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We have chosen 40 fool-proof SEO strategies for e-commerce. The
first 20 will relate to on-page SEO.
1. Keyword Research:-Research your keywords well. Look for keywords with high search volume and low competition. If you have a physical store you could make the keywords more specific with the addition of your location. Long-tail keywords are preferred to short-tail keywords for product pages, in order to target a more specific product search. For example, instead of choosing a generic keyword like iPhone 5 you could choose buy iPhone 5 without contract.For more information check out our blog on 16 Free Keyword Research Tools.
2. Clean URL:-The most important area of concern on any e-commerce website, especially those generated via CMS, is the URL. The query strings and unnecessary URL parameters found in the URLs of typical home page or inner e-commerce pages makes it difficult for search engines to index the pages
URLs must be clean and should contain keywords. An SEO-enriched deep link on an e-commerce website should ideally look similar to http://www.yoursite.com/category/sub-category/product.Read more about clean URLs.
3. Heading Tags:-Use appropriate h1 and h2 tags based on whether you have single or multiple products on a page. Never use more than one h1 tag on any given page and use it only for headings; not for font styles. Insert your primary keyword in h1 tags. Make your headings descriptive of the specific product page and not just a generic brand name, as this can create duplicate h1’s across pages. For example, if your product is anO’Neill Nyla Dress you could specify the color of the dress to differentiate between multiple products.Read more about heading tags for SEO.
4. Title Tags:-The title tag of each individual page on your e-commerce site must contain your primary keywords and must be descriptive. They should all be unique and should contain long-tail keywords to acquire a targeted audience via search. As title tags are displayed prominently in search results they play a major role in improving click-through rates. For example, look at these two search results from e-commerce sites that sell the same product (keyword adidas running shoes men):Read more about title tags.
5. Description Tags:-Meta descriptions are also important for improving click-through rates as they typically appear as the site description below the title tag in search results. If you use an automated tool to create meta descriptions for each product page, make sure it does not create duplicate content. It is better to add keywords manually to make them descriptive for your search audience.Read more about meta description tags.
6. Image Alt Attribute:As an e-commerce site you probably have a lot of product images on your site. It is extremely important to give images alt attributes that are keyword-rich and descriptive.Read more about image alt attributes.
7. Image Optimization:-Give descriptive names to your image files even before you upload them onto your site. Include keywords within them. Reduce the file size of your images to optimize page load time. Try to keep the size of each image below 70kb. Never use a .gif file for large images, instead use .jpeg or .png file types. Split test the number of images on a product page, providing different viewing angles of images and so on. Submit an image sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools.Read more about image sitemaps.
8. Schema.org:-We cannot stress enough the importance of incorporating microdata on your web pages to get rich search snippets. A typical e-commerce website must deliver rich snippets in search containing product information, price, availability and reviews and ratings. Read more about Schema.org.
9. Page Load Time:-With an overload of information it becomes difficult to optimize your e-commerce website’s loading speed. Check your page load time on WooRank and improve this by compressing images or reducing code bloat. Read more about optimizing page load time.
10. Rel=“canonical”:-On e-commerce websites there is a high chance of duplicate content being generated due to session ids and other URL parameters. Use the rel=“canonical” tags on duplicate pages, especially when your site is built on a CMS. Let search engines know which version of the page is the preferred one that needs to be crawled, indexed and shown in search results.Read more about duplicate content.
11. Rel=“next” and Rel=“prev”:-Chances are that you will display innumerable product pages within the same category on multiple pages. You must ensure that the Google bot understands these pages as a group, to more efficiently crawl and index them. For this you must add the rel=“next”, rel=“prev” and “view all” markup to these pages. This is called pagination.Read more about pagination with rel=“next” and rel=“prev” and “view all” markup.
12. Add User Generated Content:-User generated content refers to any real-time content that is typed on your web page by users. This may be in the form of comments or a Q&A section. This serves two purposes. In terms of SEO, it triggers search engines with fresh content generation and tells them that there is activity on a given page. In terms of usability, you are able to see your users’ concerns and answer their questions right on your product page. Add extensions for such user-generated content if you use a CMS for your online store. Also, keep a check on spam.
13. Social Media Integration:-Add social share buttons to your site. There are two types of these buttons, one is where users click to like your page or follow your brand, the other is to immediately share your content. The former can be placed anywhere, while the latter must be placed near shareable content, such as a blog, e-book, video and so on.Read more about social media integration.
14. XML Sitemap:-An XML Sitemap paves the way for search engines to crawl and index your inner pages efficiently. List all your product pages, exclude any duplicate URLs and submit it to Google Webmaster Tools. Also, add your Sitemap to your website’s robots.txt file.Read more about XML Sitemaps.
15. Robots.txt:-It is crucial to have a robots.txt file on your website. For e-commerce sites there is a chance that URL parameters are being generated, creating duplicate links. These parameters can be specifically excluded from search engine indexing in a robots.txt file. Similarly, if you have a site search feature you can include your shopping cart URL and the search URL. You do not want search bots to index the ‘no results’ pages via search URLs.
NOTE: Do not solely rely on robots.txt for duplicate content as not all search bots may honor your robots.txt content.Read more about robots.txt.
16. 301 Redirects:-For duplicate content created via query strings and URL parameters you can use 301 permanent redirects that shift the user as well as search engines from the unwanted pages to the preferred pages. This way it is easier for search engines to detect the original content and your link juice is concentrated onto the preferred page, making it easier to rank in search results.
17. Check for Broken Links:-Check for broken links on your site. To enhance user experience always keep track of any crawl errors or indexing errors on your site. You can do this using Google Webmaster Tools. Under the sub tab Crawl, Google Webmaster Tools shows you an array of link information that can be useful to scrutinize to optimize your site.
18. Unique Product Descriptions:-Manufacturer product descriptions are common to all websites that sell the product. So, make sure you create unique product descriptions and use your keywords in them wisely.
19. Anchor Text:-Build your anchor texts using a variety of words. They could be generic (click here), branded (Nike Running Shoes), or generic with a keyword (click here for more Nike Running Shoes). It is best to keep your anchor texts a mixture of these types when linking to other sites or your site’s inner pages to avoid getting an unnatural link warning.
20. Unique content:-Unique content on your home page and inner pages is a must. Human-written content that delivers value and uses keywords smartly will help your web pages rank better in search.
In our next post we will cover 20 more tips to optimize the SEO of your e-commerce site. They will be sorted into the following categories:
1. Keyword Research:-Research your keywords well. Look for keywords with high search volume and low competition. If you have a physical store you could make the keywords more specific with the addition of your location. Long-tail keywords are preferred to short-tail keywords for product pages, in order to target a more specific product search. For example, instead of choosing a generic keyword like iPhone 5 you could choose buy iPhone 5 without contract.For more information check out our blog on 16 Free Keyword Research Tools.
2. Clean URL:-The most important area of concern on any e-commerce website, especially those generated via CMS, is the URL. The query strings and unnecessary URL parameters found in the URLs of typical home page or inner e-commerce pages makes it difficult for search engines to index the pages
URLs must be clean and should contain keywords. An SEO-enriched deep link on an e-commerce website should ideally look similar to http://www.yoursite.com/category/sub-category/product.Read more about clean URLs.
3. Heading Tags:-Use appropriate h1 and h2 tags based on whether you have single or multiple products on a page. Never use more than one h1 tag on any given page and use it only for headings; not for font styles. Insert your primary keyword in h1 tags. Make your headings descriptive of the specific product page and not just a generic brand name, as this can create duplicate h1’s across pages. For example, if your product is anO’Neill Nyla Dress you could specify the color of the dress to differentiate between multiple products.Read more about heading tags for SEO.
4. Title Tags:-The title tag of each individual page on your e-commerce site must contain your primary keywords and must be descriptive. They should all be unique and should contain long-tail keywords to acquire a targeted audience via search. As title tags are displayed prominently in search results they play a major role in improving click-through rates. For example, look at these two search results from e-commerce sites that sell the same product (keyword adidas running shoes men):Read more about title tags.
5. Description Tags:-Meta descriptions are also important for improving click-through rates as they typically appear as the site description below the title tag in search results. If you use an automated tool to create meta descriptions for each product page, make sure it does not create duplicate content. It is better to add keywords manually to make them descriptive for your search audience.Read more about meta description tags.
6. Image Alt Attribute:As an e-commerce site you probably have a lot of product images on your site. It is extremely important to give images alt attributes that are keyword-rich and descriptive.Read more about image alt attributes.
7. Image Optimization:-Give descriptive names to your image files even before you upload them onto your site. Include keywords within them. Reduce the file size of your images to optimize page load time. Try to keep the size of each image below 70kb. Never use a .gif file for large images, instead use .jpeg or .png file types. Split test the number of images on a product page, providing different viewing angles of images and so on. Submit an image sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools.Read more about image sitemaps.
8. Schema.org:-We cannot stress enough the importance of incorporating microdata on your web pages to get rich search snippets. A typical e-commerce website must deliver rich snippets in search containing product information, price, availability and reviews and ratings. Read more about Schema.org.
9. Page Load Time:-With an overload of information it becomes difficult to optimize your e-commerce website’s loading speed. Check your page load time on WooRank and improve this by compressing images or reducing code bloat. Read more about optimizing page load time.
10. Rel=“canonical”:-On e-commerce websites there is a high chance of duplicate content being generated due to session ids and other URL parameters. Use the rel=“canonical” tags on duplicate pages, especially when your site is built on a CMS. Let search engines know which version of the page is the preferred one that needs to be crawled, indexed and shown in search results.Read more about duplicate content.
11. Rel=“next” and Rel=“prev”:-Chances are that you will display innumerable product pages within the same category on multiple pages. You must ensure that the Google bot understands these pages as a group, to more efficiently crawl and index them. For this you must add the rel=“next”, rel=“prev” and “view all” markup to these pages. This is called pagination.Read more about pagination with rel=“next” and rel=“prev” and “view all” markup.
12. Add User Generated Content:-User generated content refers to any real-time content that is typed on your web page by users. This may be in the form of comments or a Q&A section. This serves two purposes. In terms of SEO, it triggers search engines with fresh content generation and tells them that there is activity on a given page. In terms of usability, you are able to see your users’ concerns and answer their questions right on your product page. Add extensions for such user-generated content if you use a CMS for your online store. Also, keep a check on spam.
13. Social Media Integration:-Add social share buttons to your site. There are two types of these buttons, one is where users click to like your page or follow your brand, the other is to immediately share your content. The former can be placed anywhere, while the latter must be placed near shareable content, such as a blog, e-book, video and so on.Read more about social media integration.
14. XML Sitemap:-An XML Sitemap paves the way for search engines to crawl and index your inner pages efficiently. List all your product pages, exclude any duplicate URLs and submit it to Google Webmaster Tools. Also, add your Sitemap to your website’s robots.txt file.Read more about XML Sitemaps.
15. Robots.txt:-It is crucial to have a robots.txt file on your website. For e-commerce sites there is a chance that URL parameters are being generated, creating duplicate links. These parameters can be specifically excluded from search engine indexing in a robots.txt file. Similarly, if you have a site search feature you can include your shopping cart URL and the search URL. You do not want search bots to index the ‘no results’ pages via search URLs.
NOTE: Do not solely rely on robots.txt for duplicate content as not all search bots may honor your robots.txt content.Read more about robots.txt.
16. 301 Redirects:-For duplicate content created via query strings and URL parameters you can use 301 permanent redirects that shift the user as well as search engines from the unwanted pages to the preferred pages. This way it is easier for search engines to detect the original content and your link juice is concentrated onto the preferred page, making it easier to rank in search results.
17. Check for Broken Links:-Check for broken links on your site. To enhance user experience always keep track of any crawl errors or indexing errors on your site. You can do this using Google Webmaster Tools. Under the sub tab Crawl, Google Webmaster Tools shows you an array of link information that can be useful to scrutinize to optimize your site.
18. Unique Product Descriptions:-Manufacturer product descriptions are common to all websites that sell the product. So, make sure you create unique product descriptions and use your keywords in them wisely.
19. Anchor Text:-Build your anchor texts using a variety of words. They could be generic (click here), branded (Nike Running Shoes), or generic with a keyword (click here for more Nike Running Shoes). It is best to keep your anchor texts a mixture of these types when linking to other sites or your site’s inner pages to avoid getting an unnatural link warning.
20. Unique content:-Unique content on your home page and inner pages is a must. Human-written content that delivers value and uses keywords smartly will help your web pages rank better in search.
In our next post we will cover 20 more tips to optimize the SEO of your e-commerce site. They will be sorted into the following categories:
- Off-Page SEO
- Social
- Mobile
- Advertising
- Conversion Testing
Check back for even more ways to optimize your e-commerce
website.
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