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4 Most Effective SEO Practices to Improve Your eCommerce Site
When you finally decide to launch an e-commerce business, one of the key things you must become a master of is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). You don’t have to become an expert like the professionals, but you must become a master of it more than laymen. Even if you still intend to hire an SEO expert. Doing SEO the right way can make your website rank higher in search results. As a result of placing higher, that will put your business out there for your target audience to find, and drive traffic to your site. We have compiled a list of 4 effective SEO practices you can implement whether you’re a novice or an expert.
In this article, we will discuss four best SEO practices you need to master so that when internet users enter search queries on search engines, your website will come up.
Start with Keywords
You’re starting with keywords because these are the phrases and words your target audience will search for when looking for things that are related to your business. So, you need to learn these keywords; you can use keyword search tools to find out what these keywords are. You can also do keyword analysis using search engines and checking related/similar searches. Once you’ve gathered these keywords, you need to optimize them by using them in the strategic parts of your website.
• URL names
• Webpage titles
• Blog posts
• Metadata
• Product details
• Image names of product
These are the elements of your website where search engines crawl and index. So, when you add relevant keywords in these elements, you’re increasing the chances of having your website feature on the first page of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Invest in Content Creation
More than 20 years after Bill Gates said it, content remains king. While keywords are important, you must also invest in content creation for your eCommerce website. By invest, we mean put effort into creating quality content regularly. Make sure you create content that your customer base will find valuable and relatable, and post regularly. Consistency is an investment that always rewards people who are deserving.
When your target audience googles keywords related to your niche, they may not find your product page but may end up on your blog section to read about “how to maintain your expensive sneakers”. There’s a good chance that they will check out your product pages after reading your blog to window-shop or purchase the sneakers in your eCommerce store. That’s how content creation works.
Quality always matters in content creation, so avoid posting plagiarized content. If you’re not a good writer, there are so many superb writers available for hire on freelance platforms.
Content creation is not only about articles and blog posts, you may also create video content and post it on your YouTube channel. You can also include links to your YouTube videos in your blog posts.
Make Sure Your eCommerce Website Supports Mobile
We are in a time where smartphones are optimized for everything from fun activities to health and fitness, to work, and other activities. With over five billion mobile phones in the world, it’s only logical for many internet users to carry out their internet activities on their phones. This is why surveys show that over 50% of internet activities are done on mobile devices.
Therefore, it would be a shame if your eCommerce website was not compatible with mobile devices. You will be missing out on a lot of potential traffic and customers, likely half of your target audience. To avoid this, make sure your website design is mobile-friendly and responsive. Your web designer will do this for you, just make sure they know that you don’t want the following:
• Difficult navigation
• Slow webpage loading
• Confusing layout
• Page zooming out on mobile
• Low-quality images
• Poor website design, etc.
Master Link Building
One of the most important and effective SEO practices you need to master is link building. Both internal link building, and external link building. Search engines such as Google favor websites that make use of effective linking strategies. This will build authority for you in your niche, increase your domain authority and eventually increase your website authority score in the long run.
When you’re just starting, it might seem difficult to find websites in your industry that are willing to link to your website. That’s why we always advise eCommerce business owners to start small. Go for similar websites like yours that are just starting out like you, and websites that have slightly higher authority than yours. Be ready to do the same for them, the important thing is to grow, and if growing together with other sites will help then so be it.
Another method is to offer to guest blog for big websites in your niche, give them value for their attention. Make sure you design beautiful infographics and write long-form articles about a topic they haven’t addressed. The key to guest blogging is to create valuable content for the readers of the authority website, share knowledge and information they haven’t seen before on the website.
You can also offer to be a guest on the top podcast shows in your industry. So, if you have friends who have a podcast show, ask to go on their show and share your knowledge. Here’s why being a podcast guest works. First, the podcast host will talk about the guests in the show. Secondly, the podcast will write a blog about the episode and share details of the guests such as name, bio, expertise, website, and social media. Most top podcasts blog about each episode of the show. That way, their readers and listeners will learn about your e-commerce business. Not to mention that getting featured on a podcast blog is like tapping into an ever-running SEO stream. Someone new will always find the podcast notes and they might click your website.
Over to You
These four effective SEO practices are guaranteed to work no matter your current mastery of SEO. In reality, we know that many eCommerce business owners find it hard to master these practices. You can hire SEO experts to do this for you, while you can watch and learn.
If you would like to receive a free SEO Audit from the MAK Digital team, click here.
