Shopify SEO: A Simple Guide for Beginners

Despite Shopify handling immoderate basal SEO champion practices retired of the box, it’s improbable to beryllium capable to instrumentality your store to the apical of Google.

You request to optimize for each facets of SEO if that’s your aim. 

In this guide, you’ll larn however to bash that to thrust much postulation and income to your store. 

Before we start…

You should instrumentality attraction of a fewer things earlier speechmaking this guide:

• Use responsive plan – Google confirmed mobile-friendliness arsenic a ranking origin successful 2015. The bully quality is each Shopify themes assertion to beryllium responsive connected mobile devices. But marque definite you tally the taxable demo done Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check.
• Set up Google Analytics – Monitor the show of your Shopify store by installing Google Analytics. Read done this documentation to larn however to get started with GA. 
• Set up Google Search Console – Use this to place and hole method SEO issues concerning your Shopify store. Learn however to activate GSC here.

Let’s get down to business.

Technical SEO is captious to e-commerce success. Shopify handles method SEO reasonably good retired of the box. It creates a sitemap and robots.txt file. And leafage velocity is fine. But determination are a fewer considerations worthy your attention. Let’s dive into them. 

1. Set your preferred domain 

Once your recently launched Shopify store is live, picking a preferred mentation of your domain for hunt motor indexing and ranking is the adjacent step, a signifier known arsenic domain canonicalization.

For example, your Shopify store tin beryllium accessible at:

• example.com
• www.example.com
• example.myshopify.com

Having your online store disposable nether antithetic URLs creates a duplicate contented content and dilutes “link equity.” Shopify is beauteous bully astatine handling this contented retired of the box, arsenic it redirects alternatives to the 1 it thinks is your preferred domain. But it’s not ever correct.

To cheque and alteration this, spell to your Domains settings: 

If you similar to usage a mentation of your domain that Shopify didn’t take arsenic the primary, click that mentation and deed “Set arsenic primary”:

2. Use a logical store structure

Site operation is an indispensable information for e-commerce sites due to the fact that it helps users and crawlers navigate your tract much easily. It besides assists the dispersed of nexus equity (i.e., ranking strength) passim your website. 

Here’s my suggested starting constituent for an e-commerce tract structure: 

The homepage links to categories, which past nexus to subcategories, which past nexus to idiosyncratic products. 

Shopify doesn’t person class pages. But it has “collections,” which are fundamentally the same. 

Here’s the official documentation from Shopify connected however to make them.

3. Create abstracted products for merchandise variants (not always)

Product variants, possibly unsurprisingly, are products disposable with flimsy differences. 

For example, if you’re selling a “GUCCI wallet” successful respective colors, this is erstwhile you make merchandise variants. Shopify introduces merchandise variants by appending ?variant=$id astatine the extremity of the merchandise URL. 

Here’s what the URL looks like: 

example.com/products/gucci-wallet?variant=41126125207712

By default, merchandise variants are canonicalized to the main merchandise URL to forestall them from indexing. While perfect successful astir cases, this tin effect successful a mislaid accidental if radical hunt for your merchandise variant. 

Case in point:

In these cases, I judge the champion enactment is to make a abstracted merchandise alternatively than a merchandise variant and enactment it with unsocial contented to basal the champion accidental astatine ranking.

Like immoderate different e-commerce store, Shopify stores chiefly dwell of class and merchandise pages. These are the pages that you’ll privation to fertile connected hunt engines. Here’s however you tin bash keyword probe for them.

1. Find keywords

You tin find keywords successful assorted ways, but utilizing a keyword probe instrumentality similar Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer is the champion starting point. So benignant successful a fewer wide keywords related to your products and sift done the Matching terms report. 

For example, present are a fewer imaginable categories for a guitar store:

Beyond that, it looks similar radical chiefly hunt by brand, truthful those volition astir apt beryllium the champion prime for subcategories. 

As for products, keyword probe isn’t truly a happening unless you merchantability unbranded products oregon products from chartless names. That’s because, for branded products, radical volition hunt for the products themselves, and your merchandise pages volition people those keywords without overmuch effort.

For example, if you merchantability a PRS McCarty 594 guitar, there’s nary mode not to people that keyword with your merchandise page.

But if you merchantability a generic airy bluish electrical guitar, it whitethorn beryllium amended to people a applicable keyword with hunt measurement similar “light bluish electrical guitar”: 

However, it depends connected hunt intent. If the top-ranking hunt results are each class pages, that astir apt means searchers are looking for a choice. So you whitethorn conflict to fertile for this word with a merchandise page. 

2. Map keywords to existing URLs

Unless you’re conscionable mounting up your store, you tin astir apt people immoderate of the keywords you find with existing pages.

For example, if you already person a class for electrical guitars, there’s nary request to marque a caller leafage to people the keyword “electric guitar.” 

If you privation a database of each the indexable pages connected your website to help, tally a afloat crawl of your store utilizing our Site Audit successful Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (it’s free). You tin past export a database of indexable URLs from Page Explorer. 

It’s past conscionable a lawsuit of mapping keywords to existing pages and creating caller pages for the rest.

Now that you’ve identified which presumption and phrases to people with pages connected your store, it’s clip to optimize your tract for on-page SEO elements.

1. Optimize meta titles and descriptions

Shopify offers an casual mode to optimize titles and descriptions. Select 1 of your merchandise oregon postulation pages, scroll to the “Search motor listing preview,” click “Edit website SEO,” and click to edit meta information:

Here are immoderate ideas to support successful caput erstwhile crafting cleanable titles and descriptions:

• Include the people keyword
• Add long-tail variations
• Keep titles betwixt 50 and 60 characters
• Keep descriptions astir 120 characters
• State your USP (e.g., escaped shipping, large deals, discounts, inexpensive, etc)

The proposal supra volition not lone assistance you constitute titles and descriptions that are keyword-optimized, but it’ll besides marque your snippets compelling.

But let’s beryllium honest: Writing a unsocial meta rubric and statement for each merchandise is challenging. That’s due to the fact that astir e-commerce stores person hundreds oregon thousands of pages. So a templated attack is often preferred.

This attack involves creating a template for your titles and meta descriptions and pursuing a akin format crossed a peculiar class of products. Unfortunately, Shopify doesn’t enactment this retired of the box, truthful you request to trust connected apps similar SEO Manager and Smart SEO to do this.

2. Write unsocial class and merchandise descriptions

Product and class descriptions assistance users and hunt engines larn much astir the page, truthful optimizing each leafage with unsocial descriptions is useful.

Some stores chopped corners and usage the aforesaid merchandise descriptions crossed a peculiar class of products. Don’t marque that mistake. Remember, duplicate content is an obstruction to ranking. 

Shopify has a spot for postulation and merchandise descriptions successful the dashboard: 

Here’s immoderate proposal connected however to constitute a cleanable description:

• Address visitors’ imaginable questions wrong merchandise descriptions
• Talk astir things visitors care about
• Use elemental words
• Avoid shoehorning your people keyword

Of course, penning unsocial descriptions for each merchandise and class leafage takes time, truthful prioritizing your astir important pages makes sense.

3. Add a schema markup for affluent snippet eligibility

Schema markup makes your snippets basal retired from the remainder of the hunt results connected Google. The payment is obvious: Eye-catching snippets get much clicks, and that means much traffic. 

Case studies person shown a 30% bump successful CTR for pages with schema markup.

Shopify stores tin usage product schema markup to alteration affluent merchandise results. These show further accusation astir your product, specified arsenic price, availability, and reappraisal ratings.

Here’s an illustration of a merchandise leafage with a affluent result:

And the leafage without a affluent snippet:

Which leafage bash you deliberation is apt to pull much clicks?

The former. Besides helping you improve CTR (thereby, sales), schema markup besides serves to assistance Google recognize your leafage better.

In Shopify, virtually each themes enactment schema retired of the box. Just capable successful each the indispensable accusation to beryllium eligible to look arsenic a affluent result:

If your taxable doesn’t enactment schema, see utilizing an app similar Smart SEO to alteration affluent results for your products.

4. Optimize your images

Alt substance (alternate text) is the champion starting constituent for representation optimization. It helps hunt engines recognize the taxable substance of an representation and assists users with surface readers. 

To adhd alt substance successful Shopify, click an representation and deed “Add alt text”: 

It besides pays to usage descriptive record names for images. For example, if you person a photograph of a guitar connected a merchandise page, prs-mccarty-574.jpg is amended than IMG785476.jpg.

Lastly, beryllium wary of representation record size. Heavy images dilatory the loading of your pages, which tin wounded rankings and idiosyncratic experience. You tin usage apps similar Crush.pics to compress images earlier uploading them to Shopify.

Content instauration is an integral portion of a palmy Shopify SEO strategy, and e-commerce stores person immoderate of the champion contented selling opportunities. Let’s instrumentality a person look astatine immoderate of them.

1. Blogging for search

Blogging astir the questions and topics imaginable customers are searching for is simply a astute mode to pull much targeted hunt postulation to your store.

Here’s however to find these topics successful Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer:

1. Enter a fewer wide presumption related to your products
2. Go to the Matching terms report
3. Switch to the “Questions” tab

For example, if you merchantability philharmonic instruments, you whitethorn participate “drumkit,” “drums,” and “guitar”:

This returns implicit 367,000 keyword ideas.

Not each of these volition marque consciousness for blog posts. For instance, though “how to tune a guitar” gets an estimated 13K monthly searches successful the U.S., there’s not overmuch constituent successful penning astir the taxable due to the fact that searchers astir surely already ain a guitar.

On the different hand, “how overmuch is simply a guitar” makes consciousness contempt its little hunt measurement due to the fact that searchers are intelligibly considering buying one.

To adhd the blog posts you constitute to your Shopify store, deed “Blog posts” successful the sidebar and click “Create blog post.” 

2. Product video reviews

People often ticker reappraisal and examination videos to assistance fig retired which merchandise to buy. 

If this is apt to beryllium the lawsuit for the products you sell, see creating these videos and uploading them to YouTube. It should beryllium casual capable if you’re knowledgeable and passionate astir your products.

To fig retired which merchandise reviews and comparisons radical are searching for, usage Keywords Explorer:

1. Enter a fewer brands you sell
2. Go to the Matching presumption report
3. Add the words “review” and “vs” to the Include filter and prime “Any word”

For example, determination are an estimated 500 monthly searches successful the U.S. for “prs customized 24 se review”: 

If we hunt for this successful Google, we spot a “Videos” SERP diagnostic astatine the apical of the results: 

These results archer america that searchers chiefly privation videos, not blog posts.

It’s a akin communicative for “prs s2 vs se,” which gets an estimated 250 monthly searches successful the U.S. and besides has a “Videos” diagnostic connected the SERP:

Link gathering to Shopify stores is challenging, particularly if you privation to physique links straight to your merchandise oregon class pages. For this reason, it’s often easier to physique links to different pages. You tin past usage internal links to administer “link equity” to applicable merchandise and class pages. 

Let’s spell implicit a fewer nexus gathering tactics you can use. 

1. Find sites linking to your competitors

Replicating your competitors’ communal homepage links is arguably the champion starting constituent erstwhile gathering links to your Shopify store. You tin find these utilizing the Link Intersect study successful Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.

Here’s the process: 

1. Plug your domain into Site Explorer
2. Go to Ahrefs’ Link Intersect tool and participate a fewer competing sites
3. Change the hunt mode connected each URLs to “URL” and deed “Show nexus opportunities” 

You should past spot websites linking to 1 oregon much competitors but not you:

Not each of these volition beryllium bully opportunities. It’s a lawsuit of sifting done the database for ones that whitethorn beryllium replicable. 

For example, OldTimeMusic links to a mates of competing guitar stores: 

If we deed the caret and analyse the linking pages further, we spot that the links to some sites travel from a database of the champion places to bargain guitars:

This is decidedly determination we could transportation for inclusion if we had a guitar store.

Here’s different tract linking to a mates of competitors:

If we analyse further, we spot that 1 of the links is from a database of online guitar-selling tips by Dan Orkin from Reverb.com: 

Given that Dan got a impermanent station published connected this site, possibly we could too? 

2. Write guest posts

Speaking of impermanent posting, this is thing that beauteous overmuch each store proprietor can do. 

Here’s a speedy and casual mode to find impermanent station opportunities:

1. Enter a wide query that defines your niche into Ahrefs’ Content Explorer
2. Switch the hunt mode to “In title”
3. Filter for pages published successful the past 90 days (so you cognize they’re inactive active) 
4. Filter for English pages
5. Filter for pages connected DR 30–70 sites (this excludes low-quality websites)
6. Filter for pages with astatine slightest 1,000 words (this volition destruct e-commerce pages from the hunt results)
7. Check “one leafage per domain” box
8. Go to the “Websites” tab

You should present spot the apical websites that person published contented astir your topic:

Eyeball the database for applicable websites with plentifulness of postulation and aggregate authors. These are apt to beryllium receptive to a impermanent post pitch. 

3. Create “linkable assets”

A linkable plus is simply a portion of contented purposefully created to pull links to your site. Examples see probe studies, escaped tools, calculators, interactive widgets, etc.

Let’s accidental you privation to find research-type station ideas for a hypothetical Shopify store selling philharmonic instruments. 

Here’s however to do it:

1. Go to Content Explorer
2. Search for keyword AND (data OR survey OR research)
3. Set the scope of the hunt to “In title”
4. Filter for pages with 50+ referring domains
5. Filter for pages published implicit 2 years ago

Look for results wherever it whitethorn marque consciousness to people an updated study.

For example, here’s a survey from 2018 with 112 referring domains astir however fractional of each caller guitar players are women:

This is comparatively casual to replicate if you person a mailing database of customers. You tin conscionable tally a survey asking however galore started playing guitar successful the past fewer years, arsenic good arsenic their gender. 

Once you person an up-to-date study, scope retired to everyone linking to the aged probe and spot if they privation to screen it oregon regenerate the old link.

Final thoughts

Shopify stores person immoderate SEO built in. The level takes attraction of leafage velocity and regularly updates your sitemap automatically. It besides allows you to set your store elements for SEO champion practices.

But utilizing Shopify won’t warrant precocious rankings successful hunt results. Shopify is conscionable a tool. You inactive request to bash keyword research, nutrient prime content, and physique high-quality backlinks to spot your store prosper successful integrated search.