E-commerce websites are rapidly increasing in order to accommodate the diverse needs of a growing e-clientele. More and more people are noticing that purchasing from the web saves both time and money and as a result the e-commerce community is becoming more and more competitive. A unique feature of an e-commerce website -as opposed to regular in vivo communities- is that the products keep changing and consequently so is the content, increasing the challenge to keep up with effective SEO practices.
Although it might be difficult to tackle the issue of SEO practices for e-commerce websites in one article, here are some tips that will definitely help you improve your site:
Architecture and Internal link building
Pay attention to the difference and complementary qualities between internal link building and link architecture. Although, both are essential for increased SEO, it is imperative that the site architecture factors in search engines right at its initial design. This will allow for increased traffic to be directed towards the site which will in turn improve the internal link building capacity.
Clean URLs
A clean URL, that is easy to read and free of query strings can make a big difference both in the traffic directed to your e-commerce website as well as in terms of enhanced usability as it would be much easier for users to remember and share your product’s URLs. Both people and search engines prefer clean URL’s and it is true that a search engine will identify and list relevant URL’s to a particular search query.
Mobile design
More and more users are accessing the web through mobile and tablet devices and this fact should be taken into serious consideration when optimizing your e-commerce website. Providing a responsive platform of your e-commerce website will ensure that your content is accessible through any device , without having to build separate sites, by simply investing in the one you already operate.
Frequent usage of Webmaster Tools for errors
Webmaster Tools carry several features that can help you improve your site for search engines as well as visitors. Although you can’t technically prevent all 404 error pages, you can utilize Webmaster Tools to minimize their occurrence and create a more reliable answer for search query.
Content marketing with blog
Undoubtedly quality content is essential to attract customers; it shouldn’t however come at the expense of proper SEO as it would be buried in the search results. Try to connect your content with effective SEO practices by providing internal links to your products, frequent updates and keyword targeting.
Usage of schema.org
Utilizing standardized markup for your HTML can provide your e-commerce website with the microdata needed to facilitate the information on your web pages more effectively so they can produce results that are relevant to users’ search queries. Utilizing Schema.org frequently will assist in developing a standardized markup strategy which will align with your optimization efforts and your traffic goals.
Products description
Each product on your e-commerce website should have a unique description which will ease user visibility and quick decision making. Although some of your products can be similar there are ways to enhance their usability by adding slight different descriptions that can make the difference between 2 similar products. The description should be kept relatively short (60-80 words) and should offer enough quality description that will direct your customers to make informed purchasing decisions rather quickly.
In conclusion, one can see that although e-commerce is a challenging field to enhance optimization practices, it is however possible, if some tips are taken into account and implemented. When building or re-building your e-commerce website you don’t have to “re-invent the wheel” to make it SEO and user friendly, you just have to adjust what’s already out there and make it work for your unique needs and clientele.
By: Kostas Tsiamis