If you want to get ahead with your business, you need to become visible to others, to be found. Just as you would post a billboard, or set up a nice storefront, you have to do the same for your website. In order to get this going, you need to make your eCommerce store visible to search engines.
Namely, search engines determine how high you rank when someone types in a word or a phrase that may or may not be relevant to your business. Put simply, becoming more visible to search engines means you increase the chances of someone finding your website and clicking on it. But, we are certain you are interested in the how, not the why. With all that being said, below you can find some good strategies on how to become more visible.
Optimize your pages – keywords
The first thing you want to do is optimize your pages as much as possible. We suggest you focus on high-impact pages, like those dedicated to your products and categories, as well as for blogs posts, and your homepage. Now, understand that this is not optimization dedicated to speeding up your website (though this is also very useful). No, here we are talking about search engine optimization.
So, keep in mind that you can optimize your pages no matter what platform you’re using. Let’s say you’re using Shopify to make running your online store easier, even as a beginner – you will still need good SEO.
First, use proper keywords. A keyword (or phrase) is what potential users and visitors type into search engine boxes. You want to anticipate the phrases they may use, and place them within your own content and website. In order to get the most of these, use keyword tools to help you out. Check out what keywords your competitors are using, see how they use their keywords, which gives them the best results.
Another option is using long-tail keywords. These give you more specific results, and are great for any niche store. A long-tail keyword is actually a phrase of 3 words minimum. You can set these up for voice search as well, by forming When/How/What questions, and proving answers to said questions within the content.
Optimisation vol. 2 – tags, metadata, and thoroughness
As you may have noticed, keywords are rather important. However, another way to increase your rankings and visibility is to write appropriate metadata. So, your meta title should be about 60 characters long, while your meta description around 160 characters. Note – these two terms refer to the title and the description for your search results.
Next, be thorough. Know that images and videos are not scanned and do not directly improve your visibility. However, search engine algorithms do notice descriptions in alt text and tags you place on your content. Insert keywords into these pieces of content. Furthermore, when you use URL’s, keep them user and search engine friendly. So, no difficult character combinations, symbols, numbers, whatever. Keep it clean, simple and descriptive.
Next, you may want to add some reviews. For this, we suggest getting the WooCommerce plugin (if you’re using WordPress, that is). First of all, WooCommerce will make it much easier to run and organize your store. However, the review option improves your conversion rates, creates a keyword onto itself (product name + review) automatically, and helps with indexation.
Don’t forget about your content
Remember that posting content is important for your success. With good content, you keep your website fresh. Bounce rates (number of people who leave your website quickly) are lowered, backlinks are created (more on these below), and your brand and your reputation grow. It also serves as fertile soil for keywords and links.
In order to get the most out of your content, you need to keep a couple of things in mind. You need quality writing, articles that flow nicely, and proper information. Figuring out who your target audience is crucial for increasing your visibility.
Of course, you also need to understand who your target audience is in order to give out good content. If you noticed that most of your potential buyers come from Sydney, Australia, then you want to come in contact with a good Sydney based company. The locals can give you the best advice on how to write and how to optimize in the best way possible for a niche audience.
Remember to mix things up a little as well. Present your content through videos, infographics, keep things fresh. Search engine algorithms will penalize high bounce rates. If they notice that visitors only come to your website, stay for a few seconds, and leave, they will know something’s up. You want people to stay on the page, to read it.
Be smart with your links
Think of links as roads that connect pages and websites. Search engine algorithms crawl from one link to the next, this allows them to “feel out” the internet. When a website notices that you have good content, offer good services or products, they will most likely link to a page of yours within their own content. These backlinks are very useful, since they give you organic traffic, and increase your credibility with the search engine algorithms.
We suggest you get a link tracking tool, or a broken link tool, to help you get the most out of your links by finding lost ones, and by understanding which ones are the most successful. This is really important if you have a lot of posts and links because you offer a wide variety of products and services. For example, if you’re using Magento, a fantastic tool for companies that have a lot of complex orders and a variety of products, you will want a good link tracker. With any luck, many people have linked directly to many of your products, which also means you will have to put some work in to track them all.
Conclusion
And there you have it folks, a short guide on how to make your eCommerce more visible to search engines. Remember to be smart with your links, and to use them properly. Furthermore, have proper content in there, and learn to optimize everything properly.
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