Ecommerce SEO: Online shop positioning guide

According to the National Court Register – more than 51,000 online shops were registered in Poland in autumn 2021! Such a huge number of entities operating in the e-commerce sector means only one thing – great competition and the difficulty of reaching new customers. Today, the attractiveness of a shop’s assortment or low prices are not enough to succeed. What counts above all is online visibility, which can be guaranteed by an efficiently implemented shop positioning strategy.

What is e-commerce?

E-commerce is, simply put, e-commerce, in which all (or most) processes take place over the Internet. Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a clear growth in this type of business, which is a direct response to the needs of modern consumers.

E-commerce makes use of a wide variety of marketing strategies, while it can itself take the form of an online shop, an ad portal or any other platform that allows online shopping. It is also being embraced by stationary brands that want to reach more customers.

There are many advantages to running an e-commerce business, which can be seen from the perspective of both customers and business owners.

The benefits for the first group include:

• the ability to find out about products and services from anywhere in the world and at any time,
• saving time and, most often, money,
• greater choice of goods,
• easier contact with sellers.

The advantages of e-commerce for retailers include:

• reduced expenses related to hiring staff and renting office or warehouse facilities,
• the ability to offer a greater range of products,
• simplifying the way they communicate with their customers,
• building brand visibility and reputation,
• the ability to reach a wider range of customers.

Today, it is difficult to imagine an e-commerce business that is not supported by SEO activities. This is especially true in industries that are characterised by considerable competitiveness.

What is search engine positioning for an online shop?

Search engine optimisation is nothing more than a variety of activities aimed at placing a link to a shop in the highest possible position in search results.

As we know – search engines such as Google are the first tools we use when we want to get answers to our questions, check the weather forecast, get information on topics that interest us or buy specific products online.

From the point of view of online shop owners, search engines are one of the main channels for reaching customers – after all, they are used by millions of users every day. However, it is only effective if the online shop appears high in the search results – above all on the first page. It is no secret that the vast majority of search engine users choose the top-ranked online shops, both to save time and because they believe that the top-ranked sites are the most trusted, have the widest range of products and are popular with other customers.

Contact us – we will perform an SEO analysis for you. This is the first stage for conducting effective SEO for your online shop.

 

The range of activities that make up the general concept of SEO for an online shop is wide and is divided into on-site and off-site activities. And we can include, among others:

• an audit of the online shop’s website in terms of SEO and UX – i.e. an examination of the online shop’s current position, its technical condition, the adaptation of the interface to users’ needs or the attractiveness of the content – both for the audience and for search engines,
• technical optimisation of the shop – i.e. a series of works aimed at better adaptation of the online shop’s website to the requirements of search engines, such as refinement of the technical layer of the shop, creation of friendly content, use of key phrases, creation of subpages for individual product categories of the shop, generation of a site map, validation of the site code, use of internal linking or optimisation of URLs and meta tags,
• effective link building – i.e. acquisition of attractive links leading to the shop from other valuable websites by means of content marketing,
• development of theshop’s website – i.e. creation of new content, pages, industry blog, etc,
• as well as regular analytical activities, which make it possible to monitor the results of positioning and to design new strategies or redesign existing ones.

Online shop owners decide on positioning for various reasons and at various moments of their existence. Activities are carried out both for online shops that have been operating for years, but have aspirations to obtain better results (or even become the leader in their sector), and for new shops, which owners would like to effectively promote and build a solid brand from scratch. However, the benefits of positioning an online shop are much more numerous.

Benefits of online shop positioning

With the move of many businesses to the Internet – including shops to the e-commerce formula, the demand for services such as online shop positioning has increased. An effective strategy can bring many benefits. It is worth remembering that increasing the turnover of a shop is a goal in itself, alongside which additional benefits coexist.

The most important benefits of correct positioning of an online shop include:

• appearing in the TOP search results – and thus in the top of the best players, which can equate to great prestige for the shop – but it is worth remembering that reaching the top positions is not always successful due to the great competition,
• increase in thenumber of visits to the online shop – which also means an increase in the number of transactions made,
• increased recognition of the online shop – its name is fixed in the minds of search engine users, so they are more likely to return to it,
• brand recognition drives other branches of our online presence and the shop’s marketing channels – very often potential customers, after seeing the shop in the search results, check other traces of its online presence – they visit social media, subscribe to newsletters and talk about the brand with family and friends,
• optimisation of the online shop’s conversion rate – which is crucial for the brand’s sales performance,
• increasing the attractiveness of the online shop – not only in terms of Google search position, but also in terms of UX and content that reaches customers,
• increasing trust in the brand among users – there is a perception that shops appearing highest are characterised by the highest customer trust,
• and most importantly (and the main goal of positioning) – increasing the online shop’s revenue.

Keywords for e-commerce

Keywords (or key phrases) are one of the most important elements of online shop positioning. Among other things, they are the basis for the entire strategy of activities – both those related to SEO optimisation of the shop’s website and link building. They are both a starting point for the work to begin, as well as an end in themselves.

Keywords are – in the simplest terms – the phrases with which you would like your online shop to be found in a Google search. Basic keywords are indicated by shop owners. They know very well in which spheres of competition they operate and which products they would like to promote in Google search. However, the final keyword lists that marketing agencies work on are much longer. This involves the work of specialists who use professional analytical tools (e.g. Senuto or Semstorm) to create sets of phrases with which to more effectively build a shop’s position in Google search.

Keywords are used in two main channels of action – during the SEO optimisation of the shop’s website and during the creation of content marketing content for link building.

In the case of on-page SEO optimisation, keywords will be used in category, subcategory and product descriptions, as well as in blog articles (if the online shop has an industry-specific blog). It is very important that the keywords appear in natural proportions to the overall text. In order to maintain their power, it is also worth keeping an eye on their original grammatical form. It is also good practice to bold key phrases appropriately and justifiably. These measures, combined with valuable content, will strongly contribute to making the website more attractive in the eyes of search engines and users.

In the case of content marketing, it is also advisable to adhere to the above principles. In addition – in both cases it will be important to use keywords in titles, subtitles and headings, the presence of which in articles is strongly recommended.

We can divide keywords into several types. The main distinction will be in their length. Thus, we have:

• short-tail – or “short tails” – these consist of phrases built from 1-2 words. They relate to more general terms, which makes it more difficult to use them to knock an online shop upwards (the most successful short-tail phrases are the biggest players). An example of a short-tail phrase would be “women’s trousers”,
• long-tail phrases – or ‘long tails’ – will consist of a greater number of words and will therefore specify more precisely what users are looking for. As you might expect – detailed terms will generate a higher likelihood of visits to a shop’s website. An example of a long-tail would be the phrase “grey women’s checked trousers”.

There are other typologies of keywords. Thus, there are keywords related to location (e.g. “gabinet weterynaryjny gdańsk wrzeszcz”), related to a specific brand (e.g. “adidas running trousers”), or related to a specific industry and using specialised nomenclature (e.g. “EFS flexographic machines”). Their use should be justified and included in the chosen strategy.

Contact us – we will carry out an SEO analysis for you. This is the first step for successful SEO of your online shop.

 

Technical optimisation of the online shop

As already mentioned – one of the main areas that SEO deals with – is the technical optimisation related to the correctness of a given website with respect to SEO. Before this happens, however, SEO specialists carry out an audit of the site in order to have the broadest possible picture of its condition.

This type of audit examines, among other things, the current visibility of the website in search engines, the structural condition of the website, the presence of internal and external linking, the selection and use of keywords, the correct indexing of the website, the speed of loading the website and its usability in terms of UX, the presence of SSL, the uniqueness of the content, as well as a competition analysis of the shop.

After obtaining the audit report, you can proceed to the creation of a positioning strategy and move on to the technical optimisation of the shop.

SEO optimisation includes on-site activities, i.e. those carried out within the online shop’s website. It consists of issues such as:

• TAGS – which include titles (<title>) and meta descriptions (<description>. These are short business cards of our site that appear in search engine results next to the link to our shop and its pages. Tags should be short, but informative and encourage visitors to the site. It is advisable to use keywords in them – of course, in a natural, grammatically justified and substantive way,
• URLs – check that they are correct and describe well what they represent. Random strings of letters and numbers are not a good showcase for a website,
• TITLES AND HEADERS – it is very important to have titles and headers (H1, H2, H3, and so on…) in the texts published on the shop pages (be they descriptions or blog articles). It is a good idea to include keywords in them. The presence of tiers of text divided by titles and headings is well perceived by search engine robots,
• INTERNAL LINKING – this is nothing more than a network of links operating inside the shop window, which will refer back to its various locations. For example – internal linking is used in advice articles, from which we can directly refer the reader to product categories or specific products that we want to sell. Internal linking is important not only for a proper SEO process, but also for a well-developed UX infrastructure of the website,
• CATEGORIES AND SUBCATEGORIES – their presence is a signal to search engines that the shop’s website is well thought-out, organised and intuitive for the user, which will result in a favourable approach of search engine robots,
• KEYWORDS – their use is even obligatory in optimisation activities. Keywords are placed in titles, meta tags, product and category descriptions, URLs and any content appearing on the page (e.g. blog articles). Naturally occurring keywords will act as a magnet for phrases typed into the search engine window,
• GRAPHICS AND PH OTOS – should also be well optimised. Descriptions and even the names of files uploaded to the shop platform should be carefully prepared and include key phrases.

Although the technical optimisation of online shops is carried out on a one-off basis on the basis of the obtained audit, it is important to analyse the website on a regular basis, which can point out potentially occurring errors and determine new courses of action that will have a positive impact on the entire process of positioning the website in the future.

What does the shop positioning process look like?

The successful process of positioning an online shop is long and complex, and begins as soon as the shop owner decides to cooperate with a marketing agency in this regard.

In the initial phase of the process, a thorough and detailed briefing is crucial, i.e. articulation of all goals, plans and information important from the business owner’s point of view. A professional briefing – which most often takes the form of a document completed by the owner of an online shop – should contain such data as, for example: the shop’s desired business objectives related to its position in Google search (e.g. increasing the number of visits to the website or increasing sales of a given product), the specificity of the industry in which the shop operates, an indication of the brand’s main competitors, as well as a preliminary list of key phrases for which we want to position the website. The briefing is usually conducted by account managers.

Once all the information has been obtained, SEO specialists conduct an audit of the shop’s website to learn about its current situation – both that related to the condition and visibility of the shop in search engines and the internal operation of the e-commerce platform. On the basis of the audit report, they will be able to prepare a strategy of action, which, in a specific time perspective, should bring the assumed effects, and they will make a full list of keywords used in many aspects of positioning work.

In the positioning strategy we will find activities of various types. We can divide them into on-site and off-site activities. At this point, other specialists also come into play – such as programmers (whose task will be to optimise the website from the technical side) and copywriters (who will be responsible for correcting or creating from scratch any content required both during the shop’s SEO optimisation and link building activities).

SEO optimisation of the shop – as the next step in the process of positioning the online shop – will be carried out in several stages and in multiple paths. This will consist of activities such as adjusting metatags, arranging categories and subcategories of the shop, editing the HTML layer, adjusting the SSL network protocol, activating tools such as Google Search Console, generating a sitemap, adjusting URLs, or creating content for category and product descriptions of the shop. The optimisation strategy adopted should be continued and monitored regularly.

Once the online shop has been optimised for SEO, it is time to expand the activities to include effective link building. Good cooperation between SEO specialists and Content Writers is important here. The former will be responsible for the proper acquisition of valuable links from strong websites and for controlling the results of redirects. The latter will be responsible for creating valuable content (e.g. in the form of articles) that includes predetermined keywords. Link building activities should be carried out regularly – preferably on a monthly basis. Then it is possible to systematically accumulate links and thus strengthen the shop’s position in Google search.

In addition to off-site activities, to which link building belongs, it is also good to focus on on-site activities, i.e. those carried out inside the shop’s website. These mainly include the creation of quality content and internal linking. Content contained in product category descriptions and product descriptions will be viewed well from both a SEO and UX perspective. It is worth remembering that its main objectives are twofold – to strengthen the shop’s position in Google search and to encourage site visitors to make a purchase. In addition, a good way to enhance an online shop is to maintain a blog. Although not everyone chooses to do so, blog articles prove to be very useful – as they provide an ideal space to apply internal linking and use key phrases.

However, the SEO process does not have a specific end point. In order for it to be effective all the time, it should be carried out continuously and monitored regularly in order to check the current results, correct any potential mistakes and create further strategies taking into account the changing coefficients. It is worth remembering that the process of online shop positioning involves specialists in various fields. It is supervised by account managers, SEO specialists, copywriters and even programmers!

They summarise the entire process as follows:

Link building for online shop – CM

Optimising an online shop for SEO is an example of on-site activities. However, off-site activities are also important in the SEO process of an online shop, i.e. activities that are carried out outside the website, but have a great impact on it and its condition.

The most important of these activities is link building – i.e. the acquisition of links from other websites. Link building is carried out by means of Content Marketing – i.e. an advanced type of content marketing. Examples of content marketing products are articles of various types – whether in light, informative or more specialised forms, or even sales, opinion and persuasive articles.

Link building is, however, unequal to link building. It is worth remembering that not every action in this area will bring us the expected benefits. When preparing an effective content marketing strategy, various factors need to be taken into account and adjusted accordingly – in order to obtain the most valuable links.

These factors are primarily:

• thestrength of the linking site – it is important to remember that strong sites with a long history, rich content, a large number of users and a positive search engine rating will provide us with much better quality linking. This acts a bit like a recommendation to search engine robots – the moment a strong site refers viewers to our shop, it is a sign that it is worth placing it higher in the search results,
• thequality of the content – i.e. its uniqueness, relevance and correctness in terms of language. Search engine robots rank duplicate and unattractive content less favourably, so it is worth investing in good quality content. Articles should not be too short. Care should also be taken to include titles and headings. Keywords are important and should be used thoughtfully and not too much,
• correct linking – this should be done in accordance with good practice, which places so-called valuable dofollow links high. When including a link in an article, remember to do so as naturally as possible. Also, do not exaggerate the number of links in a single text. This is because such a practice may be met with rejection by search engine robot filters.

Responsible and rational link building, supported by the positioning strategy, may bring many benefits to the website, contributing to the promotion of the online shop in search results.

Shop CMS

Not insignificant in the context of the position of an online shop’s website in search engines is the type of CMS used by the shop’s administrator.

ACMS – i.e. Content Management System – is a system-platform which can be used to manage the entire infrastructure of an online shop. The CMS is a kind of control panel for the entire shop. Among other things, we can use it to add new content to the shop page, add products to the shop, control the purchasing process, apply internal linking and much more.

The choice of CMS for an online shop should not be random and dictated only by financial conditions. Comfort in using the system and whether it is favourable to SEO and positioning activities are key parameters to be taken into account.

Examples of ecommerce CMSs:

• Woocommerce (extension to WordPress)
• Magento
• Prestashop
• Shoper
• Shopify
• IAI Shop
• SOTE

When we talk about CMS in the context of SEO activities, it is primarily a question of whether the chosen system gives us the possibility of unlimited optimisation of the shop pages. Unfortunately, some CMSs are difficult to use and not very intuitive. In addition – they may require us to spend a lot of money when we want to make various types of changes. A user-friendly system will not require specialised knowledge of optimisation or HTML, and modifications to content, page layout or meta tags can be carried out without problems.

It is also good to pay attention to the issue of security guaranteed by the chosen CMS system. The presence of an SSL certificate, responsible for data security, is also positively perceived by search engine robots.

Among all available CMSs, it is worth taking a closer look at the most popular ones – such as Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop or BigCommerce.

How long does it take to position an online shop?

Certainly, those who would expect top results after a few weeks of work may be disappointed. Unfortunately, the process of positioning takes a relatively long time, and its effects and the final time to obtain them depend on many factors, such as:

• thecondition of the shop’s site before the start of the activities – if the site has a long history, the audit has gone quite well, and the shop does not display very low in the search results, it is very possible that the set goals can be achieved more quickly,
• theneed for technical optimisation of the shop – i.e. whether a complete optimisation of the shop will have to be carried out before moving on to link building, or whether small changes and improvements will suffice,
• theindustry in which the shop operates – some industries are more difficult in terms of SEO because they are more common. One of the more difficult industries to position is the clothing industry,
• thesize of competition – this is driven by the very idea of SEO, which is to outperform competitors in search results,
• financial outlay – the intensity of activities such as publishing articles with external linking will depend on these.

Which marketing agency an online shop cooperates with is certainly important in terms of time and effectiveness. However, even the best agency should not be expected to deliver immediate results. The effects of positioning are the result of long, many months (and sometimes even years) of work. One should also remember that the competition is working at the same time.

Importantly – once positioning results are obtained, they do not stay with the website forever. Positioning of online shops is a long-term and continuous process. If we want to maintain the results – we should not give up on it.

Contact us – we will perform an SEO analysis for you. This is the first stage for effective online shop positioning.

 

How much does online shop positioning cost – price list?

The prices for the positioning of an online shop vary. Their amount depends on individual agency price lists, but also on the agencies’ ability to manage the budget rationally. In addition – the period for which we decide to buy a package of positioning services is also important. The type and size of business represented by the agency’s client is also important. The so-called large e-commerce is accompanied by great efforts and considerable challenges, which will certainly translate into how much positioning of an online shop costs.

Today, it is reported that the monthly price for the positioning of an online shop is, on average, several thousand zloty. Some shop owners may pay £ 3,000, while others may even pay £ 12,000.

A good way to save money is to browse package offers, which many agencies have. We are talking about marketing packages that combine various internet marketing services – such as SEO, social media handling or Google Ads campaigns. Then you can count on more attractive prices than if you buy the services separately.

FAQ – Frequently asked questions

Is it possible to position an online shop on my own?

In theory, yes. However, in order to do this, you need to have knowledge of SEO and positioning, have access to specialised analysis tools, know how to create quality content and… have a lot of time and patience.

To be sure of the results, it is better to entrust this task to a professional marketing agency.

Is ‘buzz marketing’ a good way to position an online shop?

At one time, buzz marketing was one of the most commonly used forms of support for link building activities. Although it is still being used successfully, sometimes search engine robots do not look favourably on links from it – mainly when posts are created in an unwise manner, resembling spam activities. Buzz marketing is still a good way to build brand awareness and reputation online, which in turn can indirectly affect a shop’s visitor count and increase its popularity, which will give a positive sign to search engine robots.

Should the content on the website be extensive or should it be short and concise?

There is no clear answer to this question. Some topics allow you to elaborate very broadly, giving you the opportunity to create an extensive article, others the opposite. When creating long texts, however, it is worth remembering to segment them correctly – dividing them into paragraphs, using headings and titles. It is also worth noting that longer content gives us more opportunities to incorporate keywords.

Is it possible to position a shop for a specific location?

Of course. Positioning online shops and other types of local businesses that target a specific customer is possible. To do this, more focused keyword phrases are used, in which the locations we care about appear. It is worth knowing that local positioning is often much easier than general positioning. However, for online shops whose core business is mail order, local positioning is rarely used.

What are the chances of a newly established online shop ranking well in a search engine?

It depends. Certainly, it will be more difficult for new sites to be pulled up into the higher search result positions. However, it is not impossible. The industry in which the shop operates and the competition it faces will be of great importance in this case. If the industry is specialised and niche and the competition is small – you can achieve satisfactory positioning results faster.

Do paid advertisements help the positioning process?

No. According to information coming directly from Google, paid advertisements do not affect the organic traffic to the online shop resulting from the position of the website in the search results. This means that you do not need to spend extra money on Google Ads to have good SEO results.

Can a shop owner influence the positioning process?

Yes, but this influence is most relevant in the initial phase of the work, the so-called briefing phase. This is when the shop owner determines what goal they would like to achieve, who their biggest competitors are and which keywords are relevant to them and their shop. It is worth remembering that the online shop is still under the owner’s control and that he or she can make comments – for example on the content created by the copywriters.

Is it possible to take a break from using the positioning service?

Online shop positioning is a process that can be interrupted at any time. However, taking breaks is not cost-effective. If you decide to pause the work for, for example, 2-3 months, when you resume it, you will have to reckon with drops in ranking, the need for a new investment and a longer time to wait for results.

Is blogging necessary?

Of course, no one can demand that a shop owner launch a thematic blog, but SEO specialists will certainly encourage it. An online shop blog is a good way of enriching the site with quality content containing keywords, and is also an ideal place to apply internal linking. It is worth thinking about maintaining it. Qualified copywriters can help with content creation.

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If you are interested in positioning your online shop, please contact us using the form below.We will performan SEO analysis for you. This is the first step for conducting effective SEO.