SEO can be complicated, and you have to be a step ahead of the search engines to ensure that your site is optimised to get the best rankings possible. Make an error or practice bad SEO techniques and you could be landed with a penalty from the search engines and your site could be completely lost on the internet and get few views. By priming your SEO techniques, you’ll keep your existing customers loyal and attract new ones through the increased number of views your site will get. Having an SEO plan complemented by PPC delivers the ultimate results, but starting on the former sets a good precedent.
Here are some SEO tips that are always essential when creating your site for an ecommerce business.
Onsite Text
DO NOT copy other site’s text for product descriptions, even from the supplier’s website. This will incur a penalty from Google and lower your rank on search engines. Make sure the information’s accurate, but write the copy from scratch. To check, simply enter the text into Google and see if it exists anywhere else. If it does, change it!
Keywords are also important, but be careful not to ‘cram’ them. Research the keywords related to your product or business and integrate them into your website copy. The best way to do this is to use a tool like AdWords (which you’ll have as a feature for your PPC campaign), keywordtool.io or simply by using Google’s predictive search function to see what questions are being asked about your specific products and business.
Make sure to refresh the text on your site ever six months. This can include updates of information, editing the site’s text and publishing new articles and blog posts. For instance, the company’s ‘meet the team’ profiles can be updated accordingly, the ‘about us’ section can be edited depending on events and awards.
Clear Site Navigation
Navigation is vital for the clear running of the site, and it will set you out positively from an SEO perspective. The basics are Homepage, Contact Page, About, News, as well as your product pages. Make sure each item has a unique description and each page has unique content too. Dropdown menus for sub-categories work on larger sites.
FAQs are very important, find out what questions internet users are asking about your products or your area of business. This will get the correct traffic directed to you, and hopefully, the right conversions. This will also show you to be an authority in your field, and a bank of knowledge for your customers and users. Search engines will also look favourably on this.
Images
Images can redirect to your site if shared, but be sure to demand the correct attribution. Contact those using your image and request that they credit you if they aren’t already. Getting it shared over social media is also another method of getting the search engine ranking increased. Creating an infographic or taking quality photos yourself means that articles are more appealing and shareable. Like the onsite text, refreshing your site with new images will also ensure that your site is kept fresh and interesting. Think of it as replenishing the shelves in a real life store.
News and Blog Page
Make a space on your site for News and Blog posts. Set yourself a target for how much content you want to produce, this will keep the site fresh and interesting. If you have a staff member who fancies themselves as a writer, get them to write the blog posts around the correct subjects. Make sure these are relevant and not ‘click bait’. Titles need to be eye-catching and make people want to read and share, but not ‘trashy’. For instance, a site that sells catering equipment should have articles relevant to chefs and catering staff. A website that sells space for events should have articles about different occasions, catering and décor that is appropriate. Try and find people who are willing to contribute a few paragraphs or even a quote, then they can share this appropriately on their own website or social media pages.
Asking for link-building contributions can be met with opposition, so pitch it carefully. They will often tar you with the brush of being a spammer or wanting to land them with low quality links. State that there is no charge, and that you want an expert opinion. Outline clearly what you want and how you found them, don’t forget to tell them how this will benefit their site as well as yours. With any luck, you’ll be able to create a reciprocal relationship where you can help one another out with articles and campaigns in future.
