The Complete Ecommerce SEO Guide for Beginners

Every online store wants to thrust much integrated postulation and summation sales.

And ecommerce SEO is simply a large mode to bash that.

This usher explains what it is, wherefore it matters, and however to instrumentality it.

What Is Ecommerce SEO?

Ecommerce SEO is the process of improving an online store’s integrated rankings successful hunt engines specified arsenic Google and Bing. 

It helps thrust much shoppers to your website by improving your online visibility. Without utilizing paid ads.

Common tasks associated with ecommerce SEO include:

• Performing keyword research
• Optimizing merchandise and class pages for people keywords
• Improving tract structure
• Creating prime content
• Building backlinks (links from different sites that constituent to your site)

And more.

Why Is SEO Important for Ecommerce Websites?

SEO is important for ecommerce sites due to the fact that it helps them get much postulation and thrust sales.

When your online store appears higher successful hunt results, much radical volition spot what you person to offer. And this tin pb to much customers.

Using SEO for ecommerce websites besides allows you to:

• Reach your customers without paying for ads
• Build credibility, arsenic radical thin to spot integrated results much than paid ones
• Gain a competitory borderline implicit different online stores that whitethorn not beryllium optimized for SEO

Now, let’s reappraisal immoderate ecommerce SEO champion practices and tips to assistance you thrust much customers to your online store.

6 Tips for Successful SEO successful Ecommerce

1. Perform Keyword Research

Keyword probe involves uncovering the words oregon phrases radical usage to hunt for products similar yours online.

Optimizing your merchandise and class pages for these keywords tin assistance them fertile higher for hunt presumption your imaginable customers are typing in.

When researching keywords, wage attraction to their search intent. 

This refers to the crushed idiosyncratic looks up a hunt word successful Google. In different words: what they’re looking to find oregon summation from that search.

Webpages that conscionable the hunt intent person a greater accidental of ranking highly successful the search motor results pages (SERP) for a fixed keyword.

The main types of hunt intent are:

• Navigational: Users privation to find a circumstantial website oregon leafage (e.g., “Walmart login”)
• Informational: Users privation to larn much astir thing (e.g., “how overmuch nutrient to provender my dog”) 
• Commercial: Users privation to reappraisal antithetic products earlier making a acquisition determination (e.g., “best adust canine food”)
• Transactional: Users privation to bargain thing online (e.g., “buy canine nutrient online”) 

For ecommerce businesses, transactional and commercialized keywords are particularly important. 

Because searchers who usage them are much apt to bargain your products than those who conscionable privation to larn much astir a circumstantial topic.

With that successful mind, let’s spell implicit 4 ways to bash ecommerce keyword research.

Use Keyword Magic Tool

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool generates thousands of keyword ideas from a azygous hunt term. And you tin filter the results to find applicable keywords for your business.

Let’s accidental your ecommerce tract sells canine food. 

All you request to bash is benignant “dog food” into the hunt container and adhd your domain to get personalized keyword insights. Then click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition amusement you a database of related keywords that radical hunt for connected Google.

Having entree to each these keyword ideas is great. But however bash you cognize which ones are the best?

First, look for keywords applicable to the merchandise oregon class pages connected your site.

For example, if you person a class leafage selling adust canine food, the keyword “dry canine food” could beryllium an fantabulous choice.

Click connected the keyword radical connected the near manus broadside to spot each keywords successful that category.

Use the “Intent” filter to lone spot commercialized and transactional keywords. Make definite to click “Apply.”

Next, usage metrics similar “Volume” and “PKD” (personalized keyword difficulty) to find invaluable keywords to target.

Volume tells you the mean fig of times users hunt for a keyword per month. 

While PKD is simply a percent connected a standard from 0 to 100 that indicates however hard it would beryllium for your domain to fertile for a peculiar keyword.

If your ecommerce tract is caller and doesn’t person overmuch authority, you astir apt won’t fertile for keywords with precocious PKD scores.

Anything nether 30 is simply a bully spot to start. 

(This mightiness bounds the kinds of hunt volumes you tin target, arsenic high-volume keywords thin to person higher keyword difficulties.)

Using these filters, you’ll find keywords that let you to scope your people assemblage conscionable arsenic they’re considering a purchase. Helping maximize your chances of conversions.

Use Google and Amazon Search Features

Search features specified arsenic autocomplete and related searches connected Google and Amazon are fantabulous sources of keyword ideas for ecommerce sites.

Autocomplete is simply a Google hunt diagnostic that makes it faster to implicit searches erstwhile users commencement to type.

To usage it for ecommerce SEO, conscionable participate what your concern sells into the hunt box.

Then, Google volition automatically suggest related keywords. Like this:

These suggestions are based connected what radical are actively searching for. As good arsenic your determination and hunt past (so you mightiness privation to bash it successful an incognito/private window).

Consider adding abstraction astatine the opening of your query to get adjacent much keyword ideas:

Or adhd letters astatine the end:

Another large (free) mode to find ecommerce keywords is to cheque retired the “Related searches” conception astatine the bottommost of Google’s hunt results.

After you tally a search, scroll down until you spot the container labeled “Related searches.” It contains keywords intimately related to the hunt query.

Similar to Google, Amazon has an autocomplete diagnostic that shows fashionable searches that are related to your product.

Just commencement typing, and you’ll get suggestions:

Make enactment of each the keywords that look applicable to your business.

Knowing that these are existent searches is useful. But however bash you prioritize them?

By utilizing Semrush’s Keyword Overview tool, you tin look into their metrics. Either 1 by 1 oregon successful bulk.

Open the instrumentality and participate your keywords. As with the Keyword Magic Tool, adhd your domain for personalized metrics. 

Then, click “Search.”

The study shows the hunt intent, hunt volume, and PKD for each keyword.

These metrics volition assistance you determine which keywords are worthy targeting.

Browse Subreddits

Using Reddit for keyword research tin supply tons of ideas for your ecommerce site.

Just caput implicit to Reddit and hunt for your product.

It volition instrumentality subreddits that sermon your product. These are places your target audience apt hangs retired connected the platform.

Browse these subreddits to spot which words and phrases members usage erstwhile they speech astir your benignant of products.

For example, “dry food” and “wet food” cropped up aggregate times successful 1 of these subreddits.

Regularly browsing these subreddits volition besides assistance you enactment connected apical of emerging trends. So you tin observe important keywords earlier your competitors.

Check Your Competitors’ Keywords

Finding the keywords your competitors already fertile for lets you observe much keywords for your ecommerce site.

All you request to bash is participate a competitor’s domain into Semrush’s Organic Research tool.

If you ain a favored store, for example, you mightiness privation to cheque retired Chewy. Just benignant successful the domain and click “Search.”

Then caput to the “Positions” tab to spot the nonstop keywords they fertile for.

Go done the database and look for keywords that are besides applicable to your ain products.

Like before, you tin benignant and filter by metrics similar keyword difficulty, hunt volume, and intent. To find keywords you’re apt to fertile for and pull imaginable customers.

2. Improve Your Site’s Architecture

Site architecture describes however you signifier your pages, categories, products, and posts.

It’s an important technical SEO information for immoderate ecommerce site. 

An optimized tract architecture:

• Helps Google crawl and index each of your merchandise and class pages
• Makes it casual for users to find products and thing other they need
• Transfers nexus equity (ranking “power”) passim your tract to amended rankings

But however bash you amended your tract architecture?

First, signifier your tract truthful that visitors tin scope immoderate merchandise from your homepage successful conscionable a fewer clicks.

For example, let’s look astatine ecommerce elephantine Chewy again.

Thanks to a well-organized drop-down menu, you tin get from their homepage to galore of their class pages successful conscionable 2 clicks:

Now, you lone request to click erstwhile much to get to an idiosyncratic merchandise page. 

This tract operation isn’t conscionable perfect for UX—it’s large for SEO too. Because it makes it easier for hunt engines to crawl your full site.

A large mode to execute this operation is by connecting your homepage to class pages. And past connecting class pages to idiosyncratic pages connected your site.

Like this: 

Bonus: When defining categories, marque usage of your keywords.

Not lone volition that assistance successful SEO, but it volition besides assistance users find what they’re looking for faster.

So, utilizing the illustration tract operation from above, we tin specify categories similar this:

Note that, successful an optimized tract architecture, not each leafage needs to beryllium indexed. 

For an ecommerce site, an illustration would beryllium your “Thank You” leafage oregon acquisition confirmation. You don’t privation these pages to look successful hunt results, but you bash privation users to scope them aft making a purchase. 

Add a “noindex” tag to the HTML codification of each webpage that you don’t privation to look successful hunt results.

Further reading: What Is Noindex Used for? An Overview + Best Practices

3. Optimize for On-Page SEO 

On-page SEO involves optimizing idiosyncratic pages to fertile higher successful hunt results.

For ecommerce sites, these are chiefly going to beryllium merchandise and class pages.

We’ll interruption down however to bash it below.

Optimize Your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

A title tag is the rubric of a webpage that appears successful hunt results, portion meta descriptions usually look straight below.

Note that Google often chooses its ain rubric tag and statement to show. But they’re some inactive worthy optimizing. 

Title tags are among the astir important parts of on-page optimization. (Not conscionable for ecommerce sites, but for immoderate benignant of website.)

Google looks astatine your rubric tag to recognize your page’s topic. And it tin impact its rankings.

Your rubric tag should ideally:

• Be less than 60 characters agelong (not a hard limit, but going longer than this increases the hazard of Google cutting it disconnected successful hunt results)
• Describe the page’s content
• Use a people keyword
• Entice Google searchers to click connected it

Here are a fewer other things to bash to get adjacent amended results from your rubric tags:

• Mention a woody (e.g., “25% off”)
• Include a compelling payment (e.g., “[Free Shipping]”)
• Describe what makes your merchandise unsocial (e.g., “Best,” Fastest,” “Lightest”)

Here’s an illustration of a well-written ecommerce rubric tag:

As for meta descriptions, Google doesn’t see them for ranking purposes. 

But users mightiness work the statement erstwhile deciding which hunt effect to click on. So having a compelling meta statement could summation your click-through rate (CTR).

Here are immoderate speedy tips for penning amended meta descriptions:

• Cap your meta statement magnitude astatine astir 105 characters (again, not a hard limit, but it minimizes the chances of Google truncating it successful hunt results)
• Make each page’s meta statement unique
• Use perks (like “free shipping,” “save X%,” “buy one, get 1 free”) to drawback users’ attention
• Include your people keyword

You tin usage Semrush’s On Page SEO Checker to find retired whether your rubric tags and meta descriptions are well-optimized.

This volition assistance you travel on-page SEO champion practices without over-optimizing your pages.

Create an SEO-Friendly URL Structure

Google whitethorn show a URL successful hunt results to amusement users wherever they’ll onshore if they click connected a page. 

Google whitethorn besides usage the words successful your URL arsenic a lightweight ranking factor.

Here are immoderate champion practices to travel erstwhile creating URLs connected your ecommerce site:

• Keep them abbreviated and descriptive
• Use hyphens to abstracted words, not underscores
• Use lowercase text
• Avoid dates successful URLs to forestall them from becoming outdated
• Include your superior keyword successful a earthy way

Optimize Your Product Images

Optimizing your merchandise images tin assistance them fertile successful Google’s representation hunt results. This tin nonstop further postulation to your site, and summation marque awareness.

How bash you optimize images?

First, sanction them appropriately.

File names springiness clues to Google astir the image’s taxable matter.

For example, “dietary-dog-food.jpg” is simply a amended record sanction than “IMG_1245.jpg.”

Second, see alternate substance (called alt text for short). This is simply a little statement of what the representation portrays. And it tells hunt engines a spot much astir the image.

Alt substance besides improves accessibility. Screen readers whitethorn work it aloud, truthful that visually impaired users tin inactive recognize the image.

And third, marque definite you’re utilizing compressed images. Because ample images tin dilatory down your leafage speed.

Compress your images with tools similar ShortPixel earlier utilizing them connected your site.

Include Unique Content connected Each Page

Having unsocial contented connected each leafage increases the chances you’ll look connected the SERP for applicable hunt queries. And it reduces the hazard of duplicate content.

But if your tract has thousands of products, penning unsocial contented for each of them won’t beryllium easy.

So, here’s a template you tin travel for each constituent connected the merchandise page:

• Product name: Use the circumstantial merchandise name, for example, “Pedigree Complete Nutrition Grilled Steak, Dry Dog Food.” Don’t conscionable accidental “Pedigree Dog Food.”
• Product description: Write a abbreviated (50 to 100 words) statement highlighting the cardinal features and benefits of that peculiar product. Don’t conscionable transcript generic descriptions.
• Features: List the circumstantial features of that product, including details similar ingredients, nutritional facts, and wellness benefits. Don’t conscionable database the aforesaid generic features for each product.
• Longer description: Provide a elaborate paragraph summarizing the merchandise and cardinal selling points. This is wherever you tin truly “sell” the merchandise to a user.

However, determination are immoderate cases wherever duplicate contented is unavoidable, specified arsenic erstwhile you person antithetic versions of your pages successful antithetic languages (to cater to antithetic regions). 

This is communal for ample ecommerce websites with thousands (or millions) of products.

In this case, you should usage hreflang tags to archer Google which mentation of your leafage is preferred and applicable for each connection oregon region.

Focus connected Internal Linking

Internal linking involves linking straight to different pages connected your site.

When you bash it correctly, interior linking tin boost your SEO. Because interior links administer authorization (ranking strength) passim your site.

How bash you instrumentality a coagulated interior linking strategy?

One of the champion and easiest ways is to amusement related products connected each merchandise page.

Like this:

But you tin instrumentality it a measurement further and amusement items that spell good with the merchandise the idiosyncratic is looking at. Or items customers besides acquisition alongside that.

Like ASOS does with their “Buy the Look” section:

This attack whitethorn necessitate much effort connected the improvement side. But it tin make a much personalized acquisition for your customers.

Not lone does this amended your interior linking, but it could besides pb to higher conversion rates.

Add Schema Markup

Schema markup is simply a benignant of codification that helps Google amended recognize your pages.

By adding schema to your page’s HTML code, you summation the chances of your pages getting rich snippets successful hunt results.

Rich snippets show other accusation beneath the rubric tag and description. Like ratings, reviews, and prices. This tin marque your website much noticeable and perchance boost your click-through rate.

This is peculiarly utile for ecommerce sites, wherever you request your products to basal retired against competitors.

Google supports galore antithetic types of schema markup. But for ecommerce sites, product markup is the astir applicable type.

Here’s what the codification mightiness look similar for a merchandise leafage selling canine food:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/", 
"@type": "Product", 
"name": "Premium Dog Food",
"image": "https://example.com/photos/4x3/photo.jpg",
"brand": {
"@type": "Brand",
"name": "Your Online Store"
},
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"url": "",
"priceCurrency": "USD",
"price": "99",
"availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
"itemCondition": "https://schema.org/NewCondition"
},
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.2"
}
}
</script>

You don’t request to constitute this codification manually. There are galore escaped markup generator tools disposable that tin make this codification for you (e.g., Merkle).

And you tin usage a instrumentality similar the Schema Markup Validator to guarantee you instrumentality it correctly. 

4. Leverage Content Marketing

Content marketing involves utilizing videos, blog posts, email newsletters, and different types of contented to beforehand your brand.

This tin assistance your ecommerce site’s SEO by:

• Bringing successful targeted traffic
• Generating backlinks from different websites
• Building a well-known brand
• Providing worth to imaginable customers

To instrumentality a beardown ecommerce contented selling strategy, commencement by considering the income funnel:

Create BoFu Posts

Bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu) blog posts people customers astatine the lower extremity of the selling funnel.

These customers are precise adjacent to making a purchase. So capturing them with the close portion of contented could pb to conversions.

BoFu blog posts include:

• Product comparisons (e.g., “Purina vs. Royal Canin”)
• Compilation posts (e.g., “Best Affordable Dog Food”)
• Customer stories and reviews (e.g., “What Our Customers Say About Purina Dog Food”)

For example, favored store Chewy published a compilation station of the champion canine Halloween costumes. It lists the terms of each costume with a nexus to the merchandise leafage wherever customers tin bargain it.

Optimize your BoFu contented for commercialized and transactional keywords that your people assemblage searches for.

For example, Chewy optimized their blog station for the keyword “best canine halloween costumes.”

Which gets 1.3K searches each period successful the US, with commercialized intent.

Find keywords to people with BoFu contented utilizing Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.

A utile mode to constrictive your hunt is to look for a radical connected the left-hand broadside similar “best.” And past prime the “Questions” filter.

Alternatively, usage the Ecommerce Keyword Analytics app.

It collects information from the apical planetary retail websites. And helps you find high-converting ecommerce keywords.

For example, you tin spot which canine food-related keywords person the champion connected sites specified arsenic walmart.com, amazon.com, and bestbuy.com.

Promote Your Content

After you make your blog contented and people it connected your ecommerce site, beforehand it connected societal media. This helps you diversify your postulation sources beyond Google, portion besides reaching a wider assemblage and boosting marque awareness.

You don’t conscionable request to stock your BoFu contented though. Informational oregon entertainment-focused contented tin besides execute good connected societal media. And thrust postulation to your tract that whitethorn beryllium funny successful your products.

Chewy does this done their Facebook page, wherever they stock everything from favored proposal to canine dainty recipes:

You tin besides stock your blog contented with your email list.

A well-crafted email newsletter tin thrust postulation and summation conversions.

Further reading: For much connected this, cheque retired our usher to email marketing.

5. Manage Your Site’s Technical SEO

We’ve already covered however improving your tract operation boosts your method optimization.

But present are immoderate different speedy method SEO wins:

Make Sure You’re Using HTTPS

Hypertext transportation protocol (HTTP) is simply a postulation of rules that alteration web browsers to pass with web servers. And HTTPS is simply a unafraid mentation of HTTP.

It encrypts the transportation betwixt your tract and your visitors. And it prevents hackers from stealing accusation similar passwords and recognition paper details.

HTTPS is besides a confirmed Google ranking origin (albeit a lightweight 1 nowadays).

To spot whether your website uses HTTPS, unfastened it successful your web browser and look for the fastener icon successful the code bar. 

If it’s present, that means your website is secure.

If you alternatively spot a “Not secure” informing and nary padlock, your website isn’t utilizing HTTPS.

To hole this, you request to instal a unafraid sockets furniture (SSL) certificate. You tin get this certificate from your hosting provider, often for free.

Make Your Online Store Mobile-Friendly

Google uses mobile-first indexing. Meaning it predominantly uses your site’s mobile mentation for ranking purposes.

Here are immoderate champion practices to travel to amended the mobile show of your website, and perchance boost your rankings:

• Use a responsive plan that adapts to antithetic surface sizes and usage a viewport meta tag
• Make definite substance is readable connected tiny screens without the request for zooming in
• Leave capable abstraction betwixt links, bargain buttons, and different clickable elements

Read our usher to mobile SEO to larn more. 

Submit Your Sitemap to Google

Your sitemap is simply a record that includes a database of each pages connected your website. Including your merchandise pages, categories, and posts.

It helps hunt engines find these pages truthful they tin look successful hunt results. For an ecommerce website with perchance thousands of pages, this is incredibly important.

Many ecommerce contented absorption systems (CMSs), including Shopify, make your sitemap automatically.

It’s usually recovered astatine 1 of these 2 URLs:

• yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml
• yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Once you find yours, each you request to bash is submit it to Google.

Improve Your Page Speed

Page speed is an important metric that measures however accelerated your webpages load. It’s an important information for ecommerce sites successful particular.

Why?

Because if your website takes a agelong clip to load, radical volition beryllium much apt to permission it earlier making a purchase. 

It tin besides impact your hunt rankings.

The archetypal measurement to optimizing your leafage velocity is to usage PageSpeed Insights to measurement it and find immoderate issues.

You’ll get a people from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the better. 

There are a fewer speedy ways to amended your leafage speed:

First, minify your code. 

Minification is the process of removing unnecessary characters and spaces from your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. 

This makes them smaller and helps them load faster. 

There are WordPress plugins that tin assistance with this, and different platforms whitethorn bash it automatically. But you whitethorn request to get assistance from your developer.

Next, usage a contented transportation web (CDN).

A CDN is simply a web of servers astir the satellite that store copies of your webpages.

When a visitant requests a leafage from your site, the CDN delivers it from the closest server. Which reduces the clip it takes to load the files.

Find and Fix Other Technical SEO Issues

Technical SEO issues are a superior interest for immoderate website. But particularly for ecommerce websites, arsenic they thin to person tons of pages.

Why?

The much pages you have, the people higher accidental determination is for thing to spell wrong. And fixed however galore of these pages are designed specifically to convert, you privation them each to enactment properly. 

Use Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality to cheque for communal method SEO issues.

Site Audit tin assistance you identify:

• Duplicate content 
• Slow leafage speeds
• Broken internal links
• Broken images
• Crawling and indexing issues
• Core Web Vitals issues

In summation to identifying issues, the instrumentality provides proposal connected however to hole each one.

Site Audit besides collects humanities audit data, meaning you tin docket regular audits and comparison them.

So, arsenic you (or your improvement team) instrumentality fixes, you tin show the advancement to guarantee everything is moving arsenic expected.

6. Build Backlinks

Backlinks (links from 1 domain to another) are 1 of the astir important ranking factors for Google. 

They enactment a spot similar votes of assurance for your site. And the much backlinks you person from relevant, reputable websites, the greater the effect it tin person connected your rankings.

Here’s however to commencement gathering prime links to your ecommerce store:

Claim Unlinked Mentions

Find domains that notation your marque oregon merchandise but don’t nexus to your site. 

Then, email them and inquire them to marque the notation a clickable link. 

Use Semrush’s Brand Monitoring app to find unlinked mentions. It’ll amusement you mentions crossed the web, societal media platforms, and successful forums.

Perform a Backlink Gap Analysis

A backlink spread investigation involves uncovering websites that nexus to your competitors but not to you. 

Semrush’s Backlink Gap instrumentality tin assistance you behaviour this analysis. 

When you find suitable nexus gathering candidates, scope retired to them and spot if they’d beryllium funny successful featuring your marque connected their website. 

Because they’re already linking to your competitors, they mightiness beryllium blessed to nexus to you arsenic good (or instead).

Get Links from Suppliers oregon Distributors

If you’re a reseller oregon retail ecommerce seller, interaction the supplier oregon distributor. Ask them to nexus to your store arsenic an authoritative reseller. 

Like this:

Doing SEO for ecommerce sites tin beryllium pugnacious without specialized tools. And you request a mode to show whether what you’re doing is moving oregon not.

Whether you privation to make keyword ideas, find method SEO issues, oregon physique backlinks, ecommerce SEO tools assistance with astir each measurement progressive successful the optimization process.

Here are a fewer to cheque out:

Semrush Position Tracking

The Position Tracking instrumentality lets you recognize whether your ecommerce SEO efforts are translating into higher rankings.

You get a speedy overview of however your rankings person changed implicit time. And which keywords person mislaid oregon gained visibility. 

And you tin comparison your ranking show for important keywords with your apical competitors.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is simply a escaped instrumentality that lets you way integrated traffic, find and hole tract issues, and show your site’s indexing.

This is highly utile for diagnosing method issues. 

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is different escaped instrumentality from Google that monitors your website traffic, idiosyncratic behavior, conversions, and more.

It tin assistance you recognize wherever your postulation comes from. And however visitors prosecute with your contented erstwhile they get to your site.

Use Ecommerce SEO to Grow Your Business

By improving the SEO of your ecommerce site, you tin spot higher rankings, much integrated traffic, and much conversions.

But it’s important to retrieve that hunt rankings change. This could hap owed to algorithm updates oregon caller competitors connected the market.

To enactment connected apical of these changes, usage a instrumentality suite similar Semrush. 

Semrush offers 55+ tools and reports for each facet of your ecommerce SEO.

These include:

• Keyword Magic Tool for ecommerce keyword research
• Site Audit to enactment connected apical of method issues
• Position Tracking to show the results of your optimization efforts

Try these tools contiguous with a escaped trial.