With the dominance of online shopping, there’s one question all business-owners should be asking: is your website doing enough to rank in search engine results? If you’re not appearing on page one, the chances are you’re missing out on valuable sales. Worse still, those sales are going to your competitors! But how do we fix this? Well, with the help of a specialist ecommerce SEO agency (hi, we’re Upperdog, pleased to meet you), you can climb the SERP ladder. In the meantime, here are five steps you can implement right now:
1. SEO Keywords
Every successful e-commerce SEO strategy begins with thorough keyword research. And to do this, you need to understand your audience. What search terms are your potential customers using when they type a query into Google? Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to find high-volume, low-competition keywords that are relevant to your products and niche.
Once you have a list, naturally incorporate these SEO keywords into your product descriptions, meta descriptions, and content. Remember, overstuffing can harm more than help. A seasoned e-commerce SEO specialist will advocate for balance – relevancy and user experience should always come first.
2. Product Optimisations
Each product on your website is an opportunity to rank. Beyond just keywords, focus on high-quality images, comprehensive product descriptions, and user reviews. It can help to think of it as dressing your products for success: unique and engaging content will highlight your products’ selling points while differentiating you from competitors. Plus, optimising each product individually decreases the chances of harmful duplicate content.
3. URL Structures
URL structures might seem minor, but they can make a big difference when it comes to SEO for e-commerce websites. A clean and descriptive URL makes it easier for search engines to understand the content of the page while also improving user experience. Keep your URLs concise, include primary keywords, and avoid meaningless characters. For instance, “/red-ceramic-bowl” is much more SEO-friendly than “/product?id=1234”.
4. Schema Markup
The importance of schema markup is often overlooked, but as an e-commerce SEO agency, we’ve seen first-hand the difference it can make. Schema markup is a type of structured data that enhances the way your website appears in search results. An e-commerce website, for example, might include prices, product ratings, or stock levels.
This has two main benefits. First, it enables the search engine to better understand the relevance of your page and the likelihood of it satisfying the searcher’s intent. If Google can see your product matches the search term, is in stock, and has good ratings, it’s more likely to be presented to a potential customer. And second, by giving a clear picture to the customer themselves of what your page is about, this makes your listing more attractive and leads to demonstrably better click-through rates.
5. Link Building
Establishing authority and trustworthiness in your niche is crucial, and backlinks play a significant role in that. Engaging in collaborations, guest posts, and building relationships in your industry can all result in valuable backlinks. However, it’s important to ensure they’re genuine and relevant. Inorganic and low-quality link-building can actually do more harm than good towards your ecommerce SEO strategy. Always prioritise quality over quantity.
E-Commerce SEO Specialists
Are you looking for help getting your website into position one? Reach out to our friendly SEO marketing agency. We have a broad experience across a number of e-commerce industries and can tailor a unique strategy to fulfil your goals. Send an email to hello@upperdog.co.uk or call us on 01202 798820.