Success in the e-commerce industry is composed of many matters. One of them is search engine optimization. Data from 2020 shows that only 33.2% of Polish online stores were entirely configured for SEO. As many as 48.8% of them had many errors on their site in this regard. Only 12.8% achieved very good visibility.  Why is SEO so important for an online store?  It is important to realize that if you take care of SEO, you gain a significant advantage over your competitors. Nowadays, it is important to quickly adapt to market needs and customer expectations. The most successful online businesses are those that are able to react quickly to changes taking place and adapt their website content to the latest trends. From this article you will learn how to effectively position your store in search engines and the importance of SEO for every e-commerce business.  

What is SEO and how it works 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It means optimization of a website with the goal of increasing the visibility of the site, as well as its position in search engine results in a browser. The most popular of these include Google, Bing and Yahoo. Positioning is a process in which attention should be paid to a number of activities. Therefore, the selection of appropriate keywords, internal and external linking, backlinks, meta tags or the content of a given article or description are all very important.

How do search engines index and rank websites?

Programs, also known as “spiders”, are used to index and evaluate websites. They review sites and collect a range of relevant information, which is then added to the search engine’s database. This allows the search engine to display results that answer a particular user’s search queries. There is a number of complex criteria that are important for evaluating a particular site. The algorithms are constantly being modified and improved. They give preference, for example, to valuable content, page loading speed or adaptation to mobile devices such as cell phones. In order to achieve high rankings in search results, it is necessary to regularly monitor the situation and adjust the SEO strategy to the emerging changes. 

SEO, or how to position an online store 

Positioning an online store involves several steps. The most important of these are:   

• Link building – e.g. inbound links, outbound links;  
• Content optimization of the store page – e.g. titles, keywords, meta descriptions, headings, product content;  
• Technical optimization of the store – e.g. loading speed, responsiveness. 

Link building in SEO 

It’s simply obtaining links that lead to your website. It is an essential part of positioning a website. Link building is a process that requires a lot of knowledge and skill. With the right strategy, you can increase traffic on your site, and therefore increase its popularity. It is important to remember that gaining links must be done in a legitimate way that complies with search engine guidelines. This will avoid drops in search results. 

What are the natural ways to obtain links? 

• Exchanges with other websites;  
• Placing posts in various directories, e.g., industry or Internet catalogs;  
• Guest article publishing, giving interviews, creating infographics.
• Creating valuable content that will gain recognition from other Internet users and be recommended by them to other people. 

SEO content optimization on store website 

Content optimization includes several important aspects. What should you pay special focus on, then?  

1. Selection of keywords – they should answer the search engine queries asked by potential customers of a given store or site. It is worth including them both in headings, text and meta tags. 
2. Product and service descriptions – they must not only be interesting, visually attractive, but also provide all the most important information about the product. They should also include high quality photos or videos showing the operation or handling of the item.  
3. Headings – be sure to use different types of headings. Depending on the importance of a given piece of information included in the text, it can be H1, H2 as well as H3, and for less important facts – H4, H5 and H6. H1 is intended to highlight the title of the article.  
4. Meta tags – also referred to as metatags / meta tags. They are HTML elements placed in the header of the source code of a given web page. They can include information about the author, date of publication, as well as the title of the page or its content. They allow pages to be better understood by algorithms, and therfore affect search engine optimization (SEO). 
5. Internal linking – involves linking in the article to other pages on your site. This influences better indexing by search engines and helps you navigate your online store.
6. URLs – it is important that they are clear, user-friendly and easy to remember. They must, also contain keywords that are responsive to the topic of the selected sub-page. 
7. Additional content – an important addition to our online store can be an expert blog with tutorials or industry articles.

SEO – technical optimization of the store 

The last element to keep in mind when positioning a store is the technical optimization of the store. This process includes making changes to the code and infrastructure of the site. It is aimed at improving aspects such as loading speed, as well as responsiveness, i.e. adjusting the site to work properly on different devices and screen sizes. For this purpose, the following actions can be taken:  

• Optimizing images; 
• Using cache memory; 
• Responsive web design;  
• Applying compression;  
• Reducing the size of CSS and JavaScript files. 

Tools and methods to help position the store 

• To position an online store, we need specialized tools, both for keyword analysis and for monitoring search engine position.   
• Tools for keyword analysis – e.g. Google Keyword Planner, Keywordtool.io, Ubersuggest, LongTailPro, Google Trends, Ahrefs.   
• Search engine position monitoring tools – e.g. Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, SpyFu, Moz Pro, Rank Ranger.   
• Content optimization tools – e.g. Yoast SEO, SEMrush Content Marketing Platform, Google Search Console.   
• Site traffic monitoring tools – e.g. Google Analytics, Hotjar, SEMrush, Ahrefs Moz Pro, Clicky.  

Content marketing strategy as a SEO assistance 

Content Marketing Strategy will also be helpful in positioning your website. Here are some examples of how it can be used effectively:  

• Building user engagement: posting content that engages the viewer on your storefront. This can include, for example, infographics, videos, quizzes.   
• Generating valuable content: all published materials should be interesting and carry some unique value for the viewer, so that he will spend more time on the site.   
• Getting links: it is worth posting valuable content on other websites. This is helpful in attracting outbound links, which can benefit our site’s position in search results.  
• Promoting the website: in order to promote the website, it is worth using the company’s social media and other ways of communication with the audience, such as online forums.  

Advantages of SEO for e-commerce business 

There are many advantages of effective SEO for your online store. Here are some of them:   

• Increasing traffic to the website, which can translate into more potential customers, and in turn, more sales.   
• Building brand image and increasing brand recognition.   
• Standing out from the large competition, attracting customers who are looking for specific products.  
• Helping to increase sales and improve conversions.  

Summary  

Effective positioning of a store in search engines will allow you to gain an advantage over the numerous e-commerce competitors. Currently, many, both Polish and foreign online stores do not have pages fully optimized for SEO. It is advisable, therefore, to take all the necessary steps that will give us high rankings in search results. Several aspects are important: link building, paying attention to the quality of published content, as well as technical issues, such as responsiveness and adaptation to device formats. Popular tools that can help with this include Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Keywordtool.io, Uber suggest or Hotjar.  

Droplo is an innovative platform for companies that allows you to optimize and automate online sales from one place. The proposed solutions meet the needs of both suppliers and sellers. Easy cooperation, security, availability and synchronization of databases allow you to scale businesses for both parties.  

You gain all this by joining the group of  Droplo customers.

See also: 

• The e-commerce trends. How to boost your store’s sales? Part 1

• The e-commerce trends. How to boost your store’s sales? Part 2