This past year has introduced the need for eCommerce sales unlike ever before. In fact, online retail sales jumped 37.1% from Q3 of 2019 to Q3 of 2020. Of course, just like it’s not enough to only have a website to attract consumers, it’s also not enough to have an eCommerce site and shopping cart ready to go. You have to work at it if you want to be noticed above your competitors, and with so much online shopping being done today, you might have your work cut out for you. Fortunately, we’re here to help.
If you’re ready to capture the attention of the more than 2.14 billion people globally who are expected to shop online in 2021, heed this advice (in no particular order):
1. Incorporate eCommerce Keywords
It goes without saying that keywords have been important for a long time. You should be incorporating them as part of your standard search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to help the search engines (and their searchers) find you. You should take on a similar mindset when it comes to marketing your eCommerce business.
Use the available tools to find the right keywords for your industry and the products and services you provide. Ahrefs, Google Analytics, and SEMrush are great resources to help you get started. You can also use Amazon to mine for buyer-intent keywords. Why? Because people literally visit that site to make purchases. To find keywords on Amazon, start by typing your seed keyword to the search box. You’ll instantly see a list of autofill suggestions that can serve as keywords for future ads or online content. You can also use the Amazon Keyword Tool, which gives you three free searches per day and automatically offers keyword suggestions for anything you type in.
2. Optimize Your Business Listings
Nobody said it’s easy to rank high on search engine results pages (SERPs), but it certainly is possible because companies are doing it every day. The companies you see come up on page one of Google almost certainly have optimized their listings in ways that speak directly to the web crawlers that index their online findings.
There are certain actions you can take to optimize your business listings, particularly if you’re a local business:
- Create a Google My Business profile.
- Make sure your business name, address, contact information, and hours are up-to-date and correct across the internet, including all of your social profiles and your own website.
- Add high-quality, relevant photos.
- Encourage and respond to reviews.
- Sign up for local listing services.
3. Create a Referral Marketing Campaign
If you don’t currently have a referral program in place for your brand, hear us out; it’s well worth the bit of upfront effort required to put one of these campaigns in place because referred customers are more likely to become loyal, paying customers. In fact, they have a 25% lifetime value that’s higher than customers who didn’t find you from the referral of a friend or family member.
Ensure that your existing customers have an easy way to leave reviews and recommendations, as well as direct others to your site. At the same time, make sure potential customers can easily access these testimonials. Not only are reviews an important way to showcase the awesome experiences people have had with your brands, but they can also help you move up in the SERPs too.
4. Leverage Buyable Pins
Pinterest affords brands the unique ability to incorporate buyable pins into their displays. This means users can search for products and buy them directly from the social platform without finding the brand’s website and comb through the inventory there.
In most cases, social media platforms require pay-for-play when incorporating brands’ ads or links into their online real estate. But so far, Pinterest’s buyable pins are free of charge and a great way to make shopping convenient and simple for your customers.
It’s important to label everything you showcase on Pinterest (or any other social platform) with accurate, detailed-yet-concise descriptions, so both searchers and search engines know what your brand is all about.
5. Post More Content
Even if your site is solely an eCommerce store, fresh, new content is vital. The more blogs you have on your site, the more indexed traffic you’ll receive.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your eCommerce SEO efforts, allow our team at Zero Gravity Marketing (ZGM) to help. Between a staff of gurus who live and breathe all things SEO — and our natural need to help our clients make the most of their marketing efforts — you can trust that you’ll be in good hands. We can’t wait to hear from you!
