How Ecommerce Sites Can Use SEO

amazon-447033_640In some ways, ecommerce sites have a great SEO advantage. Some buyers may search for the retailer name, but they’re more likely to search for specific products. On the other hand, other sites are offering similar products, so it’s possible for your products to get buried by higher-ranking pages. This is why SEO for ecommerce sites is especially important.

SEO is an ongoing process, so it’ll take more than a few keywords here and there to boost your search rankings. However, you’ll get better results — and more sales — if you focus most of your efforts on these five steps.

1. Optimize for Product Names

If people want to buy from your business, they’ll go straight to your site. If they want a particular product, they’ll probably look for it using a search engine. That’s why every ecommerce SEO company recommends that each product page on your site should be optimized for the product being sold.

Include each product’s name in its page’s title, headers, meta description, product description, images and URL. Of course, the name should only be used where it sounds natural. If you misuse the product name or use it too often, you could be penalized for keyword stuffing.

2. Write Unique Product Descriptions

Search engines favor pages with longer word counts and relevant keywords. Then again, it doesn’t look as kindly on pages with content that could be found elsewhere. Create unique descriptions of each product to increase the word count on each page and distinguish your products from competing ones.

Incorporate product functions and benefits into your copy, along with the target market or occasions when it might be used. Take cues from the manufacturer’s description, but don’t use it verbatim. Not only will you create duplicate content, but the copy may not be as relevant to your visitors.

3. Enable Product Reviews

Search engine crawlers give higher priority to pages with longer content and pages with fresher content. You can meet both criteria by enabling product reviews on your site. It makes sense financially as well: Pages with more than 20 reviews increase conversions by more than 83 percent.

Allow customers to publish product reviews on your site. You’ll generate more sales and traffic, and your brand will enjoy greater credibility — all of which will boost your search engine ranking.

4. Optimize Images

While many people still search for text descriptions of products, a growing number of users are looking for photos, not just on search engines, but also on image-oriented social sites such as Pinterest and Instagram.

By adding relevant keywords and tags to every product photo, your site will show up in more of these image searches — and your own site will get an SEO boost in the process.

5. Build Inbound Links

When a reputable, high-traffic site links to your website, you gain credibility in the marketplace and get introduced to a whole new audience. The boost to your reputation can improve your rankings. Start building these links and place higher in searches on the products you offer.

Press releases about new products will drive more traffic. So will an infographic or other premium content that resonates with customers. Reaching out to key influencers could land you a glowing product review or a spot in a shopping guide. As long as you offer something valuable, other site owners will reward you with links.

SEO for ecommerce sites is a must if you want your business to generate more online sales and revenue. Fortunately, there are many ways to optimize your site for search engines. Implement some of these strategies — including the ones listed above — and your site will become a favorite shopping outlet.

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