The direct-to-consumer (DTC) model has transformed the exchange of goods, allowing brands to connect with customers in unprecedented ways. DTC brands have seen a staggering 200% increase in online sales over the past few years, as consumers increasingly prefer buying directly from brands rather than through intermediaries like department stores.
However, with the rise of DTC brands comes fierce competition. As more companies enter the market, dominating search results is essential for success. Statistics show that 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results, highlighting the critical need for effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Implementing strong SEO practices not only enhances visibility but also drives organic traffic, which is vital for sustainable growth.
In this blog we’ll cover 6 strategies for optimizing your eCommerce store for SEO to improve organic visibility, rankings and conversions.
Drive organic traffic and boost conversions.
Why SEO is Essential for eCommerce
Organic search is one of the most valuable channels for eCommerce brands. Since the majority of your customers are purchasing from your store through search, it’s essential for brands to maximize visibility on this channel. Organic search traffic tends to have higher conversion rates compared to other channels, as users coming from organic results are often more engaged and have a higher intent to purchase.
When your site ranks higher on search engine results pages (SERPs), you’re more likely to be seen by shoppers actively looking for the products you offer. This increased visibility doesn’t just bring more eyeballs to your virtual storefront; it translates into higher chances of converting visitors into loyal customers.
Incorporating effective SEO strategies means aligning your website with the ever-evolving algorithms of search engines. This involves a mix of keyword research, technical tweaks, content creation, and link-building efforts. Each component plays a role in enhancing your site’s authority and relevance, making it more attractive to both search engines and users.
6 SEO Strategies to Optimize Your eCommerce Site
1. High-Quality Content Creation
Creating high-quality content is like planting seeds for future growth. Not only does it engage your audience, but it also significantly boosts SEO rankings. So, how do you keep your content garden blooming? Start by brainstorming fresh ideas. User-generated content is a goldmine; think reviews, testimonials, or even customer stories. These not only add authenticity but also provide a steady stream of relevant material.
Blog posts are another powerful tool in your content arsenal. Dive into topics that resonate with your audience, offering insights and solutions to their problems. This not only positions your brand as an authority but also targets informational keywords that enhance brand awareness. For instance, a clothing retailer might blog about sustainable fashion trends or styling tips for different seasons.
Consistency is key. Regularly updating your content keeps it relevant and encourages search engines to visit your site more often. It’s like keeping a conversation going — it builds a relationship with your audience. Incorporate content marketing strategies that focus on storytelling. Share your brand’s journey, values, and impact of your products on the environment or community. This not only differentiates your brand but also creates an emotional connection with your audience.
Visual content shouldn’t be overlooked. High-quality images and videos can make your content more engaging. For example, a video tutorial on how to use a product can be both informative and shareable, increasing your reach.
2. Link Building and Backlinks
Navigating the world of link building can feel daunting, but it’s vital to boosting your eCommerce SEO. Quality backlinks give your site credibility and improve your search engine rankings. So, how do you snag one?
One effective method is through collaborations and partnerships. Consider teaming up with complementary brands or influencers to create content that naturally includes links to your store. This not only expands your reach but also enhances your backlink profile. Guest posting is another golden opportunity. By contributing valuable content to reputable blogs or sites, you can earn backlinks while showcasing your expertise.
Building a strong backlink profile isn’t just about getting more links; it’s about getting the right ones. Focus on securing backlinks from authoritative sites within your industry. These source should have a high domain rating. These carry more weight with search engines, significantly boosting your rankings.
Think about creating shareable content — infographics, how-to guides, or engaging videos that others would want to link to. You could also reach out to industry publications or blogs with a compelling pitch for why they should feature your content.
Don’t underestimate the power of broken link building, either. This involves finding broken links on relevant sites and suggesting your content as a replacement. It’s a win-win: they fix their broken links, and you gain a valuable backlink. Remember, while quantity is important, quality reigns supreme. Each backlink should be a step towards establishing your eCommerce site as a trusted authority in your niche.
3. Technical SEO
Structured Data
Structured data, also known as schema markup, helps communicate to search engines what your content is about. For example, you can add product schema to all of your product pages to tell search engines your prices, availability, shipping info, and return policies. Review schema will even display your ratings and reviews. This data will be displayed next to your product pictures and descriptions directly in search results.
Types of Schema Markup
Four types of schema markup that are directly related to eCommerce SEO strategies include:
- Product: This type of markup can be used to provide detailed information about products (product name, description, price, availability, shipping info).
- FAQ: This markup allows you to present frequently asked questions and their answers directly in the search results. It enhances user experience by providing quick answers without needing to click through to a website.
- Review: Used to display ratings and reviews for products or services, this schema enhances credibility by showing user feedback directly in SERPs.
- Video: For websites with video content, this markup helps display video thumbnails and descriptions in search results, increasing the likelihood of clicks.
Page Speed
Your website speed is a significant factor for your search rankings as well as user experience. If your checkout process is slow, users are likely to abandon your site before completing their purchase.
Google favors websites with fast page speed and a healthy Core Web Vitals score.
Tips to Optimize Site Speed:
- Remove excess/unused javascript and CSS from your website.
- Optimize image file size by reducing the dimensions to how they will be displayed in browser.
- Use an automatic cacheing plugin to remove excess data from your website.
Optimize for Mobile
Mobile devices account for 66% of all online sales. Google also prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in its rankings, making responsive design essential for improving search visibility and user engagement. Responsive design ensures that your site adapts seamlessly to various screen sizes, providing an optimal viewing experience across devices. All font should be legible without zooming, so you’ll need to use a font that’s at least 16px.
4. On-Page SEO
Optimize Product Pages
Each product should have a unique description that provides comprehensive details about its features, benefits, and specifications. You should aim for at least 300 words that include relevant keywords that align with search intent. Longer descriptions (over 1,000 words) can also improve rankings by providing more context for search engines. You can include a short description next to your product pictures then add a more detailed description below.
For your product photos, use high-resolution images and optimize them with descriptive alt text that includes relevant keywords. This not only helps with SEO but also improves accessibility for users with disabilities.
Create a Seamless Checkout Experience
Reduce the number of fields in any form to just the essentials. For example, combine first and last name fields into one “Full Name” field. This helps prevent user fatigue from moving the cursor to multiple boxes.
You can also implement progress indicators to show users how far along they are in the checkout process. This transparency helps manage expectations and reassures customers about the time commitment involved.
It’s also important to enable auto-fill options for forms to save users time. For instance, when a user begins to enter their address the field can search maps for their address and pre-fill their full mailing address for them.
Before users move to the checkout screen, clearly display all costs upfront, including shipping fees and taxes, to avoid surprises at checkout that could cause customers to abandon cart.
Include various payment options such as credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet. Offering guest checkout options can also enhance convenience and reduce barriers to purchase.
URL Structure
A well-crafted URL not only helps search engines understand the content of your pages but also provides potential customers with clear expectations about what they’ll find.
Incorporate keywords that accurately describe the content of the page. For example, instead of using a generic URL like www.example.com/product123, a more descriptive URL would be www.example.com/shoes/running-shoes. This not only helps search engines identify the page’s topic but also improves click-through rates as users can see what to expect before clicking.
When creating URLs, use hyphens (-) to separate words instead of underscores (_) or spaces. Search engines treat hyphens as word separators, which improves readability and indexing. For instance, www.example.com/womens-running-shoes is preferable to www.example.com/womens_running_shoes.
Ideally, keep your URL structure to a maximum of three hierarchical levels (e.g., www.example.com/category/subcategory/product). This approach strikes a balance between categorization and simplicity, making it easier for users to navigate your site.
If you have similar products that might generate duplicate content issues (e.g., different sizes or colors), use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page to search engines. This prevents potential penalties for duplicate content while ensuring that users land on the most relevant page.
Customer Reviews
Customer reviews and ratings are used by Google for rich results and Google AI Overview. They also help signify trustworthiness and authoritativeness to Google as well as social proof to users.
Customer reviews are also particularly helpful in voice search results as voice assistants may read off customer reviews when responding to user queries. For example, if someone asks a voice assistant what are the ‘best cookware sets for gas stoves’ the voice assistant may read off a review that mentions using the product with a gas stove.
5. Optimizing Site Architecture
A well-organized site structure is crucial for both users and search engines. Imagine walking into a store that has no labels or signs on the aisles — frustrating, right? The same goes for your online store. A logical site hierarchy, with clearly defined product categories, makes it a breeze for customers to find what they’re looking for and helps search engines understand your site better.
Start by categorizing your products in a way that makes sense. For instance, if you’re selling electronics, break it down into subcategories like “Smartphones,” “Laptops,” and “Accessories.” This hierarchy guides users and allows search engines to index your pages more efficiently. All of these categories should be accessible from your main navigation so users can find what they’re looking for with the fewest clicks possible.
Each page on your website should be no more than two to three clicks from the homepage. If your content is buried deep in your website architecture, it will be difficult for users to find the products they’re looking for. When users have to click too many times to reach a certain page, that creates a user experience issue called ‘excessive clicking.’
6. Keyword Research
At its core, keyword research helps businesses optimize their websites and product pages for search engines. By identifying relevant and high-traffic keywords, eCommerce sites can enhance their visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
This increased visibility is essential because higher rankings correlate with more clicks; for instance, the first organic result in Google receives about 28% of all clicks, while the tenth result garners only 2.5%. Thus, targeting the right keywords can lead to a substantial increase in traffic.
Long-tail keywords — phrases that are longer and more specific — are particularly valuable in eCommerce SEO. These keywords often have lower competition compared to broader terms, making them easier to rank for while still attracting targeted traffic.
For instance, instead of competing for the highly sought-after keyword “shoes,” an online retailer might target “men’s waterproof hiking shoes,” which could yield higher conversion rates due to its specificity.
When conducting keyword research, consider the search intent of the keywords you choose. Search intent signifies what the customer is looking for when they use a given keyword. Keyword research tools like Ahrefs and Semrush label all keywords by intent.
Types of Search Intent:
- Informational Intent: Users are looking for information or answers (e.g., “how to choose running shoes”).
- Navigational Intent: Users want to find a specific website or page (e.g., “Nike official site”).
- Transactional Intent: Users are ready to make a purchase (e.g., “buy running shoes online”).
- Commercial Investigation: Users are comparing products before making a purchase decision (e.g., “best running shoes for flat feet”).
For product pages, eCommerce stores should use transactional and commercial keywords, but informational keywords work best for blog posts.
Boost Organic Traffic with eCommerce SEO
The foundation of eCommerce SEO lies in understanding and optimizing your website for both search engines and users. This means conducting thorough keyword research to target the right terms that align with your products and customer intent. Nearly 63% of all shopping begins online, emphasizing the importance of appearing in relevant search results to capture this audience early in their buying journey.
Investing time and resources into eCommerce SEO can yield substantial returns. Organic traffic is often the most cost-effective channel for acquiring new customers, as it continues to deliver results long after initial optimization efforts. Unlike paid advertising, which ceases to generate traffic once funding stops, well-optimized content remains a valuable asset that attracts visitors continuously.
