, prospects will pick your brand among others. This also provides you with an opportunity to build relationships, and convert leads into paying customers.
High-quality content comes in different forms, and here are examples of them:
- Blogs
- Videos
- Infographics
- User-generated Content
- Podcasts
- Animations
- Guest Blogs
- E-books
- Product Reviews
- How-to Guides
- Listicles
3. Switch To HTTPS
It was back in 2014 when Google already announced that they’ll be using HTTPS as a primary ranking signal.
Meaning, if your site doesn’t have a valid SSL certificate, then you could potentially be penalized on Google’s search results.
Google is now giving customers a warning when they visit sites that are still on HTTP. This can a red flag to prospects and can lower your conversion rates.
Therefore, you should be using SSL certificates on your site not only for security reasons but to provide them with security that they’re on a site that’s safe, to begin with.
4. Go Local
When selling your products in the digital marketplace, you need to customize your portal to help suite local traditions and tastes.
You need to create a fine balance on your website so that it will be easier for your prospects to recognize you as a global brand.
Not only that, but they’ll also feel more comfortable and browsing through your portal.
5. Leverage Internal Linking
Although it’s quite easy to interlink press releases, blog posts, announcements, and other non-sales content, when it comes to categories, product pages, and offers, that’s where it becomes challenging.
But the thing is, you’ll be missing out on great SEO opportunities if you don’t leverage your internal linking strategy.
By interlinking products, for instance, you’re offering customers a better user experience.
A user might not be interested in a particular model, but they might still want to purchase a particular type of product. When you point them to similar models, you’ll enhance their chances of conversion.
So, interlink, not only your marketing content but with relevant items and categories as well.
6. Make Website Mobile-Friendly
Optimizing your site for mobile is already a requirement these days. That’s why you must strive to build a mobile-friendly site.
Ideally, you should ensure the following:
- Creating a responsive mobile design
- Enhancing page speed and optimization on mobile
- Mobile navigation that’s easy to use
- Simple mobile check out
7. Use Videos
Videos are the type of content that helps draw in more leads to your site. Videos have now become a crucial aspect of marketing. 63% of internet users regularly watch on Youtube.
Because of the popularity of videos, you should be using them on your site. Videos help boost your SEO ranking as well. Websites are 53 times to end up on the top page of Google if they incorporate videos on their page.
Videos play a key role in improving your SEO rankings, because it engages with your audience, keeping them on your site much longer, helping reduce your bounce rates.
So, if you want to boost your site’s SEO rankings, you should consider investing in videos.
Over To You
All the efforts that you make in enhancing your SEO will eventually pay off in the long run, leading to higher sales, and boosting the discoverability of your products and services.
That’s why you need to apply these tactics and be ready to put in your time and energy to boost your rankings.
