Want to optimise your Ecommerce site for search engines? Learn all the tricks to make your Online store SEO friendly to rank higher and boost your sales.
The Power of Ecommerce SEO
So, you've got an ecommerce site selling a range of products. You are wondering why your competitors are ranking higher than you on Google, how you can attract more website traffic and how to get your products in front of your ideal customer. You may want to sell more without spending lots of money on advertising.
When it comes to ecommerce SEO, there are a few key aspects that are easily forgotten. We recently worked with an Online giftware store that needed help to rank well for a specific product. We went full force and optimised the product descriptions, URLs and collection page for this specific product. What happened? Believe it or not, they went from ranking at position #44 to #8 in just two days!
So, if you want your Online store to sell more and rank higher on Google, work through our Ecommerce SEO Best Practices list. You will be surprised at what a difference it can make.
1. Optimise Collection Pages
One of the most neglected areas of an Online store is the category or collection pages. Most store owners need to realise that adding a description to these pages is almost as important as adding descriptions to individual product pages. By paying attention to these, you are taking advantage of the opportunity to include essential target keywords that could trigger the page to display on Google searches. On top of this, without any target keywords, headings or copy, search engines won't know what's on the page, and therefore it will not rank well. Likely, it won't even be indexed.
How to Optimise SEO For Collection Pages
Add a unique description to every collection- and category page. Include the target keywords (or phrases) you would like to trigger this page to appear on Google searches. Suppose you are selling jewellery and have a category called 'bracelets'. In that case, you can include essential information about your bracelets' quality, design, benefits, features and materials on the category page. You could target words or phrases like 'handmade bracelets' or 'Australian designed bracelets', while on each product page, you target the actual product name and specific features.
2. Check Your Product URLs
Something as basic as the product page URL can be off-putting to a potential customer. We want to know what page we will land on when clicking on a link, and therefore the links need to clearly state where they will lead us. If you were looking for a Vanilla scented candle, which one of the following links would you be more likely to click on?
1) https://www.thecandleshop.com/scented-candles/products/copy-of-vanilla-scented-candle-large-handmade-shellcandles/
2) https://www.thecandleshop.com/scented-candle-vanilla
We have noticed that some business owners setting up their e-commerce sites copy and paste product pages, which will end up with a confusing URL that includes the word 'copy' as seen in the example above.
How to Optimise URLs For Ecommerce
When setting up your Online store, aim for short and descriptive URLs. If you already have a store, you need to be mindful of changing the existing URLs - you need to redirect the original URL to ensure that any links leading to that page will direct the visitor to the new one. If you have a Shopify store, you can redirect the original URL when changing it.
3. Don't Use Auto-Generated Meta Data
An issue when adding multiple similar products or copying product pages is duplicate or auto-generated meta descriptions. When your store has 10, 15 or 100 pages with the same meta description, Google won't be able to tell the difference and, therefore, won't match the most relevant page to a specific search phrase. This will hurt your website's SEO.
How to Write SEO Friendly Meta Descriptions
Write unique meta descriptions for each product on your site. If you sell cookies in 10 different flavours, include the flavour in the product description to make it unique. If you want your whole meta description to show on SERP (search engine results page), keep it under 155-165 characters (you can use this nifty Word Counter tool). The point of the meta description is to tell search engines and your potential customers what the specific web page or product is all about.
Read our previous post about basic SEO to learn how to write SEO friendly meta descriptions.
4. Optimise Ecommerce Product Descriptions
If you want your products to rank well on Google (which we know you do!), there is no getting around the importance of detailed product descriptions. It won't only make the product more attractive to customers but also make the page more SEO friendly. Without any copy, Google (and other search engines) won't know what your product is about or what search phrases should trigger it to be displayed.
How to Write SEO Friendly Product Descriptions
Start by creating a template that you can use for all products within the same category on your site. For example, add several H2 headings such as 'Ingredients', 'Fragrance', 'Size chart', and 'Product Features'. This will give the customer more information and decide to purchase your item easier for them. Ensure to include all basic relevant information, such as the product dimensions and weight, and sensory details, such as texture, smell, colour and quality. This is an excellent opportunity to add more target keywords.
You can also explain how to properly use the product and recommend which of your other products goes well with it (and include a link). As these items increase sales, you will be motivated to improve your other product descriptions! If you struggle with writing, outsourcing this part to a copywriter is worth the investment.
5. Add Product Schema to Product Pages
Product schema is structured data of your product that will help search engines offer more information about the product to publish on the search results page.
By adding product schema, your products are more likely to get clicks and views and to be matched with relevant searches.
If you are relatively new to the world of SEO and e-commerce, this may be the first time you have heard about Schema data. If this is the case, we strongly recommend that you try it out - it can do wonders for your Online store's success!
How to Add Schema Markup to Product Pages
Some e-commerce platforms (such as Shopify) automatically set up product schema, while some require that you do this manually. It's easily done using free tools such as Merkle. You add your product details, copy the code they give you and paste it on your site. Before pasting in on your website, we recommend that you test the code in Google Rich Results Test.
How to add customised code to your site depends on which platform you are working on. You can contact your website host and ask for instructions or get in touch with an SEO specialist.
We hope that you found this article helpful. Remember that within SEO, the smallest tweaks can make a world of difference to your website success - use this to your advantage and watch your sales, clicks and leads grow as you keep improving your site!
We hope that you found this article helpful. Remember that within SEO the smallest tweaks can make a world of difference to your website success - use this to your advantage and watch your sales, clicks and leads grow as you keep improving your site!
Author
Camilla Hansen
SEO Specialist & Web Designer
