22 E-Commerce SEO Tips for a Store in 2022

Online shopping has revolutionized how the world collects and consumes its daily necessities and luxury items. E-commerce platforms are now a billion-dollar industry. But one thing that all e-commerce business ventures must understand is that most customers will not directly go to any online store to purchase. The average consumer will first do a simple Google search for the product category for most products. Then they will choose from the options that appear during this search. So, for any e-commerce business to succeed, they need a strong SEO system to appear on the first page of Google search results.

At present, there are many automated tools and many third-party service providers who are improving the SEO practices of different online retailers.

Let us look at how any online business can quickly and effectively improve its SEO.

22 E-commerce SEO tips for  brands

1. Testing

This is one of the first and foremost things a company needs to do. Most companies nowadays have their SEO system, but this system cannot be a constant; it needs to be evaluated and improved. So companies should make it a point to assess their Google analytics to find which keywords are performing better and then use this data to drive their future SEO.

2. Do not be flowery

This is a common SEO mistake that many companies make. They use very flowery language and keywords for their SEO. This was maybe able to reap some rewards earlier. But in recent years, it has been found from detailed analysis that the Google search engine prefers simple titles and content that directly answers a customer’s question without too many extra details.

3. Use FAQs

Properly optimized FAQs with links embedded can easily be a very important factor that drives up the search engine results of a particular webpage.

4. Manage your titles rewrites

Many e-commerce companies find themselves stuck in a frustrating loop where Google rewrites most of their titles in the search engine. But experts claim that analyzing these rewrites can give business managers a lot of insight into what kind of keywords Google prefers, what title length works best, etc.

5. Provide proof

It has been found that Google uses social proof to determine the legitimacy of an e-commerce platform. Links to reviews and unboxings of products, sponsored influencer content, customer testimonials, pictures and videos of customers and products on the site can all go a long way in making a business seem reliable and help improve its chances of being included higher in the search results.

6. Reduce your load time

E-commerce sites are quite heavy and may sometimes require a bit of time to load. But most customers will not wait those extra few seconds and move on to a different site. So it is important to use Google Page Speed Analytics to find the exact load time for a page and then try to reduce it to an optimum level.

7. Create author pages

This applies more to the blog pages of e-commerce sites. Building a proper author profile for your blog will allow an e-commerce business to establish itself as an expert in a particular field. A legitimate author page will have to include the credentials of the author, links to different websites, and links to different articles written by that author.

8. Use links

Internal linking within a website can be a great tool for SEO. Google has also introduced some clear guidelines for SEO on affiliate sites like product review websites. Some third-party providers are now even specializing in business-to-business link building to increase the number of hits on a site. Proper link optimization is one of the most effective SEO tools available to any online business.

9. Make sure your site is secure

The SSL certification is absolutely essential for any e-commerce platform that wants to rank high in search results. Without the SSL certification, any time a customer tries to open the site, Google will display a message to the customer ‘website not secure’. This message dramatically reduces the number of customers that visit a site.

10.   Better product pages

Product pages are essential for e-commerce sites because this is where the customer will learn about the exact product they want to purchase and finally make the payment. SEO on this page should be dedicated to sales conversion, and proper specifications of the product must be listed in an engaging, easy-to-read manner. Companies can also test out a few different product pages to determine which records the highest conversions.

11.  Use Google Discover

Many businesses and customers are now making use of Google Discover. This is a little different from a typical Google search, but optimizing articles and blogs for Discover can help businesses gain a certain edge and establish a market for their product.

12.  Capitalize on favicon

Most people do their Google searches from their phones. Here the search engine shows a group of favicons (favorite icons) for most-visited sites.  A well-optimized favicon that can attract the customer’s attention immediately can very easily improve website traffic. 

13.  Build a reputation

Some experts believe that the Google algorithm can scan and find if an e-commerce platform has a lot of negative reviews on different sites. If a company has too many bad reports and reviews, it will not appear in top search results anymore. So, the SEO team of a company needs to carefully manage its online ratings and presence to build a good reputation for the brand.

14.  ALT tags

Adding ALT tags to all images used on a site can greatly improve accessibility for people with visual impairment. At the same time, ALT tags are also proven to improve SEO results for a webpage.

15.  Redirect expired product pages

If the company has discontinued any product that used to have a good SEO value, it is better to redirect the URL to a new product that the company is selling. All the work put into the SEO for the previous page will transfer to the newer product, also in the same product category.

16.  Live chat

Adding live chat to any site can dramatically improve the number of conversions through that site

17.  Add CTAs

CTAs or Calls to Action can be an important tool for SEO. The CTAs should be updated regularly to keep them fresh and optimized. CTAs can also be seasonal, like encouraging customers to buy for holidays or to make use of a sale season.

18.  Good URLs

Your product URL should be very product specific. Google search always prefers clean and simple URLs, over large generic ones.

19.  Long-form content

It has been found that long-form content in the form of blog posts and articles of at least 100 words, with some keywords used in it, can help a lot with the organic SEO of a webpage.

20.  Product tutorials and videos

It has been found that videos showing proper product usage and product dimensions go a long way in increasing the conversion rate for a product and website traffic. But the video size should be managed carefully so that the site does not take too long to load on mobile devices also.

21.  Go for the ‘vs’ format

The ‘versus’ format of pitting one product against another popular competitor is very useful in establishing the benefits of a product above others in the same category. It may seem a little risky, but companies that use the ‘vs’ format and highlight the benefits of their product against a strong rival see an increase in their SEO and conversion results.

22.  Build an ‘About Us’ section

An about us section is a very important addition to an e-commerce site. It helps Google Search determine what industry the business operates in and what kind of products the company sells. This will allow the company to appear on more relevant search results and thus improve the sales conversion rate for the company.

These are just the tip of the iceberg regarding SEO strategies that a company can adopt to improve its conversion metrics and brand awareness. Thousands of experts and paid services that are helping brands get noticed by the right customers.

The only thing a company’s marketing and content creation team has to decide is the kind of strategies that will best suit their business plan and venture. Regular testing, assessing, and modifying SEO strategies is also important to keep up with changes in the Google algorithm and maintain a steady market share in the face of intense competition.

So, start doing your research and spend a bit of time on website SEO so that the blood, sweat, and tears that go into product development can reach the target customer.