Ecommerce SEO checklist: 30 tips for a better online store

Ecommerce SEO Checklist

Search engine optimization (SEO) serves as the backbone for every ecommerce business. An online store that is properly optimized will improve the search engine ranking, drive organic traffic, enhance user experience, and conversions.

Ecommerce SEO checklist

With how easily competitive the online marketplace is, standing out amongst others is a feat in itself. Your online store should be equipped with competitive SEO strategies. This ecommerce SEO checklist features 30 tips on improving visibility and performance.

Importance of ECommerce SEO

The competition in the ecommerce world is ruthless. When searching for new products to purchase, customers heavily depend on Google or other search engines. The moment your online store fails to show up on the first page of the search results is the moment you start losing valuable traffic and revenue.

Focusing on ecommerce SEO can leverage SEO to improve the chances customers find your store quickly, while delivering a seamless shopping experience when they land on your page.

Technical SEO Tips

1. Optimize Your Site’s Speed

User experience, alongside search rankings, is affected by the page load speed. Analyze your site on Google PageSpeed Insights or equivalent tools to get suggestions for improvement.

Pro tip: Aim for a page load time under 3 seconds.

2. HTTPS Security Features

First, websites must use HTTPS for secure browsing, as security is critical to any business venture. As an example, HTTPS not only safeguards a user’s information; it encrypts data, therefore protecting a buyer’s sensitive personal information. Google also considers it a ranking factor, meaning it can help improve your website’s position on Google search results. Make sure you have an SSL certificate issued on your ecommerce portal.

3. Integration of Mobile Responsive Design

To further mobile ecommerce tips, it’s important to put into consideration that over 59% of ecommerce traffic comes from mobile devices. Responsive design ensures that your site looks great on all devices, and a seamless mobile shopping experience should be a priority for all.

4. Evaluation of Site Navigation

Make it easier for visitors to your site so that they can access products. Make use of appropriate titles, categories, and subcategories so that each item is clearly marked. Products should be organized in a manner that will help first time visitors find what they are looking for in 3 clicks or fewer.

Keyword Research Tips

5. Use of Long Tail keywords

As an example, long tail keywords such as “vegan leather handbags under $200” are known to convert at a much higher rate than older keywords. Keep in mind that more specialized terms oftentimes have lower competition. Conduct proper keyword research using SEMrush or Ahrefs.

6. Exploit high intent keywords

Target keywords that indicate buying intent such as “buy,” “discount,” or “best price.” These keywords will normally attract visitors looking for those exact phrases, thereby exposing them to high conversions.

7. Refine optimization for regional keywords

For businesses that have physical locations, local SEO phrases such as “near me” and “in [City]” are very effective. Use them when referring to your products and ensure that “Local” is highlighted.

On Page SEO Optimization Hints

8. Creation of titles and meta descriptions

Tailor custom and attention-grabbing titles and meta descriptions that should be listed for each page in the website. Be sure to align them with what the pages hold for consistency to aid in capturing more visitors.

Preserve the creative angle while weaving in the target keywords.

Make Good Use of Header Tags

Break your content into manageable sections using header tags (H1, H2, H3) – placing H1 on the main topic, and sub-headings on H2 and H3 with the keywords blended in naturally.

Write Product Descriptions that Drive Engagement

Don’t use manufacturer descriptions as they are often copy-pasted online. Write unique and benefit-focused descriptions that include relevant keywords instead.

Use Keywords in Allengo Alt Tags

Alt tags improves information access and help search engines understand the content and valuable descriptive keywords must be included in all image alt tags.

Do Not Engage in Stuffing of Keywords

Focus on writing for people instead of for search engines. Use keywords but do not prioritize repetition as doing that will hurt the readability of the text.

Content Marketing Tips

Initiate a Blog

There is so much that can be achieved using content marketing to drive traffic. Blogging on topics that are of value to your audience such as “10 Winter Fashion Trends” is a great starting point.

Develop Guides for Products

Developing product guides or comparisons can help customers make informed decisions and these pages are great at earning backlinks which can then help to build the site authority.

Update and Refresh Previously Written Content

Traditionally blogs would remain static and unchanging but maintaining relevance both with information and keywords can also build importance.

Employ Content Done By Users

Use customer testimonials, reviews, and photos to showcase on the website.

User-generated content helps in trust building while simultaneously improving SEO as it makes available new content for search engines.

Link Building Tips

Obtain High-Quality Backlinks

Collaborate with bloggers, influencers, or publications for backlinks. High-quality backlinks increase authority trust for search engines.

Leverage Internal Linking

Interlink relevant pages within your website to enhance user navigation and engagement with other pages.

Fix Broken Links

Broken links negatively impact the user experience and SEO rating. Utilize broken link checking tools to locate and resolve these issues.

Create Shareable Resources

Develop content such as infographics, how-to guides, and free tools that are invaluable to your audience and are easy to share with others.

Local SEO Tips

Set Up Your Google Business Profile

Claiming and fully optimizing your Google Business Profile boosts visibility for locally driven searches.

Gather Local Reviews

Encourage happy customers to leave positive reviews on Google and Yelp. Great reviews build trust and assists in ranking.

Use NAP Consistency

To improve local search visibility ensure your store name, address, and phone number (NAP) is consistent across all platforms.

User Experience (UX) Tips

Add a Search Bar

Search bars enhance usability as users are able to seek out what they’re trying to find easily.

Display Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs)

Encourage user actions using clearly defined call to action buttons such as “Shop Now” or “Add to Cart”. Make sure they are clearly visible.

Make Reviews Noticeable

The customer telling you how amazing your service or product is, comes with great value. Reviews and ratings for products should be visible as they assist in building reliability.

Provide Ability For Customers To Checkout Easily

In order to cut down on order abandonment, the ease of your checkout process should be enhanced. Consider removing some steps that you deem unnecessary and provide various methods of payments.

Analytics and Monitoring Tips

Google Analytics Should Be Utilized

To uncover some potential areas for improvement, keep a close watch on traffic, bounce rates and other user activities.

Google Search Console Should Be Implemented

Google search console let’s you monitor indexing, click rates, and how well your ranking performs.

Evaluate Your SEO Efforts

Assess how successful the SEO techniques you applied were with overall traffic, keyword rankings, and conversions using metrics such as organic traffic.

Improve Your Ecommerce Store Rank

SEO is a day in, day out type of work. By these 30 tips, your online store will be up to par with your customers wishes and beyond.

You indeed want to make the most out of your ecommerce store SEO strategy, so start applying the tips now and enjoy increased traffic, better engagement, and higher sales.