SlideShare ist ein Scribd-Unternehmen logo
1 von 13
Downloaden Sie, um offline zu lesen
www.EcommerceMarketingInstitute.org 
SEO for Ecommerce: 
Trade Secrets
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 2 
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 
Have you noticed a drop in website traffic, or even more obvious, fewer 
sales orders? You’re not alone. Frequent search engine algorithm updates 
are wreaking havoc on Ecommerce website results—especially sites that lack 
search engine optimization or SEO. 
No question, achieving top position for keywords in search engine results 
pages (SERPs) has always been a top priority for Ecommerce marketers. 
Why? Because studies show that only the top few search result positions 
drive click-through, website traffic, and critical to Ecommerce—sales. 
(Source: Search Engine Watch). Yet many Ecommerce websites lack even 
basic search optimization features and techniques. 
Developing a new Ecommerce website, or retrofitting an existing website 
with best practice search engine optimization (SEO) is critical to achieving 
improved organic or natural search engine results (vs. paid search results). 
This SEO Guide for Ecommerce Websites will identify and describe three (3) 
of the biggest SEO mistakes, and then detail a 7-point SEO checklist of 
the most critical search optimization practices, on-page and off-page techniques 
that can help your website succeed, along with several useful SEO tools, many 
free-of-charge, to assist in the process.
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 3 
Top 3 Ecommerce SEO Mistakes 
There is no silver bullet when it comes to improving search results. In fact, SEO 
is a complex combination of coding and activities, on-page and off-page tactics. 
Following are perhaps the three (3) biggest mistakes that impact search authority 
for Ecommerce websites: social media, mobile web, and website speed. 
1. POOR SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTION 
Social media marketing is no longer optional for Ecommerce websites. Search 
engines attribute high authority to social networks, and search engine results 
pages (SERPs) demonstrate that social media ranks, often times higher than 
websites. Best practices social media marketing requires proper integration 
with your Ecommerce website. For consumer websites, use Facebook, Twitter, 
YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ (if local is important), and of course, 
review sites like Yelp. For business-to-business websites, give LinkedIn more 
emphasis followed by Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and bookmarking sites. 
Be sure to make it easy for customers to find and engage with your social media 
profiles. Include links in a prominent position on your website. Not only is this a 
trust booster, it can help increase your following. 
Next, use social media Share Tools on your website. Drive more traffic to your 
website with the power of social proof by adding share tools all around your 
website to encourage customers to share with their friends and family. Some 
common places to add share tools is on your product pages or on thank you/ 
order confirmation pages. Or, after a customer gives a product review, use a 
share tool to give them an easy to way to share it with their Facebook friends 
or Twitter followers. Here is an example of a social share tool on the product 
page of Guitar Center (along with reviews).
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 4 
Next, offer “Follower” exclusive incentives. In the noisy social media world, 
why not stand out? Customers are sick of being told follow us, like us, etc. 
Incentivize these actions by offering exclusive discounts or offers to your social 
media fans and followers. 
Social media contests are a great engagement tool for Ecommerce websites, 
who often struggle connecting to customers on social media. Types of contests 
include sweepstakes, connect (like/follow to enter), like/share (like/share to 
enter), voting (vote for your favorite), or submit (submit/upload content to enter). 
Make sure to keep it targeted! If the entrants are not your target audience, they 
may be less likely to engage with you again once the contest is over. 
Besides contests, how can you increase interactions and engagement on social 
media? Use visual content, ask questions, and show your personality. Visual 
content tends to be even more engaging than other types on social media. 
Photos have been found to be the most engaging type of content on Facebook, 
with an 87% interaction rate from fans. Similarly, on Twitter, adding a photo URL 
to your tweet can increase retweets by 35% (Social Media Examiner). 
2. TAKE MOBILE WEB SERIOUSLY 
Shopify recently reported that mobile traffic eclipsed desktop for the first 
time, at over 50% of Ecommerce website traffic. With double-digit growth 
in mobile expected, implementing a mobile or ideally, responsive website 
design has never been more important. Why? Because search engines rank 
mobile websites higher, especially for mobile searches. Websites not coded for 
mobile, or not using a responsive design will rank lower than mobile competitors. 
For more information, check out the EMI blog on mobile commerce. 
Just a few years ago, mobile required separate or redundant versions of the 
same website, or a mobile version. There are three significant problems with 
this scenario. First, the need to update both website versions. Second, the need 
for the aforementioned redirects to the mobile version. And third, back-links 
established by the desktop version of the website do not automatically redirect, 
and thus don’t achieve the search authority. 
SocialMediaExaminer.com
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 5 
Thankfully in 2013, responsive website design (RWD) was born, allowing for a 
single website design which functions on all desktop, tablet and mobile devices, 
without the need for redirects. 
Another huge SEO benefit of mobile or responsive website design is improved 
user experience (UX). Eliminating the pinch and zoom reduces bounce rate, and 
increases page views, which both support increase search authority. Indeed, 
non-mobile versions of content-heavy websites suffer high bounce rates, and 
thus lower search rankings. 
3. SLOW WEBSITE SPEED 
A fast website may rank higher in SERPs because Google and other major search 
engines take website speed into consideration in their ranking algorithms. With 
paid search, a slow loading page could lower your quality score. 
Page loading or time, or website speed, is an often underrated factor in search 
optimization. However, the speed of your website is a critical component to 
overall user experience (UX). 
Common culprits for slowing down your website include non-optimized images, 
bulky code, tracking codes, share buttons, etc. Want to test your website speed? 
Check out Pingdom website speed tester. It will analyze page-loading time, and 
provide actionable recommendations to improve your website’s speed. If your 
speed score is less than 70/100, then start by identifying large images on your 
website using the Screaming Frog SEO tool. Run an analysis on your website, 
view images, filter by those over 100kb, and then sort by size. Use this list to 
start reducing images with tools such as TinyPNG. 
Pingdom.com 
ScreamingFrog.co.uk 
Tinypng.com
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 6 
SEO Checklist for Ecommerce Websites 
So what SEO improvements can you start implementing today? Following is an 
SEO checklist that will identify and describe seven (7) of the most critical search 
optimization practices or techniques that can help your Ecommerce website 
succeed, along with several tools, many free-of-charge, to assist in the process. 
1. Meta tag coding 
2. URL structure and redirects 
3. Site maps and robots.txt 
4. Product descriptions and duplicate content 
5. Manage Reviews 
6. Paid Search (PPC) 
7. Ongoing SEO maintenance 
1. META TAGS RULE 
The most basic building block of SEO are Meta tags, or Meta code including 
Meta descriptions, page titles, ALT or image tags, and header tags. In the past, 
Meta keywords were used, but are no longer important. 
Invisible to the user, Meta tags are HTML (or XHTML) coding that enable search 
engines to correctly index a web page’s contents. Ideally Meta descriptions are 
unique and keyword-rich for each page, and no more than 150 characters in 
length. Title tags or Page Titles, although not technically Meta, work with Meta 
descriptions and are typically displayed in the SERPs as the title, along with the 
Meta description (see screenshot below). 
Title tags are the descriptive words at the top of the browser window that, more 
often than not, only list the company name or website address. Title tags should 
be simple, keyword-rich, not duplicate of other titles, and approximately 50-60 
characters in length including spaces. 
Meta Description 
Meta Title
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 7 
While technically, meta descriptions do not effect rank, the meta description is 
what displays in a search result, so keyword relevance can effect click-through 
rate, and hence authority. 
ALT tags are the invisible descriptions of an image on your website. They tell 
the search engine what an image is and useful when search engines index or 
“spider” your website since the engines automatically turn off images and read 
only text (including file names). Therefore, file names of your images are also 
important. Instead of image filenames such as “DCP0003.jpg,” images should 
be re-named “KEYWORD.jpg,” to increase search results. 
Header tags are headings within your page content that are used to represent 
different sections in your content. The H1 tag is the most important and should 
exist on every page, followed by H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. Some content 
management systems (like WordPress) have drop down header tag selections 
available. In addition to SEO benefits, header tags improve user experience 
on the front end of your website. 
2. URL STRUCTURE AND REDIRECTS 
Another important ranking determinant is URL or domain structure—specifically, 
keyword-rich sub-domains. When linking to website sub-pages that are often 
served dynamically via databases, the URL that appears on the “http” line 
often includes obscure database code with multiple back slashes or symbols. 
To eliminate this search engine hurdle, ideal URL structures use the base domain 
name, along with simple keywords or keyword phrases, in place of this coding 
(TIP: another best practice is all lower case characters separated by a dash). 
A simple but often neglected SEO technique is setting up URL redirects, or 
more specifically, a 301 permanent redirect for your website. Search engines 
will index both the www.domainname.com and domainname. com versions of 
your website. This scenario creates what is known as duplicate content, which 
dilutes or penalizes the search authority of the website without the redirect. 
Also called a canonical redirect, the 301 permanent redirect is vital to proper 
search engine optimization and improved rankings. A simple way to test whether 
your website has a 301 redirect in place is to type “yourdomain.com” into your 
browser address bar then hit “Enter”. If the URL does not automatically change 
to “www.yourdomain.com” or vice versa, then the redirect is NOT in place to 
resolve canonical issues, and therefore, is not optimized for the search engines. 
The redirect must be done at the hosting server level and can often be completed 
via hosting tech support requests.
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 8 
3. SITEMAPS AND ROBOT.TXT 
Sitemaps help search engines crawl and discover all pages of your website. 
Typically there are two types of site maps: HTML and XML. HTML site maps are 
simply a page on your website that is a directory or listing of all the URLs (pages) 
on your website (or at least the most important ones). A link to your HTML sitemap 
is typically found in your website’s footer. Some visitors who are familiar with 
sitemaps may prefer to use such a tool to find exactly what they are looking for. 
On the other hand, XML sitemaps are a protocol that allow you to inform Google 
and other major search engines about the URLs on your website, which otherwise 
may be missed when indexing (especially if your internal linking structure is poor. 
Create and submit your XML sitemap to Google, Yahoo, and Bing. To generate 
an XML sitemap, link here. 
A robots exclusion protocol (REP), or robots.txt, is a text file that instructs search 
engines how to crawl and index pages on your website. This file is important if 
there are files or directories on your website that you do not want to be indexed 
by search engines. You may want this in order to protect private content or 
avoid the indexation of duplicate content. If your eyes are glazing over, just ask 
your developer. 
4. PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS AND DUPLICATE CONTENT 
Customers in a brick-and-mortar store have the advantage of being able to see, 
feel, read the package, and try a product before buying it. Online shopping 
eliminates this ability, and therefore, ecommerce websites need to provide as 
much detailed product information as possible. How many times have you been 
buying something online and had questions about a product? What is the length? 
What are the materials? Ecommerce websites often make the mistake of leaving 
customers with questions about a product, causing them to seek information, 
or even purchase, elsewhere! Provide as much information as possible about the 
product including: weight, sizes, materials, dimensions, instructions, fabric type, 
care instructions, and reviews. 
Another issue with Ecommerce websites, is the common practice of cutting and 
pasting descriptions from a manufacturer’s website. This is a huge problem, as 
hundreds of other websites could be using the same description as you.
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 9 
And as described in the next paragraph, search engines may penalize your 
website for duplicate content. Short on text content by nature, Ecommerce 
websites need extra, unique content! One way to get unique content on your 
Ecommerce website is through unique product descriptions. In the long run, 
unique, well-written product descriptions, in combination with many other 
factors, can improve website rank in SERPs. 
Regarding duplicate content, search engines can identify duplicate pages 
with the same content, duplicate Meta code, even duplicate page titles—all 
of which penalize search authority. A great tool to pull or “scrape” Meta code 
from an existing website is Screaming Frog, which also identifies duplicates. 
We recommend using this tool for analyzing Meta code of competitor websites. 
Duplicate content is also a concern when “curating” blog or website content 
from other websites. Make sure to paraphrase an external source’s content, 
avoiding copying paragraphs verbatim. 
MANAGE REVIEWS 
No question, reviews are a critical component of your Ecommerce strategy. 
Positive, negative, or average, every review counts. Consider these statistics 
from Econsultancy: 
• 61% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision 
• 63% of users are more likely to make a purchase from a site with reviews 
• Consumer reviews are viewed with much more trust than product descriptions 
Thanks to Search Engine Land, we also would like to give you 5 steps in 
responding to negative reviews: 
• Have a game plan 
• Know where reviews are happening 
• Use negative reviews to make your business better 
• Personalize your reviews and ask questions 
• Don’t ignore reviews
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 10 
So how do you generate more positive reviews? 
The most important, and perhaps obvious, way to get more positive reviews 
is to provide great customer service 100 percent of the time. Many people are 
not motivated to review a company unless they had a bad experience! Don’t 
give customers anything to complain about. Below are some additional tips for 
getting more online reviews: 
• Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback – Many won’t reach out to their customers 
for feedback; consider sending a post-purchase email to request feedback 
or a review (include links to review sites) 
• Make it easy – Add review site logos and links on your website; likewise, on 
review sites, add links to your website to encourage customers to write a review 
• Timing can make a difference – Customers are most likely to give you 
feedback right away 
• Provide instructions – Maybe a customer wants to leave a review but does 
not know how to do it. You can create a SIMPLE step-by-step checklist to 
provide to clients and even include in feedback email 
Search Engine Results Page (SERP) 
1. Paid Results 
2. Organic Results 
3. Google Images 
1 
2 
3
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 11 
PAID SEARCH 
As seen in the above search engine results page (SERP), paid search or pay-per- 
click (PPC) advertisements, are displayed in top and right frame. While the 
reason for investing time and effort in SEO is to avoid paid search, the fact is, 
PPC has a positive effect on organic search authority. Why? Because paid search 
increases website traffic, and higher traffic builds search authority. How much? 
Of course that is dependent on the amount of paid search spending, along with 
the quality of SEO implementation. 
That said, we have experienced 10-20% organic website traffic growth when 
implementing paid search. Remarketing is another paid search option, that 
serves up banner ads to past website visitors—a reminder type of ad that is 
often less expensive than text ads. 
Still, the downside of paid search is that once spending is paused or stopped, 
traffic from paid search ceases, and likely any organic traffic that resulted from 
paid search. Moral of the story—make sure your SEO is excellent! 
ONGOING SEO MAINTENANCE 
The job of SEO for an Ecommerce website is never done. Although, once the 
above-referenced SEO features and tactics have been properly implemented, 
SEO can evolve to a maintenance level. Critical to ongoing SEO maintenance is 
constant analysis of your website analytics, along with problem identification of 
such issues as broken links, duplicate content, site speed, and more. 
First and foremost, use Google Analytics (GA) or similar tool to understand traffic 
trends and other metrics like page views and bounce rate. High bounce rates 
over 80% mean that percentage of visitors are leaving the website, without linking 
further, suggesting a poor user experience (UX), or weak content. GA also offers 
an in-page analytics report that identifies click- through rates (CTRs) for each 
navigation link, which of course, is excellent insight. For ecommerce sites, Google 
Analytics offers conversion codes and tracking, an important metric. Finally, it is 
always insightful to identify competitor’s traffic and analytics. We recommend a 
tool called Similar Web for this.
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 12 
Besides GA, there are many diagnostic tools to identify errors and issues. The 404 
error, which means ‘Page not Found’, more often than not results from a broken 
link on your website. Sometimes, these are easy to find when you happen to be 
browsing through your site. On the other hand, once your website is built-out with 
thousands of pages it can be difficult to pinpoint which links are broken. Several 
diagnostic tools are available for you to check this including brokenlinkcheck.com. 
Another aspect of ongoing maintenance for Ecommerce websites is tracking 
shopping cart abandonment. Over the past four years abandonment rates have 
run in the 60% range, meaning six in 10 shoppers who place items in a cart 
do not check out (Source: eMarketer). Abandonment is when a shopper puts 
something in their cart, but doesn’t actually purchase. Shopping carts are 
abandoned for a variety of reasons, but they all have the same outcome – 
lost sales. And therefore, it is important to track your websites shopping cart 
abandon rates and what step in the process it is taking place. Where buyers are 
dropping off can be indicative of where the problem lies. Continue reading: 
14 Reasons Online Shoppers Abandon Their Shopping Cart. You can set up 
goals and funnels within Google Analytics to measure this metric. Or, there is 
a variety of software available to track abandoned carts. 
Part of SEO maintenance is constant tracking and monitoring. There a several 
options for measuring search authority and search engine optimization (SEO). 
Moz reports both domain and page authority, organic rank of keywords, back-links, 
along with competitor measures. We prefer and recommend Google Analytics, 
but this does require installation of a tracking code. GA offers several dashboards, 
along with the ability to select different time frames to further understanding of 
your website traffic. GA in-page analytics show click-through rates for navigation 
and other content, an excellent tool for understanding user experience (UX). 
Finally, we recommend logging into Adwords to perform test searches for keyword 
rankings to avoid diluting traffic impressions. 
Emarketer.com 
14 Reasons Online Shoppers 
Abandon Their Shopping Cart 
Google.com/analytics/ 
BrokenLinkCheck.com 
Moz.com
SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 13 
SEO is Mission Critical to Ecommerce 
Achieving search authority, and growing Ecommerce website traffic is becoming 
more and more difficult with search engine algorithm updates, and more 
sophisticated competition. Both new and existing Ecommerce websites require 
excellent search engine optimization (SEO) to achieve top positions on search 
engine results pages (SERPs). 
By addressing the three SEO mistakes, and implementing the SEO checklist, your 
search authority and rank for keywords should improve dramatically—along with 
website traffic, and most importantly, sales orders! 
About EMI 
The Ecommerce Marketing Institute (EMI) offers online marketers unparallelled 
information and access to the latest industry news, marketing tips, resources, 
training, and events for the rapidly changing Ecommerce industry. 
Be sure to check out the EMI EcomTOPICS webcast series, register for our 
eNewsletter, CartTALK, and check out our Resources Library with research, 
whitepapers, case studies and more. 
EMI will cover a range of marketing topics pertinent to Ecommerce including 
websites and Ecommerce software, search engine optimization (SEO), branding, 
content marketing, social media and social commerce, email marketing, paid 
search (PPC), and more. 
In the future, EMI will sponsor the EcomEXCELLENCE Awards, recognizing 
brands across a range of categories related to Ecommerce marketing. Our 
mission is to help Ecommerce website owners, brands and marketers alike take 
their marketing to the next level, and ultimately, increase sales! 
If you have a question about Ecommerce marketing, ideas you would like to 
share, or feedback on our educational tools and services, please contact us 
24/7/365.

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Flash sales report
Flash sales reportFlash sales report
Flash sales reportNandini
 
Leveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve Growth
Leveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve GrowthLeveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve Growth
Leveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve Growth360 Thought Leadership Consulting
 
Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1
Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1
Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1Content Marketing Institute
 
A glossary of modern marketing terms
A glossary of modern marketing termsA glossary of modern marketing terms
A glossary of modern marketing termsIan Christie
 
Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014
Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014
Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014Brian Crotty
 
The Marketing Communication Relationship
The Marketing Communication RelationshipThe Marketing Communication Relationship
The Marketing Communication RelationshipLori Fisher
 
B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America
B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America
B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America MarketingProfs
 
A Guide to Social Media Marketing Measurement
A Guide to Social Media Marketing MeasurementA Guide to Social Media Marketing Measurement
A Guide to Social Media Marketing MeasurementMark Schaefer
 
7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insights
7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insights7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insights
7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insightsAdCMO
 
The Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing
The Definitive Guide to Lead NurturingThe Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing
The Definitive Guide to Lead NurturingĐức Lê
 
B2B Marketing in 2015 - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use Today
B2B Marketing in 2015  - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use TodayB2B Marketing in 2015  - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use Today
B2B Marketing in 2015 - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use TodayTopRank Marketing Agency
 
B2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for you
B2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for youB2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for you
B2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for youB2B Marketing
 
Content Marketing Integrated
Content Marketing IntegratedContent Marketing Integrated
Content Marketing IntegratedNew Dawn Media
 
Como Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedIn
Como Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedInComo Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedIn
Como Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedInMárcio Bertot
 
Invite media playbook
Invite media playbookInvite media playbook
Invite media playbookAdCMO
 
The strategic-marketing-process-e book
The strategic-marketing-process-e bookThe strategic-marketing-process-e book
The strategic-marketing-process-e bookAdCMO
 
Lead generation stragety ppt
Lead generation stragety pptLead generation stragety ppt
Lead generation stragety pptnehaanandjha
 

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Flash sales report
Flash sales reportFlash sales report
Flash sales report
 
Leveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve Growth
Leveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve GrowthLeveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve Growth
Leveraging the Right Social Media and Digital Marketing Channels to Drve Growth
 
A Guide to Modern B2B Content Marketing
A Guide to Modern B2B Content Marketing A Guide to Modern B2B Content Marketing
A Guide to Modern B2B Content Marketing
 
Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1
Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1
Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix - Top Priorities for 2015 - Part 1
 
A glossary of modern marketing terms
A glossary of modern marketing termsA glossary of modern marketing terms
A glossary of modern marketing terms
 
Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014
Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014
Marketo: The definitive-guide-to-lead-generation Jan 2014
 
The Marketing Communication Relationship
The Marketing Communication RelationshipThe Marketing Communication Relationship
The Marketing Communication Relationship
 
B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America
B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America
B2B Content Marketing 2018 - Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends - North America
 
A Guide to Social Media Marketing Measurement
A Guide to Social Media Marketing MeasurementA Guide to Social Media Marketing Measurement
A Guide to Social Media Marketing Measurement
 
7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insights
7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insights7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insights
7 steps-content-marketing-strategy-guide-smart-insights
 
Inbound marketers-guide-to-seo-and-ppc
Inbound marketers-guide-to-seo-and-ppcInbound marketers-guide-to-seo-and-ppc
Inbound marketers-guide-to-seo-and-ppc
 
The Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing
The Definitive Guide to Lead NurturingThe Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing
The Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing
 
B2B Marketing in 2015 - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use Today
B2B Marketing in 2015  - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use TodayB2B Marketing in 2015  - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use Today
B2B Marketing in 2015 - 14 Visions of the Future You Can Use Today
 
B2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for you
B2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for youB2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for you
B2B Lead Generation - the content that will work for you
 
Content Marketing Integrated
Content Marketing IntegratedContent Marketing Integrated
Content Marketing Integrated
 
40+ Predictions on Content Marketing in 2016
40+ Predictions on Content Marketing in 201640+ Predictions on Content Marketing in 2016
40+ Predictions on Content Marketing in 2016
 
Como Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedIn
Como Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedInComo Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedIn
Como Construir Sua Imagem Pessoal No LinkedIn
 
Invite media playbook
Invite media playbookInvite media playbook
Invite media playbook
 
The strategic-marketing-process-e book
The strategic-marketing-process-e bookThe strategic-marketing-process-e book
The strategic-marketing-process-e book
 
Lead generation stragety ppt
Lead generation stragety pptLead generation stragety ppt
Lead generation stragety ppt
 

Ähnlich wie SEO for Ecommerce Guide

Social Media & SEO Proposal
Social Media & SEO ProposalSocial Media & SEO Proposal
Social Media & SEO ProposalKhan Aamair
 
Outline Of An E Commerce
Outline Of An E CommerceOutline Of An E Commerce
Outline Of An E CommerceElena
 
Seo off page training session - 18th jan 2012
Seo off page   training session - 18th jan 2012Seo off page   training session - 18th jan 2012
Seo off page training session - 18th jan 2012alishathomaas
 
SEO Top Ten Priorities
SEO Top Ten PrioritiesSEO Top Ten Priorities
SEO Top Ten PrioritiesScott Piner
 
Top Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdf
Top Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdfTop Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdf
Top Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdfAbdussalamChughtai
 
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...Journal For Research
 
Your Website Expense or Profit Center?
Your Website Expense or Profit Center?Your Website Expense or Profit Center?
Your Website Expense or Profit Center?wangell
 
Assignment on marketing
Assignment on marketingAssignment on marketing
Assignment on marketingAparna Agrawal
 
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)Bernard Charlebois
 
Lets Take the Confusion Out of Internet Marketing
Lets Take the Confusion Out of Internet MarketingLets Take the Confusion Out of Internet Marketing
Lets Take the Confusion Out of Internet Marketingalicelee849314
 
Module 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptx
Module 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptxModule 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptx
Module 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptxadvbest123
 
Search Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search Guru
Search Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search GuruSearch Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search Guru
Search Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search GuruWorkSmart Integrated Marketing
 
Seo starter-guide-equinet-academy
Seo starter-guide-equinet-academySeo starter-guide-equinet-academy
Seo starter-guide-equinet-academyDeepak Panchal
 
Seo & Internet Marketing
Seo & Internet MarketingSeo & Internet Marketing
Seo & Internet Marketingalafrancis
 
Digitalmarketing presentation
Digitalmarketing presentationDigitalmarketing presentation
Digitalmarketing presentationParneetCheema
 

Ähnlich wie SEO for Ecommerce Guide (20)

Social Media & SEO Proposal
Social Media & SEO ProposalSocial Media & SEO Proposal
Social Media & SEO Proposal
 
Outline Of An E Commerce
Outline Of An E CommerceOutline Of An E Commerce
Outline Of An E Commerce
 
Smo
SmoSmo
Smo
 
Seo off page training session - 18th jan 2012
Seo off page   training session - 18th jan 2012Seo off page   training session - 18th jan 2012
Seo off page training session - 18th jan 2012
 
SEO Top Ten Priorities
SEO Top Ten PrioritiesSEO Top Ten Priorities
SEO Top Ten Priorities
 
Diy SEO
Diy SEODiy SEO
Diy SEO
 
12 seo techniques
12 seo techniques12 seo techniques
12 seo techniques
 
SEO.pdf
SEO.pdfSEO.pdf
SEO.pdf
 
Top Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdf
Top Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdfTop Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdf
Top Elements of SEO for a website 2022 – SEO for beginners.pdf
 
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: AN ILLUSTRIOUS APPROACH FOR WEB BASED MARKETING I...
 
Your Website Expense or Profit Center?
Your Website Expense or Profit Center?Your Website Expense or Profit Center?
Your Website Expense or Profit Center?
 
Assignment on marketing
Assignment on marketingAssignment on marketing
Assignment on marketing
 
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
 
Lets Take the Confusion Out of Internet Marketing
Lets Take the Confusion Out of Internet MarketingLets Take the Confusion Out of Internet Marketing
Lets Take the Confusion Out of Internet Marketing
 
Module 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptx
Module 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptxModule 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptx
Module 1 Search Engine Optimization .pptx
 
Search Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search Guru
Search Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search GuruSearch Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search Guru
Search Engine Optimization Best Practices by Leslie Carruthers - The Search Guru
 
Seo starter-guide-equinet-academy
Seo starter-guide-equinet-academySeo starter-guide-equinet-academy
Seo starter-guide-equinet-academy
 
Seo & Internet Marketing
Seo & Internet MarketingSeo & Internet Marketing
Seo & Internet Marketing
 
Digitalmarketing presentation
Digitalmarketing presentationDigitalmarketing presentation
Digitalmarketing presentation
 
Vanshi
VanshiVanshi
Vanshi
 

Mehr von Modern Marketing Partners

Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuideConstruction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuideModern Marketing Partners
 
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]Modern Marketing Partners
 
How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...
How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...
How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...Modern Marketing Partners
 
Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?
Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?
Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?Modern Marketing Partners
 
Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]
Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]
Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]Modern Marketing Partners
 
Tools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction Brands
Tools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction BrandsTools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction Brands
Tools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction BrandsModern Marketing Partners
 
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social Media
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social MediaSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social Media
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social MediaModern Marketing Partners
 
Construction Leads Guide: Lead Generation Best Practices
Construction Leads Guide:  Lead Generation Best PracticesConstruction Leads Guide:  Lead Generation Best Practices
Construction Leads Guide: Lead Generation Best PracticesModern Marketing Partners
 
Search Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern Marketers
Search Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern MarketersSearch Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern Marketers
Search Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern MarketersModern Marketing Partners
 
Social Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media Marketing
Social Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media MarketingSocial Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media Marketing
Social Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media MarketingModern Marketing Partners
 

Mehr von Modern Marketing Partners (16)

57-Point Webcast Effectiveness Checklist
57-Point Webcast Effectiveness Checklist 57-Point Webcast Effectiveness Checklist
57-Point Webcast Effectiveness Checklist
 
Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive GuideConstruction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
Construction Lead Generation - The Definitive Guide
 
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing [Updated for 2018]
 
How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...
How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...
How to Select a Marketing Agency: A CMO's Guide to the Agency Selection and H...
 
Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?
Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?
Modern Marketing Partners Brochure: Who Is Modern Marketing Partners?
 
Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]
Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]
Breakthrough Branding: Brand Naming Tips and Trade Secrets [Preview]
 
Social Commerce Guide
Social Commerce GuideSocial Commerce Guide
Social Commerce Guide
 
Nonprofit Social Media Strategy Guide
Nonprofit Social Media Strategy GuideNonprofit Social Media Strategy Guide
Nonprofit Social Media Strategy Guide
 
Definitive Marketing Agency Selection Guide
Definitive Marketing Agency Selection GuideDefinitive Marketing Agency Selection Guide
Definitive Marketing Agency Selection Guide
 
Tools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction Brands
Tools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction BrandsTools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction Brands
Tools of the Trade: Modern Marketing for Construction Brands
 
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social Media
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social MediaSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social Media
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques by Hot Potato Social Media
 
Construction Leads Guide: Lead Generation Best Practices
Construction Leads Guide:  Lead Generation Best PracticesConstruction Leads Guide:  Lead Generation Best Practices
Construction Leads Guide: Lead Generation Best Practices
 
2013 Definitive Global Brand Ranking Report
2013 Definitive Global Brand Ranking Report2013 Definitive Global Brand Ranking Report
2013 Definitive Global Brand Ranking Report
 
Search Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern Marketers
Search Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern MarketersSearch Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern Marketers
Search Engine Optimization: Top Priority For Modern Marketers
 
Social Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media Marketing
Social Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media MarketingSocial Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media Marketing
Social Media Glossary of Terms | Social Media Marketing
 
Glossary of Modern Marketing Definitions
Glossary of Modern Marketing Definitions Glossary of Modern Marketing Definitions
Glossary of Modern Marketing Definitions
 

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Computer 10 Lesson 8: Building a Website
Computer 10 Lesson 8: Building a WebsiteComputer 10 Lesson 8: Building a Website
Computer 10 Lesson 8: Building a WebsiteMavein
 
WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024
WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024
WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024Jan Löffler
 
Niche Domination Prodigy Review Plus Bonus
Niche Domination Prodigy Review Plus BonusNiche Domination Prodigy Review Plus Bonus
Niche Domination Prodigy Review Plus BonusSkylark Nobin
 
LESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASS
LESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASSLESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASS
LESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASSlesteraporado16
 
Vision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced Horizons
Vision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced HorizonsVision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced Horizons
Vision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced HorizonsRoxana Stingu
 
Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...
Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...
Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...APNIC
 
world Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptx
world Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptxworld Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptx
world Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptxnaveenithkrishnan
 
Zero-day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day VulnerabilitiesZero-day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day Vulnerabilitiesalihassaah1994
 
TYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDS
TYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDSTYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDS
TYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDSedrianrheine
 
Introduction to ICANN and Fellowship program by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdf
Introduction to ICANN and Fellowship program  by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdfIntroduction to ICANN and Fellowship program  by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdf
Introduction to ICANN and Fellowship program by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdfShreedeep Rayamajhi
 
Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024
Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024
Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024Shubham Pant
 
Bio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptx
Bio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptxBio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptx
Bio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptxnaveenithkrishnan
 
A_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptx
A_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptxA_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptx
A_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptxjayshuklatrainer
 
Presentation2.pptx - JoyPress Wordpress
Presentation2.pptx -  JoyPress WordpressPresentation2.pptx -  JoyPress Wordpress
Presentation2.pptx - JoyPress Wordpressssuser166378
 
LESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdf
LESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdfLESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdf
LESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdfmchristianalwyn
 

Kürzlich hochgeladen (15)

Computer 10 Lesson 8: Building a Website
Computer 10 Lesson 8: Building a WebsiteComputer 10 Lesson 8: Building a Website
Computer 10 Lesson 8: Building a Website
 
WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024
WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024
WordPress by the numbers - Jan Loeffler, CTO WebPros, CloudFest 2024
 
Niche Domination Prodigy Review Plus Bonus
Niche Domination Prodigy Review Plus BonusNiche Domination Prodigy Review Plus Bonus
Niche Domination Prodigy Review Plus Bonus
 
LESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASS
LESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASSLESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASS
LESSON 10/ GROUP 10/ ST. THOMAS AQUINASS
 
Vision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced Horizons
Vision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced HorizonsVision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced Horizons
Vision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced Horizons
 
Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...
Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...
Benefits of doing Internet peering and running an Internet Exchange (IX) pres...
 
world Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptx
world Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptxworld Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptx
world Tuberculosis day ppt 25-3-2024.pptx
 
Zero-day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day VulnerabilitiesZero-day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day Vulnerabilities
 
TYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDS
TYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDSTYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDS
TYPES AND DEFINITION OF ONLINE CRIMES AND HAZARDS
 
Introduction to ICANN and Fellowship program by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdf
Introduction to ICANN and Fellowship program  by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdfIntroduction to ICANN and Fellowship program  by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdf
Introduction to ICANN and Fellowship program by Shreedeep Rayamajhi.pdf
 
Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024
Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024
Check out the Free Landing Page Hosting in 2024
 
Bio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptx
Bio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptxBio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptx
Bio Medical Waste Management Guideliness 2023 ppt.pptx
 
A_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptx
A_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptxA_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptx
A_Z-1_0_4T_00A-EN_U-Po_w_erPoint_06.pptx
 
Presentation2.pptx - JoyPress Wordpress
Presentation2.pptx -  JoyPress WordpressPresentation2.pptx -  JoyPress Wordpress
Presentation2.pptx - JoyPress Wordpress
 
LESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdf
LESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdfLESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdf
LESSON 5 GROUP 10 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS.pdf
 

SEO for Ecommerce Guide

  • 2. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 2 SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets Have you noticed a drop in website traffic, or even more obvious, fewer sales orders? You’re not alone. Frequent search engine algorithm updates are wreaking havoc on Ecommerce website results—especially sites that lack search engine optimization or SEO. No question, achieving top position for keywords in search engine results pages (SERPs) has always been a top priority for Ecommerce marketers. Why? Because studies show that only the top few search result positions drive click-through, website traffic, and critical to Ecommerce—sales. (Source: Search Engine Watch). Yet many Ecommerce websites lack even basic search optimization features and techniques. Developing a new Ecommerce website, or retrofitting an existing website with best practice search engine optimization (SEO) is critical to achieving improved organic or natural search engine results (vs. paid search results). This SEO Guide for Ecommerce Websites will identify and describe three (3) of the biggest SEO mistakes, and then detail a 7-point SEO checklist of the most critical search optimization practices, on-page and off-page techniques that can help your website succeed, along with several useful SEO tools, many free-of-charge, to assist in the process.
  • 3. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 3 Top 3 Ecommerce SEO Mistakes There is no silver bullet when it comes to improving search results. In fact, SEO is a complex combination of coding and activities, on-page and off-page tactics. Following are perhaps the three (3) biggest mistakes that impact search authority for Ecommerce websites: social media, mobile web, and website speed. 1. POOR SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTION Social media marketing is no longer optional for Ecommerce websites. Search engines attribute high authority to social networks, and search engine results pages (SERPs) demonstrate that social media ranks, often times higher than websites. Best practices social media marketing requires proper integration with your Ecommerce website. For consumer websites, use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ (if local is important), and of course, review sites like Yelp. For business-to-business websites, give LinkedIn more emphasis followed by Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and bookmarking sites. Be sure to make it easy for customers to find and engage with your social media profiles. Include links in a prominent position on your website. Not only is this a trust booster, it can help increase your following. Next, use social media Share Tools on your website. Drive more traffic to your website with the power of social proof by adding share tools all around your website to encourage customers to share with their friends and family. Some common places to add share tools is on your product pages or on thank you/ order confirmation pages. Or, after a customer gives a product review, use a share tool to give them an easy to way to share it with their Facebook friends or Twitter followers. Here is an example of a social share tool on the product page of Guitar Center (along with reviews).
  • 4. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 4 Next, offer “Follower” exclusive incentives. In the noisy social media world, why not stand out? Customers are sick of being told follow us, like us, etc. Incentivize these actions by offering exclusive discounts or offers to your social media fans and followers. Social media contests are a great engagement tool for Ecommerce websites, who often struggle connecting to customers on social media. Types of contests include sweepstakes, connect (like/follow to enter), like/share (like/share to enter), voting (vote for your favorite), or submit (submit/upload content to enter). Make sure to keep it targeted! If the entrants are not your target audience, they may be less likely to engage with you again once the contest is over. Besides contests, how can you increase interactions and engagement on social media? Use visual content, ask questions, and show your personality. Visual content tends to be even more engaging than other types on social media. Photos have been found to be the most engaging type of content on Facebook, with an 87% interaction rate from fans. Similarly, on Twitter, adding a photo URL to your tweet can increase retweets by 35% (Social Media Examiner). 2. TAKE MOBILE WEB SERIOUSLY Shopify recently reported that mobile traffic eclipsed desktop for the first time, at over 50% of Ecommerce website traffic. With double-digit growth in mobile expected, implementing a mobile or ideally, responsive website design has never been more important. Why? Because search engines rank mobile websites higher, especially for mobile searches. Websites not coded for mobile, or not using a responsive design will rank lower than mobile competitors. For more information, check out the EMI blog on mobile commerce. Just a few years ago, mobile required separate or redundant versions of the same website, or a mobile version. There are three significant problems with this scenario. First, the need to update both website versions. Second, the need for the aforementioned redirects to the mobile version. And third, back-links established by the desktop version of the website do not automatically redirect, and thus don’t achieve the search authority. SocialMediaExaminer.com
  • 5. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 5 Thankfully in 2013, responsive website design (RWD) was born, allowing for a single website design which functions on all desktop, tablet and mobile devices, without the need for redirects. Another huge SEO benefit of mobile or responsive website design is improved user experience (UX). Eliminating the pinch and zoom reduces bounce rate, and increases page views, which both support increase search authority. Indeed, non-mobile versions of content-heavy websites suffer high bounce rates, and thus lower search rankings. 3. SLOW WEBSITE SPEED A fast website may rank higher in SERPs because Google and other major search engines take website speed into consideration in their ranking algorithms. With paid search, a slow loading page could lower your quality score. Page loading or time, or website speed, is an often underrated factor in search optimization. However, the speed of your website is a critical component to overall user experience (UX). Common culprits for slowing down your website include non-optimized images, bulky code, tracking codes, share buttons, etc. Want to test your website speed? Check out Pingdom website speed tester. It will analyze page-loading time, and provide actionable recommendations to improve your website’s speed. If your speed score is less than 70/100, then start by identifying large images on your website using the Screaming Frog SEO tool. Run an analysis on your website, view images, filter by those over 100kb, and then sort by size. Use this list to start reducing images with tools such as TinyPNG. Pingdom.com ScreamingFrog.co.uk Tinypng.com
  • 6. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 6 SEO Checklist for Ecommerce Websites So what SEO improvements can you start implementing today? Following is an SEO checklist that will identify and describe seven (7) of the most critical search optimization practices or techniques that can help your Ecommerce website succeed, along with several tools, many free-of-charge, to assist in the process. 1. Meta tag coding 2. URL structure and redirects 3. Site maps and robots.txt 4. Product descriptions and duplicate content 5. Manage Reviews 6. Paid Search (PPC) 7. Ongoing SEO maintenance 1. META TAGS RULE The most basic building block of SEO are Meta tags, or Meta code including Meta descriptions, page titles, ALT or image tags, and header tags. In the past, Meta keywords were used, but are no longer important. Invisible to the user, Meta tags are HTML (or XHTML) coding that enable search engines to correctly index a web page’s contents. Ideally Meta descriptions are unique and keyword-rich for each page, and no more than 150 characters in length. Title tags or Page Titles, although not technically Meta, work with Meta descriptions and are typically displayed in the SERPs as the title, along with the Meta description (see screenshot below). Title tags are the descriptive words at the top of the browser window that, more often than not, only list the company name or website address. Title tags should be simple, keyword-rich, not duplicate of other titles, and approximately 50-60 characters in length including spaces. Meta Description Meta Title
  • 7. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 7 While technically, meta descriptions do not effect rank, the meta description is what displays in a search result, so keyword relevance can effect click-through rate, and hence authority. ALT tags are the invisible descriptions of an image on your website. They tell the search engine what an image is and useful when search engines index or “spider” your website since the engines automatically turn off images and read only text (including file names). Therefore, file names of your images are also important. Instead of image filenames such as “DCP0003.jpg,” images should be re-named “KEYWORD.jpg,” to increase search results. Header tags are headings within your page content that are used to represent different sections in your content. The H1 tag is the most important and should exist on every page, followed by H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. Some content management systems (like WordPress) have drop down header tag selections available. In addition to SEO benefits, header tags improve user experience on the front end of your website. 2. URL STRUCTURE AND REDIRECTS Another important ranking determinant is URL or domain structure—specifically, keyword-rich sub-domains. When linking to website sub-pages that are often served dynamically via databases, the URL that appears on the “http” line often includes obscure database code with multiple back slashes or symbols. To eliminate this search engine hurdle, ideal URL structures use the base domain name, along with simple keywords or keyword phrases, in place of this coding (TIP: another best practice is all lower case characters separated by a dash). A simple but often neglected SEO technique is setting up URL redirects, or more specifically, a 301 permanent redirect for your website. Search engines will index both the www.domainname.com and domainname. com versions of your website. This scenario creates what is known as duplicate content, which dilutes or penalizes the search authority of the website without the redirect. Also called a canonical redirect, the 301 permanent redirect is vital to proper search engine optimization and improved rankings. A simple way to test whether your website has a 301 redirect in place is to type “yourdomain.com” into your browser address bar then hit “Enter”. If the URL does not automatically change to “www.yourdomain.com” or vice versa, then the redirect is NOT in place to resolve canonical issues, and therefore, is not optimized for the search engines. The redirect must be done at the hosting server level and can often be completed via hosting tech support requests.
  • 8. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 8 3. SITEMAPS AND ROBOT.TXT Sitemaps help search engines crawl and discover all pages of your website. Typically there are two types of site maps: HTML and XML. HTML site maps are simply a page on your website that is a directory or listing of all the URLs (pages) on your website (or at least the most important ones). A link to your HTML sitemap is typically found in your website’s footer. Some visitors who are familiar with sitemaps may prefer to use such a tool to find exactly what they are looking for. On the other hand, XML sitemaps are a protocol that allow you to inform Google and other major search engines about the URLs on your website, which otherwise may be missed when indexing (especially if your internal linking structure is poor. Create and submit your XML sitemap to Google, Yahoo, and Bing. To generate an XML sitemap, link here. A robots exclusion protocol (REP), or robots.txt, is a text file that instructs search engines how to crawl and index pages on your website. This file is important if there are files or directories on your website that you do not want to be indexed by search engines. You may want this in order to protect private content or avoid the indexation of duplicate content. If your eyes are glazing over, just ask your developer. 4. PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS AND DUPLICATE CONTENT Customers in a brick-and-mortar store have the advantage of being able to see, feel, read the package, and try a product before buying it. Online shopping eliminates this ability, and therefore, ecommerce websites need to provide as much detailed product information as possible. How many times have you been buying something online and had questions about a product? What is the length? What are the materials? Ecommerce websites often make the mistake of leaving customers with questions about a product, causing them to seek information, or even purchase, elsewhere! Provide as much information as possible about the product including: weight, sizes, materials, dimensions, instructions, fabric type, care instructions, and reviews. Another issue with Ecommerce websites, is the common practice of cutting and pasting descriptions from a manufacturer’s website. This is a huge problem, as hundreds of other websites could be using the same description as you.
  • 9. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 9 And as described in the next paragraph, search engines may penalize your website for duplicate content. Short on text content by nature, Ecommerce websites need extra, unique content! One way to get unique content on your Ecommerce website is through unique product descriptions. In the long run, unique, well-written product descriptions, in combination with many other factors, can improve website rank in SERPs. Regarding duplicate content, search engines can identify duplicate pages with the same content, duplicate Meta code, even duplicate page titles—all of which penalize search authority. A great tool to pull or “scrape” Meta code from an existing website is Screaming Frog, which also identifies duplicates. We recommend using this tool for analyzing Meta code of competitor websites. Duplicate content is also a concern when “curating” blog or website content from other websites. Make sure to paraphrase an external source’s content, avoiding copying paragraphs verbatim. MANAGE REVIEWS No question, reviews are a critical component of your Ecommerce strategy. Positive, negative, or average, every review counts. Consider these statistics from Econsultancy: • 61% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision • 63% of users are more likely to make a purchase from a site with reviews • Consumer reviews are viewed with much more trust than product descriptions Thanks to Search Engine Land, we also would like to give you 5 steps in responding to negative reviews: • Have a game plan • Know where reviews are happening • Use negative reviews to make your business better • Personalize your reviews and ask questions • Don’t ignore reviews
  • 10. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 10 So how do you generate more positive reviews? The most important, and perhaps obvious, way to get more positive reviews is to provide great customer service 100 percent of the time. Many people are not motivated to review a company unless they had a bad experience! Don’t give customers anything to complain about. Below are some additional tips for getting more online reviews: • Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback – Many won’t reach out to their customers for feedback; consider sending a post-purchase email to request feedback or a review (include links to review sites) • Make it easy – Add review site logos and links on your website; likewise, on review sites, add links to your website to encourage customers to write a review • Timing can make a difference – Customers are most likely to give you feedback right away • Provide instructions – Maybe a customer wants to leave a review but does not know how to do it. You can create a SIMPLE step-by-step checklist to provide to clients and even include in feedback email Search Engine Results Page (SERP) 1. Paid Results 2. Organic Results 3. Google Images 1 2 3
  • 11. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 11 PAID SEARCH As seen in the above search engine results page (SERP), paid search or pay-per- click (PPC) advertisements, are displayed in top and right frame. While the reason for investing time and effort in SEO is to avoid paid search, the fact is, PPC has a positive effect on organic search authority. Why? Because paid search increases website traffic, and higher traffic builds search authority. How much? Of course that is dependent on the amount of paid search spending, along with the quality of SEO implementation. That said, we have experienced 10-20% organic website traffic growth when implementing paid search. Remarketing is another paid search option, that serves up banner ads to past website visitors—a reminder type of ad that is often less expensive than text ads. Still, the downside of paid search is that once spending is paused or stopped, traffic from paid search ceases, and likely any organic traffic that resulted from paid search. Moral of the story—make sure your SEO is excellent! ONGOING SEO MAINTENANCE The job of SEO for an Ecommerce website is never done. Although, once the above-referenced SEO features and tactics have been properly implemented, SEO can evolve to a maintenance level. Critical to ongoing SEO maintenance is constant analysis of your website analytics, along with problem identification of such issues as broken links, duplicate content, site speed, and more. First and foremost, use Google Analytics (GA) or similar tool to understand traffic trends and other metrics like page views and bounce rate. High bounce rates over 80% mean that percentage of visitors are leaving the website, without linking further, suggesting a poor user experience (UX), or weak content. GA also offers an in-page analytics report that identifies click- through rates (CTRs) for each navigation link, which of course, is excellent insight. For ecommerce sites, Google Analytics offers conversion codes and tracking, an important metric. Finally, it is always insightful to identify competitor’s traffic and analytics. We recommend a tool called Similar Web for this.
  • 12. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 12 Besides GA, there are many diagnostic tools to identify errors and issues. The 404 error, which means ‘Page not Found’, more often than not results from a broken link on your website. Sometimes, these are easy to find when you happen to be browsing through your site. On the other hand, once your website is built-out with thousands of pages it can be difficult to pinpoint which links are broken. Several diagnostic tools are available for you to check this including brokenlinkcheck.com. Another aspect of ongoing maintenance for Ecommerce websites is tracking shopping cart abandonment. Over the past four years abandonment rates have run in the 60% range, meaning six in 10 shoppers who place items in a cart do not check out (Source: eMarketer). Abandonment is when a shopper puts something in their cart, but doesn’t actually purchase. Shopping carts are abandoned for a variety of reasons, but they all have the same outcome – lost sales. And therefore, it is important to track your websites shopping cart abandon rates and what step in the process it is taking place. Where buyers are dropping off can be indicative of where the problem lies. Continue reading: 14 Reasons Online Shoppers Abandon Their Shopping Cart. You can set up goals and funnels within Google Analytics to measure this metric. Or, there is a variety of software available to track abandoned carts. Part of SEO maintenance is constant tracking and monitoring. There a several options for measuring search authority and search engine optimization (SEO). Moz reports both domain and page authority, organic rank of keywords, back-links, along with competitor measures. We prefer and recommend Google Analytics, but this does require installation of a tracking code. GA offers several dashboards, along with the ability to select different time frames to further understanding of your website traffic. GA in-page analytics show click-through rates for navigation and other content, an excellent tool for understanding user experience (UX). Finally, we recommend logging into Adwords to perform test searches for keyword rankings to avoid diluting traffic impressions. Emarketer.com 14 Reasons Online Shoppers Abandon Their Shopping Cart Google.com/analytics/ BrokenLinkCheck.com Moz.com
  • 13. SEO for Ecommerce: Trade Secrets 13 SEO is Mission Critical to Ecommerce Achieving search authority, and growing Ecommerce website traffic is becoming more and more difficult with search engine algorithm updates, and more sophisticated competition. Both new and existing Ecommerce websites require excellent search engine optimization (SEO) to achieve top positions on search engine results pages (SERPs). By addressing the three SEO mistakes, and implementing the SEO checklist, your search authority and rank for keywords should improve dramatically—along with website traffic, and most importantly, sales orders! About EMI The Ecommerce Marketing Institute (EMI) offers online marketers unparallelled information and access to the latest industry news, marketing tips, resources, training, and events for the rapidly changing Ecommerce industry. Be sure to check out the EMI EcomTOPICS webcast series, register for our eNewsletter, CartTALK, and check out our Resources Library with research, whitepapers, case studies and more. EMI will cover a range of marketing topics pertinent to Ecommerce including websites and Ecommerce software, search engine optimization (SEO), branding, content marketing, social media and social commerce, email marketing, paid search (PPC), and more. In the future, EMI will sponsor the EcomEXCELLENCE Awards, recognizing brands across a range of categories related to Ecommerce marketing. Our mission is to help Ecommerce website owners, brands and marketers alike take their marketing to the next level, and ultimately, increase sales! If you have a question about Ecommerce marketing, ideas you would like to share, or feedback on our educational tools and services, please contact us 24/7/365.