SEO is a huge part of running an eCommerce store, whether you love it or hate it. In the past SEO was a bit of a mythical illusion, only SEO experts knew how it worked and were not always so keen to share the knowledge. Therefore, understanding SEO for the rest of us seemed like an unimaginable task but not anymore, don’t worry, we are here to help.

Let’s have a look at the basics then before we dive in.

What is SEO?

SEO actually stands for search engine optimization, which is the digital marketing strategy that focuses on your website’s presence in search results on search engines. We say search engines, and we do mean that in the plural; Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Yandex but of course we must look mostly at the giant: Google.

Statista: Worldwide desktop market share of leading search engines from January 2010 to January 2021:

Google                 85.86 %

Bing                       6.84 %

Yahoo!                  2.76 %

Baidu                     0.55 %

Yandex                 0.59 %

As you can see Google has to play an important role in your SEO plan because it takes a whopping 85% of the search engine usage daily that means you have to make it a focus. That being said though, it would be unwise to dismiss the other 4 out of hand because whilst together they’re just making up 15% of users, that is nothing to be scoffed at either.

When you understand how SEO works, you can use different tactics that can increase your visibility, or how high up you rank, in search results, aiming for the ultimate… First-page google.

So, how do you do that… Let’s take a look.

·         Learn about keyword research (Important)

·         Set up your google search console

·         Install and learn google analytics

·         Implementing Keywords

·         Avoid keyword errors

·         Optimize all your titles and meta descriptions

·         Optimize all your URLs

·         Optimize all your pages

·         Optimize all your images

·         Add links

·         Complete a blog

This simple list will cover off the essentials of SEO to ensure your site has a fighting chance of competing with others in your market. So, Let’s have a look at these in more detail.

Learn about Keyword research (Important)

Keywords are the main focus of your SEO. Keywords are basically what people are searching for in search engines. You will use this information to discover massive opportunities, where you can prioritize your content plan, and even make product decisions moving forwards.

We will look at some Keyword research tools in another blog article to explain in more detail how you can use them to boost your business.

Set up your google search console

Search Console is a free tool which is provided by Google giving useful data about your website’s performance in Google’s search results. You check things like:

• Which of your keywords are generating most clicks.
• What is the click-through rate in the search results.
• How your keyword rankings change over time.

Install and learn google analytics

Next on the list is another Google must: Google Analytics. You need to install Google Analytics because this is how you will be able to link all your SEO efforts to each sale in your eCommerce store. You check things like:

• How much revenue to the cent you are getting from SEO.
• What is the conversion rate of organic traffic.
• Which pages or even specific products are generating you the most revenue through search.

Implementing Keywords

You know your keywords; you have your site all set up to report on your keywords and so now you need to implement them. There is a range of places you need to input your keywords to ensure you are maximising the potential of your site. Different keywords will have different purposes for your business and your site. It will depend on which part of your sales funnel each of your keywords belongs to.

Avoid keyword errors

Keyword errors happen for several reasons, for example when several of your URLs or pages on are competing for the same keyword. It is important to target each keyword (and related keywords) with a single URL or page. Also, ensure your spelling and that you are not using variations of the same word for example foot ball boots, football boots, football boot, foot ball boot.

Optimize all your titles and meta descriptions

Title tags are one of the most powerful and important elements of SEO. The title tag is what searchers will see in the search results page. The meta description is the small snippet of text that will appear in search results below the page title.

Optimize all your URLs

URLs give search engines and users an indication of what a certain page is about. Your URL should include the keyword, be short and direct.

Optimize all your pages

Each page of your site needs to have the relevant keyword included, first in your H1 title and then in the text and product descriptions.

Optimize all your images

Search engines read images by reading the ALT tag that you have inputted and looking at file names. So ensure each image has been uploaded with a relevant file name and you add a good alt tag that includes your keyword.

Add links

Links are super important on your site, both internal and external. With both internal and external link Google can understand the purpose of your page better and can pass some of the SEO value from one page to the next.

Complete a blog

A blog is a hugely successful well of increasing your SEO but you need to put time and effort into it. At one stage it became the norm to forgo useful information and instead use a blog to just generate traffic. However, this may bring traffic to your site, but poorly written articles that make little sense will have a negative effect and actually puts customers off using you. So, if you want to use content to create traffic, make sure it is good content that adds value to your site.

And there you have it, our starter list of how to improve your onsite SEO!

Once you have improved your SEO you will start to see your organic traffic grow, this means that your business is also growing and by working on your conversion rates you will see an increase in sales, which can be overwhelming. If you would like further information on how we can help you relieve some of the pressure by looking at your fulfilment process please Contact Us at E-commerce Express and let us help you with all your fulfilment needs. Our staff are here and ready to help you with any question or queries about our services and what we can do for your business.