In our last article, we talked about pay per click (PPC) for e-commerce stores (Click here to learn more about that.) PPC can be a powerful way to drive interested buyers to your shop. But it does cost money. With each click, you will be paying for those ads. However, there are some free steps you can take to help draw shoppers to you. That’s where SEO comes in. SEO, search engine optimization, involves setting your website and web pages up for success so that when buyers are searching for products like yours, your website will come up in their results.
Technical SEO
The first place to start with SEO in your e-commerce store is right there on your webpage itself. This is called technical SEO and it’s how you can most easily and quickly make improvements to your Google rankings.
Proper Tags and Categories
Especially if you are using WordPress for your e-commerce store, you will find tags and category boxes to fill in every time you create a new product listing. (Similar aspects will likely be found on other platforms as well.) These are critical to your SEO so use them well. Be accurate and liberal with your use of tags and be specific in your use of categories.
Categories and tags are so important to your SEO because that information is passed to the metadata coding of your website. This is what Google uses to scroll through when pulling in information. The more those relate to keywords buyers use, the more likely and higher you will be seen.
Robust Descriptions
The next thing you can do to make sure Google finds you is to make good use of your product descriptions. Again, this data is what search engines use to “read” your website so make sure it is full of accurate, specific keywords and phrases that your buyers are likely to be searching for.
Keep in mind, you don’t want to just fill that box with random or unreadable text. This is also the space that helps drive your sales when an actual person comes to your website. So make it relatable, informational, and sales-focused – but also include those keywords.
Google Tools
In addition to technical, on-page SEO, you also want to make sure your website is set up well to interact with the Google platform. This is like greasing the wheel, to make things run even more smoothly. The first two things we recommend starting with are:
- Creating an account with Google Webmaster Tools, which will give you information about how your website is communicating with Google, as well as any potential problems.
- Gathering pertinent data from Google Analytics, to tell you what people are searching for and what’s bringing them to your website.
- Setting Up Google My Business, which is especially important for local businesses, but is also useful for online shops.
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Bonus: We’ve talked about PPC in the past and there’s a way you can launch SEO into high gear by incorporating PPC. That is by setting up your products to show up in the Shopping category of Google. First you have to index and set up your products well. Second, you have to pay for Pay Per Click ads on Google, indicating that you want to be part of that shopping category. If you want more information on exactly how to do this, drop us a line. We can help.
As we’ve said in the past, e-commerce stores are more than just “build it, and they will come.” (Click here to learn the 3 things you need before you start.) But with some specifics in place, you can help to ensure that interested, eager buyers will actually find your website when they search and will be more likely to head to your store. If you have any questions about how to make SEO work for you, let’s talk.
Photo by Kobu Agency on Unsplash