In 2023, the fundamental concept of enhancing websites to improve their presence in organic search results remains unchanged. However, the methods businesses employ to achieve this goal evolve in response to current trends.
Rest assured that SEO will continue to play a significant role, persisting beyond the trends that emerged in 2022. Its enduring importance is undeniable.
SEO holds a crucial position in the digital landscape. Despite the emergence of various new strategies, Forbes has emphasized that SEO’s significance outweighs them all, making it a cornerstone for many business owners.

That being said, you should have a great SEO strategy as a person in the eCommerce industry. Because of the great number of pages containing products and services, you have to work even harder to make your optimization even better than other sites.

In the realm of eCommerce digital marketing strategies, SEO remains the cornerstone. Naturally, some SEO tactics that were previously effective have lost their relevance as search engine algorithms have evolved to align more closely with user intent and to weed out spammy and ineffective methods.
However, there’s no need to fret. Whether you’re an SEO veteran or a newcomer, we’ve got the strategies you require to achieve higher rankings for your eCommerce site in 2023. We’ll guide you on effectively promoting your eCommerce store to secure a more substantial presence on Google’s search results.

Site Structure

Before we start discussing how you should go about creating each product page, we should talk about what the structure of your site should look like.

Your site structure could make the difference between a customer buying your products and exiting your website. If you have a website structure that is difficult to follow, you could lose customers quickly.

There are a few common rules of thumb to follow when you’re creating your website. If you already have an established eCommerce website, you’ll most likely need to make some changes.

The Three-Click Rule

The number one rule to keep in mind is that none of your products should be more than three clicks away from any page on your site. The more clicks it takes to get to a product, the lower your conversion rate will be.

The easiest way to organize your content is by creating categories for each product and then subcategories under those. From that subcategory page, your customers should be able to pick products. This method is equal to three clicks from your homepage.

However, if you have a limited number of products, it’s possible to have just one level of categories. Regardless of your product quantity, it’s crucial to ensure that your products are organized.
Disorganized products can create hurdles in locating items, leading to customer frustration. Making it difficult for them to find what they’re looking for may result in them leaving your website.
Many eCommerce site owners need help to balance aesthetics and functionality, aiming for a visually appealing site. Nevertheless, numerous methods exist to maintain a visually pleasing website while prioritizing search engine optimization.

Simple Is Better

When crafting categories for your products, simplicity is key. Customers typically search for general terms when seeking their desired items, rather than particular ones.
It’s important to avoid overly specific categories. If you wish to provide customers with options like colors, sizes, styles, and other detailed attributes, it’s best to implement this through product filtering rather than creating intricate categories.

For example, a clothing store may divide its products by gender and then by kind. When their customers view the list under these categories, they should filter through their preferred size and color.

Having a cleaner look for your website is better for viewers overall. They won’t be overwhelmed by too many elements and can find what they need to quickly.

Keyword Usage

If you have a grasp of SEO, you understand that keywords play a pivotal role in elevating your website’s ranking on search engines such as Google. Typically, websites incorporate keywords that are frequently searched by their intended audience.
Deciphering what people are actively searching for allows you to identify the ideal keywords to focus on for each page of your site.
Employing keywords for eCommerce websites presents a more significant challenge than other websites. When developing keywords for your eCommerce site, adopting a consumer mindset is essential. What search terms would a prospective customer use on Google or another search engine to locate your products?

 

For example, your potential customer may search for “Gold Necklaces” when they’re on a search engine. If you’re selling gold necklaces, you want to optimize those pages to that search.

 

Finding the Right Keywords

Numerous website owners research keywords before finalizing the keywords for their web pages. As previously mentioned, the goal is to gain insight into the thought process of your target audience and understand how they are likely to search for your products.
Whether you utilize a keyword finder tool or conduct the research manually, you’ll discover that keywords tend to be quite broad, particularly for eCommerce products.

Keep in mind that every page on your website should have a keyword whether it’s the main page or a product page. However, you should differentiate your keywords as appropriate.

 

Short vs. Long Keywords

There is a such thing as a keyword that is too short. Avoiding these on your eCommerce site is going to be difficult.

If you sell coffee, you may think that your customers will type “coffee” into the Google search. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Keywords are broad, but they aren’t that broad.

Consider the last time you shopped online and the search terms you used. You included some descriptive adjectives in your search query.
When customers search, they often include attributes like color, size, material, type, and other specific characteristics in addition to the general product name. To accommodate these nuances without getting overly specific, most eCommerce websites aim to incorporate keywords that consist of three to five words, ensuring they encompass these details.

Using the Right Keywords

Once you’ve identified the keywords you intend to utilize, strategically integrating them into your webpage content is essential. However, avoid overloading the page with keywords, as this can be counterproductive. Instead, aim for a balanced and noticeable presence.
Ideally, your chosen keyword should appear sparingly on the webpage—less than a handful of times. For shorter content, such as a product description, one or two well-placed mentions may suffice, in addition to including the product name and possibly the category.

If your eCommerce store has a blog (which it should), you’ll need to be more intentional and liberal with your keyword usage.

 

Addressing Product Descriptions

Crafting product descriptions can be quite an uphill task, especially for eCommerce websites, where each product demands an individual explanation. These descriptions must fulfill the demanding criteria of being precise, informative, and ideally engaging.
Mastering the art of optimizing product descriptions can be challenging.
Nevertheless, we have some valuable tips to enhance the visibility of your product descriptions on search engines. The fundamental principle remains unchanged: adopt a consumer-centric perspective in your approach.

Deciding on the Length

The length of a product description does matter. Typically, product descriptions are too short.

Your products should have descriptions that consist of 300 to 800 words of descriptive, attention-grabbing content. For your more popular products, you should look at making the product descriptions at least 1000 words.

This may seem like too many words, but it is important for optimizing those lesser-visited pages on your site and promoting those more popular pages.

Remember Those Keywords

Keywords in product descriptions remain crucial. Ensure that your primary keyword, which you want to emphasize the most, appears approximately three to five times within your product description.
You can also strategically incorporate other relevant keywords throughout the description. However, balancing and avoiding overloading the description with keywords is essential. Remember, the primary focus should still be on describing the product itself.
Neglecting to include keywords in your product description can significantly hinder your product pages’ search engine rankings. While this may not appear as critical as your main page’s ranking, it is vital for shoppers seeking specific items.

Use Popular Wording

When consumers search for products, they often include terms like “sale” or “free shipping.” It’s advisable to incorporate such language into your product descriptions.
If a product is on sale, prominently mention it within the description. Using these specific terms can also enhance the search engine ranking of direct links to your products. Additionally, consumers appreciate encountering these words when hunting for attractive prices, making it a win-win strategy.

There are some other things you may want to take into consideration, such as quality. If you’re selling clothing, you may want to use phrases like “high quality” or “sustainably-sourced.” If you’re selling jewelry, you may want to say phrases like “hand-crafted” or “real gold.”

The popularity of phrases you should target depends on the type or types of products you’re offering. Conducting Google research can provide insights into what potential customers are searching for when purchasing similar products.
Begin typing in the names of some of your products and observe the popular search queries related to that product category. Incorporate these relevant phrases into your product descriptions to optimize their appeal to potential buyers.

 

Understanding Links

Just like a blog that is following search engine optimization, your product descriptions should include links. This can be a little tricky.

When you’re describing your product, you don’t want to confuse your customers with a million links. Plus, figuring out what to link can seem impossible. However, eCommerce sites can follow a few basic rules to get their linking started.

Incorporate Category Links:

While describing a product, consider linking to its corresponding category. This enables consumers to explore similar products and make alternative choices if the current product doesn’t meet their preferences.

Highlight Alternate Styles:

If you offer distinct yet related products, mention these alternatives within the product description and provide links to them.

Limit to Three to Five Links:

When including links within your product descriptions, aim to incorporate only three to five links. Shorter descriptions may benefit from three links, while longer descriptions, particularly for popular products, can accommodate up to five links.

Customer Reviews

If you’re seeking an effective enhancement for your search engine optimization strategy that can simultaneously bolster your company’s reputation, customer reviews are an invaluable resource. Incorporating customer reviews into your product pages can potentially elevate your website’s search engine ranking.

Customer reviews contribute additional textual content to your site, offering search engines a richer source of information about your products and the relevant keywords to associate with each product page. This, in turn, can positively impact your search engine visibility.

While improving your site’s ranking, it also helps build credibility with your potential customers. If a searcher can see a great review on one of your products while they’re on Google, they are more likely to click on that product’s page and purchase it.

 

Social Media

 

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Efficiently showcase your main pages and product pages across your various social media platforms. Increased sharing and clicks on these pages will enhance their popularity, subsequently benefiting your website.

Search engines are designed to discern the popularity and engagement levels of websites among visitors. These factors indeed influence your ranking in their search results. Therefore, active promotion and engagement on social media can positively impact your website’s visibility on search engine results pages.

If your product pages are going viral on Twitter, they are more likely to rank higher on search engines. The same goes for other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

The best thing that you can do is share your products on your own social media platforms and encourage your followers to share them.

You may want to optimize your website so that it will rank higher and get you more views, but – ironically – you need more views to rank higher. You have to use social media to your advantage and share your pages as much as you can.

Ranking an eCommerce Site in 2022