If you’ve been in the digital marketing space for the past decade or two, you’ve likely heard about search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the practice of improving your ecommerce website to make it more appealing to search engines. In doing so, you increase your chances of your online store appearing on the coveted first page of search results.
And, if you’re really good at SEO, your business will appear at the top of that page, just below the paid ad listings.
But why is this important?
Because less than 1% of people ever click past the first page of search results.
Less than 1%. Still think you can get by with a so-so SEO strategy?
Probably not. But never fear, HawkSEM is primed and ready to step in to help create a killer ecommerce SEO strategy that’ll help you dominate the SERP and increase ROI.
What Are Ecommerce SEO Services?
As digital marketing strategies go, search engine optimization (SEO) delivers the biggest bang for your buck. Nearly 50% of marketers say organic search brings in the highest return on investment (ROI) when compared with other channels — including pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, and email marketing.
Search engine optimization for ecommerce businesses is a long-term digital marketing strategy that involves consistently analyzing and optimizing key elements of your ecommerce website (as well as your broader overall marketing strategy). The goal here is to make your site more appealing to both search engines and your target audience.
Ecommerce SEO Services Include:
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Technical SEO
Technical SEO focuses on fine-tuning the technical elements of an ecommerce website to make it easier for search engines to “crawl” through your site and find relevant content. Typically, it begins with a full SEO audit to inspect key features such as page speed, backlinks, schema markup, sitemap status, site security, and mobile responsiveness.
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On-page SEO
On-page SEO focuses on creating and optimizing the content of your website, from your home page to your product pages, brand story page, blog, FAQs, and more. Producing and publishing high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and appeals to search engines is the backbone of a strong SEO strategy. Internal linking (linking between different pages on your website) is also an important part of on-page SEO.
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Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO is all about the things you do outside of your website to rise in the search engine rankings. Link building (boosting the number of backlinks that direct people back to your site) is a big part of off-page SEO, but it is not the only part. Social media marketing, influencer marketing, customer reviews and ratings, and brand mentions on other industry-relevant sites also play an important role in off-page SEO.
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How Does Ecommerce SEO Differ From
Other Types of SEO?
Ecommerce SEO requires a specialized approach due to the unique nature of online stores. Unlike a general website, ecommerce sites have large product catalogs, product descriptions, and user-generated content (such as reviews).
This is a lot of content to organize, and can be a tough user-experience nut to crack. Here are some of the distinct ecommerce SEO characteristics we keep in mind when developing an ecommerce SEO strategy:
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Product Catalogs
Ecommerce websites often have extensive product catalogs, each with its own product page. That means you’re left with a high number of individual pages to be optimized for search engines.
The SEO strategy, in turn, needs to include tactics for managing and optimizing these product pages effectively.
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Product Descriptions and Content
As any SEO writer will tell you, writing unique and compelling product descriptions can be challenging, especially for stores with lots of similar products.
Ecommerce SEO requires a focus on creating high-quality content for each product to differentiate them in search results and provide value to potential customers.
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Category and Navigation Optimization
Ensuring that products are organized logically, with clear paths for people to find what they’re looking for, is a key consideration. Plus, this is a two-for: it improves SEO rankings and provides a seamless user experience.
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Reviews and Ratings
Ecommerce sites often feature user-generated content in the form of reviews and ratings. These can impact SEO by providing fresh, relevant content and potentially influencing click-through rates. As such, managing this content is vital to your ecommerce SEO strategy.
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Conversion Optimization
Unlike general SEO, ecommerce SEO is also about converting that traffic into customers. Strategies like optimizing product page layouts, improving site speed, and enhancing the overall user experience are critical for success.
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Competitive Landscape
Ecommerce is a highly competitive space, with many businesses duking it out for the same keywords and audience. Understanding your competitors and differentiating your offerings is crucial.
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Unique SEO Platforms
Many ecommerce websites use specialized platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or BigCommerce. Optimizing these platforms involves understanding their unique SEO features and settings.
Why is Ecommerce SEO Important?
Current estimates put the number of existing ecommerce businesses at anywhere from 10 to 24 million worldwide. We don’t have to tell you that’s a whole lot of competition — especially if you’re a smaller brand trying to go shoulder to shoulder with big names like Amazon, Walmart, and Target.
Without a strong ecommerce SEO strategy in place, your business will struggle to be seen amid a sea of competitors.
What exactly do we mean by that?
Let’s start with keywords, since that’s what most people think of when they hear “SEO.”
If you don’t know the first thing about relevant keywords (including long-tail keywords) and how to use them in your online content, your business won’t show up in the search engine results when people are looking for products and services like yours.
But let’s say your potential customers do make it to your ecommerce site — and it’s a hot mess.
If you haven’t put in the time and effort to make sure your web pages load quickly, your website is easy to navigate, and your content is robust and engaging, you could see your bounce rates skyrocket and your online sales plummet.
And those are just two examples of how poor SEO can impact your ecommerce marketing efforts.
DILO delivers sustainable solutions to current ecological challenges through products that boast safety, economic efficiency, and a technological advantage.
They partnered with HawkSEM after a website redesign caused them to lose some strong keyword rankings and see a drop in organic traffic. After a thorough audit, we worked with their team to optimize their site content with targeted keywords and meta tags. We also created a sitemap and robots.txt file so search bots could more easily crawl their site to show DILO in search results.
As the result of the partnership, DILO saw the following results:
- 36% increase in organic clicks in six months
- 36% increase in Google clicks for high-value keywords in three months
- 46% increase in Google impressions in three months
How Does an Effective SEO Strategy Benefit Your Ecommerce Business?
Say you have an online business and you sell products using an ecommerce platform such as Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento.
When all of the SEO components listed above are executed to perfection, they improve the user experience of your ecommerce site and allow you to more effectively engage with your target audience. This results in a better search ranking, which increases your chances of being seen online and leads to higher click-through rates.
By consistently delivering high-quality content that includes targeted keywords, ecommerce SEO helps to drive traffic at every stage of the marketing funnel, guiding your potential customers from the awareness and consideration stages down toward the bottom of the funnel where conversions are captured.
Finally, a strong ecommerce SEO strategy complements your existing PPC campaigns and allows you to remarket to a broader audience through the use of well-placed website cookies. Because traffic is increased organically, many businesses see their paid advertising costs go down when their SEO efforts are successful.
Ecommerce SEO Best Practices
We’ve gone over how ecommerce SEO differs from general SEO, and the same is true for ecommerce SEO best practices. Here are some of the highlights:
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Keyword Research and Optimization:
- Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high-converting keywords
- Optimize product titles, descriptions, and meta tags with targeted keywords
- Use long-tail keywords to capture specific search intent
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Unique Product Description & Optimized Images:
- You can avoid duplicate content by crafting unique product descriptions with important details, benefits and specifications.
- Use high-quality images that showcase products from multiple angles
- Don’t forget descriptive alt text to boost both accessibility and SEO
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Structured Data (AKA Schema Markup):
- Schema markup can enhance product listings in search results. Including details like availability, price, and reviews in rich snippets is an SEO gold mine
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Content Marketing & Internal Linking
- Develop a blog or content section to provide valuable, relevant information related to your products or industry.
- Use content marketing to target your informational keywords and attract potential customers.
- Improve site structure and connect related landing pages using internal links.
- Ensure that users can navigate to related products easily.
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Social Media Integration
- Promote products and content on your business’s social media channels.
- Encourage social sharing and user-generated content.
Is an Ecommerce SEO Agency Right for Your Business?
For businesses competing in the highly saturated ecommerce arena, SEO has likely been on your radar. But like many aspects of your online marketing strategy, it takes time and technical knowledge that you and your in-house team may be lacking.
If you have reached the limit of your capabilities, or if you have implemented an SEO strategy but still aren’t ranking for your most valuable keywords or seeing the results you want, it may be time to try a different approach.
Partnering with an agency that specializes in SEO for ecommerce brands is the first step toward boosting your online visibility and generating more leads and sales.
Mommy’s Bliss offers a full line of safe and gentle products for mothers, babies, and children. As the company grew, they realized they needed help with marketing — specifically with SEO and building a strong backlink strategy.
After partnering with HawkSEM, Mommy’s Bliss was able to see significant overall growth in web traffic from organic search, both month over month and year over year. As the result of the partnership, they saw the following results:
- 65% Over 65% increase in organic sessions
- 2X Double goal completions
- 79% 79% increase in total keyword rankings
HawkSEM Ecommerce
SEO Services
HawkSEM is a full-service digital marketing agency with a team of high-level ecommerce SEO experts who specialize in helping you rise to the top of the search rankings.
Our comprehensive list of deliverables comprises all aspects of SEO for ecommerce, as well as premier content marketing services to create a robust SEO campaign and boost visibility throughout the customer journey.
- 404 Error Identification, Resolution, and Redirects
- Algorithm Impact Analysis and Resolution
- Backlink Audit, Cleanup, and Monitoring
- Content Creation and Optimization
- Google Search Console and Analytics Integration
- Image Optimization
- In-Depth Content Analysis
- Keyword Research, Mapping, and Optimization
- Organic Traffic Goal Assessment
- Page Speed/Site Speed Analysis
- Schema Markup Implementation
- SEO Strategy and Reporting
- Server and Hosting Configuration
- Site Structure Analysis
- Social Media Marketing
- Strategic Link Building
- Title Tag and Meta Description Optimization
Our Proprietary Marketing
Technology: ConversionIQ
If you truly want to know how well your ecommerce SEO efforts are paying off, you need instant and complete access to every account so you can see what’s happening in real time.
Enter: ConversionIQ™.
Part innovative marketing tool, part comprehensive reporting system, ConversionIQ merges all of your digital marketing channels into one simple dashboard so you can easily track key KPIs and get up-to-the-minute visibility into what’s happening inside your accounts at any time — without waiting for a monthly report. (But don’t worry; you’ll still get those, too.)
The Bottom Line
How well your ecommerce website ranks in the search engine results is directly related to the financial success of your business. Trust the team at HawkSEM to develop a tailor-made SEO strategy that will drive more organic traffic to your site and help you stand out in a highly competitive online arena.
A Google Premier Partner (putting us in the top 3% of agencies in the country), Microsoft Advertising Partner, and Meta Business Partner with over 15 years in business, HawkSEM boasts a 98% retention rate and our clients average a 4.5X ROI.
Reach out to us today and let’s take your ecommerce SEO strategy to the next level.
HawkSEM has been hand-selected as a Google Premier Partner and Microsoft Advertising Partner
We make things happen …but don’t take our word for it:
FAQs About Ecommerce SEO Services
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How Much Do Ecommerce SEO Services Cost?
Ecommerce SEO costs will vary based on which solution is best for your business. For example, if you work with a freelance SEO consultant, fees may range from $100 to $300 hourly. However, working with a full-service agency can help you implement a comprehensive SEO strategy for between $3,000 and $10,000 monthly.
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How Long Does It Take To See Results?
Unlike PPC, SEO is a long-term marketing strategy, so it is important to remember that slow and steady wins the race. For ecommerce businesses, you can expect to see results (increased traffic + leads) within 6 to 12 months after partnering with an experienced agency.
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How Do I Choose the Best Option for Me?
Because every online business will have different needs, it is important to first identify your top marketing goals and what you hope to achieve from your SEO strategy. Then, spend some time online exploring the different options available and the costs involved. If you are researching an ecommerce SEO company, pay close attention to their online reviews, client case studies, and customer testimonials to determine whether or not they are the best fit for your business.
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