SEO for eCommerce in 5 Steps
Zuzanna Pajorska
5 min
Why is SEO so important in building marketing for your online store? In the previous blogpost , we talked about what to pay attention to at the very beginning of the path to better optimization of your online store website.
In today's post, you will learn what the best methods of optimizing your website for SEO are. If you are looking for a way to increase traffic on the website of your online store and position it as high as possible in the search engine results – then this blogpost is for you.
SEO for eCommerce
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the optimization of websites in order to increase their visibility in search engines. The key to success might seem to be the right selection of… keywords, but there are several other good SEO practices in online sales, which will result in the increase of the traffic and conversion on the website. Properly undertaken actions to improve SEO will ultimately translate into sales.
Check out how to do it in 5 steps.
1. Unique product descriptions
The detailed and uniquely described store offer not only makes it easier for website users to find the desired product but also improves the visibility of the store's website in organic searches. Aim to create your own unique language and not copy product descriptions from other sites or from the manufacturer's sites. This will make your store stand out from the competition!
When describing a given product on the product card, remember the following guidelines.
- You can write for SEO in an interesting way! Use keywords to build sentences in such a way that the customer is intrigued by the product and incorporate your unique style into an ongoing communication strategy. Let the set of keywords become a tool for creating an original text that will revive the interest of your client and make them stay on the website longer and want to make a purchase. Properly adjusted language of communication may become your best showcase.
- The product description should be visible not only to your customer but also to Google. Place the description box in the most prominent place on the product page.
- Pay attention to every detail that can further characterize the product. It will also be useful for facilitating the navigation through the store for website users when you decide to introduce additional solutions, such as, for example, a recommendation engine, the algorithm of which is powered, among others, by the product description.
2. Category description
It is worth taking care of the optimization of the product categories. How to do it? Describe all categories in your product catalog accurately and legibly. Descriptions should be unique, include key phrases, and answer the following questions about your products:
- How will items in this category benefit the client?
- What need do they satisfy?
- Why are they unique and better than others?
Also remember to clearly describe the subcategories. This way you will facilitate the customer's store navigation.
3. Metatags
Metadescirption which is well optimized for SEO seems to be an often overlooked, but very important - and apparently invisible - element of your website's HTML.
When updating your store's website, pay attention to 3 key elements: meta description, meta title, and alternative image description.
- Meta description - this is the description that is found below the title and URL of the page displayed in the search engine. Taking care of this element will allow you to catch the attention of your potential customer and increase the chances that they will visit your website. Make sure that the description is 150-154 characters long and describes exactly what the user can expect when visiting the page.
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Meta title - the title of the page. It is on the basis of the title tag that the search engine first evaluates the topic of the page. This short text, up to 70 characters long, should be written in such a way as to:
- stand out from other positions in the search engine - bet on a unique title!
- inform effectively about what is under the link. Keywords are essential here!
- put your company name in the title. It is not a mandatory point, but it is definitely worth remembering if we want to build a strong brand.
- Alternative picture description - the so-called ALT attribute. This is another technical element directly related to the HTML of the page. The website user will see this text only if the photo does not load. In turn, a search engine robot that does not read photos will read this description and will be able to position the content accordingly. Thanks to carefully selected key phrases in creating an alternative description for each image (and there are a lot of them in the product catalogue!), the visibility of your store in the search engine will be better.
4. URL optimization
From the SEO and UX (user experience) point of view, it is a top priority to make sure that the URL is simple, clear, and user-friendly for the visitor to your online store. Remember to include keywords without Polish characters and no special characters, and to separate them with dashes. As with the title tag and meta description, create the URL so that the user who sees it knows immediately what is hiding under the link and what awaits after the click.
5. Content - write a blog and product reviews!
A blog on an online store's website is an increasingly common practice and the most valuable form of content marketing. It's also a great place to write reviews and recommend the best products. Consumers rarely make purchasing decisions based on a product description and photo alone. In order to approach purchases responsibly, they reach for expert content, opinions of people who have already purchased this product, comparisons of a given product with competitors, etc. It's worth discussing all these topics on the blog, creating SEO-optimized posts (remember about uniqueness, create your own language specific to your brand!). Thanks to this, you will not only build the image of a trusted store with expert knowledge, but also the visibility of your store will be enhanced. The search engine robot will find your content and position it to increase traffic on your website, which will ultimately translate into increased sales in your online store.
Start optimizing right away!
Following the principle of small steps, we recommend that you audit your online store website for SEO yourself. Write down which of the above elements require more work and start with the simplest. Once you develop the unique language of your brand and systematize the set of key phrases - the next steps will only be easier. Find out how to improve your website also in terms of personalization. On the Recostream blog, we regularly publish content on optimal and effective solutions for eCommerce.
