The Key to Successful eCommerce SEO

Whilst landing pages are typically associated with pay per click advertising, every page is essentially a landing page for organic search. Whether people make the next click deeper into your site or go on to buy your products all depends on the design of your pages and how well they’re optimised for SEO and customer experience.

Every page is a landing page

Keep in mind that every page of your eCommerce site is a landing page and you’ll go far. Whilst there will be some pages that you plan as landing pages i.e. pages you expect to receive conversions from, other pages like your FAQ page, expired coupons page and discontinued product pages can also be found via search and therefore should be treated as landing pages too.

Expect the unexpected

The key is not to assume that you know where your customers are going to land on your page because they could just as easily end up somewhere entirely different. You need to make sure that no matter where traffic from organic searches land; they know where they should click next and why your site is better than all the rest.

More often than not customers are going to land on your category pages as opposed to your homepage or individual product pages. This is because they are likely to have typed generic, non-branded keywords into the search engine, rather than branded keywords, which would have taken them to a product page. With this in mind, you will need to ensure that your category pages are clear to customers and optimised for a great user experience.

If customers don’t know what page they’re on or why they should buy from your site, they’ll quickly bounce off and take their business elsewhere. Not only will you lose out on a sale but overtime, a high bounce rate will also have a negative effect on your search rankings.

How to optimise for eCommerce SEO

Start by looking at your eCommerce SEO by reviewing the pages and saying to yourself ‘if this was the page a customer landed on, how could I make it easier for them to take action?’  There are bound to be some changes you can make to turn them into effective landing pages for organic search traffic. Below are a few of our suggestions:

1.    Create a clear headline

Our first eCommerce SEO tip is to make sure that each page of your website has a clear headline. This will tell customers exactly where they are on your website. It will also help them to navigate quickly to the right page, rather than bounce back to the search engine; if they’re not sure they’re in the right place.

2.    Optimise your product pages

If customers land on a product page, they should be presented with relevant information such as the product’s name, a clear product image, the price, availability and any features and benefits. There should also be a call to action button so they can add the product to their shopping cart.

You may also want to consider including some information about your store below the fold, so that new customers can get a gist of what you’re all about and feel reassured that they’re in the right place.

It’s also important to consider that just because shoppers have landed on a particular product page; it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right product for them. This is why it’s good to optimise your product pages with related products and a clear navigation back to the category page.

Without these features, potential customers could end up bouncing off your website and to one of your competitors instead.

3.    Communicate important info on each page

A final way you can optimise every page and turn them into effective landing pages is by populating them with important content. Not everyone’s going to know your brand and not everyone’s going to land on your homepage, so you need to ensure that key pieces of information such as your years in business, free shipping, easy returns or whatever you have to offer is included on each and every one of your pages.

Conclusion

Don’t assume that every user is going to enter your site from your homepage. If they’re an organic searcher, they’re more than likely going to end up elsewhere. With this in mind it’s important to optimise each page on your site and turn them into effective landing pages.

The better you optimise your eCommerce pages for SEO, the more likely you are to achieve those all-important conversions. Call the Magento eCommerce Agency today and we’ll happily discuss optimisation methods for your website(s).