Ecommerce SEO - Everything You Need To Know

Alright, let’s break it down: without ecommerce SEO, your store is basically hiding in a cave somewhere on the internet, hoping someone stumbles across it.

Spoiler: they won’t.

That’s where ecommerce SEO steps in. It’s the key to unlocking higher rankings in search results, bringing organic traffic that converts into customers—without relying on constant ad spend.

Spoiler: A lot business owners aren’t optimize on the ecommerce space, so the chances of you ranking and beating your competition are relatively high.

So, why do you need it? Because not having SEO is like shouting into a void and wondering why no one’s answering. Make sense? Here’s why it matters:

Visibility Is Everything

If your products aren’t on the first page of Google, you’re missing out on potential sales. SEO gets you to the top of search results, where all the action is happening.

Learn more about What Is SEO and It’s Importance

Trust and Credibility

Customers trust Google’s top results. By ranking high in search engines, your store becomes a trusted source for the products they need.

Think about it for a second. Do you really go to page two to find what you are looking for or chance what you are looking for?

Long-Term Growth

Paid ads are fine and all, but once you stop feeding the ad machine, your traffic dies. SEO provides sustainable traffic that compounds over time, making it more cost-effective in the long run compared to pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

Better User Experience

Google wants sites that load fast, work well on mobile, and make life easy for users. SEO makes sure you check all those boxes.

Learn more about Mobile CRO

The benefits of ecommerce SEO are clear: more traffic, more trust, and more sales. Now let’s dive into how to make that happen.

Ecommerce SEO Audit - The Health of Your Site

Before you go tossing keywords into every nook and cranny of your site, you need to figure out if it’s even working properly.

This is where the ecommerce SEO audit comes in. Think of it like a check-up for your site. This audit will help you pinpoint what’s working, what’s broken, and where improvements are needed. Here’s what to look for:

Site Speed

If your site takes more than three seconds to load, people are bouncing out of there faster than you can say “abandoned cart.” Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check your site’s performance and fix any speed issues.

Mobile Optimization

More than half of all searches happen on mobile. Make sure your site is fully responsive and offers an excellent mobile shopping experience.

Duplicate Content

Google hates seeing the same content over and over again. Make sure each product page is unique, or you’ll be penalized faster than a bad sports call.

Broken Links

Search engines (and customers) don’t like broken links. Check your site for any 404 errors and fix them immediately.

We are going to add a HUGE emphasis here, this will affect your SEO a good amount, so make sure you take care of this aspect ASAP.

Meta Data

Every page needs a unique, keyword-optimized title tag and meta description. This is one of the first things users (and Google) see in the search results.

Conducting a regular ecommerce SEO audit ensures your site stays optimized and ready for search engines to crawl and rank it.

Want us to take care of all the SEO Complexities? Contact us, let’s get started.

Ecommerce SEO Checklist - Actionable Steps for Success

Ready to start optimizing? Time to roll up your sleeves and start actually doing the work Follow this checklist to ensure you’re covering all the bases:

Keyword Research

Target both high-intent and long-tail keywords that align with what your customers are searching for. No, people aren’t searching for “Super Cool Product 2000.” Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs can help you uncover golden keyword opportunities.

Optimize Product Pages

Each product page should have a keyword-rich title, meta description, and unique product description. DMake sure keywords fit naturally, and add alt text to your images so Google knows what they are.

Internal Linking

Don’t make users (or search engines) play hide-and-seek. Link your products, categories, and relevant blog posts together so everything’s easy to find.

We are going to emphasize on this one. Internal linking is a crucial aspect of SEO. It tells that search engines which pages are important and should not be ignored.

Learn more Why Internal Linking Is Important

Improve Site Speed

Compress images, use browser caching, and optimize your hosting to make sure your site loads quickly.

Learn How To Optimize Your Images

Ensure Mobile Friendliness

Google’s mobile-first indexing means your site’s mobile version is the primary version. Make it sleek, fast, and easy to use.

Use Canonical Tags

Avoid duplicate content penalties by using canonical tags, especially if similar products exist across different categories. Keep things clean.

By sticking to this ecommerce SEO checklist, you’ll be well on your way to driving organic traffic and improving your search rankings.

Best Ecommerce Platform for SEO

Choosing the best ecommerce platform for SEO is like choosing the foundation for your house—it sets the stage for everything else.

Not all ecommerce platforms are built the same. Some platforms are SEO-friendly, others... not so much. Here’s your quick breakdown:

Shopify

Known for its ease of use and built-in SEO features like customizable meta tags, Shopify makes SEO straightforward for beginners. However, its rigid URL structure can be a drawback for more advanced users.

We’ve chatted with so many business owners operating under Shopify and trying to optimize for SEO is somewhat of a painful process.

WooCommerce

Powered by WordPress, WooCommerce gives you total control over your SEO, especially with plugins like Yoast. It’s ideal for those who want to go deep into technical SEO optimization. But be ready to roll up your sleeves.

BigCommerce

A solid, reliable choice for large stores. It’s like the pro athlete of platforms: fast, customizable URLs, and mobile-ready.

Magento

A robust platform for those with technical know-how, Magento offers powerful SEO capabilities but may require more developer resources to fully leverage.

News: Magento was acquired by Adobe

Your choice of platform can significantly affect your SEO performance, so make sure you pick the one that best aligns with your goals.

Need SEO Ecommerce Consultants?

Sometimes, optimizing your ecommerce site requires an SEO specialist touch. If the whole SEO thing feels like trying to defuse a bomb while blindfolded, it might be time to call in some SEO ecommerce consultant.

They—we--bring a wealth of experience and expertise to ensure your SEO efforts are as effective as possible.

Custom Strategies

These aren’t one-size-fits-all plans. A consultant will craft a custom SEO strategy tailored specifically to your business and its unique challenges.

Technical Expertise

From optimizing site speed to fixing crawl errors, consultants have the technical know-how to address complex SEO issues.

Content Optimization

Need content that works? Consultants can ensure that your product descriptions, blogs, and landing pages are fully optimized for SEO without sacrificing user experience.

Ongoing Support

SEO isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it process. Consultants keep an eye on things and adjust as Google keeps moving the goalposts.

Hiring SEO ecommerce consultants can save you time, eliminate guesswork, and provide results faster than a DIY approach.

SEO Services for Ecommerce Sites

If SEO feels like wrestling an alligator, you can always hire the pros. SEO services for ecommerce sites take care of everything so you don’t have to sweat the details.

Our services handle everything from technical audits to ongoing optimization efforts. Here’s what you can expect:

• On-Page SEO: Includes optimizing meta tags, product descriptions, and images to ensure your content is easily understood by search engines.
• Technical SEO: Fixes issues like slow loading times, crawl errors, and duplicate content that could hurt your rankings.
• Content Creation: High-quality blog posts, killer product descriptions, you name it. These services will make sure your content is doing the heavy lifting.
• Link Building: High-quality backlinks are gold in SEO. SEO services will often run link-building campaigns to improve your domain authority.
• Ongoing Audits: Regular audits help identify new optimization opportunities and ensure that your site is keeping up with the latest SEO best practices.

These SEO services for ecommerce sites are designed to help you stay ahead of the competition and continuously improve your rankings.

Learn How to Rank Higher On Google

Up Your SEO Game with Alterior Digital

If ecommerce SEO seems like a chaotic maze of keywords, links, and technical jargon—well, it kind of is…we know first hand.

But it’s a maze worth navigating. By running your SEO audit, following an SEO checklist, and choosing the best ecommerce platform for SEO, you’ll start seeing real results.

Whether you decide to go it alone or call in the experts—like Alterior Digital, your go-to team for mastering the art of SEO—one thing’s for sure: without SEO, your store is basically invisible.

Ready to get started? We are sure you are, let’s get started and start Ranking Higher on Google.