Because they play such an important role, it’s key for e-commerce sites to get this piece right.

That said, there are three areas to pay attention to when it comes to product reviews, SEO and conversions:

1. Product reviews on your site from user-generated content.
2. In-depth product reviews like articles written by your company or by third parties.
3. Product review management.

I’ll go over these in more detail next. Use the links to jump to a section:

• Product reviews from user-generated content
• In-depth product reviews
• Product review management
• FAQ: How can user-generated content like product reviews increase organic traffic and conversion rates?

1. Product Reviews from User-Generated Content

While it can be scary letting people have free reign to discuss your products (and it can hit closer to home if you are also the manufacturer of those products), ultimately, it can boost conversions.

This is true even when there are negative reviews. One study by Bazaarvoice found that (60%) say negative reviews are just as important in their decision to buy because they contain more pros and cons than positive reviews.

Another study by Spiegel Research Center found that “the purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater than the purchase likelihood of a product with no reviews.”

And yet another example is a study that found user-generated content like product reviews more than doubled the conversion rate for certain types of goods.

That same study found that organic traffic grew over nine months simply by adding in customer reviews.

So encourage your customers to leave reviews after they buy something. Or consider other ways to get online reviews like sending samples of a product in exchange for honest reviews, like Petco did.

In that campaign, Petco experienced an 80% boost in organic traffic, in addition to a lift in conversions.

Then, make sure reviews are displayed prominently on your product page by showing star ratings and testimonials.

You can check out how Zappos.com handles star ratings at the top of their product pages, and then the customer reviews at the bottom of the pages, which is a common way e-commerce sites approach it:

Part of incorporating reviews well means using structured data to help search engines better understand those reviews.

Using the right schema can also enhance a product page’s search results listing, which can make it more compelling for someone to click through to a website.

You can learn more about “product” schema from Google’s help file here or on Schema.org here.

2. In-Depth Product Reviews

Product reviews on e-commerce platforms now feature another aspect: in-depth product reviews.

Over the past several years, Google has taken steps to curb such content, ranking only high-quality reviews higher.

In 2022, Google launched its reviews system to “better reward high-quality reviews, which is content that provides insightful analysis and original research and is written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well.”

Google continues:

How does this impact e-commerce sites? A couple of ways.

First, if you are creating your own product reviews on your website, take care to follow Google’s recommendations for creating great product reviews. You can also check out its Search Quality Rater Guidelines for more information on what makes a quality review.

Secondly, if you have partnerships where people may be writing reviews about your products, like influencer partnerships, for example, know that the quality of those reviews will impact their rankings, which can ultimately impact your conversions.

A little training in this area for either scenario can ensure everyone involved protects the credibility of the reviews and keeps them performing well.

3. Product Review Management

It’s important to respond to reviews, especially if they’re bad. This shows your customers that you care about their opinions and that you’re there to help.

Bazaarvoice data (linked earlier) shows:

• About a third of shoppers expect businesses to publicly respond to their reviews, regardless of whether their review is positive or negative.
• Forty-eight percent (48%) say brands responding to reviews improves their odds of buying the product.
• Shoppers want to see businesses use their reviews, both positive (25%) and negative (38%), to make product improvements.

Product review management can build trust. And trust is important to Google. The general sentiment towards your brand could potentially be a trust signal with Google.

We had a client that seemed to be doing nearly everything right with their SEO program. However, their online sentiment was entirely negative – they had bad reviews that were left unmanaged and a bad rating with the BBB.

We believe this poisoned their brand and their trust factor. I discussed this previously in an article on sentiment being an SEO trust signal.

Then I went more in-depth on how to use sentiment analysis to strengthen SEO trustworthiness, where I highlighted how to get sentiment data and then how to use it, including:

• Using it in SEO audits to get a bigger picture of how the brand is doing online
• Tracking the success of campaigns and spotting potential issues
• Addressing customer complaints
• Rewarding happy reviewers

At the end of the day, customers want to see the good and the bad about products. And it builds trust when businesses show they care by responding to the comments, as well as taking the suggestions to heart.

Final Thoughts

Reviews are an integral component of any e-commerce website.

E-commerce businesses should invest significant effort and time to perfect this area. When they do, they can see positive impacts on their SEO program and conversions.

FAQ: How can user-generated content like product reviews increase organic traffic and conversion rates?

User-generated content is an effective strategy for driving organic traffic and conversion rates. Product reviews can have an enormously beneficial effect on any online business’s success.

Let’s look at how user-generated material, particularly product reviews, can increase both organic traffic and conversion rates.

Building Trust and Credibility: User-generated content, such as authentic product reviews, plays a crucial role in building trust and credibility among potential customers. Positive user reviews can increase conversion rates.

Encourage your customers to leave honest reviews about their purchases to build up your brand and draw new visitors to your site.

Enhancing Search Engine Visibility: User-generated content, including product reviews, has a positive impact on organic traffic.

Search engines value fresh, relevant content, and user-generated reviews contribute to this aspect. When customers leave reviews with relevant keywords and phrases, it enhances the visibility of your website in search engine results.

This increased visibility drives more organic traffic to your site, exposing your products or services to a wider audience.

Generating Social Proof: Consumers today tend to put greater stock in opinions and experiences shared by their peers, and social proof provided by user-generated content such as product reviews can be an effective tool in shaping the purchasing decisions of potential customers.

Positive reviews act as endorsements and recommendations, creating a sense of authenticity and reliability around your brand. By showcasing user-generated content prominently on your website, you can harness the persuasive power of social proof to drive conversions.

Leveraging User-Generated Content for SEO: Integration of user-generated content (particularly product reviews) into your SEO strategy can produce remarkable results.

Structured data, schema markup and other elements play a pivotal role in helping search engines index and interpret this type of user-generated material. Implementing the appropriate schema markup can result in rich snippets and enhanced search result listings, increasing the click-through rate and attracting more organic traffic.

Content created by users can have an enormously positive effect on organic traffic and SEO. You can take advantage of user-generated material by encouraging customers to post reviews on your website, prominently display them and implement structured data to search engines.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Leveraging User-Generated Content to Boost Organic Traffic and Conversion Rates

1. Encourage customers to leave product reviews after making a purchase.
2. Implement a user-friendly review system on your website to facilitate review submission.
3. Regularly monitor and moderate user-generated content to ensure authenticity and relevance.
4. Showcase positive reviews prominently on your product pages to build trust and credibility.
5. Use relevant keywords and phrases in your product review requests to enhance search engine visibility.
6. Implement structured data and schema markup to help search engines understand and index user-generated content effectively.
7. Optimize your website’s metadata and tags with relevant keywords from user-generated reviews.
8. Encourage customers to post reviews about your business on social media platforms like Twitter.
9. Give prompt and positive responses to both positive and negative customer feedback.
10. Create social proof by sharing user-generated content such as testimonials and reviews across your marketing channels.
11. Utilize user-generated content as part of your email marketing strategies to increase click-through rates and clicks-per-open rates.
12. Collaborate with industry experts and influencers to produce high-quality user-generated materials.
13. Consider offering discounts or points of loyalty to customers who provide reviews on products.
14. Be sure to update and optimize your product review system regularly to provide users with an enjoyable experience.
15. Utilizing analytical tools and KPIs, you can monitor the effects of user-generated content on organic traffic, conversion rate and other key metrics.

Follow these steps to enhance the effectiveness of user-generated material, organic traffic, conversion rates and brand engagement.

The post 3 Types of E-commerce Product Reviews for SEO + Conversions appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

That’s what ecommerce SEO does for your online store. It sets up your products to be found easily by shoppers searching online.

But ecommerce sites face unique challenges versus their B2B counterparts. So you might be wondering if and how SEO works on an ecommerce site.

The good news is that SEO is for every website — it addresses the specific needs of an ecommerce site to help increase its visibility in the search results and boost conversions.

In this article, I’ll go over the basics of SEO ecommerce, why it’s important and how to get started. By implementing the ideas in this list, you can help ensure people don’t just find you, but they stick around long enough to shop.

What Is Ecommerce SEO?

Ecommerce search engine optimization is the process of optimizing an online store to improve its visibility and organic rankings in the search engine results pages.

This is in contrast with digital ads, for example, where you pay to play in the search engine results.

With ecommerce SEO, the focus is predominantly adapting the website strategy to the transactional (sales) intent of people’s search engine queries, and to an audience that’s ready to buy.

Ecommerce SEO techniques include a mix of on-page, technical and off-page optimizations.

Keep in mind that each website and business is unique, and that SEO is a complex process that involves hundreds of interdependent variables.

Therefore, SEO best practices do exist for ecommerce sites, and we also customize strategies for each individual ecommerce site.

Why Is Ecommerce SEO Important?

If you’re in the business of ecommerce, you are likely no stranger to paying for digital ads.

But what would happen if you turned your ads off tomorrow? The answer is you’d disappear from the search results, never to be seen again.

That is, unless you invested in SEO.

SEO helps you claim more real estate on the search engine results pages (SERPs). And it helps you drive longer term traffic to your website. (See: What Is a Whole-SERP Strategy?)

Ecommerce SEO Makes You Less Dependent on Ads

Without SEO:

1. Online stores may become virtually invisible on SERPs.
2. Ecommerce sites lose significant traffic to competitors.
3. Potential sales are left on the table and growth stagnates.

Don’t get me wrong, pay-per-click ads are almost a necessity in the ecommerce world. Ecommerce brands are expected to spend about $38 billion on digital ads by the end of 2024.

But imagine if you could build up your organic search traffic as well, so you weren’t *so* reliant on digital ads.

Ecommerce SEO Is More Than Product Descriptions

Also consider the different ways you could engage with your target audience when you’re not just driving them to product pages, but other helpful resources.

Remember: SEO is designed to support every stage in the customer journey.

Just see one article in Nordstrom’s content strategy, below:

Ecommerce SEO Is About the User Experience

Once people get to your ecommerce website, you want the experience to be as smooth as possible.

There are already enough hurdles to jump through to get a person to put an item in their cart, and then actually check out with that item. (Considering that shopping cart abandonment hovers at around 70%.)

A poor user experience can cost you conversions. Consider the ski brand Rossignol, which was able to realize a 94% year-on-year lift in conversions by making its site faster.

SEO works to not only draw traffic in, but guide you in how to structure your website for a better user experience.

How Do You Do Ecommerce SEO? 12 Steps

Ecommerce sites stand to benefit from some of the same tried-and-true SEO strategies that benefit any type of site.

But there are also some special SEO tactics reserved just for ecommerce sites.

While there are countless SEO strategies to apply to ecommerce websites, here are 12 to get right:

1. SEO siloing
2. Core web vitals
3. HTTPS
4. A mobile-friendly site
5. Long-tail keywords
6. Helpful, quality content
7. On-page SEO
8. Structured data
9. Handling duplicate content
10. Handling out-of-stock items
11. Google Merchant
12. Reviews

1. SEO Siloing

If you walked into a library and none of the books were categorized, finding the right information would be a disaster. Similarly, you want your site’s content neatly organized for visitors.

An ecommerce website needs to be organized in a manner that is easy for search engines to crawl and understand, and especially easy for users to find what they are looking for.

A user-centric structure goes beyond looks—it ensures every tap leads somewhere worthwhile.

Internal links guiding shoppers like friendly store clerks and clear calls-to-action make sure they don’t have to guess what to do next.

For more, read: What Is SEO Siloing? And see Google’s help file: Help Google understand your ecommerce website structure.

2. Core Web Vitals

Core web vitals (CWV) are a set of recommendations from Google on how to create a better website experience by optimizing key functions of the website – like a health checkup for websites.

CWV measures things like loading performance, ease of interactivity and visual stability during page load time. All of these impact the shopping experience.

We’re living in the age of instant gratification, and patience isn’t exactly our strongest virtue. A sluggish website can cause visitors to bounce faster than you can say “abandoned cart.”

For more, see: Core Web Vitals for SEO: An Overview.

3. HTTPS

It’s almost unheard of these days for an ecommerce site to not have implemented HTTPS, but it’s worth mentioning that it’s a ranking signal in Google’s algorithm.

For more, read: HTTPS for Users and Ranking.

4. A Mobile-Friendly Site

It’s estimated that about 58% of website traffic comes from mobile devices. And, of course, there’s Google’s mobile-first index to contend with.
The necessity of having mobile-friendly ecommerce platforms cannot be overstated. In short, you can’t ignore this important step.

For more, read: The Mobile-Friendly Site.

5. Long-Tail Keywords

Ecommerce is highly competitive, and in many cases, businesses are competing against giants like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.

Targeting long-tail keywords with quality, educational content can help businesses that may not have as many resources to compete against the competition.

Focusing on lower volume search terms may seem counterintuitive, but it’s about quality over quantity. These specific phrases can attract highly relevant traffic.
To weave this strategy into your content plan, think like your customer. If someone is looking for “handcrafted vegan leather women’s boots,” that shopper has passed window-shopping mode; they’re ready for action.

For more, see: How to Beat the Giants in the Search Results in 9 Simple Steps.

6. Quality, Helpful Content

Helping your target audience consider your products and guiding them to a decision is critical in ecommerce.

A lot goes into this, taking into consideration things like E-E-A-T, quality content and helpful content.

Writing unique product descriptions is a big factor here. Each product description must tell a story, while weaving in keywords naturally.

Imagine being able to describe a pair of sneakers so vividly that readers can almost feel them on their feet; that’s the level we’re aiming for.

This isn’t just about avoiding duplicate content, but about making every word count towards convincing potential customers they need this item.

7. On-Page SEO

Optimizing category, subcategory and product pages on your site is a foundational SEO tactic for ecommerce. There is a lot you can do here, including adding helpful, optimized content.

For example, title tags and meta descriptions may seem like small fry compared to other elements on your site but think again.

These snippets are essentially your “shop window display” in the SERPs. A solid title tag could mean the difference between someone scrolling past or stopping by.

For more, see: The Always Up-to-Date SEO Checklist and What Are Meta Tags? Why Are They Important? How Do You Do Them?

8. Structured Data

Structured data helps clarify to search engines what the page is about. This helps with relevance when they are determining a match to a query.

Plus, structured data creates rich results in the SERPs, which can attract more attention to your listing versus the competition.

For more, check out What Is Structured Data and Why Is It Important for SEO? And Google’s help file: Include structured data relevant to ecommerce.

9. Handling Duplicate Content

Ecommerce sites are notorious for duplicate content issues.

Whether it’s using generic product descriptions form the manufacturer, getting filter parameters added to URLs, faceted navigation, multiple categories and product pages, or something else, handling duplicate content should be a routine SEO task.

For more, read Is Duplicate Content Bad for Search Engine Rankings?

10. Handling Out-of-Stock Items

One important function of ecommerce SEO is handling out-of-date and out-of-stock products.

For items temporarily out of stock, keep the pages live but update them with information about restocking dates or alternative product recommendations; this way, you can retain page rankings and engage potential customers.

Permanently discontinued products require a different approach. Rather than leaving these pages to result in 404 errors — which can be detrimental for the user experience — put into place 301 redirects towards related products or categories that offer value to potential customers.

This enhances the shopping journey while safeguarding your site’s SEO performance.

Of course, sometimes 404s happen, so having a creative strategy for your 404 pages is also another way to enhance the shopping experience.

For more, see: How to Design a 404 Error Page That Saves a Sale.

11. Google Merchant Center

It’s not required, but uploading product data to Google Merchant Center may help with organic listings including rich results and Google Images.

See the Google help file: Share your product data with Google.

12. Product Reviews

Product reviews written by people with actual experience or knowledge of the product can help ecommerce websites drive more traffic and conversions.

Reviews show real experiences from real people, which can help convince others to buy.

For more, check out Google’s help file: Write high-quality reviews and be sure you understand Google’s product reviews system for ranking.

And also see our article: Is Sentiment an SEO Trust Signal?

Ecommerce sites face unique challenges, but implementing these SEO strategies will help product-focused businesses get more visibility in the search results, and more conversions on your site.

Need more traffic, visibility and conversions from your ecommerce site? Our SEO experts can help you implement strategies that will earn better results. Schedule a free consultation today.

FAQ: How can ecommerce SEO improve my online store’s visibility and organic ranking?

The success of your online stone starts with effective ecommerce SEO. Implement the following strategies to improve your visibility, traffic and ranking.

Understand customer intent: By recognizing the search intent of your potential customers, you can optimize your e-commerce site to provide the most relevant results based on their queries.

Keyword research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant and high-converting keywords for your e-commerce store. Include these keywords strategically in your product titles, descriptions and meta tags to improve organic ranking.

Optimize product descriptions: Well-written and optimized product descriptions not only provide valuable information to your customers but also help search engines understand the context of your products. This increases your chances of ranking higher.

On-page optimization: Ensure that your e-commerce website is search engine friendly by optimizing meta tags, URLs, heading tags and alt text for images. This helps search engines better understand your content, improving visibility and ranking.

User-friendly website structure: A well-structured website with intuitive navigation makes it easier for search engine crawlers to index your pages. Utilize internal linking to further optimize the flow of link equity throughout your site.

Mobile optimization: With the majority of online shoppers using mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is essential. Optimize your e-commerce store for mobile devices to improve user experience, boost visibility and boost organic ranking.

Site speed optimization: Website loading speed directly impacts user experience. Optimize your e-commerce store’s performance to ensure fast loading times and smooth browsing.

High-quality content: Creating informative, relevant, original and engaging content around your products or industry not only establishes you as an authority but also attracts organic traffic. Incorporate relevant keywords naturally into your content to optimize for search engines.

Integrate these ecommerce SEO best practices and see how they can improve visibility, traffic and organic ranking for your online store.

Step-by-Step Procedure:

1. Understand your target audience and their search intent.
2. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant keywords for optimization.
3. Optimize product descriptions with targeted keywords.
4. Implement on-page optimization techniques.
5. Ensure a user-friendly website structure and intuitive navigation.
6. Optimize your e-commerce store for mobile devices.
7. Optimize website speed and performance.
8. Create high-quality and informative content.
9. Incorporate keywords naturally into your content.
10. Monitor your website’s performance using analytics tools.
11. Stay current with algorithm changes and adapt your strategies accordingly.
12. Continuously refine and improve your e-commerce SEO strategies.

The post What Is Ecommerce SEO? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Let’s say you have an ecommerce website with thousands of products, each with variations in sizes and colors. You use the Google Search Console Index Coverage report to see a list of Indexed pages in the Google search results for your website.

To your surprise, you see way more pages than the website should have. Why does that happen, and how do you get rid of them?

I answer this question in our “Ask Us Anything” series on YouTube. Here’s the video, and then you can read more about this common problem and its solution below.

• Why do these “extra” webpages show up in Google’s index?
• How do I get rid of “extra” webpages in Google’s index?
• Summary
• FAQ: How can I eliminate extra pages from my website’s Google index?

Why Do These “Extra” Webpages Show Up in Google’s Index?

This issue is common for ecommerce websites. “Extra” webpages can show up in Google’s index because extra URLs are being generated on your ecommerce website.

Here’s how: When people use search parameters on a website to specify certain sizes or colors of a product, it is typical that a new URL is automatically generated for that size or color choice.

That causes a separate webpage. Even though it’s not a “separate” product, that webpage can be indexed like the main product page, if it is discovered by Google via a link

When this happens, and you have a lot of size and color combinations, you may end up with many different webpages for one product. Now, if Google discovers those webpages URLs, then you may end up having multiple webpages in the Google index for one product.

How Do I Get Rid of “Extra” Webpages in Google’s Index?

Using the canonical tag, you can get all of those product variation URLs to point to the same original product page. That is the right way to handle near-duplicate content, such as color changes.

Here’s what Google has to say about using the canonical tag to resolve this issue:

A canonical URL is the URL of the page that Google thinks is most representative from a set of duplicate pages on your site. For example, if you have URLs for the same page (example.com?dress=1234 and example.com/dresses/1234), Google chooses one as canonical. The pages don’t need to be absolutely identical; minor changes in sorting or filtering of list pages don’t make the page unique (for example, sorting by price or filtering by item color).

Google goes on to say that:

If you have a single page that’s accessible by multiple URLs, or different pages with similar content … Google sees these as duplicate versions of the same page. Google will choose one URL as the canonical version and crawl that, and all other URLs will be considered duplicate URLs and crawled less often.

If you don’t explicitly tell Google which URL is canonical, Google will make the choice for you or might consider them both of equal weight, which might lead to unwanted behavior …

But what if you don’t want those “extra” pages indexed at all? In my opinion, the canonical solution is the way to go in this situation.

But there are two other solutions that people have used in the past to get the pages out of the index:

1. Block pages with robots.txt (not recommended, and I’ll explain why in a moment)
2. Use a robots meta tag to block individual pages

Robots.txt Option

The problem with using robots.txt to block webpages is that using it does not mean Google will drop webpages from the index.

According to Google Search Central:

A robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which URLs the crawler can access on your site. This is used mainly to avoid overloading your site with requests; it is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google.

Also, a disallow directive in robots.txt does not guarantee the bot will not crawl the page. That is because robots.txt is a voluntary system. However it would be rare for the major search engine bots not to adhere to your directives.

Either way, this is not an optimal first choice. And Google recommends against it.

Robots Meta Tag Option

Here’s what Google says about the robots meta tag:

The robots meta tag lets you utilize a granular, page-specific approach to controlling how an individual page should be indexed and served to users in Google Search results.

Place the robots meta tag in the <head> section of any given webpage. Then, either encourage the bots to crawl that page via an XML sitemap submission or naturally (which could take up to 90 days).

When the bots come back to crawl the page, they will encounter the robots meta tag and understand the directive to not show the page in the search results.

Summary

So, to recap:

• Using the canonical tag is the best and most common solution to the problem of “extra” pages being indexed in Google — a common issue for  ecommerce websites.
• If you don’t want pages to be indexed at all, consider using the robots meta tag to direct the search engine bots how you want those pages to be handled.

Still confused or want someone to take care of this problem for you? We can help you with your extra pages and remove them from the Google index for you. Schedule a free consultation here. 

FAQ: How can I eliminate extra pages from my website’s Google index?

The issue of extra pages in your website’s Google index can be a significant roadblock. These surplus pages often stem from dynamic content generation, such as product variations on ecommerce sites, creating a cluttered index that affects your site’s performance.

Understanding the root cause is crucial. Ecommerce websites, in particular, face challenges when various product attributes trigger the generation of multiple URLs for a single product. This can lead to many indexed pages, impacting your site’s SEO and user experience.

Employing the canonical tag is the most reliable solution to tackle this. The canonical tag signals to Google the preferred version of a page, consolidating the indexing power onto a single, representative URL. Google itself recommends this method, emphasizing its effectiveness in handling near-duplicate content.

While some may consider using robots.txt to block webpages, it’s not optimal. Google interprets robots.txt as a directive to control crawler access, not as a tool for removal from the index. In contrast, the robots meta tag offers a more targeted approach, allowing precise control over individual page indexing.

The canonical tag remains the go-to solution. However, if there’s a strong preference for total removal from the index, the robot meta tag can be a strategic ally. Balancing the desire for a streamlined index with SEO best practices is the key to optimizing your online presence effectively.

Mastering the elimination of extra pages from your website’s Google index involves a strategic combination of understanding the issue, implementing best practices like the canonical tag and considering alternatives for specific scenarios. By adopting these strategies, webmasters can enhance their site’s SEO, improve user experience and maintain a clean and efficient online presence.

Step-by-Step Procedure:

1. Identify Extra Pages: Conduct a thorough audit to pinpoint all surplus pages in your website’s Google index.
2. Determine Root Cause: Understand why these pages are generated, focusing on dynamic content elements.
3. Prioritize Canonical Tag: Emphasize the use of the canonical tag as the primary solution for near-duplicate content.
4. Implement Canonical Tags: Apply canonical tags to all relevant pages, specifying the preferred version for consolidation.
5. Check Google Recommendations: Align strategies with Google’s guidelines, ensuring compatibility and adherence.
6. Evaluate Robots.txt Option: Understand the limitations and potential drawbacks before considering robots.txt.
7. Deploy Robots Meta Tag: Use robot meta tags strategically to control indexing on specific pages if necessary.
8. Balance SEO Impact: Consider the impact of each solution on SEO and user experience for informed decision-making.
9. Regular Monitoring: Establish a routine to monitor index changes and assess the effectiveness of implemented strategies.
10. Iterative Optimization: Continuously refine and optimize strategies based on evolving site dynamics and Google algorithms.

Continue refining and adapting these steps based on your website’s unique characteristics and changing SEO landscapes.

The post How Do I Get Rid of Extra Pages in the Google Index? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

SEO plays a big role in attracting more people to your e-commerce website. But as a beginner, it’s easy to make common mistakes.

In this article, I’ll talk about three e-commerce SEO mistakes and how to avoid them, including:

1. Bad website architecture
2. Thin content on category pages
3. Manufacturer product descriptions

FAQ: How can I avoid making e-commerce SEO mistakes and enhance my online store visibility? 

1. Bad Website Architecture

E-commerce websites have a lot of content to manage. It’s critical that search engines and website visitors easily access the content.

Getting this right can improve user experience as well as the website’s relevance for key search terms, which can lead to more conversions.

This is the concept of SEO siloing – a technique I invented more than two decades ago.

For example, say you sell clothing. Logically, you would split the clothing into men, women, kids – and whatever else the top categories need to be based on research.

Within each section, you’d have subcategories that might fall into buckets – for men; this might look like shirts, shorts and jeans.

Within each subcategory, visitors can then apply useful filters to further refine their results.

Having an organized information architecture such as this is just the start. E-commerce websites need to make sure their internal linking practices in each category follow SEO siloing best practices.

The internal linking structure is an important part of making SEO siloing work. That means following directions like only linking up to top-level landing pages between categories and not interlinking between subpages.

You can see an example of what this might look like below for a fictional power tools site with electric power tools and gas-powered tools as two distinct categories.

The electric saws subpage can effectively link up to the top-level landing page in the gas-powered tools silo – but it shouldn’t link to the gas-powered saws subpage.

The complexities of siloing are far too great to cover in this article alone, but when done right, SEO siloing is a great way for ecommerce sites to create a search engine-friendly and user-friendly website.

For more information on how to get started with siloing, check out: SEO Siloing: What, Why, How

2. Thin Content on Category Pages

Category pages are often filled with product images and product names only from an SEO perspective, which leaves those pages with thin content.

This can be problematic because category pages tend to target the popular queries that people use often (for example, “men’s shorts”).

Adding some keyword-rich content (so long as it is incorporated in a natural and helpful way) is a great way to create more relevance for those category pages in a search.

How you execute this can vary, depending on the website’s unique needs and limitations.

For example, you could add text at the top of the page, highlighting the features and benefits of the category. You could also put text at the bottom of the page.

Or, you could sprinkle the keyword-rich text throughout, including in the heading tags and in callout sections.

Check out how Tiffany.com handles it for their “diamond necklace” category page – using callouts to incorporate text. There’s more than one instance on the page, too:

Or check out Tiffany.com’s “engagement ring” category page, where they insert informative text at the top:

In short: Whenever possible, incorporate text on key pages that are helpful and include keyword-rich content.

3. Manufacturer Product Descriptions

Using the product descriptions provided by the manufacturer might be tempting because it’s quick, but it’s not ideal.

First, know that you have a big opportunity on your product pages to inform and convert. Take the time to write unique descriptions that show off your brand and what makes the products special.

Putting in the work to understand your target audience will help you craft product descriptions that offer key information and move your shoppers to the next step – the shopping cart.

This is another place where you can infuse relevant keywords into the page as well.

Check out my article on how to create an e-commerce webpage that drives organic traffic and conversions for more tips on how to craft product descriptions, including the following:

1. Write unique and compelling content: Write product descriptions that match your brand and your target audience and are unique from the manufacturer’s descriptions.
2. Create short and long versions: Cater to those who like to get information fast and those who want to dive deeper.
3. Use heading tags: Breaking up the page with header tags makes an easier to read for visitors and search engines.
4. Focus on features and benefits: Features are most commonly covered in product descriptions, but what do they allow your audience to do? This is the sweet spot.
5. Use bullet points: Bullet points help people scan quickly for what they need.
6. Include FAQs: FAQs help customers make decisions and can boost visibility in the search results when marked up with schema.

Next, let’s consider Google’s “helpful content” update. The helpful content update is meant to better rank original and quality content.

And Google specifically says this can improve rankings related to e-commerce:

“This ranking update will help make sure that unoriginal, low-quality content doesn’t rank highly in Search, and our testing has found it will especially improve results related to online education, as well as arts and entertainment, shopping, and tech-related content.”

This update no doubt aims to get rid of, among other things, those affiliate sites that offer little value when searching for products on Google.

But regardless of how algorithms may handle product pages, it’s important to always put the potential customer first – what do they need to make a decision?

When you do, you can boost both organic traffic and conversions.

Final Thoughts

Starting out in e-commerce SEO presents many unique challenges. Common mistakes that e-commerce sites make that can negatively impact SEO include the three areas I discussed in this article – but there are more.

By providing helpful content on category pages, writing unique product descriptions and having an SEO- and user-friendly website architecture, you can improve your website’s visibility in the search results, engage more customers, and increase sales.

Interested in adding SEO to your e-commerce site? Talk to us. We can help.

FAQ: How can I avoid making e-commerce SEO mistakes and enhance my online store’s visibility?

In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, ensuring the visibility of your online store is crucial for business success. Avoiding common SEO mistakes can significantly enhance your store’s online presence and attract more potential customers.

One of the cardinal sins in e-commerce SEO is neglecting proper keyword research. Failing to identify the right keywords relevant to your products or services can lead to poor search engine rankings and missed opportunities. To avoid this mistake, invest time in thorough keyword research. Utilize tools like Google Keyword Planner and analyze your competitors’ keywords to uncover high-traffic, relevant terms to target.

Another common pitfall is overlooking on-page optimization. Neglecting to optimize product descriptions, meta titles, and headings with appropriate keywords can negatively impact your store’s visibility. Craft compelling, keyword-rich descriptions that cater to search engines and engage potential buyers. Don’t forget to optimize images by using descriptive alt text to improve accessibility and search engine crawlers’ understanding.

A major misstep many e-commerce websites make is ignoring the importance of mobile optimization. With a significant portion of online shopping occurring on mobile devices, a non-responsive website can drive away potential customers. Ensure your store’s responsive design provides a seamless and user-friendly experience across various screen sizes.

User-generated content, such as reviews and ratings, is vital in e-commerce SEO. Overlooking these can harm your online store’s credibility and search rankings. Encourage customers to leave reviews and ratings and engage with them by responding to positive and negative feedback. This improves your store’s visibility and fosters trust among your audience.

Lastly, a common blunder is ignoring the power of backlinks. Building a strong network of high-quality backlinks from reputable websites can significantly boost your store’s authority in the eyes of search engines. Seek opportunities for guest posting, collaborations, and partnerships to earn valuable backlinks that drive organic traffic to your e-commerce site.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Enhancing Your Online Store’s Visibility through E-commerce SEO

1. Keyword Research: Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify relevant product or service keywords.
2. Competitor Analysis: Study competitors’ keywords to discover high-traffic terms you might have missed.
3. On-Page Optimization: Optimize product descriptions, meta titles and headings with chosen keywords.
4. Compelling Descriptions: Craft engaging product descriptions that appeal to search engines and customers.
5. Image Optimization: Use descriptive alt text for images to improve accessibility and SEO.
6. Mobile Responsiveness: Ensure your online store design is responsive and user-friendly on all devices.
7. User-Generated Content: Encourage customers to leave reviews and ratings for your products.
8. Feedback Engagement: Respond to customer feedback, building trust and credibility.
9. Backlink Building: Seek guest post and collaboration opportunities to earn authoritative backlinks.
10. Quality Over Quantity: Focus on obtaining backlinks from reputable websites rather than low-quality sources.
11. Content Quality: Create high-quality, relevant content that attracts organic traffic and encourages sharing.
12. Internal Linking: Interlink your product pages to guide users and distribute SEO value.
13. Site Speed Optimization: Ensure fast loading times for better user experience and search ranking.
14. Structured Data Markup: Implement structured data to enhance how search engines display your products.
15. Social Media Integration: Share your products on social platforms to increase visibility and engagement.
16. Regular Updates: Keep your product inventory and content up-to-date to maintain relevancy.
17. Monitoring and Analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics to track traffic, user behavior and site performance.
18. Adaptation and Improvement: Continuously adjust your SEO strategy based on data insights.
19. Technical SEO Audit: Conduct regular audits to identify and fix technical issues that may impact visibility.
20. Stay Updated: Keep up with evolving SEO trends and algorithm changes for ongoing success.

By following these detailed steps, you can proactively enhance your online store’s visibility, attract more organic traffic and drive the growth of your e-commerce business.

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