Shopify SEO: 12-Step Guide for Beginners

Driving much concern to your Shopify store is each astir improving its online visibility. 

That involves utilizing the close keywords, creating a logical tract structure, and utilizing different hunt motor optimization (SEO) champion practices. To guarantee your tract appears successful hunt engines similar Google.

Like this:

This helps you get successful beforehand of much people, gain much website traffic, and make much sales.

This Shopify SEO usher volition locomotion you done everything you request to bash to get your store to fertile (appear precocious up) successful hunt motor results pages (SERPs). 

Let’s statesman with the basics.

Shopify SEO Basics

Before utilizing immoderate circumstantial SEO tactics for your Shopify store, you’ll request to bash immoderate preliminary work.

First, take a mobile-friendly taxable (or usage responsive plan that adjusts to antithetic surface sizes). 

Google uses a mobile-first indexing system. Which means it looks astatine the mobile mentation of your store archetypal erstwhile storing contented successful its database to yet amusement successful hunt results.

So, if your mobile store doesn’t rather enactment right, you whitethorn person a harder clip ranking well.

Next, install Google Analytics on your Shopify website utilizing our guide. So you tin way your site’s postulation and idiosyncratic behavior. 

You’ll besides request to install Google Search Console per our instructions. Which enables you to way your site’s SEO performance. 

Lastly, acceptable up a Semrush Project Dashboard. Which you tin link to your Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts. To show your website astatine a glance.

Now, let’s get into circumstantial SEO tactics you tin usage to assistance your Shopify store fertile better.

12 Shopify SEO Tips to Boost Your Store’s Visibility

1. Set Up a Logical Site Structure

Website architecture is the mode your webpages are organized and however they subordinate to each different via internal links (links connected your pages that pb to different pages connected your site).

A good tract structure groups related contented unneurotic and follows a logical hierarchy. So some users and hunt engines tin find and recognize your pages.

8000 Kicks is simply a footwear marque with a precise wide tract structure. And has the pursuing pages accessible to users instantly done a apical menu:

• Homepage
• Category pages for products (Men, Women, Backpacks, Accessories, etc.)
• Subcategory pages (Socks, Wallet, Pouch, Laptop Case, etc.)
• Product pages

It besides makes important pages accessible done a bottommost menu:

We urge utilizing a akin operation for your Shopify store.

Most importantly, marque definite determination are nary pages that don’t person immoderate interior links pointing to them. These are called orphan pages, and they’re hard for some users and hunt engines to find. 

See whether you person orphan pages with Semrush’s Site Audit. Run your tract done the instrumentality to make your dashboard.

Then, click connected the “View details” fastener nether “Internal Linking.”

Look for the contented “Orphaned sitemap pages” contented and click the fig adjacent to it. 

Now, you’ll beryllium capable to spot immoderate orphan pages. Which you should past nexus to from astatine slightest 1 applicable leafage elsewhere connected your site. 

2. Customize Your Store’s URL

By default, Shopify assigns a random fig to your store and uses that fig successful your URL. 

Like this:

You don’t privation to support that number. Because it has thing to bash with your marque and is besides hard for radical to remember.

To alteration your URL, spell to your Shopify admin dashboard. And click connected “Settings” successful the sidebar menu.

Then, click connected “Domains” successful the pop-up that appears.

Finally, click connected the “Change to a caller myshopify.com domain” nexus nether your existent URL name.

Enter your caller Shopify store URL successful the pop-up that appears. Then, click “Add domain.”

If you privation to bargain a customized domain (i.e., you privation your URL to beryllium “brand.com” and not “brand.myshopify.com”), past click connected the “Buy caller domain” button.

Whatever you choose, marque definite that your URL contains your marque name. And is casual to recall. So shoppers tin easy spell straight to your site.

3. Improve Your Shopify Store’s Speed

Page velocity is however accelerated your webpages load.

Optimizing your Shopify site’s speed is important for the idiosyncratic experience. And is simply a confirmed ranking factor—meaning it has a nonstop interaction connected however disposable your pages tin beryllium successful hunt results.

Improve your Shopify store’s velocity by doing the following:

• Use the close representation formats: Shopify recommends utilizing JPG oregon PNG files
• Compress images: Large representation sizes lend to slow-loading pages. So, compressing images is simply a low-lift mode to velocity up load times.
• Minimize your code: Reducing the unnecessary elements successful your pages’ HTML, CSS, and JavaScript tin amended your leafage speed

4. Find Relevant Keywords

Keywords are presumption that radical participate into hunt engines similar Google and Bing. And you privation to cognize which ones your people audiences search, truthful you tin see them successful your content. 

Why?

Because incorporating presumption your audiences are searching wrong your pages signals to hunt engines that your contented is relevant. Making it much apt to look successful hunt results. 

To commencement uncovering keywords to target, marque a database of effect keywords based connected your categories and the circumstantial products that you offer.

Let’s accidental you tally a Shopify store selling location bureau supplies and furniture. And you merchantability the pursuing products:

• Standing desks
• Ergonomic bureau chairs
• Desk risers

That’s a database of effect keywords.

Now, participate 1 of them successful the Keyword Magic Tool.

You’ll get a database of related keywords.

Go done the database to find variations that are highly circumstantial to your store.

And support an oculus connected these 3 metrics:

• Search volume: The mean fig of times a keyword is searched each month
• Keyword difficulty: How hard it is to fertile successful the apical 10 results for a keyword connected a standard of 0% to 100%. The higher the percentage, the much hard it is to fertile highly. 
• Search intent: The intent down each search. For a merchandise page, you privation to people keywords with a commercialized intent (users privation to probe options) oregon transactional intent (users privation to implicit an enactment similar a purchase). And you tin typically people keywords with informational intent (users privation to larn astir something) with contented similar blog posts.

Ideally, you’ll privation to find keywords that person decent hunt volumes and comparatively debased trouble scores. And that person intent aligned with the antithetic pages you person oregon program to create. 

In this case, “corner lasting desk” looks similar a bully option. 

Add it to a keyword database by selecting the checkbox adjacent to it. And past clicking “Add to keyword list.”

Rinse and repetition this process for each your effect keywords to support gathering retired your lists.

Once you person plentifulness of options, you tin determination connected to grouping them and creating content.

Let’s spell implicit those steps next. 

5. Create Topic Clusters

A topic cluster is simply a radical of webpages that screen antithetic aspects of the aforesaid topic. To amusement some radical and hunt engines that you’re an authorization connected the subject.

There are 2 types of contented successful a taxable cluster:

• A pillar leafage that covers a wide taxable (e.g., “hiking shoes”)
• Cluster pages that screen circumstantial topics wrong the pillar leafage (e.g., “zero driblet boots,” “steel toed hiking boots,” etc.)

All those pages should beryllium interlinked. To amusement hunt engines that you’ve thoroughly covered that circumstantial taxable and that those pages are related.

This helps you found authority. Which gives your pages a amended accidental of ranking successful SERPs.

Here’s a visualization of what the taxable clump strategy looks similar successful action:

Luckily, you tin get your pillar and clump leafage topics successful a azygous click. With the Semrush’s Keyword Manager.

Go to the tool, participate 1 of your keywords, and click “Create list.”

After a fewer minutes, you’ll get a database of keyword clusters. Which are groups of keywords you tin people wrong the aforesaid page. 

And you’ll spot the pursuing pieces of accusation for each keyword cluster:

• Ranking potential
• Search intent
• How galore keywords it includes
• Average keyword trouble for each the included terms
• Collective hunt measurement for each the included terms

Click connected 1 of the topics (primary keywords) to spot the circumstantial secondary keywords to target. And a database of contented references.

Use this database of keyword clusters to signifier a taxable clump you tin trade contented around. And repetition the process to travel up with further taxable clusters.

6. Write and Publish Blog Posts

Now that you person your topics down, it’s clip to make blog posts for immoderate of them. Particularly those with informational intent

Here are immoderate champion practices to guarantee you create prime content:

• Be genuinely adjuvant and unique. Providing genuinely utile accusation that’s antithetic from everything other improves the idiosyncratic experience. And increases your chances of ranking well. 
• Use images. Use images passim your nonfiction to interruption up the transcript and clarify concepts.
• Include interior links successful your content. Add links to different applicable pages connected your tract truthful that Google knows which pages are related. Which tin assistance it recognize your contented better.
• Mention your products erstwhile appropriate. Even if your nonfiction is informational, your extremity is to sell. Mention your products and unsocial selling points erstwhile you can.
• Use calls to enactment (CTAs). CTAs archer readers what to bash adjacent (like caput to your merchandise page) to assistance determination them person to making a purchasing decision.

If you request guidance successful creating your blog post, here’s a template you tin use:

But the easiest mode to get started is with the SEO Writing Assistant.

From your keyword clusters successful Keyword Manager, take a taxable to commencement penning about. And click connected the “Write content” fastener that appears astatine the extremity of the row.

In the pop-up that appears, take the instrumentality you privation to make contented for. And past click “Send keywords.”

This volition unfastened the SEO Writing Assistant. And you tin commencement penning your content. While keeping your people keywords successful mind.

The instrumentality volition cheque your contented arsenic you go. And punctual you to usage your keywords, item sentences that are excessively agelong oregon complicated, and place imaginable plagiarism issues.

And if you’re stuck, you tin usage the Smart Writer features:

• Click “Rephraser” to rephrase, simplify, expand, oregon summarize a condemnation oregon paragraph
• Click “Compose” to inquire the instrumentality to make contented for you based connected the contented that you’ve already written
• Click “Ask AI” to inquire the instrumentality to make contented for you based connected a question oregon prompt

7. Optimize Your Category & Product Pages

Apart from optimizing your blog content, you should besides optimize contented connected your merchandise and class pages utilizing keywords and interior links.

For example, this is simply a class leafage (called a “collection page” successful Shopify) from Tentree for women’s covering that besides lists retired subcategories similar “T-Shirts & Tanks,” “Tops,” and “Sweaters & Cardigans.”

Category titles and descriptions contiguous an accidental to see commercialized intent and transactional intent keywords. That’s besides existent for merchandise pages.

And your merchandise pages should see the following:

• A rubric that contains your people keyword
• A statement that contains your people and secondary keywords
• High-quality images
• Links to merchandise variants
• Links to related products

Like so:

Some optional but thoughtful touches to adhd to your merchandise leafage are:

• Shipping information
• Reviews
• FAQs

All of your pages person a URL slug, rubric tag, H1 tag, and meta statement that should beryllium crafted with SEO successful mind.

Here’s an overview of each:

• URL slug: The last portion of the leafage URL
• Title tag: HTML that specifies the webpage rubric and whitethorn look successful hunt results
• H1 tag: HTML that specifies the rubric connected the webpage itself
• Meta description: HTML that summarizes your leafage and whitethorn look successful hunt results

Your URL slug tells hunt engines and searchers what your leafage is about. And it’s a confirmed (though lightweight) ranking factor.

It looks similar this.

Keep them descriptive and readable. And incorporated your people keyword whenever possible. 

Consider the pursuing options:

• https://www.yourstore.com/collection/item-35672
• https://www.yourstore.com/collection/pink-running-shoes

The 2nd 1 is the amended of the two. 

As for H1 tags and rubric tags, present are immoderate champion practices to support successful mind:

• Keep your rubric tags and H1 tags similar. Having drastically antithetic titles connected the SERP and connected your webpage tin beryllium confusing. It’s champion to support them the aforesaid oregon precise similar.
• Use your superior keyword. Using your superior keyword successful your rubric tag and H1 tag tin assistance hunt engines amended recognize what your leafage is about. To summation your chances of ranking.
• Don’t “stuff” successful keywords. While you privation your superior (and perchance a secondary) keyword to look successful your rubric and H1 tags, overdoing it tin look spammy to some users and hunt engines.

Your meta descriptions (if they look successful the SERP) are often the 2nd happening users spot erstwhile reviewing results. 

A relevant, well-written meta statement entices searchers to click connected your nexus alternatively of a competitor’s link.

To optimize your meta statement for clicks, incorporated your keywords, see a CTA, and support it to 105 characters oregon less to debar truncation.

Use Semrush’s On-Page SEO Checker to spot whether determination are immoderate improvements you tin marque to your rubric tags, H1 tags, and meta descriptions.

Simply unfastened the instrumentality and participate your domain. And click “Get ideas.”

Then, travel the prompts successful the pop-up that appears. And click “Collect ideas.”

After the instrumentality generates your report, caput to the “Optimization Ideas” tab. And click connected the “# ideas” fastener adjacent to a URL.

Scroll down to the contented conception to spot whether your rubric tag and H1 tag incorporate your people keywords. And marque definite neither contains instances of keyword stuffing.

You’ll spot akin accusation for your meta descriptions.

If you spot immoderate issues, marque definite to instrumentality updates.

9. Use Proper Alt Text

Alt text is an HTML statement for images recovered connected your page. 

It looks similar this:

In summation to giving Google much discourse astir your images, alt substance besides makes your contented much accessible to radical who usage surface readers.

And it appears connected your leafage erstwhile your representation doesn’t load. Which usually happens erstwhile your leafage visitant has a dilatory connection.

Like this:

Here are immoderate champion practices to support successful caput erstwhile penning alt text:

• Don’t usage alt substance for decorative images. If the representation doesn’t service a purpose, past you don’t request to picture it. Leaving it retired won’t negatively impact the idiosyncratic experience.
• Succinctly but intelligibly picture the image. Ensure that readers tin ideate your ocular adjacent if they can’t spot it.
• Include your keywords erstwhile possible. Since your alt substance besides tells Google what an representation is about, having a keyword successful determination volition summation your image’s chances of ranking successful representation results.

10. Include Structured Data to Stand Out

Structured information (also known arsenic schema markup) is codification that tells hunt engines much astir what’s connected your page. To assistance it recognize your contented better.

Some types of structured information nutrient rich results that marque your Shopify tract basal retired from accepted results.

For example, this is what a merchandise markup effect looks similar connected the SERP:

Here are immoderate of the astir utile types for Shopify sites:

• Organization schema
• CollectionPage schema
• BreadcrumbList schema
• Product schema
• Article schema

To instrumentality structured data, you tin usage a Shopify app.

Or, bash it manually utilizing Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper.

Once you person your code, spell to your Shopify admin dashboard. And click connected “Online Store” > “Themes” nether the “Sales channels” conception successful your sidebar menu.

Then, click connected the 3 dots wrong the taxable modal. And click “Edit code.”

Then, look for your merchandise record utilizing the hunt bar. It volition beryllium titled “product-template.liquid” oregon “main-product.liquid” based connected your theme. Click connected the record erstwhile you find it.

Paste your generated schema markup astatine the apical of the file. And click “Save.”

To marque definite your schema is correctly implemented, spell to the Site Audit tool, participate your domain, and click “Start Audit.”

Follow the prompts to tally the audit, and past you’ll extremity up connected the “Overview” tab.

Go to the “Thematic Reports” section. And click connected the “View details” fastener nether “Markup.”

You’ll spot whether your pages person schema markup.

The instrumentality besides shows you whether determination are immoderate issues with the schema you’ve implemented. 

If you spot immoderate issues, close them. And past tally different audit to verify that the contented was resolved. 

11. Do Link Building

Getting backlinks (links connected different sites that constituent to your site) is 1 of the champion ways to amended your SEO performance. Because it signals to hunt engines that others spot you arsenic reputable and worthy of being ranked.

There are aggregate ways to get backlinks. Like by creating invaluable contented that others people privation to nexus to and responding to journalists’ requests for adept sources.

But you tin besides instrumentality a proactive attack by reaching retired to different sites straight and asking them to nexus to you.

Use the Link Building Tool for this.

Open the tool, participate your domain, and click “Create project.”

Follow the prompts to participate your people keywords and competitors to decorativeness mounting up your project.

Then, caput to the “Prospects” tab to spot a database of sites you tin scope retired to.

Review your options. And erstwhile you find 1 you privation to contact, click the “To In Progress” fastener adjacent to it to nonstop it to the “In Progress” tab.

When you’ve created a database of sites you privation to contact, conscionable spell to the “In Progress” tab.

Once you link an email account, you tin draught personalized messages close wrong the tool. And way your progress. 

12. Use the Right Shopify Apps

Shopify apps marque optimizing your store easier by automating processes that you would person to bash manually otherwise. 

Here are immoderate you tin usage contiguous to supercharge your Shopify SEO: 

Shopify Finder

Shopify Finder is simply a broad ecommerce merchandise probe app. 

You tin usage it to:

• Surface in-demand products from crossed the Shopify and AliExpress ecosystem based connected nett and bid trends 
• Reveal the specs down your competitors’ products, including pricing and bid data
• Discover the support beingness of the hottest products to program your adjacent offer

Shopify Finder provides up to 150 regular Shopify database queries. After a escaped trial, it costs $29/month.

Schema Plus for SEO

Bypass manual schema implementation with Schema Plus for SEO.

Schema Plus for SEO was developed by ex-Google engineers and provides seamless implementation for structured data.

The app has an intuitive idiosyncratic interface, which makes it casual to use. 

After a seven-day escaped trial, the app volition tally you $14.99/month.

Tiny SEO Image Optimize, Speed

Improve the velocity of your Shopify store with Tiny SEO Image Optimize, Speed. 

This app provides respective utile features for boosting the velocity of your Shopify store and keeping it optimized, including:

• Image compression and lazy load configuration
• Broken nexus detection
• Alt substance generator

The app is escaped to install. There are besides paid options for precocious features. 

Start Improving Your Shopify SEO Today

Using these Shopify SEO champion practices tin assistance your store scope much imaginable customers.

And Semrush tools volition get you determination adjacent faster:

• Site Audit: Get broad tract wellness information and suggestions for fixes
• Keyword Manager: Create keyword lists and clusters
• Link Building Tool: Launch and negociate nexus gathering campaigns successful a azygous place