As a business owner, you know that ranking well on Google is important to driving organic traffic to your website. And, as the world’s largest search engine, you also know that optimizing your site for Google is no small feat.
Fortunately, we’ve got you covered with this BigCommerce tutorial on getting started with SEO. Here, we’ll walk you through the basics of SEO and how to start implementing it on your ecommerce site.
What is SEO?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of optimizing a website for Google’s search engine. This includes everything from ensuring your site’s title tags and meta descriptions are accurate and inviting to users, to developing keyword-rich content that ranks well in Google’s search results.
Why is SEO important?
Simply put, SEO is important because it can help you drive more organic traffic to your website. And, since organic traffic is free and sustainable, it’s a great way to grow your business over time.
What are the benefits of SEO?
There are many benefits of SEO, but here are some of the most notable:
SEO can help you drive more organic traffic to your website. As we mentioned above, this can help you grow your business over time.
SEO can help you improve your conversion rate. By ranking well in Google’s search results and driving relevant traffic to your website, you can increase the likelihood that those visitors will take action on your site (e.g., make a purchase). In fact, one study found that conversion rates increased by 14.6% when organic rankings improved by just one position. That’s a significant increase!
Search engine optimization can help build brand awareness and credibility. When users see your brand name or website appearing in Google’s search results (especially in the top spots), they automatically perceive your company as being more credible and trustworthy. This boost in credibility can lead to more sales and conversions down the line.
How do I get started with SEO?
Fortunately, getting started with SEO isn’t as difficult or daunting as it may seem at first glance. In fact, there are several easy steps you can take right now to start improving your ecommerce site for Google’s search engine:
1) First things first: conduct keyword research Keyword research should be at the foundation of any solid SEO strategy—after all, without keywords, it would be nearly impossible to rank well in Google’s search results! Fortunately, there are several great tools out there (likeGoogle Keyword Planner and SEMrush) that can help you with this process.
Simply put, keyword research involves finding “keywords” that potential customers are searching for on Google—and then incorporating those keywords into your website content (more on this later). For example, if you sell women’s clothing online, some relevant keywords might be “women’s clothes” “women’s clothing store online” or “buy women’s clothes online.”
2) Optimize your website title tags and meta descriptions Once you have a list of target keywords (from step 1 above), it’s time to start incorporating them into your website content—starting with your title tags and meta descriptions . Your title tag is the text that appears in the search results when someone types in a query related to your business—so it goes without saying that it should be optimization for both relevance and CTR (click-through rate). For example:
Title Tag: Women’s Clothing Store Online | Dresses , Tops , Jeans & More
In addition to including keywords throughout your title tag , be sure to keep it short (50-60 characters max) so that it doesn’t get cut off in the search results . Also , don’t forget aboutyour meta description ! This is the brief description of your page that appears below its title tag in the search results . Just like with title tags , aim to include relevant keywords while also keepingyour meta descriptionshort & sweet (150-160 characters max) .
3) Publish high-quality , keyword-rich content One of the best ways to improveyour SEO is by publishing high-qualitycontent on a regular basis . Not only will this help improveyour rankings in Google’s search results , but it will also give users another reasonto visit (and stay on )your website . Plus , ifyou’re able tobuild up a strong library of keyword -richcontent ,you’ll betterservethe needs of users who are looking for answers relatedto whatyou do—and thiscan leadto increased sales & conversions downthe road .
4) Implement an SSL certificate An SSL certificate encrypts information sent from users’ browsers toyour server —meaningthat it’s virtually impossiblefor hackers touse”man -in -the middle” attacks tobattleinformation being transmitted backand forth . Froma security standpoint ,thisis obviously very important ; however ,it’s worth notingthat havingan SSL certificate can also improveyourSEO rankingsto some degree . In fact ,Google has statedthatthey “may use HTTPSas agestureof trust “when determining whereto rankwebsitesin theirsearch engine results pages(SERPs ) .
5) Improve site speed & mobile friendliness Both sitespeedandmobile friendlinessare now officialrankingfactorsin Google’ssearch algorithm —which means they can directly impactwhereyoursiteappearsfor certain queriesin thesearchresults pages(SERPs ) . Not onlythat ,but accordingto Googlesearch engineers AMPUsspeedsignificantlyimpactsthe experienceof bothdesktopandmobilesearchenginesalike —soit’sdefinitelysomethingyou’llwant togetrightifyou’rehopingtoraiseyoursite ‘srankings(and keep visitors happy& engagedat thesame time ) ! Fortunatelyimproving sitespeed& mobile friendlinessisn’tasdifficultor daunting asitmay seemattfirstglance ;therearesseveraleasyoptimizationsyoucan maketoachievethisincluding : compressing imagesbeforeuploadingthemto yoursite usingagoodcachemodule settingexpiry headersfor static resourceslike CSS / JSfiles combiningmultipletagsintoonesinglefile usingasynchronous loadingfor JavaScript fileslimitingHTTPrequests wheneverpossible movingCSSabovethefold etc… Check outthisBigCommerceblog postfor evenmore tipsaboutimproving sitespeed& mobile friendlinesson yoursite !
