Online marketplaces are a competitive place to be, no matter how great your product might be!
With millions of eCommerce platforms and stores vying for your audience’s attention, the ability to stand out and attract customers very often boils down to one thing — visibility.
That’s right. Sites that don’t rank well enough in search engines end up blending into the background and never getting seen by the customers who need them most.
But if you’re the owner of a site that’s getting swept into Google's dustbin, all is not lost. This is where eCommerce SEO (search engine optimization) can save the day.
By optimizing your website for search engines, you can drive more organic traffic, reach the right audience, and, ultimately, boost your sales. But how exactly do SEO services help your eCommerce business succeed?
Today’s blog has the answer you’re looking for. Keep reading to explore the key strategies and benefits of eCommerce SEO and see why it’s an essential part of your success in this digital age we live in.
How Do eCommerce SEO Services Differ from General SEO Services?
eCommerce SEO services are a type of professional SEO service that focuses on optimizing online stores to help them rank higher in search engine results.
Unlike general SEO, eCommerce SEO is specifically tailored to the needs of online stores to make sure that elements like product pages, category pages, and overall website structure are designed to attract and convert potential buyers.
Why SEO Matters for eCommerce Sites
As we mentioned previously, eCommerce is a very competitive industry, and optimizing for SEO makes your site more visible to customers searching online for your product.
SEO directly influences how well your site ranks and how likely it is that curious customers will find it.
Here are a few more reasons:
- Increased Visibility — Most online shoppers start browsing with a search query on a search engine like Google. SEO helps your site rank higher on these search engine results pages (SERPs), making it more likely that shoppers will find your products. Higher visibility means more traffic and more traffic means more potential customers.
- Targeted Traffic — SEO allows you to target specific keywords that align with what your audience is searching for. By optimizing your site with relevant, buyer-intent keywords, you’re more likely to attract qualified leads — that is, those shoppers who are already looking for products like the ones you offer.
- Higher Conversion Rates — SEO isn’t just about driving traffic; it’s about bringing in the right kind of traffic. Optimizing product pages with the right keywords, descriptions, and user experience improves your chances of converting visitors into customers.
- Cost-Effective Marketing — Unlike paid advertising, organic search results are totally free. Once your site is optimized and starts ranking well, you’ll start getting traffic without having to pay for additional advertising to get it, making SEO a highly cost-effective long-term strategy.
- Builds Trust and Credibility — High rankings on search engines give your site credibility. Customers tend to trust businesses that appear at the top of Google’s search results, which helps build trust in your brand.
- Improved User Experience — Many SEO best practices like improving site speed, mobile optimization, and easy navigation also make your site a more enjoyable experience for customers. A better user experience leads to lower bounce rates, more engaged customers, and increased sales.
eCommerce SEO Strategies That Drive Sales
Ready to start amplifying your visibility and driving more organic traffic to your website?
We thought so. Here are the SEO strategies that can improve your eCommerce store’s SERP ranking and help boost your sales.
1. Keyword Optimization
The right keywords are the foundation of any SEO strategy.
The first step to optimizing your site for SEO is to identify the keywords and phrases that your potential customers are using to search online for products like yours. This will make it more likely for your website to pop up for certain words and phrases.
Be sure to focus on the following:
- Primary Keywords — High-volume, buyer-intent keywords that are relevant to your products (e.g., “where to buy custom T-shirts online”). These primary keywords should appear on websites in places like product titles, meta descriptions, and throughout your content.
- Long-Tail Keywords — These are more specific, lower-volume phrases (e.g., “best running shoes for flat feet” or “budget-friendly guitar for beginners). They are ideal for targeting niche audiences and often have higher conversion rates because of it.
- Search Intent Alignment — Make sure that the keywords you use reflect the intent of users at different stages of the buying process, from information-gathering to purchasing (i.e., someone searching for “what kind of rock-climbing gear do I need?” is looking for informational content whereas someone searching for “buy rock-climbing gear online” is out to purchase).
Tools for Keyword Research
If you’re looking for a list of tools to help you identify which keywords to use (and which keywords your competitors are using!), then here is a list of our favorites.
- Google Keyword Planner — Offers keyword suggestions based on search volume, competition, and average cost-per-click data.
- SEMrush — Provides comprehensive keyword analysis, including competitor keyword strategies.
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer — Helps discover relevant keywords and analyze their difficulty level and traffic potential.
- Ubersuggest — A user-friendly tool from marketing influencer Neil Patel that offers keyword ideas, search volume, and competitive analysis.
- Moz Keyword Explorer — Offers insights into keyword volume, difficulty, and organic CTR, along with suggestions for related keywords.
2. Product Page Optimization
Well-written, persuasive, and engaging product pages are the heart of your eCommerce site and optimizing them for both SEO and conversions is how you boost your sales!
Here are some copywriting techniques to help you get it done:
- Product Descriptions — Write clear, concise descriptions that include your primary keywords in a natural way. Avoid keyword stuffing (the overuse of your keywords in a way that is unnatural and annoying) and focus on writing engaging descriptions that highlight the value of your products and how they’ll benefit your customers.
- Optimized Meta Tags — Meta tags are the meta title and description that search engines display in search results (the headline and the blurb beneath it). Be sure to use relevant keywords in your meta title tags and descriptions and write them in a way that entices users to click.
- Alt Text for Images — Alt text is the written copy that describes an image on your product page. It’s primarily used for accessibility, helping visually impaired users understand the content of your page. But, in addition to that, writing descriptive alt text also helps search engines understand what your images are about, which can improve your chances of appearing in image search results.
- Customer Reviews — Including reviews on your product pages adds credibility and boosts SEO with fresh user-generated content, which Google prioritizes.
3. Site Structure and Navigation
A well-structured website not only makes it easier for your users to navigate but for search engines to navigate as well.
Websites that are organized and user-friendly naturally earn higher search rankings. Here are some tips to improve your site structure for ultimate user and search engine-friendliness:
- Clean URL Structure — Use clear, descriptive URLs that include keywords (e.g., yoursite.com/product-category/product-name). This helps search engines understand the content of the page.
- Internal Linking — Strategically link to other relevant pages or products on your site to create a natural flow and help search engines discover all of your content.
- Breadcrumb Navigation — Breadcrumbs are links that allow users to easily navigate back to previous pages, which improves user experience and can positively impact SEO.
- XML Sitemaps — Create an XML sitemap to help search engines efficiently crawl and index your pages.
4. Mobile Optimization
With the majority of eCommerce shoppers browsing for products with their smartphones and other mobile devices, making sure that your site is mobile-friendly is essential.
Follow the tips below to keep your shoppers on the go happily exploring your online store:
- Responsive Design — Make sure your site can seamlessly adapt to different screen sizes to give your users a great experience whether they’re using a smartphone, tablet, or desktop.
- Mobile Site Speed — Optimize images, reduce file sizes, and eliminate unnecessary code to improve page loading times on mobile. A slow-loading mobile site frustrates users, leads to higher bounce rates, and hurts your rankings.
- Touch-Friendly Navigation — Mobile screens are smaller than desktop screens. Make sure your buttons and navigation elements are large enough for your users to easily tap.
- Mobile-Optimized Checkout — Simplifying the checkout process for mobile users and reducing the steps required to complete a purchase helps improve conversions.
5. Technical SEO
While keyword optimization, site structure, and product page optimization take care of SEO for the elements of your site that your users will see and interact with, you must also optimize what they can’t.
This is where technical SEO comes into play, optimizing your website’s backend to make sure that it’s meeting the requirements of modern search engines. Here are some pointers:
- Page Speed — Slow websites result in poor user experience and lower rankings. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas for improvement and make fixes like lazy loading and image compression.
- Secure HTTPS — Make sure your eCommerce site is secure by using HTTPS. This boosts trustworthiness in the eyes of both your users and search engines.
- Canonical Tags — Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues. This will help search engines know which version of a page to rank.
- Structured Data — Use schema markup (e.g., product, review, or pricing schema) to help search engines better understand your content and present it as rich snippets in SERPs.
6. Content Marketing
Content is king, we’ve said it before.
Content marketing is a powerful way to attract organic traffic, keep your customers exploring your site, establish authority, and just provide overall value.
There are many different types of creative content you can use. Just be sure that your content aligns with both your products and your target audience. Here are some common pieces of content you can find on eCommerce websites:
- Blogs — Write blog posts around topics that align with your products, such as how-to guides, product comparisons, or industry news. Use relevant keywords to attract search traffic.
- Product Guides — Create detailed product guides and FAQs. These are doubly useful for both helping users make informed purchasing decisions and improving your SEO by adding value to your site and a place for keywords and phrases.
- Video Content — Video gets attention. Use product videos, tutorials, and customer testimonials to grab attention, boost engagement, and rank higher on search engines (which prioritize video content).
- Social Proof — Share customer stories, case studies, and reviews to build trust and improve SEO through user-generated content. A great way to source this is through email campaigns or social media!
- Downloadables — Offer downloadable content (the product guides mentioned above are a good place to start). Just be sure that your downloadable files are SEO-friend by using descriptive file names, adding relevant metadata, and creating optimized landing pages with clear CTAs. Add alt text to any images within the downloadable and be sure to link them to relevant pages on your site for the internal SEO benefits.
How to Find eCommerce SEO Services
Convinced that your eCommerce site could use a thorough SEO strategy?
Here are a few places to look to locate and choose the best partner for your business.
- Define Your SEO Goals — Know what you want to achieve, whether it’s driving traffic, improving rankings, or increasing sales.
- Look for eCommerce Experience — Choose an SEO provider with a proven success record in optimizing online stores and handling product-heavy websites.
- Review Their Approach — Make sure the providers you’re looking at can offer a clear strategy for keyword research, content optimization, and technical SEO that is tailored to your needs.
- Check Client Results — Look at case studies and reviews to see measurable results for their clients, like higher traffic and better conversions.
- Assess Communication and Reporting — A good provider will keep you updated with regular reports on progress and insights for improvement.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-1"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6369722e59155470b6840033_Potential-clients.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Want to save money without sacrificing the quality?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Say goodbye to traditional, expensive agencies and unreliable marketplaces. Say hello to Designity.<br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="/pricing" target="_blank" class="c-button cc-primary cc-inverted w-button"><strong>Get Your 2-Week Trial</strong></a></div></div></div>
Designity: The eCommerce SEO Partner You’re Searching For
Before you bury yourself in research to find the perfect SEO partner for your eCommerce store, we have one last tip to offer you, one that can both boost your visibility and your sales:
Why not partner with Designity?
Designity is made up of the top 3% of all of the talented creatives who apply, meaning that our creative community and your creative team will be made up of the best of the best in SEO, copywriting, content writing, web design, graphic design, motion graphics and more — all the moving parts you need to create an eCommerce site that looks great, delivers great performance, and is optimized for SEO success.
And with a dedicated Creative Director — an expert in digital marketing strategies, design, and SEO — managing your account, sourcing your creative team, and getting your deliverables to you when you need them, you can get it all done without spreading yourself too thin and taking your time away from where your business needs you to be.
If that sounds like a plan, why not check out our SEO and content marketing services page and portfolio to see how Designity was the answer to eCommerce brands just like yours?
If our style vibes with yours, let’s take the next step: go ahead and book your demo call.
It only takes a few minutes and, when you’re done, we can get you started with your two-week, no-obligation trial to give you an opportunity to test drive our SEO and eCommerce design services and see why Designity is the eCommerce and SEO partner your brand has been searching for.
Are you ready to boost your eCommerce sales?
