When it comes to finding products online, search engines bridge the gap between an online store and its customers. The higher the search engine rankings, the more traffic your eCommerce platform will have.
If your default eCommerce platform is Shopify, this Shopify SEO guide answers your question, “how do I build SEO on Shopify?”
6 Tips to Improve Shopify SEO
Although this eCommerce platform primarily functions as an online store, you can make your Shopify SEO friendly by following these six tips.
Optimize Site Structure
It pays to organize Shopify content so site visitors can find products easily and encourage purchases. The more site visitors stay and browse your Shopify store, the more your search results will improve.
You can optimize structure by simplifying it. Organize product pages to minimize visitors’ number of clicks when finding a product. Avoid overstuffing categories and subcategories.
Don’t forget to include a search box on your Shopify website. Although it won’t directly affect search results, your eCommerce store will be more user-friendly.
Improve User Experience
If you want to sell online, you have to prioritize your customers. Improve user experience through boosting site speed and integrating a responsive site design.
When it comes to speed optimization, Shopify has a built-in optimizer. You can also use Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze your eCommerce platform’s web page performance.
Another tool to use is Google Search Console. This tool provides an overview of search analytics, alerts for site issues, and offers insights into how Google sees your Shopify page.
As for aesthetics, implementing a responsive design means your Shopify website can be used on different devices. Whether it’s a smartphone, computer, laptop, or tablet, customers can interact with all the platform’s features.
Perform Effective Keyword Research
Among the varying SEO tips available online, the importance of keyword research cannot be undermined. Keywords are used as the foundations of a blog post.
But you don’t need fancy SEO tools to conduct research. You can always put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask what terms you would use to search for a product.
This SEO strategy also allows you to determine keywords for content creation.
Create High-Quality and Relatable Content
It doesn’t matter if your content is well-written or informative. If it isn’t relatable, search engine results may be undesirable.
This is why the integration of keywords for content creation is essential. If your Shopify store is integrated into a website like WordPress, you can also use built-in SEO tools like Yoast SEO to make your content SEO friendly.
Aside from purely relying on target keywords, you can also use related keywords to improve Shopify SEO.
How do you find these keywords? You can view “searches related to” or “people also search for” sections of a search engine to understand the buyer’s intent.
However, content creation doesn’t only revolve around blog posts or articles. It includes writing meta descriptions and optimizing product descriptions for an effective search engine listing preview.
Remember to use alt text for images on your copy. Alt tags are screen reader-friendly alternative descriptions of a picture.
You can also use image optimizers when uploading product images to prevent slow-loading pages.
Use Backlinks
Using keywords to guide content creation is an example of on-page SEO. However, effective SEO strategies aren’t limited to this practice alone.
This is where backlinking comes into play.
Backlinks are like “word-of-mouth” SEO strategies. It establishes your Shopify website’s authority and credibility.
Search engines understand which high authority websites to feature and which not to. This is one of the reasons why websites that are often backlinked appear with a higher ranking on Google and other search engines.
If you have distributors, you can ask them to link your business on their product pages. The same goes for influencer mentions or sponsored content.
Going further, you can improve backlinking by repairing or replacing broken links. Broken links impair Shopify SEO not only for your site but also for the other site.
Utilize SEO Apps and Tools
Don’t forget to take advantage of free SEO tools to improve search ranking.
You can also read various SEO resources to develop an SEO strategy fitted to your business.
Another way is to enlist the help of a Shopify SEO expert to optimize your Shopify store.
Final Thoughts
SEO makes it possible for your target audience to find you more quickly and easily. With the integration of effective SEO into your Shopify site, you can generate more sales and take your business to the next level.