Your online store is lost in the vastness of the internet and barely visible to customers. Now imagine it standing tall and catching the eye of every shopper looking for products like yours. That’s the power of ecommerce search engine optimization (SEO).
But what is it, and why should you care?
It is your secret to getting more organic traffic and sales without breaking the bank on ads. It’s the art and science of optimizing your online store to rank higher in search results so customers can find you when they’re ready to buy.
In this guide, we’ll demystify SEO and show you how to use it to grow your online store. We’ve also included a bunch of useful ecommerce SEO tools along the way. Use these to speed up the process and ensure that you rank higher in search.
Why ecommerce SEO is key to growth
Let’s get to the numbers. Did you know that 53% of UK consumers research online before big purchases? That’s a massive opportunity for your ecommerce business!
By implementing SEO strategies, you’re increasing visibility and tapping into a stream of high-intent buyers searching for products like yours. This means more organic traffic and, ultimately, more sales without the ongoing cost of paid ads.
Also, it’s important to think of SEO as planting a tree. It takes time to grow, but once it’s established, it provides shade (or, in this case, traffic) for years to come.
Unlike paid campaigns that stop delivering once you stop paying, SEO keeps working for you long after you’ve put in the initial effort. It’s a sustainable approach that builds your online presence over time and provides a solid foundation for your ecommerce website to grow.
Ecommerce SEO components
We’ll look at the key areas you should focus on to get the most out of your ecommerce SEO. Let’s start with the foundation of any SEO strategy: keyword research. Ecommerce keyword research is crucial as it guides various SEO efforts, including optimizing product and category pages.
Keyword research
Before conducting keyword research, you must understand search intent.
Identifying relevant keywords such as “best deals on laptops” or “affordable organic skincare products” indicates strong buying intent. By targeting these keywords, you’re more likely to attract users who are ready to buy and, therefore, more likely to convert.
People also use search queries to answer a specific question about a topic. However, they’re not ready to purchase yet or are still gathering information about the product. These keywords have an informational intent.
While they don’t directly convince people to buy a product from your site, they are necessary to improve your site’s authority and provide your audience with helpful content, something that Google loves.
Finding these keywords is like finding a map of buried treasure. Tools like SE Ranking are your metal detectors, helping you dig up high-intent keywords that customers use to find products like yours.
Browse through the tool’s keyword ideas to help you determine which terms to target and optimize on your ecommerce site.
You can filter the results based on their search volume and keyword difficulty. Target terms with relatively high monthly searches and low keyword competitiveness.
Don’t neglect long-tail keywords, most of which are informational keywords. These longer, more specific phrases may have lower search volumes but convert better because they capture specific user needs. You can view this on SE Ranking by clicking the Questions tab. Take the best ones from the list and create content for each one.
Round out your keyword research by looking for terms with commercial intent—phrases like “buy,” “best,” or “review” often indicate someone is ready to buy. Use SE Ranking’s search function in the keyword research page to show these terms in the results.
On-page optimisation
Now you have your keyword map, it’s time to use it.
On-page SEO is where you place these keywords throughout your ecommerce site to tell search engines what your pages are about. And aside from writing for Google bots, your content must also engage human shoppers.
Start with your product pages. These are your ecommerce site’s bread and butter. Craft your product titles to include your target keywords naturally.
For example, instead of just “Blue T-shirt,” try “Men’s Soft Cotton Blue T-shirt – Breathable Summer Wear.” This includes more keywords and more information for potential customers.
Your product descriptions are prime real estate for both SEO and sales. Weave in your keywords while highlighting the benefits and features that matter most to your customers.
Don’t forget to optimize your meta tags and image alt text, as well. These small details can make a big difference in how search engines understand and rank your pages.
Category pages get just as much attention. They’re often overlooked, but well-optimized category pages can attract users searching for broader product types. Use descriptive, keyword-rich titles and introductory content to guide users (and search engines) through your product offerings.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of internal linking. A well-planned internal linking structure helps search engines crawl your site more effectively and guides users through your product catalog, potentially increasing time on site and sales.
Link to related products and link to category pages from your blog posts, and make sure your site navigation is intuitive and SEO-friendly.
Technical SEO
While on-page optimization focuses on content, technical SEO is about building your ecommerce site on a solid foundation that search engines can understand and crawl.
In today’s mobile-first world, this starts with speed and mobile optimization.
Did you know 71% of Gen Z prefer to shop online using mobile devices? If your site isn’t mobile-friendly or takes too long to load, you’re likely losing customers before they even see your products.
If you sign up for your website on Google Search Console, you can see which pages have speed issues by going to Experience > Page Experience.
Then, open the mobile report to see pages with poor Core Web Vitals scores (a metric Google use to measure how fast and efficient a website loads) or those that need improvement.
To determine the issues each page has explaining their low Core Web Vitals score, run each one on PageSpeed Insights. The Diagnostics section of the report shows you the exact issues and what you must do to resolve them.
Structured data is another technical SEO tool in your arsenal. By implementing schema markup, you can help search engines understand your content better and potentially get rich snippets in search results.
Imagine your product listings showing up in the search results with star ratings, prices, and availability information—that’s the power of structured data!
To see if your product pages have schema markup issues, go to Shopping > Product snippets on Google Search Console. You should see which pages with schema markups you need to address.
To effectively conduct your technical SEO audit, use Ahrefs Webmaster Tools. It’s a free tool to check your site’s various technical SEO factors comprehensively. It’ll provide you with a score and a list of issues you must address.
Solving these will help increase your score and ensure that search spiders can properly crawl and index your site pages.
It’s as good as premium tools like Screaming Frog Spider. However, you need to set up Google Search Console first to use this feature on Ahrefs.
Content for ecommerce SEO
Content is the lifeblood of your SEO and content marketing strategy for ecommerce websites. It’s not just about product descriptions – it’s about creating a rich, informative environment that attracts and engages potential customers at every stage of their buying journey.
Let’s start with blogging. A well-maintained blog is a powerful tool for building authority and targeting informational keywords. Every ecommerce site should have a blog.
In 2023, 80% of bloggers reported positive results from their blogging. Creating content that answers your customers’ questions and solves their problems increases your site’s chances of ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) and establishes your brand as a trusted resource in your niche.
Product guides and tutorials are another type of content you must publish in your blog section. These in-depth pieces educate your customers about your products and address common questions and concerns.
They’re also perfect for targeting long-tail keywords that don’t fit naturally into your product pages. For example, a guide on “How to Choose the Right Running Shoes for Your Foot Type” can attract potential customers who are still in the research phase of their buying journey.
A neat tool you can use to create SEO-friendly content for your blog is Frase. Create a new document and use the tool’s SEO workflow to simplify the process. Next, enter your target keyword on the search query text box.
Once the document is created, ask the tool to research information about the keyword on Google. After completing the research, Frase will show you the Optimize tab, which contains words and phrases you should include in the content to make it topically relevant to your target keyword.
The goal is to match your content score with the average score of all the top-ranking pages on SERPs for that keyword, if not increase it. When done correctly, expect your articles to rank on Google search over time!
At the same time, you don’t always have to create content yourself. You can always leverage the power of user-generated content. Customer reviews and testimonials are SEO gold—they provide fresh, keyword-rich content and social proof that can increase conversions.
According to one study, 77% of shoppers check for websites with ratings and reviews first, and 98% say reviews influence their decisions. Encourage your customers to leave detailed reviews and consider featuring them on your product pages.
Link building
On-site optimization and content creation are the foundation of your ecommerce SEO strategy, but link building is what gets your site to the top of the search results.
Think of backlinks as votes of confidence from other websites – the more high-quality links you have pointing to your site, the more authoritative search engines will consider you.
There are many tactics you can use to secure links from high-quality sites. Guest blogging and partnerships are among them. Look for opportunities to contribute your expertise to other reputable sites in your industry. This will build your backlink profile and position you as a thought leader in your niche.
One of the best ways to proceed with guest blogging is via email outreach. With a few clicks of a button, you can email various link prospects and ask them to publish your guest post. You can also set up follow-up emails to increase your reply rate and secure more links from this technique.
For this, I’d recommend BuzzStream. It will take care of the entire link-building outreach process, from identifying high-quality link prospects to developing personalized emails and tracking the results.
Local citations and directories are another link building type you should pursue, even if you’re an online-only store. Local SEO can benefit ecommerce businesses, especially if you have a physical presence or serve specific geographic areas.
Ensure your business is listed in relevant online directories, and your information is consistent across all platforms.
Local backlinks are in line with local citations. Examples include sponsoring local events or getting featured in local online publications. These strategies not only improve your local search rankings but also help you appear in the local 3-pack, ensuring more clicks to your site from Google search.
You can also reverse-engineer link building, creating linkable assets. These could be in-depth industry reports, unique data visualizations, or interactive tools that others in your industry would want to link to. For example, a comprehensive “State of Ecommerce in [NICHE]” report could attract links from industry blogs and news sites.
You can also spy on your top competitor’s link profile and see authoritative links they have that you don’t have yet. This enables you to secure these links, match their link profile, and rank alongside them—if not higher—on SERPs.
Go to SE Ranking’s Backlink Gap Analyzer and enter your site’s URL and those of your competitors.
From the report, you will see the domains that your competitors have links on, the exact page on the domain with the link, and the anchor text used.
Use the information found here to narrow your link prospects to not only the best sites based on their Domain Trust (DT), but also the link building techniques to use for your ecommerce SEO campaign.
Ecommerce SEO strategy and best practices
Now that we’ve covered the main components of ecommerce SEO, let’s get into some strategies and best practices that can enhance your online store’s visibility in search engine results. SEO is not a one-size-fits-all approach – it’s about finding the right mix of tactics that work for your business and target audience.
Local SEO for ecommerce
You may be thinking, “I’m an online store. Why do I need local SEO?” Even if you don’t have a physical store, local SEO can be a powerful tool in your armory.
80.2% of Northern Europeans and 78.2% of Western Europeans use social networks (according to Statista), so there’s a huge opportunity to connect with local customers online.
Start by claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile listing. This is key to appearing in local search results and on Google Maps. You can list your service area even if you don’t have a physical location.
Create location-specific content on your website. This could be blog posts about local events, guides for specific cities or regions, or product pages for products popular in certain areas.
For example, if you sell outdoor gear, you could create content about the best hiking trails in different regions, naturally featuring your products.
Voice search optimisation
As we look to the future of ecommerce SEO, we can’t ignore the growing importance of voice search. With the rise of smart speakers and voice assistants, more and more consumers are using voice commands to search for products and information.
To optimize voice search, focus on natural language and conversational keywords. Voice searches are longer and more question-based than typed searches. For example, instead of searching for “best running shoes,” a voice searcher might ask, “What are the best running shoes for marathon training?”
Create FAQ pages that answer common questions your customers might ask. Structure these so they directly answer the question, as voice assistants often pull featured snippets for their answers.
Finally, consider the local aspect of voice search. Many voice queries are looking for local information, so tie this back to your local SEO efforts.
User experience (UX) and SEO
In ecommerce, SEO user experience isn’t just a nice to have – it’s a must-have. Search engines like Google are increasingly prioritizing sites that provide great user experiences. After all, their goal is to deliver the best possible results to their users.
We’ve already covered site speed above. However, aside from that, your site structure and navigation are just as important.
A well-organized site architecture helps users and search engines understand your content hierarchy. Use clear, descriptive categories and subcategories for your products. Use breadcrumb navigation to help users (and search engines) know where they are on your site.
Remember internal links, like I mentioned earlier. A solid internal linking strategy not only distributes link equity throughout your site but also guides users to related products or content they might be interested in. This can increase time on site and reduce bounce rates—both good signals for search engines.
Finally, create a seamless checkout. A complicated or long checkout can lead to cart abandonment, hurting your sales and SEO. High bounce rates and short time on site can tell search engines that users aren’t finding what they need on your pages.
Data analytics and SEO performance measurement
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. That’s why data analytics is key to any ecommerce SEO strategy. By tracking the right metrics, including search volume, you can see what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus for maximum impact.
Start with the basics: organic traffic, bounce, and conversion rates. These metrics give you a high-level view of how your SEO efforts are translating into actual business results. Tools like Google Analytics are a must-have for tracking these metrics (under Engagement > Overview).
But don’t stop there. Drill down into keyword rankings and click-through rates (CTR) from search results using Google Search Console. These metrics will help you see how well your content is resonating with your target audience.
For example, having a high keyword ranking but a low CTR might mean your meta description isn’t compelling enough to get clicks.
Ecommerce-specific metrics are also important. Track metrics like average order value, customer lifetime value, and shopping cart abandonment rates. These will help you see how many visitors you’re attracting and how valuable those visitors are to your business.
Don’t forget technical SEO metrics. Again, use Google Search Console to monitor crawl errors, index coverage, and mobile usability issues. These technical aspects can have a big impact on your overall SEO performance.
Remember: Data without action is just numbers. Use your analytics to refine your SEO strategy continually. If certain types of content are performing well, create more of it. If specific pages have high bounce rates, investigate why and fix them.
Ecommerce SEO challenges
Even with a good strategy in place, ecommerce businesses face unique SEO challenges. By knowing these common challenges, you can fix them before they become problems.
Duplicate content
One of the most common ecommerce SEO issues is duplicate content. This often happens with product descriptions, especially if you’re selling products from manufacturers who provide standard descriptions. Search engines will struggle to decide which version of the content to index and rank and dilute your SEO efforts.
So, how do you fix this? Invest in creating unique value added content for your product pages. While it’s time-consuming, original content will help with SEO and provide more value to your customers. If creating unique content for every product isn’t possible, prioritize your best-selling or most important ones.
URL parameters for sorting and filtering products are another source of duplicate content. Use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page and robots.txt to stop the crawling of unnecessary URL variations.
High competition
In the competitive ecommerce space, it’s hard to stand out, especially if you’re competing against established brands or marketplaces like Amazon. But there are ways to differentiate your store and improve your rankings, most of which revolve around creating content that’ll separate your brand from the rest.
First, focus on long-tail keywords in your blog content that bigger competitors will overlook. These have lower competition and higher conversion rates. Instead of targeting “men’s shoes,” you might target “waterproof hiking boots for wide feet.”
You can also create content that goes beyond selling products. Develop buying guides, comparison articles, or how-to content that solves your customers’ pain points. This will help you rank for informational queries and build trust with potential customers.
Finally, use your unique selling propositions (USPs) in your SEO strategy. Whether it’s exceptional customer service, unique products, or a compelling brand story, highlight what makes your store special in your content and meta descriptions.
Algorithm changes
Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms to provide better results for users. While that’s great for the user, it’s also tough for ecommerce businesses to maintain rankings.
To navigate algorithm changes, focus on providing value to your users rather than trying to game the system. Prioritize high-quality, relevant content, good user experience, and technical SEO best practices. These fundamentals don’t change even when the ranking factors do.
Stay up to date with SEO trends and algorithm updates, but don’t panic every time there’s a change. Instead, monitor your analytics closely and look for big, sustained changes in traffic or rankings that an algorithm update might cause.
As mentioned in the introduction, SEO is a long term strategy. According to Ahrefs only 5.7% of pages are in the top 10 search results within a year of publication. Patience and consistency are key to SEO success.
Technical SEO issues
We’ve touched on technical SEO earlier, but let’s dive deeper into some common technical issues that can affect your ecommerce site.
Site speed is an important factor but not in the way people think. In terms of SEO, some industry professionals will tell you that you’ll get a ranking boost from speeding up your website.
But that’s not quite how it works. If your site loads fast, you won’t get a ranking boost but if your site is very slow, Google will have a problem with it and your site will likely be demoted in search. So, an extra few milliseconds won’t win you higher rankings.
That said, you’ll likely see higher conversion rates when you improve your website’s speed. Studies show that conversion rates drop by 4.42% for every additional second of load time between 0 and 5 seconds.
Optimize your images, leverage browser caching, and consider using a content delivery network (CDN) to improve site speed. Regular speed tests with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights will help you identify and fix performance issues.
Mobile optimization is another big area. With mobile commerce expected to reach $3.4 trillion by 2027, you can’t afford to have a fully responsive site and a seamless mobile experience.
Crawlability issues can also hinder your SEO. Check that your robots.txt file isn’t blocking important pages, and use XML sitemaps to guide search engines through your site structure. Also, regularly check and fix broken links, which can waste your crawl budget and provide a bad user experience.
Limited resources for SEO
For many ecommerce businesses, especially smaller ones, limited resources can be a big obstacle to implementing a full SEO strategy. But there are ways to get the most out of your SEO, even on a tight budget.
Focus on high impact, low resource strategies. Start with on-page optimisation, make sure your product titles, descriptions and meta tags are optimised for your target keywords. This can often be done without any additional tools or expertise.
Use user-generated content. Encourage customer reviews and use this content to add fresh, keyword-rich text to your product pages. 98% of consumers say reviews impact their purchasing decisions.
Focus on what matters. If you can’t optimize every page on your site, focus on your top products or categories. Use your analytics to see which pages drive the most traffic and conversions, and start there.
Outsource some tasks. If you don’t have in-house expertise for technical SEO or content creation then it might be more cost effective to hire a freelancer or agency for those specific tasks rather than trying to do everything yourself.
Conclusion
Now that you have the knowledge, it’s time to put it into action. Start by auditing your current SEO and identifying areas for improvement immediately. This might involve optimizing your product descriptions, improving your site speed, or developing a content strategy around long-tail keywords in your niche.
Don’t try to do everything at once—focus on the biggest impact and most resource-efficient areas first. Start with on-page optimization and content creation, which will give you quick wins.
For those with existing ecommerce sites, run a technical SEO audit to determine problems preventing Google from crawling your site properly. As you make changes, monitor your analytics closely and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Finally, SEO is a process, not a one-off. Implementing all the above won’t mean you’ll appear on top of Google the next day. Be patient and keep improving your process before you can see results.
Stay updated with industry news and algorithm updates, but don’t forget the basics: creating content for your users and having a good shopping experience. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to get help from ecommerce SEO experts.
Need more help? Check out our post on common ecommerce SEO mistakes.