The Importance of SEO in E-commerce
Every website has the potential to be successful if it is found by the right audience. Companies that sell products at their own stores have this advantage, but companies that rely on selling through third-party websites do not have the same luxury.
This means eCommerce SEO becomes increasingly important for online retailers with each passing year. They need people to find their product pages. It is how they will turn visitors into paying customers.
Ecommerce SEO allows online retailers to have their websites seen by search engine users. There are many types of searches that happen on a daily basis that drive traffic to eCommerce stores, but the most common are local, organic, and paid advertisements. Each type of search has its own unique process and its own advantages and disadvantages.
When a search is entered into Google, Bing, or another search engine it is called a keyword query. The results returned to the user in order of relevancy to the search words entered. This is why when someone searches for “men’s jackets” they see results that are related to men’s jackets and not women’s.
Each time a search is conducted, the search engines use complex algorithms to determine which websites should be listed as results for that particular query. The goal of eCommerce SEO companies is to help their clients get as high up those lists as possible so they can be seen by the widest audience possible. By using organic, local, or paid search, companies are able to bring traffic to their eCommerce website.
When conducting an eCommerce SEO campaign, there are three basic considerations that must be thought about. They are on-page optimization, off-page optimization, and the actual product pages.
On-page Factors
On-page factors that need to be considered include meta tags, title tags, headings, alt tags, images, and the content itself. These are all elements of a website that are within its control. They are simple to change but have a huge impact on how effective an eCommerce SEO campaign can be because they help search engines determine what the site is about.
Off-page Factors
Off-page factors include backlinks, social media accounts, and online reviews. These elements of a website are not controlled by the site owners, but they can help or hurt eCommerce SEO efforts.
The product pages themselves must also be considered as part of an eCommerce SEO campaign because there is a chance that they can affect rankings in a positive way if done correctly. The most important factor to consider on this front is that they must receive traffic. These pages are not ranked because of how beautiful they are, but because people have clicked on them, increasing their popularity over time.
All in all, there are multiple factors to consider when it comes to eCommerce SEO. There is no one size fits all answer, but if these areas are addressed properly, there is a good chance that websites can see their traffic increase dramatically.
Now that we have talked about some of the elements of eCommerce SEO, we want to talk about what makes an effective campaign and who should be involved in one. Since this type of search runs on algorithmic data and popularity, there is no need for human input into determining where a website should rank for a particular search query. Therefore, it is better if the eCommerce SEO agency is able to write their own algorithms to make sure that they are getting as many customers as possible without wasting too much time or money.
A good eCommerce SEO campaign will also include organic marketing. This means taking advantage of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. While running paid ads can garner quick results, it is better to have a good following of people who are actively promoting your company because they believe in it. This makes future marketing efforts much easier than if social media accounts are neglected for months on end after an eCommerce SEO campaign has ended.
As one can see, eCommerce SEO is not a simple campaign in which an agency can post some articles on various blogs and make calls to their old client list. It is a complex effort that requires deep pockets, time commitments, and smart decision-making. A company needs to find the best eCommerce SEO company that understands this process completely before they will see any real results from their efforts.
Experience with Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is one of the most important steps in an eCommerce marketing strategy. If marketing efforts are not driving conversions, store owners should definitely be looking at CRO. In fact, a shocking statistic from an online retailer, Shopify, found that 70% of companies plan to increase their budget for CRO by up to 50% in the upcoming year.
Enterprise eCommerce businesses, like Target, are even using CRO to help them increase revenue! Now that’s impressive (and profitable)!
However, not all eCommerce businesses can afford or need to work with an agency for their eCommerce SEO needs. Luckily there are many tools available today that make CRO accessible to everyone, including ourselves here at sealers.
So why should you care about CRO? It will help you make more money! The goal of eCommerce is to sell. So if your business is seeing slower than expected growth, then seriously consider the benefits that CRO can bring to your business.
I recently wrote an article about the benefits of CRO. So feel free to check that out for more information
1- Cheaper than many other forms of marketing
The best part about CRO is that it can be much cheaper than working with an agency for eCommerce SEO or paid search advertising. Many tools exist today that offer low-cost conversion rate optimization services.
The right tool will provide actionable insights that help you increase your conversion rate.
2- Get Access to More Advanced Tools
The best part about working with an agency is having access to the full suite of their tools. This means getting access to paid search, SEO, social media management, email marketing and more depending on your needs.
However, eCommerce businesses are quite often operating on a tight budget, especially SMBs (Small-Medium Businesses). If this is the case, then CRO can be incredibly valuable. But what is it possible to do on your own without spending an arm and a leg?
Well, with CRO you will not only get access to advanced conversion rate optimization tools that help you increase your conversion rate but also tools that help you get more out of your paid search efforts. These conversion rate optimization tools will provide actionable insights on how to increase revenue from your paid search campaigns by showing you which ads and keywords are the most profitable for your business.
3- Optimize Different Elements on Your Store
Both CRO and eCommerce SEO has a similar goal of increasing your eCommerce store’s revenue. However, the two are different in how they approach this goal.
More specifically, CRO is used to optimize each element of your store so that it ultimately attracts customers to take action. This means reviewing elements such as keywords, product descriptions, calls to action, and more! Ecommerce SEO uses similar tactics for optimizing your store’s elements but the goal is to drive relevant traffic to your site, instead of conversions.
The most important thing to note here is that both CRO and eCommerce SEO are crucial parts of any eCommerce marketing strategy.
Conversion rate optimization is the future of eCommerce SEO! It not only helps you make more money but can also help you get more from your paid search efforts. Currently, CRO is one of the most powerful tactics available to eCommerce businesses that are looking for a long-term growth strategy.
4- Increases Customer Lifetime Value
Ecommerce revenue can be broken down into three different sources: customer acquisition cost, conversion rate, and average order value.
Customer acquisition cost refers to how much it costs your business to acquire a new customer. This cost includes all of the expenses of marketing and advertising that you spent on getting that customer. Usually, this is represented as a percentage of the average order value (AOV).
Conversion rate refers to how many people who visit your site actually end up buying something from your store. On the other hand, average order value refers to how much money is spent per customer.
In an ideal world, all three elements of eCommerce revenue would increase simultaneously. For example, if the conversion rate and AOV both go up, then your business will see a decrease in customer acquisition cost or CAC! This means that you can spend more on marketing, acquire more customers and make more money without worrying about losing any of your existing revenue sources.
Length of Time Performing Ecommerce SEO
Creating content, publishing it on your site, and then waiting for people to discover it may be the core of what SEO is all about, but that doesn’t mean you can just put up a few articles and call it a day.
To get the most out of search engine optimization, every site needs to have a strategy. That means more than just a few blog posts sprinkled throughout the site. Your SEO plan should include search engine optimization for every page, from the home page to deep pages that may not get any traffic at all.
When you’re clear about your company’s strategy and goals, it becomes easier to map out tactics that will help you reach those goals. If one tactic isn’t working, you can try something else.
Because it’s easy to get distracted by shiny objects when creating an SEO strategy, it helps to have a concrete plan in place before you begin any work on your site. Here are some questions that will help you get started.=
How Long Should I Expect My SEO Agency To Take Before They Start Seeing Results?
It’s hard to quantify what SEO success looks like, but it’s fair to expect that an agency should be able to show you progress within three months. If they haven’t even set up analytics yet, then they’re not doing much for you.
SEO is a long-term game. But the metrics themselves are easy to track and report, so you should be able to see something happening within the first few months.
It depends on several factors: your goals, how much content is already available for search engines to find. What keywords you want to rank for, and more. But there are no tricks or shortcuts – it just takes time and hard work.
For example, if you need to attract more people from search engines, then it will take time to build up the site’s authority and relevance. In other words, it may not happen quickly.
Understanding how long a project takes can help you hire an SEO agency that fits your needs – whether they’re going to work on a quick turnaround or a longer-term project.
You may be tempted to hire someone with an impressive portfolio, but if they don’t have any testimonials you can contact, then it’s hard to know how long their projects took. If they’re not willing to give references, then that should be a red flag.
What are some good metrics I should look at once they’re available?
There are lots of factors that contribute to search rankings. It takes experience and knowledge to create a comprehensive SEO strategy. So don’t expect your agency to get it right on the first try.
SEO is based on many moving parts, but there are some key metrics you can watch once they emerge.
As you begin to see traffic from search engines, pay attention to the following metrics:
- Bounce rate
- Time on site
- Pages viewed per session
You may notice that your bounce rate is high, for example. That could be because of technical issues. Or it could mean that people are getting what they need from your site and then leaving.
Once you have this information, you can compare it against other sites in your industry to detect problems. Or learn from the results to make the site better for visitors.
How will I know if they’re doing a good job?
It’s easy to measure SEO efforts; you just need to pay attention to a few key metrics.
When you’re interviewing an SEO agency, ask about the process they follow when working on a new site. A thorough plan should include:
- Keyword research
- Technical SEO
- Content creation and promotion
- Link building
It’s not enough to check for these elements individually. You need to make sure they work together and support one another. For example, content should be useful so it gets links and shares. Links should send people to helpful pages so they spend more time on the site. And keyword research should drive traffic that converts into sales or leads.
An SEO agency that follows this framework will produce good results over time. But it’ll also add value to your site or business.
What kinds of problems do you help clients with?
SEO agencies vary in size and scope, so they can have different specializations. Smaller ones may focus on local SEO; larger ones may lead to large-scale commerce SEO efforts for brands like Lexus or Nike.
SEO is a crowded field, so it’s important to find an agency that can address your business goals. And give you the attention you deserve.
For example, an agency might offer services from beginner-level on-page SEO training to more complex link-building strategies. Some focus strictly on organic search results. Others have rich expertise in paid search and social media.
If you’re launching a new site. Then an agency that offers conversion rate optimization (CRO) can help you attract and convert more visitors into customers. If your site already has traffic but low engagement rates. Then they could help you figure out why people aren’t sticking around or buying from you.
