As of September 2024, 2.71 billion people were engaged in online shopping, and around 43% of all ecommerce traffic comes straight from organic Google search. That alone shows just how valuable ecommerce SEO really is. If you’re not already investing in it, now’s the time to double down.
Now how can you develop a winning Ecommerce SEO strategy? Let’s break it down.
What Is Ecommerce SEO?
Let’s first talk about what Ecommerce SEO consists of and how it differs from traditional SEO. Both traditional and eCommerce SEO share the same goal: drawing in visitors. However, they may have a different set of approaches and objectives.
Ecommerce SEO hones in on the transactional stage of the buying journey. Thus, commercial and transactional keywords are the key focus. Unlike content-led campaigns that aim to rank blog articles and knowledge-based resources, eCommerce SEO focuses on ranking more product and category pages to boost visibility and sales.
Ecommerce sites still ought to produce informational content to serve the top of the funnel, but the overarching goal is to promote their products and services and generate more conversions.
Importance of Ecommerce SEO
Generic SEO efforts are not enough when running an eCommerce site because where you rank in the SERP can literally make or break the success of your business. According to a recent report by FirstPageSage, the page ranking #1 grabs 39.8% of all the clicks, followed by 18.7% and 10.2% for the second and third positions. If you run the numbers, the difference in terms of total generated revenue can be drastic.
On the other hand, if you’re not building organic visibility at all and have just been relying on paid ads, that could be a really expensive way of attracting leads, not to mention short-lived. If you want to build sustainable, long-term growth for your business, investing in organic SEO can be more fruitful in the long run.
In the world of ecommerce, your SERP ranking isn’t just about visibility—it’s about survival. With competition growing fiercer by the day, staying ahead means continuously sharpening and evolving your SEO strategy.
How to Develop a Winning Ecommerce SEO Strategy
Since SEO takes time to build, it’s a good idea to start laying the groundwork early. Here are the best starting points:
1. Keyword research
Long-tail keywords are still a winner in Ecommerce SEO, especially for voice search queries. People tend to say more when they speak than when they type.
These keywords contain three or more words and show more specific intent. For example ‘black leather boots for men’ or ‘pink floral mini dress’.
By performing proper keyword research, you can compile a list of all long-tail keywords related to your products. Creating or optimizing pages based on these keywords can significantly support your Ecommerce SEO strategy.
If you’re also on Amazon and Etsy, there are keyword research tools like Keywords Everywhere that support in-platform keyword research. You no longer have to switch between tabs– you can now browse and discover more keyword opportunities as you go.
Keywords Everywhere supports 16+ other platforms including Google, YouTube, Google Trends, eBay, and more.
2. Optimize Product Pages
Product pages are the lifeblood of any ecommerce site. Store owners should be focusing their energy in making their product pages as optimized as possible. Unfortunately, many ecommerce sites simply write a few lines of text about each product and then toss in an image or video.
The goal is to help Google find your product pages, and so you need to help the search engine out by giving it more context to digest. For example, if you’re selling running shoes, don’t just stop at “lightweight and comfortable.” Include all modifiers that searchers use to find your product.
Even without a sophisticated keyword process, you can instantly generate relevant and in-demand keyword ideas by just looking at the autosuggest section.
With Keywords Everywhere, you can instantly view search volume and other valuable keyword data for every auto-suggested term. It’s an easy way to uncover secondary keywords you can seamlessly add to your product pages. The tool also highlights long-tail and closely related keywords in dedicated sections, making it simple to generate dozens—even hundreds—of content ideas in just a few clicks, all without leaving your browser.
To optimize your product pages for more relevant keywords, consider adding the following modifiers:
- Brand (e.g. asics running shoes, adidas running shoes, nike running shoes)
- Color (e.g. black and white running shoes, colorful running shoes, pastel running shoes)
- Material (e.g. mesh running shoes, rubber running shoes, recycled running shoes)
- Use (e.g. trail running shoes, road running shoes, marathon running shoes, casual running shoes)
- Budget (e.g. clearance running shoes, affordable running shoes, running shoes under 500)
- Size (Wide-width running shoes, narrow running shoes, big kid running shoes)
- Target audience (running shoes for men, running shoes for women, running shoes for kids, unisex running shoes)
- Design (e.g. minimalist running shoes, chunky running shoes, sleek running shoes)
- Features (e.g. running shoes for flat feet, waterproof running shoes, cushioned running shoes, washable running shoes)
Use the focus keyword in the title tag, meta description, URL, alt text, and even product name. Make your copy strong and compelling and use primary and secondary keywords naturally.
Add value to the readers and keep the copy comprehensive yet straight-to-the-point and engaging. Think about everything a buyer needs to know before making a purchasing decision. Use separate headings (H2, H3, etc.) for sections like product specifications, benefits, and FAQ. Don’t forget to do further internal linking as well from related products, blog posts, or category pages.
3. Image Optimization
It’s important to serve images that look good, but it’s also important to mind the shoppers’ browsing experience. Make sure to optimize images to make them load faster and avoid unwanted bounce rate. Reduce your images’ file size by using image compression tools like Squoosh.app, Compressor.io, or Tiny PNG.
On top of the size, optimize the file name too. Instead of uploading images using file names like IMG0010.jpg, use the product name and main keyword as the file name. Add an alt text as well and even structured data for rich snippets.
4. Convert readers into buyers
While product pages are the core focus in your ecommerce SEO campaign, you should also take care of the entire marketing funnel by creating informative and engaging blog articles with the same overarching goal of turning visitors into buyers.
Besides setting your eyes on sales, you should also strive to create blog articles that can help you establish your name as an expert in the industry. Focus on adding value, answering questions, addressing pain points, and helping users throughout the purchasing journey.
When relevant, you can promote your products naturally within each blog article. You can cover how-to topics, listicles, industry trends, and even data-driven content like research, news, and statistics. Make sure to do keyword research to target the right informational keywords with decent search volume and doable keyword difficulty.
5. Optimize for voice search
There are always new ways for people to engage with the internet, and you need to stay on top of these trends to implement the right strategies and stay competitive in search results. Voice search optimization is one of such fast-growing trends in ecommerce SEO. In fact, 38.8 million Americans use smart speakers for shopping-related activities.
To optimize your ecommerce site for voice search, use natural language as you write your content and incorporate long-tail keywords and conversational phrases into your blog, product descriptions, and overall copy.
Step up your local SEO strategy as well since 58% of people who have used voice search did so to look for local businesses. If you still haven’t, make sure to claim your Google Business Profile and optimize it with accurate info, photos, and business hours.
Voice search technology is rapidly evolving, so stay updated to discover more ways to adapt and optimize.
6. Simplify Your Site Architecture
One of the best ways to build a good site architecture for your ecommerce site is building out category pages. You can use the seed keywords with the general intent and highest search volume as the parent topic (e.g. shoes, dresses, t-shirts.) Then you can build subcategories within each broader category (e.g. running shoes, school shoes, wedding dresses, casual dresses, t-shirts for men, t-shirts for women). Organizing pages like this can help both users and search engines easily navigate your website.
7. Use pagination
Especially if you have a lot of products in your inventory, you need to set up pagination to avoid overcrowding your product pages. You can use numbered buttons or the simpler Next/Previous feature. Pagination helps users anticipate just how many results there are as compared to infinite scroll which may appear intuitive but could cause scroll fatigue.
8. Leverage video marketing
In the SEO game, video is now increasingly earning a prime spot. Lots of video posts are earning the featured snippet or video carousel placement. Such exposures can help your brand appear twice in the first page of Google SERP.
Not to mention around 82% of online shoppers say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. Furthermore, embedding a video on a landing page has been found to boost conversions by as much as 86%. It will also positively affect your rankings as it improves dwell time, which is a well-known Google ranking factor.
You don’t have to worry about production costs and resources since it doesn’t have to be a blockbuster-level video. In fact, with the rise of user-generated content, people are now gravitating towards more relatable and genuine content.
You can publish the videos you produce both on your website or on other platforms like YouTube and social media.
9. Use Responsive Design
Smartphones are now driving more than 60% of purchases online. Plus, with Google’s long-standing mobile-first indexing, you can really strengthen your ecommerce SEO by ensuring a mobile-friendly interface.
A non-responsive website doesn’t just impact SEO and conversions—it undermines your brand’s reputation. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, your ecommerce SEO campaign is already falling behind.
10. Reduce Page Load Speed
Google leaves no stone unturned in terms of ensuring the best possible experience for its users. If your site is annoyingly slow, Google will likely push it down in the search results or not index it altogether. There are many ways to improve site speed including optimizing code, minimizing redirects, compressing images, eliminating unnecessary plugins, implementing lazy loading, and so on.
11. Create Backlinks for Ecommerce SEO
Link building is here to stay. However, instead of focusing on the quantity of links, focus on getting high-quality backlinks from more authoritative and relevant websites.
Ecommerce companies hold a unique advantage in link building because countless websites and blogs regularly publish product reviews and roundup posts—opportunities you can leverage for valuable backlinks and increased brand exposure. Beyond tapping into these, you can also boost your link profile through strategies like guest posting, directory listings, broken link building, participating in relevant forums, creating compelling link bait content, and engaging in targeted PR campaigns. Combining these approaches helps build authority, drive referral traffic, and enhance your site’s overall SEO performance.
12. Sign up on Google Merchant Center
For an extra edge, signing up for Google Merchant Center is a smart move—and best of all, it’s completely free. With this account, you can access Google Shopping, allowing you to showcase your products to a wider audience of potential customers. Plus, the platform provides valuable performance insights so you can track clicks, impressions, and conversions with ease. It also seamlessly integrates with other Google tools like Google Ads and Google Analytics, making your marketing efforts more efficient and data-driven.
13. Build a stronger brand
In this competitive market, differentiation is key, and you can achieve that by building a stronger brand with the right personality, values, and messaging. An established brand equates to trust and loyalty, and the more people trust your brand, the more likely they are to purchase and reorder.
Thus, in the context of Ecommerce SEO, besides giving importance to clicks, dwell time, and conversion, you should also celebrate impressions. The “Rule of 7” suggests that people need to see your brand at least 7 times before they commit to a purchase. Thus, even if you’re not necessarily ranking in the top three positions, but you’re consistently appearing on the first page of Google, eventually your brand will stick and trust will be established slowly but surely.
But keep in mind that branding is beyond logo and visual identity, it’s about making sure that users’ interaction with your brand is consistent, unique and memorable. A great milestone and goal in Ecommerce SEO is to generate more branded searches; that is, when people directly type in your brand on Google. That means you have made your brand memorable enough to skip the scroll.
In a nutshell, that’s what marketing is all about– being top-of-mind and staying top-of-mind. Expect that competition is bound to grow and algorithms will evolve. Just focus on laying the foundation right, adding value, and being consistent until visibility compounds and your brand becomes an undeniable presence in your market.