Shopping online is more competitive than it has ever been in today’s consumer-driven world. When users are searching online, they are looking for specific and more complete answers – whether that is trying to fulfill a need online by buying a product, asking a question, or needing a local service. Couple that with a constantly improving Google algorithm, and no wonder it has become increasingly difficult for marketers to be successful.
These days it is not only imperative that your site ranks in the number one position on Google, but you also must get your content to rank in the answer box, knowledge panel, and instant answers. With over 300 ranking factors and the algorithms changing so often, it is imperative you have an SEO plan for your e-commerce business.
But you might be asking what exactly is SEO and why should it matter for ecommerce?
Search Engine Optimization is the process of gaining more organic (FREE) traffic from search engines. When searching online users tend to use Google to fulfill a need – whether that is via a question, or looking for a product or service. When searching in Google, your query will result in a search engine results page (SERP).
On that results page, there are paid ads and organic results, and sometimes a knowledge panel, answer box, or instant answer.
The goal of SEO for ecommerce is all about ensuring that your product pages rank in the number one position in the search results pages. The higher your website ranks on the page – (always aim for the #1 result), the better your chances of being clicked.
A solid ecommerce SEO plan should have a foundation in three of the following areas:
Technical and UX –This is the foundation of your website, ensuring that your product pages are built with crawlability (i.e. – not built in javascript, clean site architecture and structure etc.), and usability in mind.
On-Page SEO –This includes ensuring your pages have keyword driven content that drives traffic and visibility.
Off-Page SEO – This includes things like backlinks, local search management, social engagement, domain, and brand authority.
Why it Matters
All of this matters because if your shoppers cannot find your website when searching organically, you are missing out on a huge amount of traffic. Would you want to give up the opportunity to get traffic for free?