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Ecommerce SEO Guide

Everything You Need to Know About Ecommerce SEO (And Then Some)

ecommerce SEO on website selling clothing

SEO Is Key for Sustainable, Long Term Growth

Are you looking to drive more organic traffic to your ecommerce store? Chances are, you’ve done your research and you’ve found that SEO is an essential part of making sure your ecommerce store is seen by the right customers, at the right time.

Don’t sit back and watch your competitors dominate the search results. Your products are worth putting in front of people, and SEO is the best way to make that happen. 

SEO is well worth the investment it will take to audit your site, create content, and build links because, unlike paid ads, organic search positions are free, long-term, and are seen as more trustworthy to customers.

Conklin Media Ecommerce Creative Examples 2
Couple searching for SEO optimized ecommerce store

What are the Benefits of Ecommerce SEO?

SEO offers a great return on investment. By optimizing your site for search engine results, you can increase visibility and bring more targeted traffic to your site. This increased visibility can help boost sales and conversions.

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Increased visibility

Properly optimized e-commerce websites are more likely to rank higher in search engine results, making them more visible to potential customers.

SEO ecommerce traffic

Increased traffic

Higher visibility in search results can lead to increased traffic to your e-commerce website, which can translate into more sales.

SEO site experience

Better user experience

E-commerce SEO can improve the overall user experience by making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for on your website.

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Increased credibility

A well-optimized website can improve the credibility of your e-commerce business by demonstrating that you are a reputable and trustworthy company.

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Increased conversions

Optimizing your e-commerce website for search engines can lead to increased conversions, as customers are more likely to make a purchase when they can easily find what they are looking for.

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Competitive advantage

Properly optimizing your e-commerce website can give you a competitive advantage over other companies in your industry, as you will be more visible to potential customers.

bicycle keyword search volume

SEO efforts can have long-term benefits, as the improvements made to your website can continue to generate traffic and sales even after the initial optimization work is completed.

With SEO, you also have more control over your online presence and can improve your website’s ranking through your own efforts, rather than relying solely on paid advertising.

A note: Google ecommerce SEO best practices are constantly evolving, so it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends and guidelines.

Maximize your SEO efforts for ecommerce websites by learning what factors impact rankings and some of the key tactics you can use to increase organic visibility.

Here is everything you need to know about the role of SEO in ecommerce and how it can help your business succeed.

Ecommerce SEO Guide

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Section 1

Ecommerce SEO 101

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Section 2

Ecommerce SEO Platforms

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Section 3

Ecommerce Site Structure SEO

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Section 4

Ecommerce Keyword Research

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Section 5

Ecommerce On Page SEO

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Section 6

Ecommerce Technical SEO

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Section 7

Off Page SEO Techniques for Ecommerce Websites

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Section 8

Ecommerce SEO Content Creation

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Section 9

Local SEO for Ecommerce

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Section 10

Ecommerce SEO Services

Table of Contents

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Ecommerce SEO 101

SEO is hard to implement if you don’t know what it is or how Google works. So, let’s start with the basics before learning more about how to optimize ecommerce website SEO.

What Is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website or web page in order to improve its visibility in search engine results, which can lead to increased traffic, higher brand recognition, and ultimately more sales.

Google decides where to rank sites in search results by crawling websites, analyzing signals like page speed, backlinks, titles, and meta descriptions, and categorizing sites to rank in an order.

Why SEO Is Important for Ecommerce

It’s hard to overstate the importance of SEO in ecommerce!

When you optimize your ecommerce website for SEO, you help Google understand the context of your page so that it can rank it higher and be more visible in search results. People can’t purchase your products if they can’t find you online.

How to Do SEO for Ecommerce

The right ecommerce SEO strategy requires several steps, from choosing the right platform to getting relevant backlinks to improve your rankings.

We’ll cover everything you need to know about optimizing your ecommerce store in the following chapters. Whether you want to learn about technical ecommerce best practices for SEO or need tips on how to create content that will rank higher in Google, our guide will help you optimize your ecommerce website and reap the benefits.

What are the Most Important Strategies for Ecommerce SEO?

Expert SEO is achieved through a variety of methods, including optimizing content for specific keyword phrases, building external links to your website, and making sure your site is technically sound and offers a good user experience.

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Ecommerce SEO Platforms

Ecommerce sites come in many different shapes and sizes, but one thing is for sure – they all need to be optimized for search engines. If you’re looking for the most SEO friendly ecommerce platform, we recommend WordPress, Shopify, or Magneto, which offer different SEO features and benefits.

1. WordPress

WordPress is a powerful and versatile ecommerce platform that can help you make your online store stand out from the competition. WordPress ecommerce SEO is normally implemented using the Woocommerce plugin.

Pros

Very SEO Friendly

One of the best things about WordPress is that it’s highly SEO friendly. It provides an intuitive content creation and management system, making it easy to customize titles, headings and content for maximum search engine visibility.

Tons of Features With SEO Plugins

With WordPress for ecommerce SEO, you’ll have access to a range of features and plugins that can help you take your SEO efforts to the next level. These tools make it easy to monitor, track and analyze your search engine performance so you can tweak elements as needed.

Relatively Inexpensive

Unlike Shopify, using Woocommerce for an online retail ecommerce SEO functionality on your website is free. Of course, you’ll have to pay for the other necessary plugins you’ll need, but overall, costs are still relatively low.

Cons

Require More Technical Knowledge

WordPress ecommerce requires more technical knowledge than other ecommerce platforms to get the most out of its SEO features.

Security Risks

Because WordPress is open-source, it can be more susceptible to security risks than other SEO friendly ecommerce platforms. Be careful about which plugins you choose to utilize and install updates as needed.

2. Shopify

Shopify ecommerce provides an easy-to-use platform that helps you get your online store up and running quickly. This popular ecommerce solution makes it simple to customize and optimize your site for maximum search engine visibility.

Pros

Easy to Use

Perhaps the biggest thing Shopify has going for it is its user-friendly interface. Its drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create a customized store and manage your content with ease.

Equipped With Main SEO Options

While it doesn’t have quite as much SEO customization opportunity as WordPress, Shopify is still considered an SEO-friendly ecommerce platform. It comes with the main SEO options you need to optimize your site for visibility, such as customizable title tags and meta descriptions.

Great Agility and Speed

Shopify is fast. With its integrated caching system, you’ll be able to quickly load pages and ensure your customers have a great shopping experience.

Cons

Requires Third Party Apps

Shopify is a closed-source platform, meaning you’ll need to use third-party apps for more advanced SEO features. This can add more cost and complexity to your SEO efforts.

Costs Add Up

Compared to other ecommerce platforms, Shopify can be more expensive. Adding extra features to your Shopify store often requires expensive plugins that can quickly add up in cost.

Limited Customization

When it comes to Shopify ecommerce SEO, there are a few limitations. For example, it’s harder to edit URL structures and sitemaps, and you won’t have as many customization options as with WordPress.

3. Magento

Magento ecommerce is another option for small businesses to large enterprises. This open-source platform allows you to customize your website’s SEO features to maximize search engine visibility, giving you the power to attract more customers and boost sales.

Pros

Flexible

When it comes to ecommerce Magento SEO, the platform is flexible enough to allow you to create strong product descriptions, title tags, meta descriptions, and more. 

Plenty of Features

One of the best aspects of Magento is that it has features that allow you to manage multiple stores, locations, languages, pricing, and even currencies. 

Scalable

Magento is a scalable platform, so you can adjust and upgrade your ecommerce store to keep up as your business grows. Plus, Magento can certainly handle high volumes of traffic, making it great for large businesses or those expecting a lot of visitors.

Cons

Complicated

Magento is not as user-friendly or intuitive as other ecommerce platforms like Shopify or WordPress. Because of this, it requires more technical knowledge to get the most out of its SEO features.

Expensive

There’s no way around it: Magento ecommerce SEO can be expensive. There also aren’t as many developers who are familiar with the platform, so you may need to pay more for a Magento-experienced developer.

SEO Issues

Due to the way the navigation is set up, you may have duplicate content issues, and some users have problems with ecommerce SEO canonical tags. Between these issues and the complexity of the platform, SEO for Magento ecommerce can be tricky.

Which Platform Is Best for Ecommerce?

So which ecommerce platform is best for SEO?

The ecommerce platform that is best for you will depend on your goals, your familiarity with SEO techniques, and how much time you’re willing to invest in learning the CRM to optimize ecommerce listings. 

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Ecommerce Site Structure SEO

In order to maximize search engine visibility for most retail sites, it’s important that the ecommerce site architecture SEO is organized in a way that makes it easy for search engines to understand what type of content each page contains, and how the pages are related to one another.

Ecommerce Site Architecture Best Practices

Your ecommerce website’s structure is the framework upon which your content and products are organized. It’s critical to get this right so that customers and search engines can easily navigate the site.

Menu Offers Easy Navigation

Have you ever been on a site with a frustrating menu structure that makes it difficult to find the products you’re looking for? This is obviously a problem from a user’s perspective, but it can also have negative effects on search engine rankings.

The main navigation menu should include links to all major categories of products, as well as other important pages such as your home page, contact page, and about page.

Clear URL Structure

URL structure is another important consideration when it comes to site structure. A clean and easy-to-understand URL will help search engines understand what type of content can be found on each page. Your URL should clearly indicate the category of products or services being offered and be as short and concise as possible.

Strong Interlinking Strategy

Interlinking is an important part of any website’s architecture as it helps search engines understand how the pages are related to one another. Within your ecommerce site, you should link from category and product pages to other related content such as blog posts and helpful resources. This will help search engines crawl through your site more effectively, ensuring that all content is indexed correctly. Your pages should be three or fewer clicks from your homepage.

Other Ecommerce Specific Elements

Ecommerce websites consist primarily of two types of pages: product and category. Categories are broad groups which contain products, while the ecommerce product pages display detailed information about specific items. Each type of page will require a slightly different SEO approach.

How to Optimize a Category Page for Ecommerce SEO

Category page SEO focuses on creating a page that is easily discoverable by search engines, and conveys a clear message about the type of products being sold.

An example of a flash drive category page optimized for ecommerce SEO.

Ecommerce Product Hierarchy and SEO

Product hierarchy helps to organize and structure the content on your ecommerce site. Make sure there’s a clear relationship between categories and products by creating a “breadcrumb” navigation system which shows each category and sub-category in the path a customer has taken to arrive at a specific product page.

Category URL

Your product category page’s URL should include the keyword you’ve chosen to represent the category of products. This should be consistent so that search engines know what page they’re looking at when they crawl the website. Avoid using things like dates or numbers that won’t stay relevant to the page’s content.

An example of an engagement ring category page ecommerce URL optimized for SEO.
Product Organization

Your product category page should be organized in a way that is logical and easy for visitors to navigate. Make sure that the product pages are interlinked, so that visitors can easily jump from one product to another. Images representing your products should be structured in a visually appealing grid format.

Content

One way to improve the ranking of your category pages is to include relevant and keyword-rich content. This could include an optimized description of the category, or links to SEO ecommerce blog posts that are related to the category. Your ecommerce seo category descriptions should be written to target specific keywords related to the category, and should be used as an opportunity to effectively communicate with potential customers.

A screenshot of a jewelry website’s SEO ecommerce blog posts.

How to Optimize an Ecommerce Product Page for SEO

Product page SEO focuses on optimizing the individual page for a specific product, using relevant keywords and quality content as well as the correct technical elements such as meta tags.

Product URL

Your ecommerce product’s URL will have your product nestled under the relevant category. As with the product category page, use relevant keywords in the URL to help search engines understand what’s on the page.

Product Description

Your product descriptions should include all relevant keyword phrases that customers might use when searching for a specific product. Avoid keyword stuffing and use a natural tone when writing product descriptions. Product descriptions should be concise but detailed enough to let customers know what the product is and how it can help them.

Optimized Image

In addition to providing an optimized description of your products, you should also include quality images that accurately represent the item being sold. If you want your images to rank in Google’s image search, make sure to include alt text. Images should also be compressed so as not to slow down your page load speed.

Meta Data

It’s also important to include the correct meta tags and title tags on each product page. The meta title should include your primary keyword phrase, as well as the name of the item being sold. The meta description should be a brief summary of what the customer can expect from buying that specific item.

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Ecommerce Keyword Research

Keyword research is one of the most important parts of SEO for ecommerce websites. Your keywords influence your site’s reach and how organic traffic interacts with your products and pages.

What Happens If You Choose the Right Keywords

If you choose the right keywords for your ecommerce website, congratulations, you’re already on your way to better SEO performance.

By choosing the most relevant, popular, and profitable keywords for your website, you can:

  • Enhance relevancy: Your website will be associated with the the target keywords that are important to your audience
  • Maximize conversions: Traffic from the right keywords can convert into sales and leads more easily than other traffic sources

What’s not to love?

What Happens If You Choose the Wrong Keywords

If you choose the wrong keywords for your ecommerce website, you’re not going to get very far.

Choosing the wrong keywords can result in:

  • Low organic traffic: Your website won’t appear as high up on search engine results pages (SERPs) so it won’t attract much attention.
  • Irrelevant traffic: If you do rank, but it’s not for keywords that are relevant to you, clicking through to your website isn’t going to make much sense to your audience.
  • Low conversions: Traffic won’t convert into sales or leads as easily because it isn’t the right kind of traffic.

We had a client who was ranking very highly for the longtail keyword “is trust a value,” but it had nothing to do with their services. So even if they did get some clicks, they wouldn’t end up converting since it was an entirely different audience.

How To Do Keyword Research for Ecommerce SEO

Keyword research starts with understanding your customers and what they’re looking for. Once you have an idea of who your target audience is, you can start researching keywords and developing a strong ecommerce keyword strategy.

Keyword Tools

Keyword tools are your best bet, as they make the keyword research process relatively easy and allow you to create lists, see how your site stacks up against your competitors’, and generate related keyword ideas. Google Keyword Planner is always a good place to start when researching keywords, as it’s free and provides an initial list of relevant keywords. Once you have the basics, there are plenty of paid tools such as SEMRush or Ahrefs that can provide powerful insights into your competitors’ SERP rankings.

Ahrefs for Ecommerce SEO

Ahrefs ecommerce SEO is a great way to find long-tail keywords and understand how your site compares to the competition. Use Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer to create a comprehensive list of targeted keywords for your ecommerce website based on search volume, keyword difficulty, SERP features, related terms, and more.

You can also use ecommerce SEO Ahrefs to run technical audits, check backlinks to your website or competitor’s websites, and find out the most popular pages on a site.

Semrush for Ecommerce SEO

Semrush is another great tool for search engine optimization on your ecommerce website. Semrush is a comprehensive tool that can provide keyword ideas, run technical audits, and provide backlink reports.

Semrush also has an industry-leading “Keyword Magic Tool” that offers advanced features such as related keywords, phrase match keywords, SERP features, and keyword difficulty. This tool can help you find targeted keywords that have the potential to bring in more organic traffic to your website.

Google Trends for Ecommerce SEO

Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends are two tools that can help you understand the search trends of a particular keyword. With Google Trends, you can compare various keywords to see which one is more popular and has a higher trend over time. This can be especially useful if you’re trying to optimize your ecommerce website for seasonal or trending topics.

Manual Competitor Analysis

Even if you have an arsenal of keyword tools, manual competitor analysis can help you get a better understanding of the competition. This could include checking out different pages on their website, looking at what keywords they’re targeting, or searching for opportunities to rank higher with related terms.

Google the term you want to rank for, and check out the search engine results page. Investigate your competitors and consider the intent behind the term. Are your competitor’s pages missing anything? Do they include something you don’t have, like an infographic or helpful tool?

The best ecommerce SEO tools for your online business will depend on the type of business you run and how much budget you have for keyword research. No matter which tool you use, the goal is always to understand your customers’ needs and develop a comprehensive ecommerce SEO strategy that will help you increase organic visibility on search websites.

What to Consider During Ecommerce SEO Keyword Research

Trying to find the perfect keyword to go after requires a careful balance of keyword difficulty and search volume. You also need to consider search intent and the relevance of keywords to your business and services.

Keyword Search Volume

The first thing to consider is the number of searches per month, or search volume, or the keyword you’re considering. If you think you have the perfect keyword that describes your ecommerce product, but no one is actually looking for it, then it’s not going to do you any good.

A screenshot displaying the search volume and traffic potential for the ecommerce intent keyword “cold brew coffee maker.”

Keyword Difficulty

The next thing to consider is the difficulty of ranking for the keyword. Generally, the more difficult a keyword is to rank for, the higher its search volume will be. Most keyword tools have a scale of 1 to 100 that lets you know how difficult they estimate ranking for that keyword will be.

A screenshot of the keyword difficulty of 48 for the keyword “cold brew coffee maker.”

You should take the keyword difficulty into consideration, otherwise you risk spending all your effort on a term that will be nearly impossible to rank for without a significant number of backlinks. By doing some research, you can come up with more niche keyword suggestions that will be lower in difficulty.

Short Tail Keywords Vs Long Tail Keywords

There are two main types of keywords: short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords. Short-tail keywords are broad and have higher search volumes, but tend to be more competitive. Long-tail keywords are more specific, and usually have lower competition and lower search volume. They usually take the form of questions.

A screenshot of long tail keywords for the keyword cold brew coffee maker.

Number of Backlinks

Backlinks are an extremely important factor in determining search engine rankings, so you should also consider how many backlinks are needed to rank for a particular keyword. You can find out the number of backlinks your competitors have for keywords they’re ranking for with tools like Ahrefs or Semrush. If your competitor has hundreds of backlinks from authoritative websites and your ecommerce store is in its beginning stages, it’s going to be very difficult to rank.

A screenshot of the search engine results page for keyword cold brew coffee maker.

Search Intent

Finally, you need to consider the search intent of potential customers when researching keywords for your ecommerce website. People search for different things in different ways, and understanding their intentions can help you determine which keywords are most relevant to your business.

Do people want to buy? Are they looking for product reviews or a how-to guide? Answering these questions can help you determine which keywords are the most effective for your ecommerce SEO strategy.

Ecommerce Keyword SEO Tips Summarized

These considerations should all be made when researching which keywords to target for your ecommerce website. They will allow you to prioritize relevant terms and identify those that are more likely to drive search traffic and conversions to your site. Leveraging the right keyword research and SEO strategies for ecommerce sites will help ensure that you’re connecting with your target customers and creating a successful ecomm business.

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Ecommerce On Page SEO

Once you’ve determined your keywords, you’ll need to optimize your website for those terms. This is where on page SEO comes in, which is one of the most important steps to improve SEO for ecommerce.

What Is On Page SEO for Ecommerce?

Ecommerce on-page SEO refers to the optimization of individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines.

On-page SEO is an important aspect of any ecommerce website’s overall SEO strategy, as it helps to ensure that search engines understand the content on your website and can easily index and understand it. By optimizing your ecommerce pages for specific keywords and phrases, you can increase the visibility of your products and services, drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately, increase your sales.

On Page Elements to Consider

On-page SEO involves a range of elements, including page titles, meta descriptions, headings, and content quality. By carefully optimizing these elements, you can improve the overall user experience and search engine visibility of your ecommerce website.

An example of on page ecommerce SEO

Page Title

The title of your page should be descriptive and concise, and should accurately reflect the content of the page. Your title tag should contain the primary keyword or phrase that you’re targeting and ideally be between 40 and 60 characters.

SEO title and meta description for an ecommerce product.

Meta Descriptions

The meta description is a brief summary of the page’s content that appears in search results. It should be written in a way that entices users to click on your page. You should keep the meta description between 140 and 160 characters and include the main keyword or phrase.

Headings

Headers are HTML tags that indicate the structure and hierarchy of information on a page. Header tags should be used to organize content, making it easier for both users and search engines to understand your page’s content. They can also be used to reinforce keywords or phrases.

Headings should include the primary keyword or phrase, and they should be used in hierarchical order (H1 to H6). You don’t want to use the same keyword in every single one, but you should use variations.

Internal Linking

Your internal links should be used to help search engines and users navigate your website. Internal links are also helpful for reinforcing keywords or phrases, as they can signal the relevance of different pages.

Content Quality

The quality of the content on your website is essential for improving search engine visibility and user engagement. Content should be well-written, informative, relevant to the topic, and include keywords where appropriate.

On page SEO for ecommerce store website content should also be the appropriate length. Thin content is not beneficial for SEO, so you should strive to write content that’s at least 1000 words. The right length, however, will vary by product, industry, and competitors.

Images

Your ecommerce images need to be properly optimized for the web. This includes resizing images to reduce their file size and adding alt tags to include keywords or phrases so people who are visually impaired can understand what they’re about. Pay attention to the images on product and category pages, as many people click through to the images when performing Google searches.

Examples of ecommerce product images

Structured Data (Schema)

Featured snippets (also known as rich snippets) in search results are becoming increasingly popular, and it’s important to optimize your content for this purpose. Using structured data (also known as schema markup) is one way to do this; it helps search engines understand the content on your page so that they can display it in a more visually appealing way.

Schema markup is a way to provide additional information about your website to search engines. It can be used to provide additional context about the content on the page and help improve the visibility of your site in search results. Ecommerce structured data is especially important as it allows search engines to understand product details, availability, and pricing.

Reviews

SEO and ecommerce product reviews can have a positive impact on your website’s visibility in search engine results pages. Reviews provide useful information to customers and also act as social proof, which can help boost conversions. Product reviews should be included on product pages and featured snippets (rich snippets) of reviews can be displayed in search engine results.

Yotpo reviews on an ecommerce site for SEO purposes.
Ecommerce reviews on a jewelry website for SEO purposes.
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Ecommerce Technical SEO

A technical SEO audit is an important step in the process of optimizing an ecommerce website for search engines. This type of audit helps to identify any technical issues that may be preventing search engines from properly crawling and indexing your website, and provides recommendations for how to fix them. Technical SEO can have a significant impact on the visibility and performance of an ecommerce website in search results.

The Advantages of Technical SEO for Ecommerce Companies

By identifying and addressing any technical SEO mistakes, you can improve the crawlability and indexability of your website, which can lead to higher search rankings, more traffic, and ultimately, more sales.

Additionally, a site audit can help to improve the user experience on your website by ensuring that pages load quickly and efficiently, and by identifying and fixing any broken links or errors. Overall, a technical SEO audit is an essential part of any comprehensive SEO strategy for an ecommerce website.

How to Perform a Technical SEO Ecommerce Audit

To perform a technical SEO audit, you will need to assess a range of technical factors, including the website’s crawlability and indexability, mobile-friendliness, page load time, and security. You will also need to review the website’s internal linking structure, URL structure, and use of structured data. There are a number of tools and resources that can help you to perform a technical SEO audit, including web crawlers, site speed testing tools, and mobile-friendliness testing tools.

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Choose an Audit Tool

The easiest way to perform a technical ecommerce audit is to use an automated audit tool. These tools are designed to quickly and easily identify any technical issues with your website, as well as provide specific recommendations for how to fix them. The best tools for SEO technical ecommerce audits include:

Scan Your Website for Errors

Once you’ve chosen a tool, you can begin scanning your website for errors. This process involves running the audit tool over your entire website to identify any technical issues, such as broken links or pages that are not loading properly.

Review Your Report

The tool will then provide specific recommendations on how to fix these issues. Most tools offer a comprehensive report that outlines issues in order of importance. You can also download the audit to share with other stakeholders.

Check Mobile Friendliness

Mobile-friendliness is especially important for ecommerce websites, as many shoppers now use their smartphones to browse and make purchases. You can use a mobile-friendly testing tool such as Google’s Mobile Friendly Test to identify any issues with how your website looks on different devices.

mobile friendly test for ecommerce SEO

Check Site Speed

A quick loading speed is also crucial for ecommerce. If people visiting your site have to wait too long for pages to load, they are likely to leave without making a purchase. You can use tools such as PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix to identify any issues with the speed of your website and learn how to fix them.

How to Fix Ecommerce Technical Site Issues

Once you have reviewed the report, it’s time to start implementing the recommendations. The following are some of the most common technical issues with ecommerce websites and how to fix them:

Sitemap Issues

A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on a website, and it helps search engines to crawl and index the website’s content. To fix sitemap issues, you will need to identify the specific problems with the sitemap and take steps to correct them. When you’re done, you can submit your sitemap to Google Search Console.

Duplicate Content

Duplicate content is content that appears on multiple pages on a website or on multiple websites. It can be a problem for search engines because it can create confusion about which page to index and rank for a particular piece of content. 

To fix duplicate content issues, you will need to find the specific pieces of content that are duplicated and take steps to consolidate or remove them. One option is to use a 301 redirect to point search engines and users to the original source of the content.

Broken Links

Broken links are links on a website that lead to pages that are no longer available or have moved to a new location. Broken links can be a problem because they can disrupt the user experience and prevent search engines from properly crawling and indexing the website.

If the page that the link points to has simply been moved to a new location, you can update the link to point to the new URL. If the page has been permanently removed or is no longer relevant, you can remove the link or replace it with a link to a relevant page on your website.

How to Improve Ecommerce Website Speed

Your ecommerce website speed is extremely important for SEO and user experience as a whole. As Google’s Core Web Vitals become more important, it’s essential to make sure that your website is optimized for speed.

Optimize Images

Large, unoptimized images can slow down your website’s loading time. Compress images and use appropriate file types to reduce their size without sacrificing quality.

Enable Browser Caching

When a user visits your website, their browser stores certain elements (such as images and stylesheets) in its cache. This can help to speed up the loading time of your website on subsequent visits.

Minimize Unnecessary Plugins

While plugins can be useful, they can also slow down your website if they are not optimized or if you have too many of them. Only use the plugins that are essential to the functioning of your website.

Optimize Your Website's Code

Ensure that your website’s code is clean, well-organized, and free of unnecessary elements to help reduce the size of your website’s files and improve its load time.

Important Times to Audit Your Ecommerce Website and Make Fixes

After major redesigns, changes in content structure and architecture, platform migrations, or launches of new versions of the website, you should proactively audit your website to identify any SEO issues. Additionally, it’s important to regularly audit your website for technical SEO issues so that you can address any problems as soon as they arise.

Ecommerce Site Migration

An ecommerce migration SEO endeavor , especially for large ecommerce stores, is a very important time to invest in SEO. If your ecommerce SEO product isn’t properly redirected should the URL structure change, you’ll end up with tons of broken links. And, of course, if someone can’t access your ecommerce product page, they won’t be making any purchases.

You should also make sure to properly transfer your SEO content to any product or category pages, or you could risk losing keywords.

A chart outlining the progress seen after fixing SEO issues on an ecommerce website.
This outdoor sports ecommerce site came to us after losing traffic after a site migration. We discovered that they hadn’t implemented redirects properly.

New Ecommerce Site Launches

It’s important to audit your new ecommerce website before it goes live. A technical SEO audit can help identify any issues with URLs, redirects, site structure, and more that could cause major problems down the road. These issues need to be addressed before launch in order to ensure a smooth transition and avoid any potential SEO disasters.

A chart outlining the progress seen after launching a new ecommerce brand website.
A strong ecommerce website launch should look like this.
Ecommerce SEO off site icon

Off Page SEO Techniques for Ecommerce Websites

Once you have a solid technical foundation for an SEO friendly ecommerce website, good content, and great on page SEO, it’s time to move onto off page SEO. This can be one of the trickiest aspects of SEO since it’s what you have the least direct control over. Off page SEO is all about building relationships and getting other sites to link back to your website.

What Is Off Page SEO for Ecommerce?

Off Page SEO for ecommerce refers to the strategies used to increase your website’s visibility and rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). This usually involves link building, social media marketing, content promotion, influencer marketing, and much more.

Off page SEO helps to drive more organic traffic to your ecommerce store while increasing brand awareness. Ultimately, this can lead to improved sales and an overall better user experience when customers interact with your website.

Why Is Off Page SEO for Ecommerce Websites So Important?

Off page SEO, also known as off site SEO, is vital for ecommerce businesses because it is the only way to make your website appear at the top of SERPs.

Off page SEO helps search engines understand what your site is all about and whether it’s a reliable source of information. It also boosts credibility as other websites link back to yours, showing that customers trust you. When other sites link back to you, it also makes customers more likely to buy from you, as they trust that their purchase will be safe and secure.

How to Get Ecommerce Links

Ecommerce links are an important part of any off page SEO strategy. Link building helps to establish credibility and authority, which can lead to improved rankings in SERPs. There are multiple ways to acquire ecommerce links, including guest blogging, broken link building, directory submissions, resource page link building, and more.

Create Link Worthy Content

When considering external SEO for ecommerce site, the best way to get organic external links is to have content that’s worth linking back to. This means creating high-quality content that provides value to readers and offers insight, advice, or solutions. When you publish this content on your website, other sites can choose to link back to it if they find it relevant and helpful for their own audiences.

You can also offer resources like tools, infographics, checklists, and more to attract other websites to link back to your content.

Perform Outreach to Relevant Websites

Reaching out to relevant websites is another effective way to acquire ecommerce links. Identify websites within your industry that might be interested in linking back to your website, and contact their owners or webmasters directly.

Guest Blogging

A guest post is a blog post that is created and published on another website. Writing guest posts can be a great way to build relationships with other industry influencers, as well as gain exposure for your ecommerce company. When you write for someone else’s blog, it gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in the subject matter while also leaving a link back to your website.

An example of a guest post titled design and visuals, how they impact a site’s SEO.
An example of a guest post author bio and backlink for SEO.
Here’s an example of a guest post I wrote for JumpStory, a stock photo provider prioritizing authenticity and emotion.

Get Listed in Directories

Citations are online mentions of your ecommerce business, and they often include a link back to your website. It is highly recommended to keep the citations consistent with your NAP (name, address, phone number) information across all directories. Be sure to update these if any changes are made.

Join Relevant Communities and Groups

Finding relevant online communities and groups can be a great way to build relationships with other ecommerce businesses. Participating in forums or joining Facebook groups are all excellent methods for gaining exposure, building brand awareness, and finding opportunities for backlinks.

Use Services Like HARO and Terkel

Using a service that emails you source requests from journalists is another good option. You can receive requests unique to your industry, and if your insights are featured, you’ll receive a link back to your website, usually from another authoritative site.  

An example of a featured insight and backlink on Terkel.
Here’s an example of a backlink to our website on Terkel.io.
An example of a featured insight and backlink from HARO.
Here’s an example of a HARO backlink to our website on Review Robin.

Invest in Link Building Services

If you don’t have the time or experience required for a robust ecommerce off page SEO strategy, it is wise to invest in link building services. Professional SEO agencies can help you build high-quality, organic backlinks from authoritative websites within your industry, helping your website rank higher in SERPs while providing increased exposure and credibility for your business.

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Ecommerce SEO Content Creation

Content creation is an integral part of any ecommerce off page SEO strategy. Without it, you won’t be able to get organic links or establish your credibility with search engines. Once you have a sound technical website foundation and a keyword strategy, you will need to focus on creating content that provides value to your site visitors.

What Role Does Content Play in Search Engine Optimization?

Ecommerce content is key to improving visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Content-rich websites are better positioned on SERPs than sites with low content or no content at all.

Content also helps build trust with potential customers, giving them the information and confidence needed to make a purchase decision.

How to Develop a Strong Ecommerce Content Strategy

When it comes to creating ecommerce SEO content, it’s important to create a strong content strategy.

Learn More About Your Audience

Start by researching your target audience and their needs. This will give you an understanding of what type of content they are looking for as well as which keywords should be used when creating content.

One thing you can do to get started is to create a customer avatar. A customer avatar is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. Once you have an idea of who your perfect customer is, it’s easier to create content that resonates with them.

Get Started With a Free Customer Avatar Template

Download our customer avatar canvas here to inform your marketing strategies and drive conversions.

Start trying to figure out where your audience spends their time. It could be in Facebook groups, on Youtube channels, at conferences, or on specialized websites such as Reddit.

The right ecommerce content writer won’t just be adept at writing search-engine optimized content, but will also understand your audience’s needs and wants. They should be able to create content that appeals to both the search engine spiders as well as humans alike.

Choose the Right Keyword for Your Content

After you’ve learned more about the type of content that’s attractive to your target ecommerce customers, you need to choose the right keywords for your content. Keywords are words or phrases that describe the main topic of a piece of content, and they can be used to optimize your website for search engine results.

Create Supporting Content Based on Relevant Keywords

Once you’ve chosen the right keywords for your content, it’s time to create supporting content for those keywords. Start with blogs and articles about related topics that can educate your readers and demonstrate your expertise.

Think of these as content clusters. You’ll have some main content about a product or service, and then blog posts that are relevant. You might also include case studies and other resources.  

Product topic clusters for ecommerce SEO content can include product reviews, tutorials, and FAQs. You should also consider creating content around topics related to the industry as a whole, such as trends and newsworthy events.

Incorporate Audio and Visual Elements

People are more likely to engage with content that includes audio and visual elements. Incorporating multimedia, such as videos, infographics, or podcasts, into your content can help make it more interesting for readers. Most people would rather watch a short video than read an article, so including both is a great way to please your audience. 

For proper ecommerce video SEO, make sure videos are tagged and optimized for search engines. The same goes for any other media included in your content.

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Local SEO for Ecommerce

Even if you do the majority of your business online, it may still be important to you that your store have a strong, physical local presence. If this is the case, you may want to consider implementing local SEO tactics.

Local SEO involves optimizing your website and content for local keywords related to the areas where you do business. This could include city names, neighborhoods, zip codes, and other geo-specific terms. Doing this helps increase your site’s visibility in local searches and can help draw more customers to your store.

Create Local Content

Local SEO content for ecommerce sites should include content related to the local area. This could be blog posts about events and attractions in your city or articles about local businesses you work with.

The best SEO platform for ecommerce may vary if you’re a small, local store or a large, international business. However, regardless of the size or scope of your ecommerce business, it’s important to create content that appeals to both search engines and customers alike.

Build Region-Specific Links

When working on getting ecommerce digital PR placements, make sure you’re including links to your site from other sites that are relevant to the region in which you do business. This will help boost your local SEO efforts and help customers find you more easily. Local citations are another important factor for ecommerce SEO. This means listing your business in local directories, such as Yelp or Google My Business, and ensuring that all of the information is accurate and up-to-date.

Update Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (often referred to as a GBP) is your business’s listing on Google. This is where potential customers can find information about your store and see any reviews people have left. Keeping this profile up-to-date with accurate information is essential for SEO success.

If you need help growing your business, investing in an SEO service for ecommerce is a great place to start!

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Ecommerce SEO Services

Ready to take your ecommerce search engine optimization efforts to the next level? If you’ve found that you’ve hit a wall with your SEO and content efforts or need to scale and become more profitable, an ecommerce SEO agency can develop a strategy that involves not just SEO but support from other digital marketing specialties, as well.

Why Invest in SEO Services for Ecommerce?

A marketing firm or SEO ecommerce consultant can provide you with the guidance and expertise needed to get your website ranking higher in search engine results. They can also help you develop content that resonates with your target audience, create a comprehensive long-term marketing strategy, and provide insights into where opportunities exist for improvement.

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5K

Your Ecommerce SEO Agency

The 5K team has years of experience optimizing ecommerce websites to rank more highly in search results and better convert customers. Our ecommerce SEO services include:

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Ecommerce Keyword Research

We use industry-leading tools to identify the most relevant and profitable keywords for your business. 

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Technical SEO Audits

Identifying and resolving any technical issues that may be holding back your ranking or causing a poor user experience. 

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Content Strategy

Developing a content strategy that targets profitable keywords and provides your users with engaging and valuable content. 

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Link Building

Developing high-quality backlinks to further boost your website’s authority. 

 

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Reporting & Analysis

Tracking performance and providing actionable insights on how we can continue to improve results. 

 

Conklin Media Ecommerce Client Creative Examples

Ecommerce Digital Marketing Beyond SEO

Unlike SEO companies that focus only on SEO, 5K can help you develop a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that includes SEO and other specialties such as paid ads, design, and more. 

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Ecommerce Website Design

Your ecommerce SEO campaign and your online store’s web design go hand-in-hand. The design of your website should be optimized for usability, conversions, and search engine visibility. Our team can help you create a responsive ecommerce website that looks great, converts visitors into customers, and helps boost SEO performance.

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Ecommerce Website Development

When you have an in-house team, it’s easier to hold them accountable. If someone drops the ball on a project, or if there’s something that needs immediate attention, it can be taken care of more quickly with internal staff since they report directly to you.

Ecommerce Content

Content marketing is a powerful tool for driving search engine traffic and conversions on ecommerce websites. Our content marketing team can help you develop an effective content strategy that focuses on the keywords that are most likely to convert and creates engaging, valuable, and SEO-friendly content. 

We have experience in B2B, B2C, and D2C marketing strategies. 

Examples of businesses we work with: 

  • Fashion ecommerce companies 
  • Mattress ecommerce companies 
  • Food and beverage ecommerce companies 
  • Jewelry ecommerce companies 
  • Electronics ecommerce companies
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Ecommerce Paid Media

Google ads are a terrific way to test ecommerce keywords and figure out which are most likely to convert. Our team can then create content to rank for those keywords organically and further boost your ROI. We can also help you optimize campaigns for maximum performance, analyze results, and more. You can also use paid ads to retarget visitors who found your site via organic searches.

If you’re trying to decide which is better for your business, here’s what to consider:

Ecommerce Paid Ads vs SEO

Paid ads offer fast results, but those results can come with a hefty price tag. SEO is more cost-effective in the long run and can bring in more qualified traffic. If you’re just starting out, it’s best to focus on SEO first as it typically takes longer to see a return on investment. But if you have a budget and want to see fast results, paid advertisements may be the way to go.

Ultimately, it’s best to use a combination of both SEO and paid ads for an ecommerce business. With the right strategy and execution, you can drive more qualified traffic and conversions from organic search, while also benefiting from the instant traffic that comes with paid.

We can apply our cutting edge SEO and ecommerce marketing strategies to any industry, so if you're looking for help driving more organic sales, contact us today.

The price of ecommerce SEO starts at $5,000 a month for the best results. 

The price enables us to follow SEO best practices for ecommerce, creating content that will rank, serve your audience, and attract links.

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Ecommerce Growth Case Studies

Check out what we've done with an ecommerce website and SEO efforts for our clients.

Ready to improve ecommerce SEO with us?

A Few FAQs

Advanced ecommerce SEO isn’t required to build a site, but if you want to rank where your customers can find you, then search engine optimization efforts are a must.

If you want to learn more about SEO tips for ecommerce sites, visit our blog.

SEO’s timeline varies by website, budget, and authority. If you follow ecommerce SEO best practices, you may see movement in 6-9 months.

If you’ve opted for a done-for-you ecommerce strategy, most of the time marketing services include technical audits, content creation, and niche link building placements.

SEO for ecommerce sites works best when you create a strategy that involves technical updates, online media placements, and on page SEO for ecommerce.

We’ve found the best strategy for an ecommerce website involves creating high quality content and finding PR placements that link back to that content. In many instances, we’ll create tools or valuable resources that will benefit your customer and be an attractive asset for others to link to.

The best SEO tools depend on your strategy and goals. We often recommend Semrush, Ahrefs, and Screaming Frog. They’re great for crawling your site and providing in depth analysis or keyword research as you develop a content strategy.

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