The success of an ecommerce store is often hinged upon its understanding and application of SEO strategies. Unfortunately, many stores fail to utilize these strategies effectively, committing critical errors which impede their visibility and growth online.
The most glaring of these mistakes is the failure to rank for pivotal keywords. This article will delve into the repercussions of such oversights, illustrating with real-life examples and emphasizing the importance of correct optimization techniques, such as the use of H1 headlines and indexable collection pages.
By understanding and avoiding these common SEO pitfalls, ecommerce businesses can fully harness their online potential.
The Most Common Ecommerce SEO Error
Although it may seem quite basic, the most prevalent error in ecommerce SEO is the failure to rank for the main keywords that potential customers use when searching for products or services. Many businesses inadvertently ignore this crucial aspect, resulting in a significant loss of potential traffic.
This mistake usually occurs when businesses focus on brand keywords, rather than the type keywords that reflect what consumers actually search for.
For instance, an auto parts store may optimize for a specific car model instead of the general term, ‘car parts.’ While this might bring in some traffic, they miss out on a larger audience searching for the broader term. This error can result in a missed opportunity of approximately 20-25,000 searches per month, a substantial number for any ecommerce business.
Another common mistake is incorrect optimization due to multiple categories. This often happens when businesses have numerous product categories and fail to optimize each one correctly.
It’s crucial for ecommerce businesses to understand the importance of ranking for main keywords, and to implement strategies that ensure they are not missing out on valuable online traffic.
Case Study: Incorrect Optimization
To illustrate this common pitfall, let’s examine a real-life example of incorrect optimization in an ecommerce store.
A leading online automobile parts store failed to properly optimize their website, resulting in a significant drop in visibility and sales.
- The store had a vast inventory of ‘BC Racing Coilovers’, a popular product with high search volume. Yet, the website was not ranking on Google’s first page for this keyword.
- The store lacked a dedicated page for ‘BC Racing Coilovers’. Instead, it was mixed up with other brand and type keywords.
- The website was ranking for specific car model keywords rather than the main product keyword, resulting in missed opportunities.
- With incorrect optimization, the store was missing out on approximately 17,000 to 18,000 searches per month for ‘BC Racing Coilovers’.
In total, incorrect optimization led to a missed opportunity of 20,000 to 25,000 searches per month.
This case study clearly illustrates the detrimental impact of incorrect optimization on ecommerce stores. Properly optimizing product pages and focusing on the right keywords is fundamental to achieving better visibility and increased sales.
Case Study: Incomplete Optimization
In another instance, we examine an ecommerce store that fell victim to incomplete optimization, impacting its visibility and overall performance. The store had a dedicated page for its key product, yet it had a low ranking. Upon closer inspection, we found there was no H1 headline or substantial content on the page, which is critical for SEO.
The website instead ranked for a specific product rather than the main keyword, a clear case of incomplete optimization. This error resulted in a random product gaining visibility while the main keyword was overlooked. Such a scenario exemplifies the importance of correctly setting up collections, as it greatly influences visibility and, ultimately, sales.
This ecommerce store’s experience underscores the detrimental effects of incomplete optimization. It missed out on a significant amount of traffic due to this oversight, hurting its potential for revenue generation. It’s a stark reminder for all ecommerce businesses to ensure comprehensive optimization, leaving no stone unturned. Only through meticulous attention to each element of optimization can an ecommerce store truly maximize its visibility, performance, and profitability.
Spotlight: Correct Optimization
While many ecommerce stores falter due to incorrect or incomplete optimization, there are several examples of businesses that have successfully managed to rank at the top by employing correct SEO strategies. These strategies involve a deep understanding of both the technology and the market, careful planning, and meticulous implementation.
Take for instance an ecommerce store that ranks second for the term ‘BC racing coilovers’. This achievement is the result of correct optimization. Key features of their success are:
- Presence of a dedicated BC Racing page with an H1 headline and relevant content.
- Inclusion of product variations in H2 and H3 headings.
- Proper setup of collection and product pages ensuring they are indexable by Google.
- Avoidance of dynamic URLs for filters, which are often not indexable.
- Correct identification and targeting of main keywords, avoiding the common mistake of confusing brand and type keywords.
The correct implementation of these strategies has not only led to high rankings but has also opened up a significant number of monthly searches, creating a vast opportunity to attract potential customers.
Necessity of Indexable Collection Pages
One crucial aspect often overlooked by ecommerce and Shopify stores in SEO is the imperative need for indexable collection pages. These pages serve as the digital storefront, showcasing various products under a unified category or brand. Their indexability allows search engines to crawl, understand, and subsequently rank them, thereby driving organic traffic.
Unfortunately, many ecommerce stores unknowingly undermine their search engine optimization efforts by utilizing dynamic URLs for collection filters. While these URLs may seem beneficial for site navigation, they are detrimental for SEO. Dynamic URLs are not static, meaning they cannot be indexed by search engines. This results in a significant missed opportunity, as these pages could have been ranking for specific, often high-volume keywords.
To rectify this, ecommerce stores must create actual collection pages for each category or brand, and ensure these pages are indexable. This includes optimizing the page title, meta description, and content with pertinent keywords. By doing so, search engines can effectively index these pages, potentially leading to higher rankings, increased visibility, and ultimately, improved sales.
The importance of indexable collection pages cannot be overstated, as they are fundamental to an effective ecommerce SEO strategy.
Conclusion
In sum, ecommerce stores must prioritize SEO strategies, especially keyword targeting, to enhance their online visibility. Avoiding common errors such as incorrect or incomplete optimization can lead to marked improvement in website traffic and consequently, business growth.
Incorporating H1 headlines, relevant content, and ensuring indexable collection pages are essential steps in this process. Recognizing and rectifying these mistakes can bring about significant positive outcomes for ecommerce businesses.