Understand SEO in 10 simple steps
A solid SEO is often essential to the performance of an online retail store. Here are some tips to optimize the SEO of your e-commerce site, you operate in directly - or not - the visibility on search engines.
# 1 Identify the keywords typed by users
Google often remains the main gateway to an online store, be it SEO or Adwords advertising. And, in both cases, the keywords are at the heart of any visibility strategy. Whatever your industry, so you have to be successful for the SEO of your e-commerce site, think about the most keywords typed by users. You can rely on it for the generator of keywords (accessible via Adwords Tool -> Keyword Planning Tool), or use the tools available on the market, or as SEMRush Yooda Insight.
You will discover so many keywords on which position you to drain your site to customers direct interest in your product line. For example, in the field of shoes, searches can involve the public concerned ( "Children's shoes", "Women's shoes", "large size shoes"), the type of shoes ( "wedges", "leather boots" etc ..), or researching marks ( "Nike shoes", "Adidas").
The art of a merchant site SEO starts with identifying a portfolio of expressions to work long tail. Multiplying your presence long expressions composed of several keywords, you get ultra-targeted users. Each expression therefore refers few visitors, but they are more easily converted to customers. When a user types "man boots large leather" and arrives on your page with a selection of leather boots for tall man, he certainly find happiness on your site.
# 2 Organize your site semantic universe
You have more freedom in the organization of your store in the layout of a traditional store. But you have to organize and structure your online store shelves and thematic universe. SEO is here once again, inextricably linked to the user experience. The most typed keywords help you discern your primary and secondary categories. For example you can associate categories with targets, brands or types of products, as do many e-commerce sites.
Sarenza, for example, offers large theme worlds which also possess a semantic logic. Public (Men, Women, Children), sub-categorized by types of products, brands, styles and positioning (comfort, relaxation, weddings, large sizes , etc ...). The types of items (Bags, Accessories) sub-categorized by audiences, brands, types of items. and finally, a marketing positioning: Luxury
Each case is unique, of course, but it is important to structure its content ranges intuitive, responding to different customer research strategies. You sell the wine (in moderation)? You could organize them according to the type of wine (red, rosé, white), geographic origin and / or controlled appellations (Burgundy, the Rhone Valley, AOC Bordeaux, etc ...). Products can thus find themselves in several categories, create links in the navigation.
# 3 Highlight key products or season
The Pareto argues that in a traditional business, 80% of turnover based on 20% of the catalog. If the long tail comes regularly deny this rule in the world of e-commerce, the fact remains that certain items, certain brands generate revenue greater than or calls are excellent products.
When creating your tree, you can showcase your products and brand headlights in your menu. Sarenza, for example, offers nearly 550 brands for women and more than 230 brands for men. But all these brands are not available in the top menu. Only a selection of the most popular, is proposed. One click and the user can view the complete catalog of available brands, in alphabetical order. By doing so, Sarenza avoids diluting its popularity equally among hundreds and hundreds of categories, and make a greater popularity in the categories that are most in need: the flagship brands generate more potential traffic, but are also more competitive.
Adidas, Victoria, Nike, New Balance, Birkenstock: well-known brands (or high margin, as SARENZA) are highlighted in the main menu of the site. You must click on 547 to access a comprehensive list.
You can also highlight seasonal products: for example, a ready-to-wear website may give more importance to swimwear, to T-shirts and light dresses summer, the coats, jackets and caps Winter. For the seasonality of a keyword, visit https://www.google.fr/trends/ .
# 4 Suggest a sufficiently long and unique product description
What are the three main criteria of relevance of a website? The content, popularity and Rankbrain (an artificial intelligence system deployed end 2015). We have just seen how to optimize internal popularity of a site, highlighting the main menu categories and product types. You must also attach to the quality of your content, and more particularly the listings of your products. Take the time to customize the descriptive texts, even if the products offered are very similar.
Sometimes the descriptions are imposed by the manufacturer or the official distributor. One example is often the case in the field of luxury. You can then add content to reduce the share of duplicate content. Why not add a text that reflects your personal opinion on the article, where you describe your advantages and strengths of the article?
# 5 Lean on the content of the community
To enrich your listings, you also press on your customers. The opinions and comments are welcome and come to bring unique content at a lower cost, while playing a role reinsurance for future buyers.
You can motivate users to leave comments by reminders by email or reward system: each comment is validated a number of reward points, points that turn into codes. You will enrich your pages and unique content cheaply.
# 6 Create a branded content associated with your online store
You can also work complementary expressions by creating a blog associated with your online store that will enrich and complete the user experience.
You launch a site ready to wear? Create a blog about fashion, offering looks of ideas, tips on choosing clothes based on her figure, referring directly to the associated items. If you sell wine, you can develop pages about the different grape varieties, publish advice for tasting, reports on the wineries or wine-making methods, etc ...
Participatory content can help you to teach this blog: customers invested against promotions, invitations to exclusive private sales, or any other element favoring a special relationship to the brand, may voluntarily review.
When changing tires? Practical information for potential customers, which is also an expression typed by users.
# 7 Focus on a high frame rate content
The page load time is a relevant criterion in SEO. A slow website degrade the browsing experience, and Google wants to bring the best results to its users. Moreover, excessive load times slows the process of indexing a site. In a given time, a crawler will visit half the pages if they put a second to load instead of 500ms.
So you must make sure your site loads as quickly as possible. Try some of your pages on https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?hl=fr . While you're in the green, all is well.
# 8 Create a different text for marketplaces
You also offer your products on marketplaces? If you have the opportunity, write a different statement marketplaces. Faced with heavyweights like Amazon, Cdiscount and PriceMinister, be sure that in case of duplicate content Google will favor giant whose sites have millions of pages a strong following and a solid confidence index. You can pretty much offer the same text to all marketplaces: duplicate content will no longer be your problem, but theirs.
# 9 Differentiate versions in case of international SEO
If you launch internationally, implement a real strategy for international SEO and well distinguish regional and multilingual versions of your site. Otherwise, you might inadvertently create duplications between your different sites and unintentionally penalize your SEO. The regional and language targeting for each version is then essential.
An SEO consultant or an SEO agency can assist you in the internationalization of your SEO. I urge you to use their services.
# 10 Think user experience and conversion courses
All advice given is also part of a logic of performance and user experience. A slow site and what are your users deserting in favor of a competitor. A 2007 study on the Amazon website showed that a tenth of a second load time caused a turnover decline of 1%. Drafts menu and you lose as many users as Google crawler. Descriptive too poor and you may lose layout to cart rates ... Every SEO criterion (almost) reports a logical UX.
Think SEO in 2016 demand to always keep in mind the importance attached to the user experience and we want to bring him.
