7 things you’re doing wrong with e-commerce SEO

When your business relies on online sales, effective SEO is an absolute must. These are 7 common e-commerce mistakes that you can fix right now.

1. Poor product descriptions

Too often, product descriptions are short and utilitarian. This is a missed opportunity because it limits what search engines can use to find your site. A Backlinko report found that the average top ranked Google page has 1,890 words. If you’re relying on manufacturer’s descriptions the content is probably duplicated word-for-word on other websites. This makes it difficult for you to rank higher in search than your competitors. Add unique descriptions for each of your online products.

2. Skipping user reviews

Including user reviews on your product pages is a great way to add content and provides authenticity to the presentation. Businesses with user reviews on their website have shown to increase organic traffic by more than 30%. There is always a possibility for negative reviews, but you can use this as an opportunity. First, because it shows that the reviews are genuine and actually perform better than “perfect score” reviews. Second, because you can reach out to resolve the negative feedback - an chance you wouldn’t have had if not for the open review features.

3. Underutilized keywords

While product specs are important, don’t limit your product descriptions to the basics. Include the product specs in the title and description, then expand the description to include a keyword-rich narrative. In the description, use niche keywords for your website and general keywords that are common search terms for people looking for products like yours. Use keyword planning tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, and research competitive sites for keywords to include. Pay attention to meta descriptions, image captions, URLs and headings. Focus on about 5 keywords for each page.

4. Skimping on informational copy

Don’t limit yourself to transactional keywords. Blending in information keywords can diversify your search rankings and boost your page’s performance. One great example of this is a technique called “Double Jeopardy” created by Darren Demates. Demates got keywords using the Google Keyword Planner and emphasized informational keywords. Then he used SEMrush to figure out which keywords have potential to drive the most traffic. Finally, Demates searched competitor sites to see what types of questions people were asking about the informational keywords. Using this information, Demates updated underperforming blog posts on his site and increased search traffic by 1,780%. Try this formula to see what kind of gains you can get.

5. Site redesigns without optimization

When investing in updating the design and layout of your site, be careful not to lose the SEO gains you’ve already made. A well-intentioned update that makes your site more attractive and easy to navigate can actually work against you if SEO isn’t part of the update. Changing the structure of your site can result in major setbacks with search engines when popular pages change or get deleted. To avoid this, work with an SEO professional on site redesign to:

6. Content lost in migration

• Make sure that your top performing pages are still live on the site.
• Make sure the URLs are still functional for existing backlinks (to avoid dead links and increased 404 errors).
• Make sure pages aren’t duplicated so you don’t get search engine penalties. 

As your business grows, you may have to change e-commerce platforms. Switching to another platform may be desirable for technical and operational reasons, but be cautious when migrating your site content. Changing to a new platform can deliver a serious blow to your site performance. This is common if the new platform uses a different coding language than the old one, like going from HTML to JavaScript. Similar to a site redesign, make sure to work with an SEO professional when you make these types of changes to avoid losing the progress you’ve made.

7. Missing out on your best keywords

When searching for prime search rankings, don’t miss out on the basics that are right in front of you: the top performing keywords on your website. Take a look at your existing rankings to see which keywords are generating the most traffic, then update your content accordingly. See which pages are performing well and update them by adding in more of the keywords that work in titles, headings and content. Don’t drown out other important keywords, just add to the page where you can.