SEO Strategies for Ecommerce Brands To Help Drive Organic Traffic
Blog
Jun 28
Site traffic is the fuel to your ecommerce business’ fire. Without new users consistently discovering your products and services online (and returning site visitors coming back for more), the ecommerce sales funnel has nothing to work with — no matter how appealing your products may be.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of aligning site content, structure, and performance with the indicators these search algorithms use to evaluate a site’s authority and relevance. The more a search engine deems your site “valuable” to a user’s search, the higher your brand will rank on the results page.
Read on for what makes a successful SEO strategy, including key foundational principles and expert tips to boost your site’s organic traffic.
Tips for On-Page SEO
When it comes to on-page SEO, keyword optimization is your starting point. Marketers typically conduct comprehensive market research before a new traffic campaign is even built to identify high-volume, relevant keywords, as thorough keyword research now will cut down on time spent optimizing your keyword list later.
Keywords should appear in product titles, descriptions, and meta tags when relevant — but remember to weave keywords into your content naturally to avoid the pitfall of robotic, impersonal “keyword stuffing.” Branded content has to appeal to humans too, not just the search algorithm.
Keywords can help a search engine identify your products as relevant to a user’s search query, but site content and quality matter, too.
Detailed product descriptions, informative blog posts, interactive tools (like calculators), and other useful resources that resonate with your target audience help search engines recognize your authority within your niche and build credibility. Keep an eye on page loading speeds and any potential obstacles a customer might experience that could cause traffic to “bounce.”
Don’t forget to optimize product images for fast load times and use descriptive alt tags to make them more search engine-friendly.
Tips for Ecommerce Keyword Research
Keywords can appeal to broad, high-volume searches or lower search volumes that tend to bring in more qualified targeted traffic (and a higher conversion rate). These low-volume search terms are often referred to as long tail keywords, which boost ROI within a campaign by acting as a natural filter for only the most qualified leads.
Understanding user intent behind both high-volume oriented keywords and long tail keywords is a critical aspect of SEO success. Some keywords might be drawing regularly from your campaign budget but performing poorly, lacking direct ties to your products. In this scenario, marketers create “negative keywords” — essentially words for search engines to ignore so as to not waste budget on ranking for irrelevant queries.
Tips for Ecommerce Product Pages
When it comes to your ecommerce product pages, it’s best to avoid relying on the dull or overly-technical product descriptions from the manufacturer. Unique, compelling descriptions highlighting the benefits and features of your products will connect your brand to customers and differentiate your site from the average competitor.
User-generated content also promotes SEO performance, so be sure to encourage customers to leave reviews and ratings (and respond to ratings promptly for bonus credibility among your most loyal shoppers).
Schema markup helps your product pages show up better in search results. It provides a clear blueprint for search engines to understand your product details, like price, availability, and reviews. This information can then be displayed as rich snippets on the search results page, which can increase your click-through rates.
Technical SEO Clean-Up
With algorithms constantly changing how content’s value is calculated, the technical side of SEO can seem like a moving target at times.
One surefire way to establish a baseline level of technical SEO success (besides page speed optimization, mentioned above) is optimizing landing pages specifically for mobile devices and submitting a sitemap to the search engine itself. Sitemaps help search engines as they index your site’s pages, and mobile-friendliness communicates a strong sense of site authority to the algorithm skimming your pages.
Don’t forget to audit your site for broken links and fix them promptly, as these can quickly sink your SEO.
Link-Building Strategies
Search engines consider backlinks from reputable websites in your industry an endorsement of your expertise and your brand’s place within its particular vertical. Brands frequently enlist influencers, clients (past or present), peers, or other industry leaders for guest-posting opportunities. Internal links to other content previously posted to your site are also considered valuable, though not weighted as heavily in the algorithm’s advanced arithmetic.
High-quality backlinks from reputable websites can be hard to come by for new companies with limited networks or few prior customers, but a healthy culture of feedback between your brand and its dedicated following can build momentum toward your status as an ecommerce authority.
Site traffic is essential for your ecommerce business. Without new users regularly finding your products and services online, and returning visitors coming back, your sales funnel has nothing to work with. The more useful a search engine finds your site for users, the higher it will rank in search results. Using some of the strategies mentioned earlier can help increase your site’s organic traffic. When done right, an effective SEO strategy can reach new audiences and help your ecommerce brand grow.
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