Ecommerce SEO Tips

3 Critical Ecommerce SEO Tips You Can’t Afford to Skip

Did you realize that 89% of people turn to search engines before making a purchase online? Whether they are comparing prices, seeking out reviews, or simply looking for a hard-to-find item, Google is a resounding player in the ecommerce game. What this means for you is that you better be doing everything possible to show up on the SERPs, because if you’re not, your competition is.

Ecommerce SEO is a must, and if you aren’t using it to its true potential, you are surely losing more sales than you realize. To get your name in front of the 89% of online-shopping searchers, follow these three ecommerce SEO tips:

Devote Time to Your Descriptions

There are so many underutilized possibilities with product descriptions. Is it time consuming to write a description for every single one of your products? Yes. Is it worth it? One hundred times yes. First and foremost, product descriptions are what ultimately sell your product, so they better be good. But more importantly, if you are doing it right, your product descriptions include keywords that will get you found.

That being said, you have to be extremely careful about duplicate content. If Google crawls pages that have the same text, they won’t show any of them because they aren’t sure which one is the best. That’s why we like to use a template method for our ecommerce SEO strategy. Essentially, we follow the same format for each description, but always ensure each one is unique. For example, if you are selling clothing, the first sentence could be about the design, the second about the materials used, and the third about how great the customer will look in it.

Take Advantage of Structured Data

Often referred to as structured data, the tags and descriptions you enter behind the scenes play a huge role in ecommerce SEO. They are what the search engines use to decipher what the page is all about, and they help make your Google listing more appealing. Again, they do take time to input, but you will be repaid for the effort a thousand times. Here are the rules to follow concerning structured data:

• Always wrap the product name in an H1 tag to show its high importance to the search engines, and always include your keywords.
• Make sure the title tag also includes the keyword-rich product name, ensuring each one is different.
• Never underestimate the value of a solid meta description. It is what shows up under the title in the SERPs, so it will garner you clicks if done correctly. An easy way to do this is to use a sentence or two from your product description.
• You know the importance of high-quality images when selling your product, but don’t forget to include alt-tags full of keywords when uploading them.

Earn the Extra Credit

While the above ecommerce SEO tips will definitely earn a B on your report card, if you want to get that A+ you need to do some extra credit. This includes:

• Set up an XML sitemap to help Google find you easier. The Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin makes this pretty simple, so you really have no excuses not to do it.
• You will also want to make a separate image sitemap, which indexes your pictures to show up in the Google Images tab.
• Since pictures sell products, you need to take your image exposure a step further by setting up a Google product feed. This is similar to a PPC campaign, but it uses your images to gain clicks, and it gives you top exposure.

Ecommerce SEO is loaded with potential, and if you do it correctly, you may just find yourself as a front-runner in your industry and on Google. It does take some work, but don’t worry, if you don’t feel up for it, we are here to help. At Zero Gravity Marketing, we are experts at ecommerce SEO, and we would love to help you grow your ecommerce business.