The Essential Checklist For eCommerce SEO in 2023 To Get More Traffic

What are the signs that it’s time to update your eCommerce checklist?

You could do it because of a sudden decline in traffic or if your website has moved. You don’t always need a reason to update your eCommerce SEO strategy. Whatever the reason, as an eCommerce business, you don’t want a potential user to miss your website on the product search query. 

Google considers over 200 factors when ranking a site. Then, from keyword research and SEO to oh-so-seamless To ensure a good user experience on your eCommerce website, you must check off dozens of SEO-related checklists. 

You’re ready to strike the first?

Find the top-searched keywords and phrases

When we think of SEO, keywords automatically pop up, which is no surprise, given they’re an integral part of an SEO checklist. Organic ranking is not a quick fix. 

Finding top-searched keywords is significant for eCommerce businesses since they’re the first checkpoint in the consumer journey. If a customer sees your website in Google’s search results, you can sell a product. For an eCommerce SEO strategy to be effective, it is important to conduct efficient keyword research.

Listed below are a few tips to help you. 

• Consider keywords with low competition and high search volumes.
• Choose one keyword as the target for your page and a couple of related keywords.
• Make sure the keywords chosen are in line with the page’s purpose.

These are basic tips, but they can make a big difference. For example, if you are a cosmetics brand and want to sell your eyeliner, the keyword “eyeliner” alone won’t help you find users. Use other keywords that are relevant and have a large search volume.

For example, when we put the word “eyeliner” in the Ahrefs tool, we get a list of relevant phrases and keywords. Use at least the initial phrases to improve searchability. 

You filter the keywords you want to use after having collected a large number of them. The below tips can help. 

Search for the Best Keywords 

• If you want to improve the visibility of your products in local searches, then incorporate local keywords.
• Compare your keywords to those of competitors. 
• Use long-form keywords (long tail) to reach users of a specific product. 
• Finally, you can use Google Analytics as a tool to measure the effectiveness of your keywords and take data-driven decision. 

Incorporate the keywords into your content after you’ve determined the final list. Most SEOs recommend using 1 keyword per 100 words. This is a keyword density of about 1%. It is safe to use this number, and it will prevent your content being overstuffed. 

It’s easy to assume that SEO is solely about keywords and content when it’s equally about the website’s user-friendliness and structure. We now come to the next point.  

Improve the overall website experience for users 

The term “improving user experience” is broad. So, it’s vital to break it down further and look into each segment in detail. 

When we say enhance the website experience, it includes – 

• Performance and User Experience of Web Pages 
• The correct site architecture. 
• Friendly URLs for seamless navigation.  

Let’s begin with the first point.  

Increase Page Performance and User Experience 

Search engines assess the quality of your site’s user experience. This makes page experience a critical factor in SEO as it directly affects the user’s interaction with your website. Here are a few ways that this element can boost SEO: 

• When a website gives a positive experience to a user, they’re more likely to engage with the website and return in the future. 
• Rankings are higher for websites that use Core Web Essentials such as Largest Contentful Paint(LCP), First Input Delayed(FID) and Cumulative Layout Shifts (CLS). 
• Since Google uses mobile-first indexing, it’s a must for your website to be mobile-friendly. 
• If your pages are slow to load, you will see a rise in bounce rates. Make sure that the page is loaded quickly. 
• The good user experience will lead to reduced bounce rates and an increase in dwell times (the dwell time refers to the amount of time that a person spends on your website once they have clicked on a particular search result). 
• Your website must be secure (https). 
• Make sure that the APIs you use in the backend can be scaled and are quick. 
• Don’t load page elements that aren’t critical to the user.

Structure your site with a logical hierarchy

A site’s architecture can be described as the structure of a web page. A proper site structure allows for easy access to all features and content of a website, from the design to the layout. 

From the perspective of both a search engine, and an end-user, how a site is structured is very important. Let’s look at a few Do’s and Don’ts of site architecture to better understand website architecture:

Follow the Do’s of Site Architecture 

• Before developing the site, create a plan and decide on the pages, categories and subcategories. 
• Keep users updated about your page’s purpose by using descriptive, keyword-rich URLs. 
• Internal linking can keep your users on the website for longer. 
• Avoid duplicate content by using a properly-organized sitemap. 
• Be sure to use a site structure that is logical, meaning all categories and their subcategories are arranged hierarchically. 

Avoid the Don’ts of Site Architecture 

• Create a website structure that has too many or too few categories.
• Using dynamic URLs,
• Use of many subcategories within a single main category.
• Keep important pages hidden deep in the hierarchy, or use misleading labels.
• Ads and pop-ups are too frequent.

The frontend is the next step, including easy navigation and URLs. 

Create SEO-friendly URLs with Seamless Navigation

In terms of eCommerce SEO, it is important to consider the impact that navigation and URLs can have on your online store. The small things that seem insignificant can have a huge impact on the user experience of your store and its search engine optimization. 

• Search engines and humans alike can easily read and understand friendly URLs because they are short, concise and descriptive. 
• These images help search engines crawl your site and understand the content of a particular page. 
• You can increase the visibility of pages by incorporating keywords in your URLs.

Well-structured navigation, in addition to user-friendly URLs and a well designed website, is crucial for enhancing your eCommerce website’s experience. A clear, intuitive navigation menu allows visitors to find the information they are looking for easily. It increases engagement and leads to more sales.

Here are some ways you can do this! 

• HTTP Protocol – How to use it?
• Filenames and query strings are case sensitive.
• Consistency in linking your pages. For example, only submit one version to Google Search Console. 
• The URL slugs should be short, focused on keywords and include hyphens to separate the words.
• Avoiding brackets or commas to facilitate faceted navigation to let users easily find what they’re looking for. 

Enforce Efficient Off-Page Seo Practices 

While good content, keyword optimization and link-building are essential for SEO success, they are not the only factors. While on-page SEO helps with content optimization, off-page SEO is all about tactics to enhance your website’s ability to be found and ranked by search engines. 

The question is – what practices should you implement?

• Distribute industry-specific materials such as infographics, studies, webinars and tutorials that can be shared via social media or linked through natural backlinks.
• You can increase visibility by submitting your website to local directories.
• Use public relations announcements (PR) to build links.
• Press releases are a great way to get media attention, and backlinks from authority sites.
• Share and promote your social media pages to increase visibility, interaction, and possible backlinks.
• Influencer marketing can be very effective. Working with influencers who are experts in their field can increase your reach and generate backlinks.
• Take part in forums for your industry, community, Discord or Slack and Facebook groups.
• Share your ideas, help others and build relationships.
• Attending or sponsoring a tradeshow can help you make contacts, gain visibility and get backlinks from event websites and media coverage. You can gain exposure, make new contacts and get backlinks by participating in an event.
• Create a strategy for video marketing, where you use videos to market your business on multiple platforms.
• Begin or be a part of the industry’s live streams and podcasts.
• Use email marketing to create a newsletter.

It’s worth noting that off-page SEO practices require time, effort, and strategic planning. Expect it to take a little while for this strategy to pay off. It doesn’t matter if you use eCommerce agencies or a professional to develop these strategies. 

However, when implemented correctly, these practices significantly boost your website’s organic visibility and improve its chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages.

Last Words 

Hopefully, you’ll find the checklist informative enough to build a robust eCommerce SEO strategy. While doing SEO may seem daunting and like the core of your business, remember that it’s a part of the picture and not the entire picture. Don’t hesitate to reach out to SEO agencies that also prosper in content modeling, conversion rate optimization, and frontend performance to build a strategy that garners results in the long run.