One look at Toys ’R‘ Us is enough to show any business owner that the way forward is definitely virtual. E-commerce websites are a dime a dozen, the competition is fierce and potential buyers number into the millions. Which is why your page should be the one to stand out by utilising SEO for webshops.
This study by Semrush summarises what to watch out for if you want users to stumble – hardly accidentally – upon your website. Scroll down to the bottom to see the infographic explaining it all.
We’ve jotted down what we think are the absolute highlights of this enviable study:
Content is king – and extremely important for webshop SEO
Many e-commerce owners think that product images are the most important on-page factor in terms of SEO for webshops.
They’re wrong.
Just think – how many hundreds of websites are selling the same product?
On-page optimisation is one of the most important aspects of online marketing.
- Content aids in visibility from the word go.
- Good domain names help users find your website more easily.
- Cleverly thought-out title tags that predict user search words will up your page’s ranking and prompt users to click.
- Catchy meta descriptions will further help to draw them in.
- Once a user has visited your site, an engaging landing page with relevant content and images will encourage them to browse.
- Excellent product descriptions will help your product stand out from everyone else’s.
- Unique and engaging content will prompt users to share.
All of these factors combine to increase traffic and favourably affect your sales rate.
Make sure your webshop is crawlable
Only crawlable sites show up in search engine results as this is the way search engine robots read your content.
Online shops, though, need to block out crawlers from some parts of their sites; otherwise, unforeseen issues such as duplicate content and other errors may crop up.
Check your internal links – Basic SEO for webshops
Internal linking may be the most basic of basic SEO for webshops – but do check that you include them and that the links actually work.
Simple much?
Make sure your sitemap is up to date
Finding one page among millions is difficult without a sitemap, even for a search engine. Make sure you only send information on pages you want to be indexed. Make it easier for the search engines to find your content.
How’s your URL structure?
Want your page address to be remembered? Don’t forget to optimise your URL in a way that users will remember and crawlers can read them. Avoid non-alphanumeric characters such as underscores (use hyphens instead), and keep it short.
Focus on load speed
Modern technology means there’s no longer any excuse for slow-loading pages in a fast-paced world. If you don’t want your potential buyer clicking on the back button, give them a user experience to die for.
Up your web loading speed by avoiding outdated technology (such as flash content and unspecified doctype) like the plague and give your customers something to remember. The Google algorithm also takes load-speed into account when ranking.
Is your site secure? Advanced SEO for webshops
With unauthorised malware downloading faster than you can say “antivirus”, it’s no wonder users are wary of insecure sites. Search engines can only be absolutely sure of a site’s security if they’re HTTPS, so migrating to that may be something you’d want to consider. When you migrate to HTTPS, check your internal links again (keep the user on the HTTPS version).
Another security feature that is often forgotten is the management of a website’s SSL certificate. Valid and registered SSL certificates should always be kept up to date.
Globalisation
Getting bigger means your site will be branching out into different countries, which is why keeping localisation in mind is super important. Information – such as currencies and basic knowledge of what some translated words may happen to mean – is essential.
And don’t forget the hreflang tag!
Mobile-First
With the desktop computer fast fading into the distance, it’s important to consider that the staggering majority of users use smartphones/tablets for surfing, searching, and buying items on the go. This is why a streamlined mobile version is important for success. Don’t forget about Google’s mobile-first indexing.
Now you have all you need to launch your online business. Don’t forget to contact us for some killer content guaranteed for success.
Semrush.com Most common e-commerce website mistakes
