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Dos And Don’ts Of E-Commerce SEO

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Digital Marketing
Dos And Don’ts Of E-Commerce SEO

With more people than ever searching for products and services online, no business can deny the importance of SEO. This is especially true for e-commerce sites. But getting your products to rank for relevant keywords is easier said than done when you consider the competition. And a few blunders can easily ruin all your effort. So it helps to work with an SEO agency in NJ, though there’s no harm in trying SEO yourself if you can dedicate enough time and resources.


DOS OF E-COMMERCE SEO

Think Mobile-First

A website that’s not optimized for mobile users will lag behind in a world that uses mobile half the time to search for products and services. Optimizing your product pages for mobile devices improves user experience and boosts your SERP rankings.


It involves making the website’s mobile version easier to use by improving loading speed, making buttons easier to tap, using readable fonts, etc.


Test Landing Pages

Even the slightest variations can have a big impact on your conversion rates. You can use various tools to test the changes you make and identify the best-performing variation.


Allow Customer Reviews

Not having a review section on your product pages is a huge missed opportunity. Customers tend to unintentionally add search terms when posting reviews. This can be a huge boost to your SEO efforts.


Make Checkout Easier

An easy checkout process improves your customer’s user experience and makes them more likely to convert. A complicated checkout process is one of the main reasons why many customers abandon cart. Even requiring customers to create an account before making a purchase can cause them to leave. Allow guest checkout and incentivize them to create an account later.


DON’TS OF E-COMMERCE SEO

Copying Manufacturer’s Product Description

Google hates duplicate content and will omit results that are too similar to the ones it displays. And the manufacturer’s description is no exception. Sure, it’s easier to copy and paste an available description when you have thousands of products in your catalog. But to protect your SERP rankings, you need to add your own spin to the description.


Creating Duplicate Product Categories

Many e-commerce sites create category pages for different keywords that ultimately lead to the same products and services. Like creating separate pages for ceiling fans and fans for ceilings. This is not only redundant but also leads to the categories cannibalizing each other and hurting your rankings. You’re better off avoiding this practice.


Using Same Description For Similar Products

Many online sellers use the same description for similar products with slight variations, like blue or red shirts. This also undermines the effort you put into SEO. It’s better to write something different for all products.


In case of products that are too similar, you can create a single page listing and showcase the variants as a variable product. You can also add a canonical tag on the variant pages to point back to the main page. Though one page that lists all the variants usually performs better than a page that focuses on a single attribute.


The only case in which creating a separate variant page is a good option is if there’s a high demand for that particular feature.


Removing Out-Of-Stock Product Pages

Keeping webpages for out-of-stock products live may seem counterintuitive. But removing them means losing out on the ranking and traffic the pages already have. Besides, you may need the page when you get the new stock.


So you should keep the page live even if your product is seasonal. In the meantime, you can add links to similar products that may interest your customers.


Removing Seasonal Pages

Many e-commerce sites remove seasonal promotion pages once the said season ends. This only makes your job difficult because when the season is back, you have to create a new page and optimize it from scratch. And there’s no guarantee that it’ll rank high for seasonal search terms when you’re done.


It’s much simpler to update an existing seasonal page. Keeping the page could also add to its authority over time.

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