5 Advanced eCommerce SEO Tips for Online Retailers

Shoppers make more than half of their purchases online. Your SEO strategy needs to be top-notch to compete in the market.

You may know some SEO basics, but if your competitors have a dedicated marketing staff, you may already be at a disadvantage.

You can level the playing field with some advanced knowledge. Here are our top 5 eCommerce SEO tips for online retailers.

5 Advanced eCommerce SEO Tips for Your Online Retail Shop

1. Check Your Site for Errors and Slow Pages

Broken links, 404 errors, and slow-loading pages can all tank your site’s user experience and SEO performance.

Go through your site thoroughly and check for any errors that may trip up your users. If you have a lot of posts, it might be a good idea to outsource this service from an SEO firm.

If your site loads slowly, it’s time to get work.

Almost half of consumers say three seconds is their limit when it comes to waiting for a page to load. If your site takes longer than that, you could be losing customers.

2. Hone Your Keyword Strategy

If you’re not utilizing targeted keywords on your product pages, you’re missing out on valuable traffic.

It’s not enough to simply drop a somewhat related word or phrase in your site copy. Your keywords need to be well-researched, relevant, and highly specific to your product.

The more specific keywords you use, the more likely you are to draw in consumers looking to buy your particular product. If your product is small-scale self-defense weapons, for example, try a specific keyword like kubotan.

Try to choose keywords without a lot of other competition. It’s harder to stand out if you’re using broad terms.

3. Research Your Competitors

If you want to beat your competitors, you need to know their strategy. Identify your biggest competition and learn everything you can about their products, their website, and their social media strategies.

What keywords do they use on their product pages? How do they structure their online store? What does their linking strategy look like?

If you can identify and improve on their tactics, you can give yourself a leg up when it comes to making sales.

4. Write Detailed Product Descriptions

Longer content will serve you better when it comes to SEO. That’s because it gives you more chances to work in your keywords–and any secondary long tail phrases–on top of adding more information for your customers.

Just be sure to avoid fluff in your descriptions. Stick to the necessary information that will increase your chances of showing up in a search.

5. Work with Influencers

Social media influencers can help draw more customers to your site.

Influencers have a large, carefully crafted following on social media. They usually post on specific topics, setting themselves up as subject matter experts.

If you can establish a relationship with an influencer, you may be able to secure high-value product reviews.

Consider sending some of your products for free and asking for their honest opinion. Any backlinks to your site will boost your SEO credibility while getting your name out there in front of an engaged group of new consumers.