Is it not every ecommerce business owner’s dream to show up number one on google. Ranking first in search engines can get you up to 30% more daily traffic, so that would mean more people coming to your online store and making purchases. The best part is that you could rank number one for free. In this blog we will know how to harness the power of SEO. This is gonna be your golden ticket to improving your Shopify Store rank on search engines so that you can make more sales.
As entrepreneurs it can definitely be tough to find answers to your questions especially if you are working alone. This blog is going to give you the answers that you need to grow your ecommerce store.
There’s this joke in the SEO world that goes, “If you wanted to hide a dead body, you’d put it on the second page of Google.” That’s because the first page gets the most clicks, and no one really goes to the second page, let alone the third or the fourth.
No matter what you’re selling, where you are in the world, or how new you are to selling online, getting your store ranked number one on Google is possible. It just takes time and persistence. To rank first in a Google search result, your store’s content needs to match a potential visitor’s intent.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) encompasses the steps you would take to prove to Google that your content is relevant and that your site is worth visiting. There are three types of SEO: technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO. Getting all three of these aspects to work in harmony is the key to ranking your e-commerce store in search engines.
- Technical SEO ensures that your website is optimized for search engine crawlers, mobile devices, and has good page speed. It also optimizes your site for humans. By making sure that its structure, navigation, and internal links allow for easy browsing.
- On-page SEO is the primary method of directly telling readers and search engines what your page is all about. This includes keywords, topic relevance, meta information, the slug in the page URL, and your images.
- Off-page SEO essentially boils down to building backlinks, which are links that point to your site. The more high-quality, relevant backlinks you have, the better your pages will rank.
So what happens when you take steps to improve your SEO? The result is that you improve the quality and quantity of people coming to your store. Once Google sees that your online store provides a good experience for shoppers, they will bump you up higher and closer to that number one page. This takes a little bit of time and effort on your part, but SEO is a marketing channel that can produce the highest traffic and revenue for your business.
- Three simple steps to improve your SEO
I’m going to introduce you to some simple steps that you can take right now to get closer to that number one spot:
- KEYWORDS
You might have heard of keywords before, but what are they actually? The best way to think of keywords is as the queries that people use and type into Search Engines. Keywords are literally the words that you put onto your site so that when someone is searching for something on Google, they find you because you have included keywords that relate to their search.
You can build keywords into your page content, meta descriptions, title tags, URLs, and more.
One thing to remember is that SEO has come a long way since the days of keyword stuffing. When optimizing pages to rank for keywords, the first step is to try and understand the topic behind them and then do your best to cover that topic. For example, when I search for “silk sleep mask” on Google, this e-commerce store shows up because they have used the keywords “silk” and “sleep mask” in their product descriptions.
The trick is to find the right keywords. The right keywords will have a lot of people searching for them but not a lot of other websites using these keywords. In short, we want high volume and low competition. To go ahead and find those keywords, you’re going to need to use a tool called Google Keyword Planner.
We will look for keywords for my hot sauce brand. Specifically, I’m going to be looking for transactional keywords, which are searches that indicate an intent to complete a purchase.
This entails typing a product name directly into the search bar. These types of keywords go into your product pages. I will click “Discover New Keywords” and start typing in some keywords that I think people will be searching for on Google. I’m really going to think about the words people might use if they are ready to make a purchase.
Here, I have “hot sauce Canada,” “hot sauce subscription box,” and I will also use “vegan hot sauce,” which is actually quite amusing because I think most hot sauces are vegan, You can input up to ten keywords we’re just going to hit “Get Results.”
We have “hot sauce Canada,” and as you can see, it has one thousand to ten thousand monthly searches. That’s pretty amazing, but my only concern here is that the competition looks pretty high. That means we’re probably not going to rank for this search term. You want to look for high average monthly searches with low competition—that is the sweet spot.
If we scroll down, Google is going to give us some other keywords as well. These are going to be keywords related to our initial search, which will help us generate more ideas.
As you’re doing your research, here are some rules of thumb:
- Go for keywords with more than a thousand monthly searches.
- If your search term has too high competition, think of synonyms.
For example, instead of “hot sauce,” maybe we could use something like “chili sauce.”
- Try to go for something called long-tail keywords/ long phrases.
Instead of just “hot sauce,” for example, you could use “gluten-free hot sauce for sandwiches.”
- Include many keyword phrases, not just one.
Okay, so let’s say you found your keywords. What you’re going to want to do is put them on a notepad in your computer, and then you’ll want to actually place these keywords onto your site.
Here we are: on my left-hand side, I have my keywords I want to use, and on my right-hand side, I’m editing my products here in Shopify. Make sure that you’re using your keywords in your product titles as well as your descriptions.
I’m going to ensure that all of these keywords are weaved in in a way that makes sense. We want to avoid keyword stuffing. If you haven’t heard of keyword stuffing, it’s basically when you’re randomly plopping in keywords, and when you read it out loud, the paragraph just doesn’t make sense. We want to avoid keyword stuffing because Google actually picks up on this and will penalize your website. So, make sure that your paragraph is readable and provides value as well.
Another place to add your keywords is in your image alt text. If you want your actual images to show up when someone is doing a Google image search, your image alt text is how you’re going to get found. I’ll just add that here and click “Save Alt Text.”
This is a preview of how our product page looks to other people when they find us on Google.
This is looking super messy, so let’s just clean this up and take this opportunity to add in our keywords. You also want to make sure that you’re using copy that will entice people to click through once they find you on Google – short and sweet here is perfect.
I’m also going to include our keywords in our URL because Google takes this into account. One other type of keyword that I briefly want to mention is informational queries. These types of keywords normally begin with “how to,” “what,” “why,” “best,” etc.
You can use these types of keywords to create blog content that genuinely provides helpful information relevant to your target audience. When it comes to the customer journey in search engines, it’s important to understand how people move from not knowing what they want to purchase or what they’re looking for to making the choice to purchase your product. Users look for information before they make a transaction.
If you’re looking to buy a new smartphone, for example, you would probably start your search by typing in a query like “best smartphone,” and then you might scroll through an article that lists the top 10 smartphones.
From there, you would probably want to compare two of the products you saw on that list to learn how they compare in features or reliability. You might then type in something like “Apple iPhone vs. Samsung Galaxy.”
After reading this, you would have a clear idea of which smartphone is right for you, and you would type in a transactional keyword like “buy iPhone” to find the best deal and complete your purchase.
We understand how a customer might move from consideration all the way to purchase while using a search engine, you’re going to want to replicate this process. To do this, create a list of informational keywords related to your niche or product. You’ll want to brainstorm customer questions as well. Consider what questions customers might have.
Consider what questions customers are asking when they’re aware of your product but still need more clarification. For example, we could create an article that helps customers understand how to pair certain hot sauces with certain foods, going back to our hot sauce example. I recommend that you start typing into Google and see what suggestions come up.
This will give you an idea of common questions people are asking. After that, hit enter on one of the queries and scroll all the way to the bottom.
This is a bit of a life hack; it will give you related queries that can provide article ideas that are validated because you know people are searching for them.
Once you have your keywords, the next step is to create thoughtful and value-packed blog articles with original photos that help drive visitors from awareness to consideration to transaction. We want to move them through that with our content.
Consider making:
- Step-by-step tutorials,
- Top 10 lists
- How-to articles
- Long-form content
- How-to videos
- LINK BUILDING STRATEGY
Link building refers to the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to point to your own website. If Google sees that other websites are pointing to your store and other people are talking about you, Google will start to see your site as trusted and reputable. Google takes into account not only the number of links that are out there about your store but also their quality. For instance, if Time Magazine drops your URL in their article, that would definitely be considered a reputable and high-quality reference. Relevancy is another key factor.
If you want to get started on building links, the best way to approach this is to focus on partnerships, whether with publishers or other sites in your industry. You will want to determine who can provide and share value with you. If you know someone who reviews hot sauces and you want to promote your hot sauce products, a simple email introduction can be the start of a mutually beneficial relationship.
When you’re reaching out, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- In your pitch email, start by explaining: What’s in it for them?
They have a blog post with links to products that are out of date, products that no longer exist, or are missing something vital. You need to give them a reason to consider your request to feature your products in their content. Secondly, make sure you are not requesting links from people who are your competitors. This might sound obvious, but sometimes it’s not.
For example, if you’re selling hot sauces, ensure that the people writing the article on the top 10 hot sauces are not also selling their own hot sauces. This will help you avoid wasting your time.
- Foundational Links:
Foundational links are from social media profiles, business directories, and niche directories. If you haven’t already signed up for social media accounts like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. It’s also recommended that you create a profile for Google My Business. Even if you don’t have a physical retail store, this will help you improve your local SEO, which can attract more local customers. The SEO benefits from foundational links are relatively small, but this setup is easy and will increase your discoverability.
- Pitch Gift Guides:
Gift guides are lists of recommended products, typically surrounding a holiday like Christmas. If you’ve ever googled gift ideas, then you come across some articles.
Getting your products in the right gift guides can increase your sales and traffic to your website. However, inclusion in these guides does not happen randomly; it requires effort on your part. You’ll need to contact gift guide publishers and ask to have your product listed. There is no guarantee, but if your product is the right fit, being included can help introduce your brand and products to a new audience.
- PR Campaigns
Press publications have a good chance of bringing website visitors and establishing clout, which is beneficial from an SEO perspective. Traditionally, a press release involves submitting it to the media to get featured in local, national, or industry press. Instead of hiring a PR company, which can be costly, try doing your own publicity. If you have a great story or an interesting product that people want to write about, reach out to bloggers and journalists who cover businesses like yours. Although most writers receive many requests, they are always on the lookout for a good story. Make sure you target the right publications and share your brand’s story, especially if it is compelling, touching, shocking, or inspiring. Telling a narrative will improve your success rate with this tactic.
4. Site Speed
Having a fast site is crucial to prevent customers from getting frustrated and leaving your site. Additionally, Google favors fast sites and will reward you with increased exposure and a higher ranking if you have good site speed. One common issue is apps on your Shopify store. Start by cleaning up the apps you don’t use, and you’ll see a significant difference in your site speed.
Video is important for keeping your customers engaged and on your site longer. Long sessions will improve your site’s SEO performance. However, heavy videos can slow down your site speed and negatively affect your SEO ranking. To solve this, instead of using YouTube’s standard iframe embed code, use something called Light Embeds.
This will help with load times and make your site load faster. For personalized recommendations on how to increase your site speed, Shopify has a tool right inside the admin called the Store Speed Report.
6. Quality Content
Google tracks how people interact with your site. If people land on your site and don’t find what they want or if your site looks amateurish, they will likely press the back button. If Google sees that people are leaving right away, it will move you down in the ranks. Instead, create content that keeps people engaged, and Google will uprank you for this.
When it comes to home page:
- Keep it short and snappy. Instead of opening with long paragraphs explaining why your brand is the best.
- Product image
- Engaging copy
On our hot sauce store, we have beautiful photography, some teaser text, and a “Shop Now” button. This is a very standard way to set up your home page.
Product pages
- High-res images
- Specific and useful information that a customer would need to know before making a purchase.
For example, include ingredients and spice level. Quality product pages will not only help with SEO but also with conversions. Pay close attention to your product pages.
These are steps you can take today to improve your presence on Google. When you implement these steps, use a tool like Google Search Console. Google Search Console will help you track how well you are doing.
