SEO essentials for Ecommerce

The numbers are as following.

Of course, the more attractive to search engine algorithms your page is, the higher it will rank in SERPs and the more visible it will be to people. It’s worth playing this game, isn’t it?

On-page SEO

The first place to start with SEO is on your ecommerce website itself. Search engine algorithms look for several factors when they crawl through each page of your site. The most important ones are listed below.Site structureIf your site is structured well, all pages and subpages will be easily found by search engine crawlers.KeywordsSEO is pretty much based on keywords. Finding out what words searchers use to find online stores similar to yours is the key to success. After doing a profound research you’ll have a list of relevant keywords in your hand. You can then start the optimization process which basically means placing keywords throughout the whole website. The main keywords should be used in titles and repeated naturally in the content, others should be placed in image tags and meta descriptions.Page URLEnsure that each URL is SEO-friendly, which means that it should include the main keyword that the page is targeting. What is more, remember to keep an URL address brief, descriptive and relevant - a visitor at a glance should be able to tell what the website is all about.Alt-text of imagesSearch engines don’t read images, they read alt-text instead. You should use alt-text to help engines better understand the meaning of an image and what it represents. While describing an image, don’t forget to use some of your focus keywords.Title tagTitle-tag should define a site’s content in a concise and clear way. You should keep it short, max 50-60 characters. Be sure to include at least two of your most important keywords along with your brand’s name.Meta-descriptionsMeta-description is a short paragraph which is displayed under a title tag on SERP. The optimal length of a meta-description is between 150-160 characters. While creating a copy be as much creative as you can. A boring description can decrease a click through rate and bring you less visitors.ContentContent on your store website if optimized well can make a huge difference when it comes to making your business more visible in search engines. The keywords are one of the most important factors when it comes to your content optimization. You should pick only the most relevant ones and use them throughout the whole website.Internal linksInternal links - links that point to other pages of your site - are an important part of on-page SEO. They help search engine algorithms to crawl through your site, indexing each page as they go.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO techniques involve building links from other parts of the web to your site. In the past, ecommerce site managers would scatter links to their site all over forums, directories, and comments sections, as well as buy links on other sites. These link building techniques are penalized by search engines these days, which means that you need to take a different approach.Current off-page SEO techniques focus on building relationships, not links. It’s better for you to reach out to your customer base through social media. If you create entertaining content and share it with your followers on Facebook and Twitter, the customers you are interacting with may share the content on their blogs or in other communities - this way links will be created naturally.Want to learn more about SEO? Download free ebook 'SEO essentials for Ecommerce' here.