Search engine optimization, better known as SEO, is a collection of practices that are intended to improve the organic performance of a website with the intention of attracting new organic traffic and sales.
It offers one of the best returns of investment of all digital marketing channels, and the results are cumulative over time, unlike those of PPC (pay-per-click) marketing.
But there’s often a “smoke and mirrors” condition surrounding the practices that constitute SEO and how they work. Here are some of the actual optimizations that an eCommerce SEO company can perform for your website.
The Four Pillars of SEO
There are four main categories of ranking signals (the actual things Google uses to assign rankings in the organic search engine results pages) which are on-page optimizations, off-page optimizations, technical SEO, and content, all of which will be described here.
One note: this post does not cover keyword research, but that is an important preliminary step, and one that must be taken before these other optimizations can be made.
On Page Optimizations
The first and most straightforward of the optimizations that an eCommerce SEO company can make are known as on page optimizations.
These are but are not limited to:
- Meta descriptions
- Meta titles
- Page headers
- Page copy (removing duplicate copy, keyword optimizing existing copy or replacing it entirely)
- Implementation of canonical tags
- URL optimizations/domain name optimization
- Image optimization (optimizing for size, adding alt tags)
Off Page Optimizations
Off page optimizations are optimizations that are not made on the website at all. The majority of off page optimizations consist of link building.
For the most part, eCommerce SEO companies will write guest posts, press releases, and other content, then publish it on a third party domain with a backlink directed towards your domain. This increases authority and referral traffic.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to all the practices of making your website friendly for search engine crawlers to crawl it and make sense of it.
This consists of optimizing ranking signals such as (but not limited to):
- Security
- Speed
- Accessibility
- Structure (schema markup, sitemap)
- UX
- Indexation
- Internal link structure
- 301 redirects/addressing 404 errors
Content
The last pillar of SEO is content, which refers, either directly or indirectly, with all content associated with your website – this means there is some gray area, as content can be used for on-page SEO as well as off-page.
For most businesses, content can be used to optimize an eCommerce website through keyword- and search query-related blogs and CMS pages like FAQs page and other user resource pages.
However, content also refers to the copy that lives on all your product and category pages, as well as in about us pages, contact pages, and of course, the homepage. Moreover, since content is the only ranking factor “consumed” by shoppers, it has a profound effect not only on SEO but on UX.
Hiring an eCommerce SEO Company
If it sounds like there’s a lot that goes into this (this is only a very high-level view) that’s because there is.
If you’re thinking about hiring an eCommerce SEO company to do it for you, consider the following:
- Are they familiar with your industry?
- Are they familiar with your eCommerce platform?
- Do they work with web design professionals? (It is a separate skill but can impact SEO)
- Do these eCommerce SEO experts detail a thorough scope of work? (All pillars should be addressed through deliverables in the scope)
- Do they offer concrete steps through their eCommerce SEO strategy?
- Does the digital marketing agency have good reviews?
- Do they have data-driven case studies published that show metrical increases in long-term online visibility and conversion rates?
Knocking out this punch list will help you make a wiser choice when it comes your time to hire an eCommerce SEO agency.