Online shop SEO - how to get your shop to page 1 on Google

Online shop SEO - is search engine optimisation necessary for your shop and if so, what should it look like?

An online shop can be set up relatively quickly and the product pages with a short product description and a photo can be created just as quickly. Now it's time to wait for paying customers. Right?

No, of course not. If you want to be successful with your shop, i.e. make sales, you have to be found with your products in the search engines. And not somewhere in the infinite expanse of search results, but on page 1.

Competent search engine optimisation of your online shop is essential for this. Let's take a look at what is needed to achieve this.

On-page and off-page SEO - both will bring your online shop to the top

No matter which shop system you use - whether Shopify, WooCommerce or another shop provider on the market. If you want to be successful with your online shop, it is essential that your products are found in the top positions in search engines (especially with the market leader Google).

As with all other types of websites (company websites, blogs, etc.), this is only possible if you optimise your shop according to all the rules of SEO.

Both disciplines of search engine optimisation play an important role here. On-page SEO and off-page SEO.

On-page SEO - relevant content in the online shop makes it possible

The most important element for on-page SEO is the content of your product pages (product description), category pages or, if you have one, your blog. This content should contain the right "keywords" and relevant terms in the right quantity. However, when writing your content, you should always remember that you are writing it for potential customers and the text should therefore be clearly understandable. Keyword stuffing is out!

Google, the most popular search engine, prioritises usability, user-friendliness and user satisfaction. Google therefore only shows consumers useful content on the first search results page (SERP, Search Engine Result Page) that matches the searcher's search intention.

What are useful results?

Nowadays, if you don't know something, in most cases it's "ask Google". And Google only shows relevant search results on the first search results page in almost all cases.

This is because Google and other search engines are keen to present users and consumers with results that are as relevant as possible to the search term entered and help users. Google not only recognises whether the relevant keywords and semantic terms are included in the text, but also whether the search intention (answering the user's questions) is covered. Algorithms, filters and, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI) make this possible.

The search engine generates the top 10 results by searching the pages in the index for the most relevant content for the search term entered (question, search phrase, product name or description, etc.). This content is then displayed on the first search results page.

And that's exactly where you need to be with your products or product descriptions, your category pages and blog articles. Because, as we know, almost nobody looks at the second page of search engine results if all the information is already available on page 1.

Therefore, one of the top priorities when working with SEO is that the content is based on the right keywords.

But beware!

As already mentioned, search engines are now very "intelligent". They recognise inferior content with no benefit for the user, which is just stuffed with keywords, and attribute little importance to it. The result: poor rankings on the back pages of search results. In the worst case scenario, this can lead to you being penalised by having your shop removed from the Google search index.

Now that we've clarified this, let's first look at how to find the right keywords (relevant to your online shop).

How to find the most relevant search terms for your shop

Search terms or keywords are words or phrases that users enter into the search engine when searching.

Therefore, the best tip I can give you in this case is to put yourself in your potential customers' shoes and think about what keywords they might be searching for. Ideally, you know your target group very well and you can immediately think of enough terms, questions or search phrases that your perfect customer(buyer persona) uses in their Google search.

If you can't think of any keyword ideas for your products in the shop this way, the Google search bar is another good way to get a few ideas. The most frequently searched terms are already displayed here.

Simply enter your main keyword in the search mask. Google will show you the most frequent search queries of its users as you type. This function is called "Google Suggest".

Check the potential of the keywords before you optimise your product pages and category pages for them

You can use the KWFinder tool to check the search volume of the keywords you have researched. This is a very useful SEO tool that you can use free of charge for 10 days after registering (10-day trial).

Once you are registered, you can select the country for which you want to SEO your shop and check the desired keyword and its search reach (search volume).

To do this, enter the keyword in the form, select the target country and language and click on "Find keywords".

You will then be shown all relevant search terms or keywords and their search volume on the left-hand side.

If you don't want to create an account with KWfinder or the 10-day trial has expired, there is a great alternative for SEO research and analysis. The free SEO tool Ubersuggest. If you want to find out more, take a look at our article about Ubersuggest.

TOP tip for online shop SEO keyword research!

Another hot tip for your online shop SEO: Spy on your TOP competitors or the competition to see which keywords they have optimised their shop pages for. It's very simple. We use the free SEO tool Ubersuggest for this.

Keyword research based on the analysis of a competitor online shop

For this example, let's assume you have an online shop with decorative items and home accessories.

Go to Ubersuggest and enter the URL of a competitor in the search mask.

Click on SEARCH. An overview page will be displayed.

We are interested in the competitor's SEO keywords. Scroll to the bottom of the overview page and click on the button "SHOW ALL SEO KEYWORDS THAT THIS DOMAIN IS PLACED FOR".

You will then see all SEO keywords on the left-hand side. You can scroll through and search for keyword ideas or download the CSV file, open it in MS Excel and analyse the whole thing offline.

Another important point that should be taken into account when selecting your keywords is to avoid general search terms or at least not to optimise only for these. By this I mean that instead of focussing only on "Christmas decorations", for example, you should also consider more specific terms such as "cheap Christmas decorations", "buy Christmas decorations" or "Christmas decoration ideas". If you use the insider tip from before, you should have plenty of ideas.

These so-called "long-tail keywords" may have less search volume than the generic head terms, but they are closer to the search intent of prospective customers and therefore convert better. It is also usually easier to bring these keywords to the top of the search results through good online shop SEO.

What else is important for on-page online shop SEO?

With keyword research, you have already taken the first important step towards an optimised shop. But now you need to incorporate this into a user-friendly text. You should also include the following things, as they are important for the ranking of your shop.

The right main headings

Every product page or category page in your shop should have a unique main heading that contains the main keyword. This headline is the first thing users will see on your shop, so it should be appealing and arouse interest among potential customers.

The title of your pages

Regardless of which page of your website/online shop it is (blog, products, categories, etc.), each of them needs a title that you should determine yourself. This title, as well as the following meta description, is embedded in the HTML code of your web pages. The most important features of the meta title are limited to the following three points:

1. The relevant search term should be included
2. It should be unique
3. It should arouse interest in more information

The meta title is displayed as a kind of headline in the search engine results and directs the user to your online shop via a link. Here is an example to give you an idea:

You should consider the following guidelines when creating the title:

• Use no more than 70 characters
• Make the page title inviting and legible
• Start or end the title with your brand name

The meta description or meta description

The meta description is a short description of the respective page (category page, product page, etc.) and gives potential customers an initial indication of the content and whether it is helpful. This description appears in Google below the title.

The same applies to the meta description:

• Uniqueness
• Inclusion of the most relevant keywords
• Arouse user interest

Google allows you to use 150-160 characters for a meaningful description, but this should not be exceeded, otherwise the description will be cut off by Google and the user will not see all the information you want to show them.

In addition, the more interesting your meta description is, the higher the click-through rate (CTR) on your SERP snippet (your advert on the search results page).

Here is an example:

ALT tags and file names of images

What would an online shop be without the right images to convince customers?

The online shop would probably not be on the market for much longer, as hardly anyone buys a product without seeing photos of it. But what do the images have to do with the SEO of your online shop?

Quite simply, with the right ALT tags and file names for your product images, you can specify the content of the photos and therefore have a chance of being found via the image search results.

And as already mentioned, the right images can persuade a user to make a purchase, so you shouldn't forget to optimise the SEO of your images!

The off-page SEO optimisation of your online shop

Once you have applied the above on-page SEO points to your shop, you can move on to the off-page optimisation of your shop. In short, this involves important factors outside of your online shop. These include the following:

The sitemap of your online shop

The sitemap is something like a table of contents for your shop that helps search engines such as Google to read your website and also ensures that the search engine bots can find and index all of your subpages.

You can create the sitemap yourself or have it created by a generator. Once created, you must submit the sitemap via the Google Search Console. Here you can find out everything you need to know about sitemaps.

Backlinks for the category pages or product pages of your online shop

To understand the function of links, you should know that they are like individual links in a long chain for search engines. One thing leads to another and thus keeps the chain together.

Backlinks work in a similar way. Backlinks are links that point from other websites to your own, giving the search engine greater trust in your shop. Which in turn is good for the ranking of your online shop. However, the prerequisite for this is that the websites that link to you are trustworthy.

To get such backlinks, it is best to contact your business partners or colleagues who are already relatively well-known and ask if you can write a guest post on their blog, from which you can then set the backlink. Guest posts are always a good solution in this case.

In addition, one factor of on-page SEO affects whether and how many backlinks you get from other website operators. Your content. The better your content (text content, images, etc.) is, the more likely it is to be linked to.

We also have a blog article on the topic of backlinks that may be of interest to you:

Backlinks for search engine optimisation - importance and how do I build them?

By the way: Linking within your shop (internal link building) also helps Google to better recognise it and therefore rank it better.

Anchor texts - anchor texts

The last task you now have to master for proper SEO is setting the so-called anchor texts. This is not a problem with internal link building, but it is not always so easy with backlinks, as you have no direct influence on what other website operators write. However, it can't hurt to ask and make suggestions.

Anchor texts are the text that is underlaid with a link. Anchor texts play a significant role in online shop SEO. They show the user what to expect when they click on the link, so you should also try to include keywords that are customised to the product page here.

For example, the following link links to our blog article, which is optimised for the keyword "what is seo". If you want to know what SEO is and what you should pay attention to, take a look at it.

After the online shop SEO measures presented, we are now moving between the worlds of on-page and off-page optimisation. This is about the loading time or loading speed of your online shop. With loading time optimisation, you can implement many measures directly on the pages of your online shop, but some problems, such as the response time of the server, must be solved off-page.

Pagespeed - improving the loading time for successful SEO

A significant factor that contributes to your SEO success is the loading time of your category pages and product pages. It is one of over 200 Google ranking factors.

Your online shop can deliver up to 60% more sales if the loading time is short, as the bounce rate of potential customers is much higher for a slow page than for one that loads quickly.

It therefore pays off if you optimise your online shop in terms of page speed.

The following two tools can give you an insight into the loading time of your product pages and co.

• Google Pagespeed Insights
• GTMetrix

Conclusion

With SEO, you can attract more visitors to your online shop by applying a few measures correctly.

Firstly, the on-page SEO measures:

• Your content should be written primarily for the user of the site and not for the search engines.
• The search terms used by the searcher and relevant, semantic terms must appear in the texts.
• To find and use the right keywords,
  • try to put yourself in your potential customer's shoes and think about what you would search for if you were them.
  • Use Google Suggest.
  • Analyse (spy on) your competitors' product and category pages with the help of Ubersuggest.
• The main headline or H1 is also important for your SEO success, so the respective keyword should appear in it.
• Other content-related measures you should take are the creation of the meta title and meta description. After all, these are the first things customers see in the search engine results.
• Images can also be useful. So make sure that the file names and ALT tags describe the image in the best possible way and that the right keywords are used.

This is followed by off-page optimisation. This includes, among other things

• the sitemap, which is a table of contents of your site that helps the search engine robots to search your online shop.
• So-called backlinks are also part of off-page optimisation. These are links that link to you from other websites, for example from the website of a business partner or from satisfied customers.
• The last point of off-page optimisation is anchor texts, i.e. the words or text passages that are linked back to your online shop or one of your products. These are also known as anchor texts.
• Another factor that has a significant impact on your rankings and online sales is the speed of your site. You can use certain tools to test the speed of your shop pages free of charge.

This brings us to the end of our blog article on online shop SEO. I hope I have been able to answer your questions and wish you every success with the search engine optimisation of your online shop.

If you have any questions on this topic or if you need support with the SEO of your online shop, please feel free to contact us at any time. We specialise in the creation, optimisation and support of Shopify and WooCommerce shops.