How do I improve the SEO on my eCommerce site?

When it comes to eCommerce websites, the bottom line is sales. If you want to increase sales, you need more traffic on your website so your products can receive more love and attention. To get more people to see your products, you need to optimise your website’s performance for Google search rankings. As of last year, online sales increased by 71%, so there’s never been a more vital time to optimise your eCommerce website. Today, let’s take a quick look at how you can optimise your eCommerce website for SEO.

1. Security

This one should be obvious, but a lot of people seem to overlook security for eCommerce websites. Websites with ‘https://’ at the beginning of their URL indicate to users and Google bots that they are secure. Without ‘https://’, a website is generally ranked poorly in Google searches as it is deemed a potential risk. Another major factor is that even if users find your website on Google, your sales will still suffer because the last thing customers want to do is to shop on an insecure eCommerce site. People will not want to make a financial transaction on a website if they believe there’s even a small chance their payment details could become compromised.

2. Speed

As of 2021 the data is in; speed has never been a more important factor for a website’s SEO. This is especially the case, however, for eCommerce websites. It’s been shown that the longer a website page takes to load, the higher your website’s bounce rate will be. This means that if you want your website to rank so users can land on your website, learn about your products and finally convert into paying customers, you’ll need to have a fast website.

3. Relevant product descriptions & meta-titles

SEO titles and descriptions are about two things; getting noticed in Google searches and increasing the click-through rate (CTA) to your website. To both increase your rankings and CTA, you will need to write thoughtful product descriptions/titles and meta-descriptions/titles. Take some time to review popular short and long-tail keywords relating to your products and incorporate them properly into your content. Ensure the descriptions and titles are well written, informative and helpful. Remember, Google will know if you’re trying to cheat!

4. Ensure things are mobile-friendly

This is another extremely important factor for eCommerce websites. Mobile devices account for 50% of eCommerce sales, however, we expect this percentage to only continue to grow. As we have seen with speed, online shoppers have a low attention span and will bounce if they aren’t getting what they want after just a few seconds. If your eCommerce website hasn’t been optimised for mobile, you’re sure to see a very similar trend. Don’t neglect mobile, your website’s checkout page will thank you for it!

5. Use ALT tags

An ‘Alt tag’ or ‘alt text’ is the alternative text for the image files of your website. Unlike file names, this secondary alt text is partially used for when someone’s internet browser can’t render certain image files, but more importantly, it’s also another useful tool for SEO. When you give your images appropriate alternative text, you will strengthen your overall SEO ranking. This is again more important and useful for e-commerce websites. If you insert proper tags on your product images, they are more likely to show up in Google image searches if someone is using relative keywords. Similarly to meta-descriptions, however, don’t try and cheat because Google will know.