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Ever since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, ecommerce on platforms like Shopify has been rising faster than its usual double-digit rate. Be it a simple grocery store or a furniture seller, the number of stores in each category has been continually increasing for the past year and then some.
The use of a Content Management System (CMS) is by far the easiest way to build an ecommerce-enabled website which offers varied functionalities, from beautiful templates to payment gateway alternatives. Shopify, as one of the leading CMS platforms, even provides its own gateway as an option without charging any transaction fee.
In the end, what it comes down to is your choice as to which platform suits your needs better. However, smaller merchants tend to overlook the necessity of SEO optimization. After all, simply hanging a shingle online does not guarantee its success. It needs to be visible as well.
The Need For Optimization
Although we have all heard about SEO optimization, why it’s important still remains a mystery to some. Here is a list of benefits you can derive through a well-executed SEO strategy.
- Ensures higher ranking and visibility
- Boosts credibility
- Improves the user experience (UX)
- Improves the quality of web traffic
- Drives brand awareness
- Increases leads and conversions
- Reduces the cost of paid search
- Enhances digital marketing ROI
Optimizing Your Shopify SEO
While there are several ways to optimize your Shopify store, here are some best practices followed by designers and developers around the world.
Work on Site Structure
The basic structure of any website is very important because it enables the search engine crawlers to easily navigate and understand your pages. When a site is easy to read for the search engine, it automatically climbs up in its ranking as the simple structure promises a good user experience for your visitors. Thus, try to avoid creating complicated pathways and hidden pages.
Target the Right Keywords
SEO is highly dependent on the keywords you choose to optimize your store for. Thus, the selection of the correct ones is essential to its success. There are tools that can help you with this process. These keywords can be a part of your website’s page content, meta titles, meta description and even alt-texts you employ for your images and other relevant media.
Optimize your Product Pages
While each page must be carefully created with SEO in mind, it becomes more crucial for your product pages as they are the ones actually working to get you a sale. Therefore, you need to ensure that product descriptions are correct, of accurate length and share all the necessary information along with their true pictures and videos. By letting customers review a product they bought, you can further enhance your chances of being ranked higher.
Use Built-In SEO Tools
If yours is a new and upcoming e-store, Shopify is one of your best choices with its built-in tools and plugins for optimization. You can easily perform essential functions like customizing your URL and adding meta titles and descriptions, while integrate it with popular social media platforms to boost your marketing and promotional activities.
Ensure Mandatory Technical SEO
Any efforts done towards optimizing a site that have nothing to do with the content actually displayed is technical SEO. Adding your sitemap.xml file to the Google Search Console, monitoring and correcting any upcoming redirect errors, and making sure the canonical tags are used correctly are just some examples. While these do not have any impact on the content you’ve put together for the website, they do have a significant influence on your ranking.
Utilize the Blog Feature
Every Shopify site has a built-in blog feature, but more often than not it goes unused. This happens usually because business owners fail to recognize the value a blog can add to their store. It not only helps in gaining exposure but search engines also tend to send users to a site which is updated more frequently. Additionally, it boosts the understanding of search engine algorithms to figure out which topics your site has some level of authority on.
Wrapping Up
These are just a handful of SEO tricks that are widely popular among successful Shopify sellers. When properly executed, they can help you achieve new heights with your business.
Hazel Raoult is a marketing manager with PR Mention