Ecommerce SEO
Search engine optimization is the method used by webmasters all over the world to help boost their websites' rank in a search engine's natural search results. There are two different ways that a website can be listed on a search results page, either through paid search or organic search. Paid search involves paying the search engine company to have an ad linking to your site displayed in a special area allocated for advertisements. Organic search refers to listings of websites that is displayed naturally when a user does a search for a relevant term. SEO only helps to improve your organic search results. Unlike paid search, the results are not instantaneous, but you will discover that it's very helpful for your website in the long run.
Unlike other sites, e-commerce websites are among the most difficult to optimize for in the search engines. This is caused by an inadequate amount of unique content. Search engines love sites with a lot of content that is both original and detailed. Ecommerce sites are just the opposite of that, they are composed primarily of product images and do not offer a great deal of detailed descriptions. For online shoppers, a picture is worth a thousand words and people are more likely to buy based on how the product appears. Product descriptions generally lack detail, it's common practice for most ecommerce websites to just use the manufacturer's description when describing a product. On top of all that, the internal linking structure is weak and more focus is placed on the back end as most ecommerce websites use a shopping cart system to list their products online. Therefore, online stores are not usually ranked very high in the search engines.
If you already have an e-commerce business or plan on starting one, don't lose faith, there is still hope for you. There are actually a number of e-commerce SEO tricks that will help improve the search engine ranking of your site. Listed below is a breakdown of all the techniques you should use if you want to have a well optimized, search engine friendly online store.
E-Commerce SEO Meta Tags
Meta Title - the title that only the search engines can see, it can either be the same as the on page title or different, but must have the most relevant keywords describing the product
Meta Description - this is the description that only the search engines can see, it can be the same as the on page description or different, make sure it's detailed and describe exactly how the product appears and how it functions
Meta Keywords - the keywords that only the search engines can see, it is used as tags to describe the item, use only the most relevant keywords
E-Commerce SEO URLs
Dynamic Static HTML Pages - pages that have relevant keywords in the urls rather than generic numbers or product id, make sure that each of your product pages, category pages and content pages have their own unique and descriptive urls
Canonical Tags - these are tags which are used to remove duplicate content that may have been created by having multiple versions of the same page
On Page E-Commerce SEO Elements
Header Tags - tags used for writing page or product titles, it emphasizes the keywords to help let the search engines know that they are important
Keywords - use relevant keywords on all the pages so that you are able to demonstrate exactly what is on the page
Unique Description - make sure you have original content that cannot be found on any other online store that is selling the same exact product
Alt & Title Tags - these tags should be added to all of your images so that not only will you be discovered through regular search results but also on image search
Other Important E-Commerce SEO Factors
Breadcrumb Navigation - on page text navigation which includes an internal linking structure that should be used for an e-commerce site
Google XML Sitemap - shows Google each and every page on your site and alerts them of new content so they don't forget to return and crawl your site
It's critical that you implement all of these e-commerce SEO techniques throughout your online store. Some of these minor changes can have a major effect and push you ahead of your competition so do not overlook their importance. It's a long term strategy that will gradually help to increase your traffic and revenue.
Unlike other sites, e-commerce websites are among the most difficult to optimize for in the search engines. This is caused by an inadequate amount of unique content. Search engines love sites with a lot of content that is both original and detailed. Ecommerce sites are just the opposite of that, they are composed primarily of product images and do not offer a great deal of detailed descriptions. For online shoppers, a picture is worth a thousand words and people are more likely to buy based on how the product appears. Product descriptions generally lack detail, it's common practice for most ecommerce websites to just use the manufacturer's description when describing a product. On top of all that, the internal linking structure is weak and more focus is placed on the back end as most ecommerce websites use a shopping cart system to list their products online. Therefore, online stores are not usually ranked very high in the search engines.
If you already have an e-commerce business or plan on starting one, don't lose faith, there is still hope for you. There are actually a number of e-commerce SEO tricks that will help improve the search engine ranking of your site. Listed below is a breakdown of all the techniques you should use if you want to have a well optimized, search engine friendly online store.
E-Commerce SEO Meta Tags
Meta Title - the title that only the search engines can see, it can either be the same as the on page title or different, but must have the most relevant keywords describing the product
Meta Description - this is the description that only the search engines can see, it can be the same as the on page description or different, make sure it's detailed and describe exactly how the product appears and how it functions
Meta Keywords - the keywords that only the search engines can see, it is used as tags to describe the item, use only the most relevant keywords
E-Commerce SEO URLs
Dynamic Static HTML Pages - pages that have relevant keywords in the urls rather than generic numbers or product id, make sure that each of your product pages, category pages and content pages have their own unique and descriptive urls
Canonical Tags - these are tags which are used to remove duplicate content that may have been created by having multiple versions of the same page
On Page E-Commerce SEO Elements
Header Tags - tags used for writing page or product titles, it emphasizes the keywords to help let the search engines know that they are important
Keywords - use relevant keywords on all the pages so that you are able to demonstrate exactly what is on the page
Unique Description - make sure you have original content that cannot be found on any other online store that is selling the same exact product
Alt & Title Tags - these tags should be added to all of your images so that not only will you be discovered through regular search results but also on image search
Other Important E-Commerce SEO Factors
Breadcrumb Navigation - on page text navigation which includes an internal linking structure that should be used for an e-commerce site
Google XML Sitemap - shows Google each and every page on your site and alerts them of new content so they don't forget to return and crawl your site
It's critical that you implement all of these e-commerce SEO techniques throughout your online store. Some of these minor changes can have a major effect and push you ahead of your competition so do not overlook their importance. It's a long term strategy that will gradually help to increase your traffic and revenue.
To hire a professional SEO consultant will cost a great deal of money. Doing everything yourself is very time consuming and technical. Why bother wasting time and money when you can have your e-commerce site built and optimized without all the effort or putting a dent in your wallet. Learn how you can easily implement e-commerce SEO into your own online store.
What you need is a full service all-in-one hosting, design, and marketing software made specifically for e-commerce businesses. One that lets you set up your store in minutes, and provides powerful tools to help with SEO, product marketing and mobile commerce. Check out the best possible e-commerce solutions available at http://www.makeanonlinestore.com and try them out yourself absolutely free, no credit card required!
What you need is a full service all-in-one hosting, design, and marketing software made specifically for e-commerce businesses. One that lets you set up your store in minutes, and provides powerful tools to help with SEO, product marketing and mobile commerce. Check out the best possible e-commerce solutions available at http://www.makeanonlinestore.com and try them out yourself absolutely free, no credit card required!