Most online merchants falsely believe that search engine traffic will automatically begin to trickle as soon as they list products on their e-commerce websites. This, however, is far from reality and that’s why we decided to show you most frequent ecommerce SEO errors.
The sad reality is that it is quite difficult to optimize e-commerce websites for search engine optimization than it is for blogs and five-page company websites. When you shuffle lots of products on and off your site, you end up encountering lots of problems which complicate issues for the search engine optimization tools.
In light of these, it is in your best interest to avoid such an eventuality. We have come in to help. That is the overall aim of our discussions.
7 CRITICAL ERRORS OF E-COMMERCE SITES
Our discussions hereunder, endeavor to identify and examine seven of the most common SEO errors which e-commerce sites and online stores encounter.
#1: No Product Description
In most instances, online clothing shops, and online gift stores are the ones that mainly make this error. The lack of any accompanying description diminishes the possibilities that the page will appear in the top ten list of the search engine results.
This danger is real, even in low-frequency searches. You should hence add a description to your items. Do not disparage the chances of your pages.
For instance, while selling boots, just add some descriptions to the product. That is because search engines cannot see images. This is notwithstanding that a picture speaks a thousand words.
You have to measure how unique your content is likely to be. The most reliable way of doing so is to measure the default word count of a blank product page. Count all the words which your navigation employs. Also, consider the footer, sidebar, and other texts that are available in a blank product page.
Be certain that your unique text exceeds the ‘default word count.’ This is to accrue some heavier weights. Writing more contents for your product description is better for your SEO. While at it, bear these issues:
• Write only qualitative contents. These help customers make informed purchasing decisions.
• Refrain from copying contents from other sites. The search engine shall penalize you for this.
• Test the description word count which converts purchases well. Excess content may be undesirable.
#2: Deriving Product Descriptions from manufacturer’s Websites
Deriving a description straight from the manufacturer lets search engines filter you. Furthermore, it might even let your site be permanently banned from these engines altogether.
The reason here is that these products are channeled to many online stores. Many opt to retain the texts in their original forms. This creates many pages that bear similarities. They are hence filtered by Google.
To make matters worse, the manufacturer’s descriptions are in most instances not salesy. You should hence always strive to draft unique contents only. Google has upped its game in reducing the site rankings due to content scraping and duplicity.
Generating unique contents for the many products or diverse inventories may not always be a simple task. I have personal experience. Consider leveraging the ‘NO INDEX’ Meta tag on those product pages which you are unable to draft unique contents for.
For those product pages which you cannot access or may be eliminated from your inventory soon, you are advised to keep them off your search engines. There is no need of possessing thousands of pages with similar contents. You had better possess only a few unique pages.
Moreover, the search engine might mistake your site to have generated thousands of simple pages automatically to gain some leverage. You do not want to be perceived thus. Maintain your SEO in good shape.
Don’t make it bear the dangers of product pages that are poorly optimized. Also, do not let yours be a spammy-looking content strategy.
#3: Zero Product Reviews
Before making a purchase, an estimated 70% of potential buyers prioritize product reviews when they visit online forums or stores. Lacking such reviews in your site means forfeiting a large chunk of the audience. What’s more? Review pages are more likely to rank higher than selling pages.
Amazon.com has taken the lead in this. It allows its users to leave reviews of every merchandise over and above merely purchasing them. With regards to this, it has created a community of bibliophiles. It also lets them share their experiences.
It is such an approach that you want to replicate. You obviously want to enjoy the selfsame benefits that come along with initiatives of these kinds.
Product reviews generate unique and free contents for your sites! We have already looked into the dangers of not possessing unique contents on your site. You also know how hard it is to come up with such contents. The product reviews answer your problems.
They also breathe life to your product pages. This, in turn, attracts search engines to your site more frequently. In fact, updating your site regularly is a sure way of boosting your overall SEO attempts.
#4: The failure to optimize product pages in line with the search demands
Factor the demand and search keywords which people key into the search engines. This will help you to accurately write product descriptions, title pages, and headlines. You want to avoid promoting a product which no one is interested in. Many stores that deal with diverse merchandises suffer from this issue.
Tips for Better Product Page Optimization
• Utilize model numbers in your title tags and H1 headings
• Employ brand names in your H1 headings and title tags
• Supply the necessary image alt tag information
• Refrain from stuffing keyword phrases to your pages
• Never display your contents using the iframes. See to it that your content actually exists on the product pages as should be the case.
NB: Read our article, ‘The On-page SEO Recipe for Peak In-bound Marketing Efficiency’ for more on-page SEO tips.
#5: Too Ordinary Titles
Many online stores do duplicate their title tags. Watch out for this and make every effort to stay away from identical values. Titles form the bedrock of SEO. Many online shopping outlets, however, do disregard this simple requirement.
It is tricky to generate unique title tags when selling multiple titles from similar brands. The same case applies to similar items from many manufacturers. You will from time to time have to replicate the same keywords. Search engines are cognizant of these occurrences. You should hence focus on drafting unique keyword phrases.
Many online shoppers looking for key phrases oppose single keyword. The ‘band-model’ formula tends to get around this issue well. For instance, it requires that you structure your title tag in this manner: Band – Model – Item Type.
Study your potential client base to familiarize yourself with the languages they use quite often when speaking about your kinds of products. How they refer to your products will give them a rough clue on how they might search for them.
#6: The Absence of ‘Speaking URLs’
What is a speaking URL? Here is an example of what we mean:
Speaking URLs are also referred to as ‘keyword-friendly URLs.’
This site address is friendly in that it contains the name of the book in question. You are highly advised to create such URLs for all your products. This way, you will avoid anonymous IDs. Also, it will make your profile quite unique to the search engines.
Reasons for using speaking URLs
Listed and explained below are some of the key reasons to use speaking URLs:
Semantics
Searchers and customers find it easier to know what to anticipate when they click your URL. Too long URLs which contain many numbers and are also gibberish may appear spammy and be turned off by the search engines.
Anchor Link and Keywords Luck
Chances are that your URL might be picked and re-posted by another site. Using the URL as the anchor text will avail the important keywords in the anchor tags. Making the anchor texts to contain the keywords and pointing them back to your site most likely drives your site to higher rankings.
Relevance
Placing relevant keywords in your URL used to drive domain names extensively. Google, however, is scaling down its prioritization of this avenue. This notwithstanding, it still helps to incorporate relevant keywords in the URLs of your product pages.
PS: Please note that other reasons also exist. Due to the limited space, however, we could not just exhaust them. You have all to gain and nothing to lose by using these tools.
#7: Plenty of Duplicate Contents
Many pages do generate duplicate contents. The tags and archives with diverse sorting elements are the chiefs of these. You should exclude them from the search engine indexes. Further, close them in the robots.txt.
As we have stated earlier, indexing these sites might lead to a ban on your site by the search engines. This danger is particularly rife if the site in question is large like those of online shopping sites. That is why you want to stay away from them. This can only happen if you get to know and use the appropriate tips.
Tips to Trim down Duplicate Contents
• Block the areas that generate duplicate contents. These include category pages, tags, and archives. Use the robots.txt to do this. The aim is to prevent the search engine from accessing them.
• Find out the pages which are appropriate for indexing. The canonical tag tool will help you to arrive at this. For instance, if your shopping cart generates new URLs from comments or reviews, the canonical tag will alert the search engine which page it should be attentive to.
By generating new URLs, you most always end up with many pages that contain similar contents. The only exception here is that one page contains comments and reviews yet the others are devoid of the same.
• Consider adding no-follow attributes to links which point to areas which contain duplicate contents. You have to be very meticulous with this. That is because Google is pretty good at identifying such links. Anyone link that is unidentified might land you in trouble.
The Golden Rule of SEO – Prioritize Usability
Google takes users and their experiences seriously. To keep up the pace with it, make your online store convenient and useful for your clients. This is the only way to achieve respect. Anything that is great for your client is definitely good for Google.
When people stay longer in your site and revert less to the search engine results pages is an indicator that Google is indeed sending them to the right page. This is the overall goal of Google’s search engine optimization tools.
Lastly, people who like your site and what it offers will mostly link it. Links are great as they are the ones that drive your site to higher rankings in the search engine results pages!
CONCLUSION
You are now familiar with the various mistakes sellers make. We believe you are now better placed to avoid or rectify them. Indeed, you never want to get into trouble with the search engines. That is because the consequences of being kicked out of them are dire.
As you may well have noted, this is a journey you cannot travel alone. You definitely require the assistance of an expert. It is only such a person who has what it takes to do a good job. For this reason, we give you a 10% discount if you hire us.
All said and done, the search engine optimization is a very ingenious marketing tool. You can never hope to stand tall in this day and age without utilizing it. If you have not already done so, this is the time to take the first step. We wish you all the best in your subsequent marketing undertakings.