Thanks to SEO optimization, it is possible to expand the clientele of e-commerce, as many users search for the desired products on Google and other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo. The more your offer appears in the top search results, the easier it is to attract buyers. To optimize your online shop on Google, you don’t need any special programming or marketing knowledge. We reveal what you need to pay attention to improve your online store with SEO.
Reach More Customers Through Google
With a market share of over 90%, Google plays a leading role among the search engines. It would be a reasonable choice for every online seller to optimize their online store according to their parameters. Your site ideally appears in the top results if specific keywords are searched, but for this to happen, it should first be recognized as relevant. Anyone who wants to optimize their online store should know the Google criteria and consider them for developing their site.
Google has developed an ingenious system for automatically differentiating web pages, which is not based solely on the popularity of a site.
The search engine can even judge the quality of a text by verifying its grammatical correctness, its easy readability, and the frequency of keywords. For example, a text containing too many keywords is downgraded. On the other hand, a well-structured information text can improve Google’s evaluation of a site. Google refines this rating system at regular intervals to optimize search results. However, many aspects of evaluating a site always remain the same, and it is, therefore, possible, thanks to SEO tools, to improve the positioning of an online store on Google. In the following paragraphs, we show you how.
Navigation, Design, And Content
For your online store to be optimized for SEO, it is necessary to curate the content and create a straightforward navigation structure of the site: does the user find what they are looking for immediately? Do you receive references for further information? The different subpages should be intelligently linked together. Furthermore, the user’s functional use of the site is decisive for the positioning on Google. Thus, the display on different mobile devices is also included in the evaluation of the pages, thanks to the responsive design. Here are some tips for optimizing your online store:
- Take care of the graphics, the display for mobile devices, and the content that must be informative and well structured. What is suitable for customers is also ideal for Google because a practical design is rated positively by the search engine. Many ready-made sites offer different design templates that fit your needs.
- Post customer reviews. The most effective are the Trusted-Shops evaluations.
- A product description should be informative and well structured. Depending on the type of article, it should occasionally contain tables or lists and be organized into sub-sections.
- Multimedia elements, such as product videos, are rated equally positively by Google.
Important Search Criteria
Usually, it would help if you didn’t write product descriptions without keywords (so-called keywords). Search for keywords and check which are the most used words concerning your offer: the free tool Google Keyword-Planner from AdWords helps you in this. To check-in which combination keywords are searched most frequently, you can use the autocomplete function (Google Suggest). Compound keywords are less competitive: for example, the word “shoes” is more vital than “women’s shoe discounts.”
It is also helpful to orient yourself to the competition. Go to the page of an online store that sells the same products. Optimized text is recognizable because keywords and their variants are present at regular intervals. Quietly choose the same keyword but never copy texts, as Google recognizes duplicates (duplicate content) and penalizes them. Instead, create new readers and enter your keywords individually. Keywords should not make up more than 4% of the text.
Other Measures To Optimize Your Online Shop
Along with keywords, other parts of the site are also crucial for your site’s ranking on Google. The following elements of your web offer should be optimized accordingly:
Product Descriptions
Never copy the product description from another site, especially if it is your supplier. Even within your online shop, ensure that every single page offers original content and does not contain duplicates.
Internal Links
Good internal linking helps your users find all the subpages of your e-commerce site. With a healthy thought-out navigation menu and clever use of internal links in your text, you also make sure that Google orientates itself well in your store.
Alternative Text
Google likes it when a site contains images, but don’t forget to include alt text. Google can only read the alt text, not the image file; Thanks to the alternative text, the search engine can also display your product photos in the image search.
Mobile View
It would help if you structured your online store according to responsive design principles, so there are no disturbances and viewing difficulties, especially when using mobile devices. We, therefore, mean the ease of use and the automatic adaptation of websites to smartphones or tablets.
Bottom Line: Retailers Should Adapt Their Online Stores For SEO
If you want to optimize your online shop for SEO, you should invest some time. By thus increasing the chances of reaching new customers, your efforts will soon pay off. Furthermore, the actions to optimize a site according to SEO criteria are not only for experts; the different tools allow even beginners to optimize an online shop better. Even without specific SEO knowledge, you can expand your site’s reach. Many ready-made sites and CMSs provide numerous tools with which you can optimize your online shop for Google. SEO in e-commerce is worthwhile, and all online store managers should use it.
