Optimize Your Store with SEO Keywords

Everything you do for your store should be optimized for SEO. Your store can be flawless, but without proper search engine optimization (SEO), you will never get noticed. We want you to be successful! We know as an entrepreneur, there are always a million things on your to-do list, so we researched for you. Here are some actionable to-do items on how to optimize your e-commerce pages to improve your search engine rank:

Keyword Tools

• Moz SEO Products – Start your FREE 30-Day Trial
• Google Keyword Planner – FREE
• Amazon.com – Use Amazon to find rich keywords
• Ahrefs – They don’t offer a free trial, however, they offer a 7-day trial for $7
  Here’s a great blog post on how to use Ahrefs.
• Keyword Tool Dominator for (eBay, Amazon, and Etsy) – Find longtail keywords for FREE (limited to 3 searches per day). Paid plans are available.

Optimize Important Pages First

If you are a more established business and your store has quite a lot of pages, don’t disregard optimizing your pages just yet. Start small, focus on your best-performing pages first. In case you don’t know how to find what pages perform the best, here’s how:

Go to your Google Analytics Account > Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages > Sort By Revenue

PRO TIP: Segment the report to show ONLY organic traffic.

If you don’t have Google Analytics Account, we recommended signing up for one today. Google Analytics adds value to your business in so many ways, but that’s a whole new blog post for another day. For now, learn about what’s trending with Google Analytics.

Customize Your Title Tag

Take a look at this screenshot from page one on Google when searching for Women’s Crocs. Why are these title tags so effective? Ultimately they have three main components in common.

• They all use the primary keywords
  • Crocs Shoes Women
  • Women’s Crocs
• They all include the brand name or where they can be purchased:
  • Amazon
  • JCP
  •  Zappos
• They all contain some call-to-action:
  • Free 2-day shipping
  • Extra 25% Off + Free Shipping
  • Free Shipping & 365 Days Returns

Use a similar method to customize your product category pages as well as individual product pages. Ultimately, every product should have its own unique title tag.

PRO TIP: Always remember to match the content on the page.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to master title tags and meta descriptions in one.

Write Unique Descriptions

CustomCat provides you with a basic description that you can use as-is. However, we don’t recommend using the same description for all of your products. The truth is, the more information you provide, the easier it will be for customers to make a purchase decision.

“The purpose of your first sentence is to get the reader to read the second sentence. The purpose of the second sentence is to get them to read the third sentence. Until they’re sucked into the slippery slope of reading your whole article and buying.”

Here are a few tips to make to help you create descriptions that catch the eyes and convince the readers to buy.

• Use white space strategically
• If you are using the paragraph method, cut your paragraphs into 1-2 sentences
• Use words that everyone can understand
• Paint a picture for your customer, use emotion to sway customers into purchasing your product(s)
• Make sure to add:
  • Sizing Information
  • Weight, Dimensions
  • Color
  • Quality
  • Quantity
  • Material

Here’s  an example of a Pendleton product description to show you how other companies are taking advantage of the product description to rank high with the SEO.
The most useful description includes sizing, price, etc. Also, additional information that customers might find helpful – Fabric Care, Reviews, and Customer Questions. 

Include Product Reviews

Product Reviews can be hit or miss because reviews may not all be positive, however, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s good to have a wide variety of reviews because it adds a validation factor to what you sell.
PRO TIP: Never ever buy positive reviews, the audience can usually smell that something is off. Be truthful to yourself and your customers.

Optimize Your Page URLs

• Keep them short
• Include primary keyword
• Make the hierarchy of the page clear
• Use hyphens (-) to separate words
• Do not repeat words
  • example.com/dogs/goldenretriever/goldenretriever-dogs/goldenretriever-puppy-dogs

Use Competitors to Your Advantage

Amazon

Check out popular marketplaces for similar product listings. For example, if you sell blankets, you might want to look at Top Selling Blankets on Amazon to compare keywords. Look for additional long-tail keywords that you can add to your product pages. Amazon keywords tend to be very targeted, which, in this case, converts better than short keywords.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia organizes things by keywords and categories. Enter a keyword that describes a product or tyepe that you sell and look for keywords that you can add to your descriptions.

Conclusion

This guide is to give you a basic idea of SEO basics, with these steps, you can slowly work your way up to page one of Google results. With so many stores competing to be at the top, the right strategy can help you reach your ultimate goal – rank higher than your competitors.

Good luck, and feel free to comment below if you have any more questions or have something to contribute.