But how do you do SEO for e-commerce effectively? What are the best practices and strategies to follow? And what are the common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid? In this guide, we will answer these questions and more. We will cover everything you need to know about e-commerce SEO, from keyword research to technical SEO to link building.
By the end of this guide, you will have a clear understanding of how to optimize your e-commerce site for search engines and users, and how to implement a data-driven and results-oriented SEO strategy that will skyrocket your online sales.
Keyword research for e-commerce
Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing the words and phrases that your potential customers use when searching for your products or services online. Keyword research is essential for e-commerce SEO because it helps you understand what your target audience is looking for, how they search for it, and how competitive the keywords are.
Keyword research can help you:
- Identify the most relevant and profitable keywords for your products and categories
- Optimize your website pages and content with the right keywords
- Create a clear and logical site structure and navigation
- Discover new product ideas and market opportunities
- Analyze your competitors and their keyword strategies
- Measure and improve your SEO performance and results
But how do you do keyword research for e-commerce effectively? Here are some steps and tips to follow:
1. Make a list of broad topics relevant to your business
Create a spreadsheet with broad categories or “buckets” for your keywords in this initial phase. These are the main topics that describe what you sell and what your customers are interested in. For example, if you sell coffee equipment, your broad topics may be:
- Coffee makers
- Coffee grinders
- Coffee beans
- Coffee accessories
You can use your existing product categories as a starting point, or brainstorm new ones based on your niche and market.
2. Expand each topic with a list of phrases you think your customers use
Next, for each broad topic, list some specific keywords or phrases that you think your customers use when searching for those products. These are the terms that describe the features, benefits, types, or variations of your products. For example, for the topic of coffee makers, some phrases may be:
- Drip coffee maker
- French press coffee maker
- Pour over coffee maker
- Single serve coffee maker
- Cold brew coffee maker
You can use your own knowledge of your products and customers, or look at your existing website analytics, sales data, customer reviews, or social media comments to get some ideas.
3. Find related search terms
To expand your keyword list further, you can use various tools and sources to find related search terms that you may have missed. Some of the most popular ones are:
- Google Suggest: This is the feature that shows you autocomplete suggestions when you type something in Google’s search box. These are based on real searches that people do, so they can give you valuable insights into what your customers are looking for. For example, if you type “coffee maker”, Google will suggest:
You can also scroll down to the bottom of the search results page to see more related searches that Google shows.
- Amazon Suggest: Similar to Google Suggest, Amazon also shows you autocomplete suggestions when you type something in its search box. These are especially useful for e-commerce keyword research because they show you what people are searching for on the largest online marketplace. For example, if you type “coffee maker”, Amazon will suggest:
You can also look at Amazon’s product categories, subcategories, filters, and best sellers to get more keyword ideas.
- Keyword Tool Dominator: This is a nifty keyword tool that scrapes Google’s and Amazon’s search suggestions. To use it, just enter a seed keyword into the tool and it will generate a list of related keywords with a score that indicates how popular they are. You can also export the keywords to a CSV file.
There are many other tools and sources that you can use to find related search terms, such as:
- Ubersuggest
- AnswerThePublic
- Keyword Tool
- Semrush
- Ahrefs
- Moz
4. Analyze the strength of your keywords
Not all keywords are created equal. Some keywords may have high search volume but low relevance or intent. Some keywords may have low competition but also low demand or profitability. Some keywords may be too broad or too specific for your target audience.
To choose the best keywords for your e-commerce site, you need to analyze them based on various criteria, such as:
Search volume: This is the number of times a keyword is searched for per month on average. It indicates how popular and in-demand a keyword is. You can use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to find the search volume of any keyword. Generally, the higher the search volume, the better, but you also need to consider other factors like relevance, intent, and competition.
Relevance: This is how closely a keyword matches your products and your customers’ needs. It indicates how likely a keyword is to drive qualified traffic and conversions to your site. You can use your own judgment and common sense to determine the relevance of a keyword. Generally, the more relevant a keyword is, the better, but you also need to consider other factors like search volume and competition.
Intent: This is the goal or purpose behind a keyword. It indicates what kind of information or action a searcher is looking for when they use a keyword. You can use clues like identifier words or specific e-commerce pages to determine the intent of a keyword. Generally, there are four types of intent:
Informational: The searcher is looking for general information or answers to a question. For example, “how to make pour over coffee” or “what is cold brew coffee”. These keywords are usually on blog or FAQ pages.
Navigational: The searcher is looking for a specific website or page. For example, “webfity” or “webfity blog”. These keywords are usually on homepage or landing pages.
Commercial: The searcher is looking for information or options to make a purchase decision. For example, “best coffee maker” or “coffee maker reviews”. These keywords are usually on product or category pages.
Transactional: The searcher is ready to buy a product or service. For example, “buy coffee maker” or “coffee maker coupon”. These keywords are usually on product or checkout pages.
Generally, the more transactional a keyword is, the better for e-commerce SEO, but you also need to consider other factors like search volume and competition.
- Competition: This is how difficult it is to rank for a keyword on the first page of Google. It indicates how many and how strong other websites are targeting the same keyword. You can use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to find the competition level of any keyword. Generally, the lower the competition, the better, but you also need to consider other factors like search volume and relevance.
To analyze the strength of your keywords, you can use a simple formula like this:
Keyword Strength = (Search Volume x Relevance x Intent) / Competition
The higher the score, the stronger the keyword.
5. Determine how you rank in your industry
Once you have a list of strong keywords for your e-commerce site, you need to check how you rank for them compared to your competitors. This will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and prioritize your SEO efforts accordingly.
You can use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to find your ranking position for any keyword on Google. You can also compare your ranking with your main competitors and see how they are optimizing their pages for those keywords.
Some of the things you can look at are:
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- URLs
- Headings
- Images
- Content
- Links
By analyzing your competitors’ SEO strategies, you can learn from their best practices and avoid their mistakes. You can also find gaps and opportunities that you can exploit to outrank them and gain more traffic and sales.
6. Verify search intent
The final step of e-commerce keyword research is to verify that your chosen keywords match the search intent of your potential customers. This will ensure that you are providing them with the best possible user experience and satisfying their needs.
To verify search intent, you can use Google itself as a tool. Just type in your keyword and look at the search results page. Pay attention to:
- The type of pages that rank on the first page (homepage, category page, product page, blog post, etc.)
- The format of the content that ranks on the first page (text, image, video, list, table, etc.)
- The features that Google shows on the search results page (ads, shopping results, featured snippets, knowledge panel, etc.)
These clues will tell you what kind of information or action Google thinks the searcher is looking for when they use that keyword. You can then optimize your page accordingly to match that intent and provide the best answer or solution.
For example, if you search for “coffee maker”, you will see:
From this page, you can infer that:
- The intent behind this keyword is commercial
- The type of page that ranks well is a product or category page
- The format of content that ranks well is text with images
- The features that Google shows are ads, shopping results, and featured snippets
You can then optimize your page accordingly by:
- Creating a product or category page that showcases your coffee makers
- Writing a compelling title tag and meta description that include your keyword and value proposition
- Using clear and descriptive URLs that include.
- => In conclusion, implementing effective SEO strategies is crucial for any e-commerce business aiming to maximize its online sales potential. By optimizing your website , improving its visibility in search engine results, and targeting relevant keywords, you can attract more qualified traffic and increase your chances of converting visitors into customers.