Examples of E-commerce SEO Done Right (and Mistakes To Avoid)

We all know the foundation of e-commerce SEO is keyword research.

Over half of shoppers surveyed in a global retail study say they use Google to research purchases they plan to make online.

This is why SEO is your golden ticket to increasing organic visibility.

How?

Think about it: Before you create your site’s content, you need to know what terms your audience is using to search for products like yours.

How will you solve their problems without knowing the keywords behind their search intent?

You have to build your content with search engines and your users in mind.

The sooner you understand how SEO is changing and adapt your strategies, the sooner you’ll see ROI from e-commerce SEO.

Isn’t it impressive how far SEO has progressed?

Jump on the SEO train with me and I’ll show you why it’s important.

Why Is E-commerce SEO So Important?

You’re trying to get new customers to have all eyes on you.

You can’t win their attention if search engines can’t easily find you.

Your site is basically the secret menu at Starbucks if you don’t invest in keyword research.

That’s why it should be the critical first step in your e-commerce SEO campaign.

One of two things will happen if you don’t get SEO for e-commerce right:

1. You won’t rank on page one—or near the top—because your target keywords are too difficult.
2. The keywords you choose won’t drive in the traffic you’re aiming for or align with customers’ search intent.

However, getting your potential customers’ attention can be expensive.

For example, the average cost per click for the apparel industry is about 89 cents. The average cost per action is right below $10 when you break down WordStream’s results. Cost per action is a pricing model where payment is contingent on a qualified specific action, like a sale or submitted form.

While cost per click generates fast, profitable sales, you could spend thousands reeling in new customers.

By using SEO for e-commerce, you’re gaining free organic traffic by getting your site to show up in the SERPs.

But there are some missteps you should avoid if you want to see success.

Common E-commerce SEO Mistakes

What are the user’s needs?

If you keep this question top of mind, you should have a solid e-commerce SEO campaign.

Here is a list of at least three e-commerce SEO mistakes I don’t want you to make:

1. Vague Product Descriptions: This is a place to fit in keywords that make sense for your product. Write a product description so your customer knows what to expect. Even when you’re naming the product, think about a user’s potential search queries. Optimizing your product pages gives them a great chance at a top ranking for items. Product descriptions provide clarity and answer important questions that encourage users to follow through with their cart.
2. Display of Product Reviews: The beautiful thing about product reviews is they’re customer generated. It’s basically on-screen user-generated content. Reviews share customers’ unique experiences with your product. The page is like a living update, bringing more people to your site. Take advantage of the SEO benefits reviews bring to your e-commerce site. For added benefits, make sure you implement product review schema so your reviews will be even more prominent in Google SERPs.
3. Non-Interactive Title Tags: Titles are not only a matter of SEO. They should line up with your users’ search intent. Focus on unique phrasing. The formula I like is this: Brand + Model + Item Type = Interactive Title Tag. If you want to see if the titles for your products are unique, use SEO Tools to double-check.

There are many more benefits to SEO for e-commerce—and mistakes to avoid. I’ve got some examples of e-commerce SEO in action to serve as inspiration for you.