March 28, 2017

SEO for Ecommerce – Do the big players get it right?

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Michael Jenkins

CEO - Shout Agency
[email protected]

Overview

Do you use top-notch ecommerce SEO tactics like the big players in the industry? If not, what is stopping you from taking the action you need to get qualified search engine traffic? After all, 89% of prospects start the buying process via search engines. This is a large, overwhelming number that no ecommerce site can ignore.

We get that it is challenging to create the right strategy for your business, however. You might not be aware of what strategy will work best. Therefore, we examine the best ecommerce SEO tactics larger players use that can be applied to your business.

7 Ecommerce SEO Tactics

1. Original Content

Google wants all content to be original. This is especially true for ecommerce sites, where a lot of companies use the same information over and over across multiple sites.

Therefore, when sites like Amazon copy and paste the product ages from the manufacturers, Amazon adds their own description to help Google. It is important to not underestimate this point. If you want search traffic for your website pages, you need to have original content on each page.

Just having a lot of website pages or products is not enough to generate search traffic in today’s competitive market.  You need to stand out with original and engaging content that encourages your prospects to buy. Google takes this as a clue that you are providing relevant information for their searchers and send you more traffic in the future.

2. Sitemap

Keywords are not as powerful as they once were in search. However, they still play a large role in your search results.

That is why sites like Indian ecommerce site Flipkart optimise their site for search traffic. They include an easy-to-use site structure that starts with the product keyword, as opposed to what some ecommerce sites do by using the product IDs.

3. Security Encryption:

Google started penalizing sites in 2017 that do not have an SSL certificate. For ecommerce sites, this is a must-have, because otherwise your transactions will not be secure.

4. Image Search

The next step is to ensure you can improve your image searches. Flipkart again does a great job with this. Since most consumers appreciate visual cues, getting quality image searches can dramatically increase your search traffic.

That can be a great way to improve your ecommerce business, because not all ecommerce sites focus on image searches in addition to the product details and other technical search details.

5. Product Reviews

Another way that top ecommerce sites benefit is from product reviews.

I can’t talk about ecommerce SEO without discussing product reviews. Most large ecommerce sites like Snapdeal, Taobao, Amazon, and Walmart have product reviews. The benefits of product reviews are many.

First, they provide additional content for visitors to check out. As long as you place them prominently, you can encourage users to check out the additional content your users provided.

Also, reviews keep visitors on the page longer. That is because it takes longer to go through the pages, and if they have to shift through multiple pages it will decrease your site’s bounce rate.

6. Mobile-Friendly

One of the best ecommerce SEO tactics you can use is to ensure your site is mobile-friendly. That is because the mobile algorithm updates over the past few years have made it more important than ever to ensure your ecommerce site can handle mobile visitors throughout the entire sales process.

Otherwise, your ecommerce site stands to lose mobile traffic, and with half of all searches now conducted on mobile devices, this is too much for any ecommerce site to withstand.

7. Structured Data

Another ecommerce SEO tactic is to use structured data. This search information can help ecommerce sites provide detailed information that can be used by Google to improve your search results.

Furthermore, the Schema markup set up by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft provides common elements to focus on for all three search engines.

Final Thoughts

The ecommerce SEO tactics that we discussed above can help any ecommerce site, not just the large players who use those strategies currently. The key is to implement them strategically.

If you are looking to create a plan to ensure your site receives the highest quality search traffic possible, then we want to help. Schedule a free initial consultation with Shout eCommerce SEO firm to determine the best ecommerce SEO tactics for your business.

Book a free 45 minute consultation today.

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Be smarter than the rest of your team.

Give us your email address and we promise to send you the best articles on a wide spectrum of digital marketing topics to help your business grow to the next level.

    Book a free 45 minute consultation today.

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      As Founder and Director of Shout Web Strategy, Michael Jenkins is at the forefront of digital marketing. Since it’s inception in 2009, Shout has built a strong reputation as one of Australia’s leading strategic SEO agencies, assisting online businesses to formulate, implement and track successful marketing strategies. Michael is a respected thought leader and digital strategist, specialising in online strategy, corporate SEO, Google retargeting, email and conversion rate optimisation, and online reputation management. Follow Michael on Google+, connect with him through LinkedIn or visit the Shout Web Strategy website.

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