As much as social media is taking a prominent presence in the digital marketing sphere, SEO is here to stay. Think about your own shopping habits — when you need to purchase something, do you usually search on Google or other search engines? 61% of consumers actually research on a product by looking it up on search engines before they make the purchase. This means search engine optimization is critical for your eCommerce business as it remains the largest channel for website traffic.
SEO can seem very daunting especially when you don’t know what to focus on. Here are 5 eCommerce SEO practices that we find useful for our clients.
Take Advantage of Google Tools
Google provides many free SEO tools that can get you started.
Google’s Keyword Planner can give you an idea of what keywords are being searched. Think in terms of what your clients would search if they needed your product. Put those keywords in the Keyword Planner. It’ll generate relevant keywords and phrases and show you how much they’re being searched on the platform. You can determine which keywords you want to rank for and lay out the SEO framework from there.
Another useful one is Google Webmaster Tool, which you can use to check duplicate content and 404/500 errors. You can also check which one of your pages is performing well.
On-Page Optimization
After monitoring and analyzing your data and keywords, take actions to optimize your online store’s pages for those keywords.
Make sure you’re using H1 tag for your page’s headline and that it includes the page’s keyword. Don’t forget to write a compelling meta description that also includes the keyword and keep it under 150 characters. You should also include the keyword in your page URL. However, try to incorporate the keyword naturally into your sentences – make them sound human!
Optimize Your Images
Written content is important but don’t neglect your product images. You’ll also want to optimize the file names and the ALT text of your images. The title and the ALT text should describe what the images are so that search engines can understand them.
The ALT text also comes in handy if your images fail to load correctly on a user’s screen because it shows up in replacement of the image.
Social Media Integration
Online SEO and social media influence each other. Set up your business on social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. If your business is very heavy on using images, Pinterest and Instagram can great platforms for you as well.
Optimizing your website by linking it to your social media posts and campaigns can increase your search ranking. Allowing people to share your product or blog content on social media can also increase traffic.
Make Sure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly
In 2016, Google started to index mobile websites as the volume of mobile searches has surpassed that of desktop searches. If your mobile website is deemed as mobile-friendly by Google, it’ll boost both of your desktop and mobile rankings.
Ensure your website theme is mobile responsive and that it displays correctly across different devices and screen sizes. Your web content should be readable without having to zoom in or scroll horizontally. The links should be easily clickable as well.
Need Help with Your Online SEO?
DigitlHaus has a team of SEO strategists and content specialists who can help you with your eCommerce SEO. Contact us to see how we can improve your search ranking and website traffic.
