eCommerce SEO
eCommerce SEO is very
similar to regular SEO.
You just have a lot more
moving parts to watch.
!
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Keyword Research
Similar to regular SEO, keyword research should be a core part of your
marketing plan. You have to know what buyers are searching for so know how
best to position your products.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Online	store	launched	without	any	keyword	research	
Haphazard	or	quick	keyword	review		
Very	broad	keywords	that	are	difficult	to	rank	
Keywords	that	not	relevant	to	actual	buyers	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Research	products,	manufactures,	and	compe@tors	
Create	a	seed	list	for	products,	categories,	and	topics	
Pull	search	volumes	for	possible	keywords	
Rank	keywords	for	relevance	
Helpful	Tools:	 Google	Adwords	Keyword	Planner	
Moz	Keyword	Explorer	
KW	Finder	
semrush	
SpyFu
Site Mapping
Site mapping is critical for ecommerce based websites, because it is very easy to
compete with yourself due to the cross over of products, categories, tags, and
topical areas.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Lack	of	structure	and	planning	
Primary	keywords	are	assigned	to	products	
Keyword	phrase	used	more	than	once	as	focus	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Assign	highest	priority	keywords	to	categories	
Create	topical	areas	for	seasonal	or	clearance	items	
Extend	usage	into	comparison	and	buyer	guides	
Keep	overall	structure	no	more	then	3	clicks	deep	
Helpful	Tools:	 DynoMapper	
WriteMaps	
Screaming	Frog	SEO	Spider	Tool
Site Mapping
Search Phrase
Ugg Boots
Results 1 – 3
Manufacturer or Brand
Results 4 – 5
Reseller Category
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
SEO Friendly URLs
SEO friendly URLs help search engines understand a website’s architecture and
the structure of the content.
They also help users quickly find products.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Convoluted	URLs	without	structure			
Constantly	changing	URLs	due	to	category	modifica@ons	
Extremely	long	URLs	with	mul@ple	layers	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Human	readable	URLs	
Focused	keyword	phrase	within	URL	
Set	limit	at	three	levels	deep	
Consistent	usage	or	use	of	301	redirects	
Helpful	Tools:	 DynoMapper	
WriteMaps	
Screaming	Frog	SEO	Spider	Tool
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content (in this case) refers to the same content displayed under
different URLs within the same website.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Non-canonical	URLs		
Session	IDs	
Duplicate	URL	paths	due	to	mul@ple	categories	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Keep	URLs	clean	
Set	any	areas	of	duplica@ons	as	no	index	
Watch	category	usage	within	URLs	carefully	
Helpful	Tools:	 DynoMapper	
Screaming	Frog	SEO	Spider	Tool	
Winter	Boots	 Adirondack	II	 /winter-boots/adirondack-ii/	
Snow	Boots	 Adirondack	II	 /snow-boots/adirondack-ii/
Product Descriptions
If you want your store to rank over other stores, you have to give search engines
a reason to elevate you in search. One way to accomplish this task is through
high quality product descriptions.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Limited	product	descrip@ons	
Manufacturer’s	descrip@on	as	only	content	
Bullet	list	of	words	and	no	actual	sentences	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Create	unique,	keyword	rich	descrip@ons	
U@lize	manufacturer’s	descrip@ons,	but	augment	
Review	compe@tor	websites	and	write	beZer,	more	
descrip@ve	content	
Helpful	Tools:	 Google	Search	Console	
DynoMapper
Category pages also need
descriptions.
Don’t just list products.
Tell search engines and users
what is listed on the page.
!
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Manufacturer Part Numbers
Consumers search for manufacturer part numbers when needing specific
products. Optimizing for these data points will help increase search and shorten
the sales cycle.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Missing	or	incomplete	manufacturer	part	numbers	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Include	complete	manufacturer	part	numbers	in	one	or	
more	of	the	following	places:	
	-	Descrip@on	
-		Product	name	
-		H1	
-		URL	
-		Meta	@tle	and	descrip@on	
-		Short	descrip@ons	for	list	based	pages	
-		Image	file	name	and	alt	text
Meta Titles and Descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions give search engines and users an idea of what the
page is about and what they should expect to see as they digest the content.
These data points appears in search engines result pages.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Duplicate	meta	@tles	and	descrip@ons	across	products		
Keyword	stuffing	within	meta	@tles	and	descrip@ons	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Create	unique	meta	for	each	product	
Include	focused	keyword	if	applicable	
Add	in	offers	to	help	set	you	apart	in	SERPs	
Helpful	Tools:	 Yoast	SEO	
All	in	One	SEO	
DynoMapper	
Screaming	Frog	SEO	Spider	Tool	
Mozbar	
Google	Search	Console
Meta
Search Phrase
site:ugg.com/uk/
womens boots
Ask yourself this:
Can you tell the
difference between
the search results?
You can, because
good meta titles and
descriptions make that
possible.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Breadcrumbs
ü  Improved usability and helps eliminates additional clicks
ü  Shows hierarchy
ü  Reduces bounce rates
ü  Helps with search engine optimization
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 23%	don’t	have	breadcrumbs	at	all	
68%	suffer	from	sub-par	breadcrumb	implementa@ons	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Implement	breadcrumbs	on	category	and	product	pages	
Style	so	they	are	easy	to	read	and	use	
Check	mobile	devices	to	make	sure	they	are	usable	
Helpful	Tools:	 Breadcrumb	NavXTb	
Yoast	SEO
Link Building
ü  Internal linking is important because it tells search engines which content is
most important
ü  Inbound linking is important because it demonstrates authority and relevance
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Limited	inbound	linking	strategy	
Broken	links	
Lack	of	301	redirect	usage	
Limited	or	no	inbound	linking	efforts	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Use	internal	linking	to	support	top	SEO	focused	content	
Use	301	redirects	and	use	them	wisely	
Build	inbound	links	to	support	top	SEO	focused	content	
Helpful	Tools:	 SpyFu	
Ahrefs	
Moz	Open	Site	Explorer
Social Media
ü  Facebook dominates social media traffic and conversions
ü  Facebook accounts for 50% of social referrals and 64% of total social
revenue
ü  87% of Pinterest users have purchased an item because of Pinterest
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Dormant	social	accounts	with	liZle	ac@vity	
Lack	of	social	sharing	icons	for	visitors	to	use	on	products	
Failure	to	build	communi@es	and	engagement	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Ac@vely	engage	with	social	media	users	
Ac@vely	share	content	from	the	en@re	website	and	store	
Build	a	community	first	and	sell	second	
Helpful	Tools:	 AddThis	Share	BuZons	
Shareaholic	
Ul@mate	Social	Media	
Mashshare	
Hootsuite
Schema and Rich Snippets
ü  Structured data helps Google understand the content on your site, which can
be used to display rich snippets in search results.
ü  Rich snippets can also help with click through rates.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 No	schema	
Incorrectly	applied	schema	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Allow	product	reviews	
Apply	product	based	schema	
Validate	schema	is	correct	via	external	sources	
Helpful	Tools:	 Google’s	Structured	Data	Tes@ng	Tool		
Yoast	WooCommerce	SEO	
Schema	WooCommerce	Plugin	by	Schema	App
XML Sitemaps
An XML sitemap is a file where you can list the content within your site to tell
Google and other search engines about the organization of your content.
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Missing	
Incomplete	
Errors	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Set	XML	map	to	automa@cally	update	
Connect	to	Google,	Bing,	and	other	search	engines	
Include	products,	categories,	tags,	and	topic	areas	
Validate	and	check	for	errors	
Helpful	Tools:	 Yoast	SEO	
All	in	One	SEO	
Google	Search	Console	
Bing	Webmaster	Tools	
hZp://tools.seochat.com/tools/site-validator/
Mobile Responsive
ü  Mobile commerce is now 30% of all U.S. ecommerce
ü  By 2020, mobile commerce will make up 45 percent of total ecommerce
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	
Problems:	
Lack	of	mobile	website	
Unexpected	redirects	to	desktop	site	
Hidden	or	lack	of	informa@on	
Large	images	which	impact	performance	
Checkout	processes	that	are	not	op@mized	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Op@mize	the	checkout	process	for	mobile	
Make	user	reviewed	easy	to	locate	
Compress	images	to	improve	page	speed	
Helpful	Tools:	 hZp://ready.mobi/	
hZps://crossbrowsertes@ng.com/	
hZp://ami.responsivedesign.is/
Speed and Performance
ü  40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load
ü  A 1 second delay in page response can reduce conversions 7%
ü  If an ecommerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1 second page delay
could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales every year
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Common	Problems:	 Slow	and	sluggish	page	loads	due	to	large	images,	poor	
code,	or	cheap	website	hos@ng	
Best	Prac1ce:	 Use	cache	plugins	
Use	CDNs	
Compress	images	
Purchase	high	quality	hos@ng	
Helpful	Tools:	 Google	PageSpeed	Insights	
Pingdom	Tools	
GTmetrix	
WP	Engine	WordPress	Speed	Test
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS?
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
Rebecca GillWordPress Agency Owner & SEO Instructor
@rebeccagill
RebeccaGill.com

eCommerce SEO

  • 1.
  • 2.
    eCommerce SEO isvery similar to regular SEO. You just have a lot more moving parts to watch. ! Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
  • 3.
    Keyword Research Similar toregular SEO, keyword research should be a core part of your marketing plan. You have to know what buyers are searching for so know how best to position your products. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright © 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Online store launched without any keyword research Haphazard or quick keyword review Very broad keywords that are difficult to rank Keywords that not relevant to actual buyers Best Prac1ce: Research products, manufactures, and compe@tors Create a seed list for products, categories, and topics Pull search volumes for possible keywords Rank keywords for relevance Helpful Tools: Google Adwords Keyword Planner Moz Keyword Explorer KW Finder semrush SpyFu
  • 4.
    Site Mapping Site mappingis critical for ecommerce based websites, because it is very easy to compete with yourself due to the cross over of products, categories, tags, and topical areas. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Lack of structure and planning Primary keywords are assigned to products Keyword phrase used more than once as focus Best Prac1ce: Assign highest priority keywords to categories Create topical areas for seasonal or clearance items Extend usage into comparison and buyer guides Keep overall structure no more then 3 clicks deep Helpful Tools: DynoMapper WriteMaps Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool
  • 5.
    Site Mapping Search Phrase UggBoots Results 1 – 3 Manufacturer or Brand Results 4 – 5 Reseller Category Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
  • 6.
    SEO Friendly URLs SEOfriendly URLs help search engines understand a website’s architecture and the structure of the content. They also help users quickly find products. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Convoluted URLs without structure Constantly changing URLs due to category modifica@ons Extremely long URLs with mul@ple layers Best Prac1ce: Human readable URLs Focused keyword phrase within URL Set limit at three levels deep Consistent usage or use of 301 redirects Helpful Tools: DynoMapper WriteMaps Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool
  • 7.
    Duplicate Content Duplicate content(in this case) refers to the same content displayed under different URLs within the same website. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Non-canonical URLs Session IDs Duplicate URL paths due to mul@ple categories Best Prac1ce: Keep URLs clean Set any areas of duplica@ons as no index Watch category usage within URLs carefully Helpful Tools: DynoMapper Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool Winter Boots Adirondack II /winter-boots/adirondack-ii/ Snow Boots Adirondack II /snow-boots/adirondack-ii/
  • 8.
    Product Descriptions If youwant your store to rank over other stores, you have to give search engines a reason to elevate you in search. One way to accomplish this task is through high quality product descriptions. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Limited product descrip@ons Manufacturer’s descrip@on as only content Bullet list of words and no actual sentences Best Prac1ce: Create unique, keyword rich descrip@ons U@lize manufacturer’s descrip@ons, but augment Review compe@tor websites and write beZer, more descrip@ve content Helpful Tools: Google Search Console DynoMapper
  • 9.
    Category pages alsoneed descriptions. Don’t just list products. Tell search engines and users what is listed on the page. ! Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
  • 10.
    Manufacturer Part Numbers Consumerssearch for manufacturer part numbers when needing specific products. Optimizing for these data points will help increase search and shorten the sales cycle. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright © 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Missing or incomplete manufacturer part numbers Best Prac1ce: Include complete manufacturer part numbers in one or more of the following places: - Descrip@on - Product name - H1 - URL - Meta @tle and descrip@on - Short descrip@ons for list based pages - Image file name and alt text
  • 11.
    Meta Titles andDescriptions Meta titles and descriptions give search engines and users an idea of what the page is about and what they should expect to see as they digest the content. These data points appears in search engines result pages. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Duplicate meta @tles and descrip@ons across products Keyword stuffing within meta @tles and descrip@ons Best Prac1ce: Create unique meta for each product Include focused keyword if applicable Add in offers to help set you apart in SERPs Helpful Tools: Yoast SEO All in One SEO DynoMapper Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool Mozbar Google Search Console
  • 12.
    Meta Search Phrase site:ugg.com/uk/ womens boots Askyourself this: Can you tell the difference between the search results? You can, because good meta titles and descriptions make that possible. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
  • 13.
    Breadcrumbs ü  Improved usabilityand helps eliminates additional clicks ü  Shows hierarchy ü  Reduces bounce rates ü  Helps with search engine optimization Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: 23% don’t have breadcrumbs at all 68% suffer from sub-par breadcrumb implementa@ons Best Prac1ce: Implement breadcrumbs on category and product pages Style so they are easy to read and use Check mobile devices to make sure they are usable Helpful Tools: Breadcrumb NavXTb Yoast SEO
  • 14.
    Link Building ü  Internallinking is important because it tells search engines which content is most important ü  Inbound linking is important because it demonstrates authority and relevance Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Limited inbound linking strategy Broken links Lack of 301 redirect usage Limited or no inbound linking efforts Best Prac1ce: Use internal linking to support top SEO focused content Use 301 redirects and use them wisely Build inbound links to support top SEO focused content Helpful Tools: SpyFu Ahrefs Moz Open Site Explorer
  • 15.
    Social Media ü  Facebookdominates social media traffic and conversions ü  Facebook accounts for 50% of social referrals and 64% of total social revenue ü  87% of Pinterest users have purchased an item because of Pinterest Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Dormant social accounts with liZle ac@vity Lack of social sharing icons for visitors to use on products Failure to build communi@es and engagement Best Prac1ce: Ac@vely engage with social media users Ac@vely share content from the en@re website and store Build a community first and sell second Helpful Tools: AddThis Share BuZons Shareaholic Ul@mate Social Media Mashshare Hootsuite
  • 16.
    Schema and RichSnippets ü  Structured data helps Google understand the content on your site, which can be used to display rich snippets in search results. ü  Rich snippets can also help with click through rates. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: No schema Incorrectly applied schema Best Prac1ce: Allow product reviews Apply product based schema Validate schema is correct via external sources Helpful Tools: Google’s Structured Data Tes@ng Tool Yoast WooCommerce SEO Schema WooCommerce Plugin by Schema App
  • 17.
    XML Sitemaps An XMLsitemap is a file where you can list the content within your site to tell Google and other search engines about the organization of your content. Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Missing Incomplete Errors Best Prac1ce: Set XML map to automa@cally update Connect to Google, Bing, and other search engines Include products, categories, tags, and topic areas Validate and check for errors Helpful Tools: Yoast SEO All in One SEO Google Search Console Bing Webmaster Tools hZp://tools.seochat.com/tools/site-validator/
  • 18.
    Mobile Responsive ü  Mobilecommerce is now 30% of all U.S. ecommerce ü  By 2020, mobile commerce will make up 45 percent of total ecommerce Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Lack of mobile website Unexpected redirects to desktop site Hidden or lack of informa@on Large images which impact performance Checkout processes that are not op@mized Best Prac1ce: Op@mize the checkout process for mobile Make user reviewed easy to locate Compress images to improve page speed Helpful Tools: hZp://ready.mobi/ hZps://[email protected]/ hZp://ami.responsivedesign.is/
  • 19.
    Speed and Performance ü 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load ü  A 1 second delay in page response can reduce conversions 7% ü  If an ecommerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1 second page delay could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales every year Web Savvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Common Problems: Slow and sluggish page loads due to large images, poor code, or cheap website hos@ng Best Prac1ce: Use cache plugins Use CDNs Compress images Purchase high quality hos@ng Helpful Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights Pingdom Tools GTmetrix WP Engine WordPress Speed Test
  • 20.
    QUESTIONS & ANSWERS? WebSavvy Marketing & iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved
  • 21.
    Web Savvy Marketing& iThemes Media LLC Copyright Ā© 2016, All Rights Reserved Rebecca GillWordPress Agency Owner & SEO Instructor @rebeccagill RebeccaGill.com