Using SEO to make e-commerce stand out is becoming increasingly tough. Because Google is dedicated to providing the best results, huge businesses like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart are becoming increasingly tough to compete with.
However, there is still potential for small electronic enterprises that want to compete with the giants. These ten SEO tips for e-commerce will help you boost your search results.
1. Add texts in the categories
A category with no content is merely a list of things with some text from the product descriptions, which is the duplicate text of the information inside the product.
Having unique, well-drafted texts that truly assist the user can enhance your e-commerce's SEO more than you believe.
The crucial point here is that you do not compose the text with search engines in mind, but rather with the possible client in mind. You must include the keyword on which the category concentrates at least once, but do not overwhelm the text with them.
The good news is that there are very few online retailers in Canada that make good use of category descriptions. On this pet product page, you can find very well-optimized descriptions:
2. Link between products
In addition to promoting cross-selling across items, including links to other products on product sites improves the number of pages that Google reaches. There are numerous methods to put these bindings into action:
Offering relevant or complementary products to the one the customer is looking atÂ
Products that other users have purchased
Based on the user's previous purchases
Including links on product pages allows Google to reach the remainder of the products without having to return to the first levels of the web, while also enhancing cross-selling by providing products that the consumer may be interested in.
3. Do not index URL parameters
When generating sessions for users and filtering products in e-commerce, the use of parameters is quite common: filters by product features (color, size, score, etc.), ordering (lowest price, relevance, higher price, grid, etc.), and product type (LED TVs, plasma TVs, etc). The issue is that many of these factors do not modify the content of the page, resulting in several URLs for the same content.
www.example.com/television?tipo=plasma&price-from=200&price-usd=800
We can notice three criteria in this example: type of television, minimum price, and maximum price.
Solution
The solution to any difficulty with the parameters is to add a "rel=canonical" tag to the original page; this will prevent any duplication of content across the different pages created by the parameters.
In addition, you must inform Google which parameters it should disregard when indexing pages on your website via Google Webmaster Tools > Tracking > URL parameters.
This tells Google which page is the most significant among those identified for the same products, removing any potential duplicate content issues and increasing the ranking strength of that page.
4. Don't forget your mobile
According to a Forbes survey, mobile devices account for 20% of online store purchases, with estimates that in three years, mobile devices will account for half of all purchases.
Currently, very few online retailers in Canada are mobile-optimized: the buttons appear small, the product descriptions are difficult to read, and the purchasing procedure is frustrating. The ideal approach is to add a responsive design to your e-commerce that adapts to any sort of screen.
5. Add structured data to your product listings
Why is it advantageous to incorporate structured data into e-commerce? Google is displaying increasingly enriched results, and the richer the search result of your e-commerce, the more likely it is to be among the top spots.
It is quite simple with Google Webmaster Tools. You have to go to the search aspect>data marker, which allows you to immediately add information to the elements of your website without the need for code or any plugin. You can include the following information: price, photo, description, availability, average rating, and reviews.
Simply enter the URL of the website to which you wish to add the indicated data and follow Google's instructions.
7. Custom Product Descriptions
The vast majority of online businesses use the brand's product descriptions, ensuring that none of their products stand out from those of the competitors and that the original page, that is, the one from the brand, will always have higher positioning.
In addition to differentiating your page from the competition and increasing your chances of ranking well, adding customized descriptions to product pages that adhere to Google's requirements (original, useful text, and without excessive keywords) will also assist your consumers in deciding whether or not to purchase a product. Don't simply list the features of the product; also mention who the product is appropriate for and any potential uses it may have.
8. Load speed
This applies to any web page, but it is especially crucial in e-commerce:
Your visitors expect your website to load in under 2 seconds.
If a website takes more than 3 seconds to load, 40% of people leave.
The conversion rate lowers by 7% for every additional second it takes to load.
User satisfaction reduces by 7% for every second it takes to load.
Quick loading lowers website maintenance by half.
The number of indexed pages grows by 100% when the loading speed is reduced by 50%.
One of the ranking factors that is getting the most significance is the loading speed because the quicker your website loads, the more time Google will have to examine it from top to bottom.
9. Use your own quality photos
Utilizing tools like Image Raider, you can check to see if any other pages are using your images. If they are, you can get in touch with the webmaster of those pages and request that they link to you. By taking your own real photos of the products, which allow the consumer to view the products in detail and so increase their confidence, you will have a very interesting possibility to gain links.
Additionally, you will increase the likelihood that your potential buyers will believe the images they are viewing are of the actual product and not a studio setup if the photos are customized and do not appear to be obtained from the brand's website.
9. Do not obsess over keywords
Including the keyword you want your post to rank for on your page is a move that can help you with SEO, but if you go overboard, you risk over-optimization and getting penalized by Google.
Let's use a running shoe store as an example. If you named all of your products "Running shoe model x," "Running shoe model y," and "Running shoe model z," the word "running shoe" would appear on each page from the category as many times as you had articles, which would be considered keyword stuffing.
However, the best piece of advice we can give you to make your e-commerce store successful is to treat every customer as if they are your last: respond to questions as soon as you can, the sooner the better; if a customer has trouble making a purchase, fix it; if a message does not arrive, send him another product; etc.