[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]eCommerce SEO is especially important for us. At Optimum7 we’re very eCommerce-heavy with our consulting. I would say that probably 55% of our clients are eCommerce businesses. We consider an updated strategy essential to perfect content marketing and search engine optimization for eCommerce.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Biggest SEO Challenges for eCommerce Brands” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGc1l1TlZBbEV2ODQlMjIlMjB0aXRsZSUzRCUyMllvdVR1YmUlMjB2aWRlbyUyMHBsYXllciUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93JTNEJTIyYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlciUzQiUyMGF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlJTNCJTIwZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhJTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Any eCommerce business owner needs to understand that in today’s market you are competing with giants. They include Amazon, Walmart, Jet, eBay, and Wayfair.
We have some conversations with different prospects. They say, “We don’t have competitors,” or “I’m not competing with Amazon.” No, you are competing with Amazon. These are your keyword competitors on Google search.
We have our own eCommerce operations as well. Are you reselling other manufacturer suppliers’ products? You might not have a business in the next five to ten years. Selling
Being the brand is the most essential thing in eCommerce right now. You have to prioritize this if you want to scale between ten and a hundred million.
Now there are huge brands out there like Chewy or Zappos. They’re selling other manufacturer’s products and these are billion-dollar companies, but they have a different structure.
You are not going to be able to create that. The in-house team could attempt a similar structure, but the odds of succeeding are very small. Becoming a brand is a higher priority.
For Content Marketing, What Are The First Things That We Need To Notice When We First Onboard An eCommerce Client?
We look at their onsite content. We mentioned Amazon and all of these large companies. If you’re reselling another brand, another manufacturer, you’re vulnerable.
These products exist on hundreds of other sites online. Therefore your product description is going to be identical to these other products and other websites. You need to stand out.
Google’s only going to rank one of you guys, and not everybody with the same content can appear on page one. We really try to leverage category pages. That is our opportunity to now kind of go after some more non-buyer intent keywords. They seem a little bit more generic but increase our search volume and allow us to rank higher.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”SEO Content Marketing Strategy for eCommerce” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGOUo0ZElZTUptN1UlMjIlMjB0aXRsZSUzRCUyMllvdVR1YmUlMjB2aWRlbyUyMHBsYXllciUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93JTNEJTIyYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlciUzQiUyMGF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlJTNCJTIwZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhJTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]You have to be incredibly creative with your content within eCommerce. You are probably sharing content with thousands of resellers and companies out there.
Let’s say you sell a remote control, right? How creative can you be from a content standpoint for remote controls to encourage an organic search? You can be very innovative in acquiring customers for your online store.
Do you a website and eCommerce site that just sold remote controls? Then you have to have a hierarchy. This content hierarchy determines the intent for those remote controls.
Go to Google today and type anything. You’re going to see those questions that Google answers. The answers take a lot of space and real estate in the search results pages right now.
People ask many questions while using Google. Those questions inform certain target keywords. What is your product’s intent? You need to think about that and your SEO strategy.
I’ll give you an example from Optimum7. We created industry pages for our website because guess what? We saw that people search for information about incorporating SEO. These include technical SEO for colleges, universities, eCommerce companies, and SaaS businesses.
We create a specific content section. On each page, we teach these industries how to do SEO, PPC, custom programming and custom software. Any business can learn to rank better. The created content and eCommerce will address the intent.
People have questions regarding that product. Consider the remote control example. How creative can you get with the answers? How can you improve the user experience?
Answer these questions in your content. How does one use the remote control? What is the remote’s purpose? With which different devices is it compatible?
Tailor your topics to fit a designated intent. Then you separate yourself from the rest of the pack that’s selling the same exact remote.
If I Have An eCommerce Store With 3,000 Products And 100 Sections, How Am I Going To Create All This Content?
You need a team. Either you need an in-house team or a trusted partner, but the content needs to get done. Again, you don’t need to change or create all the writing at once. Content marketers strategize to post gradually, with reasonable goals.
How Would You Prioritize This?
You can prioritize with various strategies. You can go after low hanging fruit, meaning low competition for people’s attention. These can be the less-populated keywords or terms.
Maybe you’re just off page one. There isn’t much competition or a decent monthly search volume. Let me focus on those topics and those collections.
You can say, “Okay, these are my best sellers right? From a more of a business standpoint.”
“Right,” we respond. “You want to make the content really powerful for the bestselling product.
These products sell. Thus, I want to increase the visibility of these products. Those are two ways that you could typically prioritize. And then again, just be consistent.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Improving Click Through Rate: Rich Snippets & Metadata” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGWDdlU0x5RzR1V3MlMjIlMjB0aXRsZSUzRCUyMllvdVR1YmUlMjB2aWRlbyUyMHBsYXllciUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93JTNEJTIyYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlciUzQiUyMGF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlJTNCJTIwZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhJTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For an eCommerce product that has literally thousands of products, we have this conversation a lot with clients. The conversation goes back nine to ten years.
We go back to clients and say, “Well, you’re going to have to rewrite descriptions on these thousands of products.”
“Are you kidding?” our clients ask at first. “How am I going to rewrite descriptions on 3,000 products and 200 categories?”
The “how” doesn’t matter. You’re going to have to do the work on your project and category pages. We have had clients who rewrote their websites and got incredible results. They have seen the proof through conversion rates.
You have to do the revision because you’re competing with brands of all sizes. Go to any top-ranking Amazon product and look at the content that they have. They all have unique content.
Why Are Reviews Crucial For eCommerce And Especially For SEO?
Reviews have always been extremely important. Nowadays they’ve increased awareness. because of the technology that we have today and because of the changes that we’ve seen on Google.
Rich snippets are one example. They now allow you to showcase star ratings directly on search result pages. This also includes Google Shopping. You can also have star ratings on the products that I list on Google Shopping.
And again, buyer intent spurs reviews and their impact. Consider if a consumer sees two product listings on the first page of Google. One product has five stars and the other one doesn’t have any. Which one am I going to click on?
You Click On The One That Has Five Stars
The technology that has come out today for reviews has made tracking them easier for eCommerce businesses to generate more reviews. Now the changes occurring on Google and their algorithm allow you to showcase those reviews directly on search result pages. Especially eCommerce reviews are more important than ever.
This is why we keep pushing this integrated approach, to combine marketing and technology. You have to have reviews for your products to show up on search results on Google and Google Shopping. To get better CTRs and better conversions to have reviews, you have to be on the right eCommerce platform.
When choosing the right eCommerce platform, you have to have appropriate integrations and inventory management systems. In addition, your database needs to be in place. You cannot separate marketing from technology, eCommerce, or paid search anymore. These are all integrated.
This is very frustrating for business owners. They have to implement these overhauls. If they want organic traffic, they have to put in the work.
For An eCommerce Owner Out There That’s Earning Between Two And $20 Million In Annual Revenue, Where Do These People Start?
Many eCommerce business owners are overwhelmed by the data. They see that their competitors are on Facebook or Google Shopping. Rival products rank high on SEO for “organic”.
You need an omnichannel approach. Prioritize, build a strategy and execute your plan accordingly. There’s no way that you’re going to be able to execute all of this at the same time.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Choosing an SEO Agency or Expert”][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGZjhRcEdKQTNFdTQlMjIlMjB0aXRsZSUzRCUyMllvdVR1YmUlMjB2aWRlbyUyMHBsYXllciUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93JTNEJTIyYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlciUzQiUyMGF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlJTNCJTIwZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhJTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Find a trustworthy expert, agency or independent consultant. Have them help you build out a strategy. The strategy can include which platforms you should target first based on your goals.
If you want low-hanging fruit, there are platforms for that. Also, consider if you simply want to view your audience accurately. In either case, the first step moving forward for any business owner is to find someone you trust.
Instagram came up with this scenario five or six months ago. Now you can have your products on any, you can tag your products and they can purchase right on Instagram. We say shoppable Instagram.
Do you really need such a feature? If you are selling remote controls, you probably don’t need Instagram tags due to the lack of visuals. But if you sell bikinis, apparel, lingerie, lifestyle products, or Rolex watches, you’re going to need the Instagram shoppable.
People do use the feature to find aesthetically pleasing products. We have clients who use the tag system and they receive ample sales.
ZARA and H&M, retail clothing corporations, were one of the first companies that implemented that. And there is an incredible value for that. To have that possibility, you’re going to need to be commerce or a Shopify store.
Now you have integrated your assets. Then you sit down and devise a strategy. Prepare to answer a long list of questions.
What’s the next step? What’s the next goal? It doesn’t matter if you’re doing this for content marketing or paid search. Consider your strategy for SEO and content marketing.
You’re going to need those product guides. And the eCommerce product guides and your category descriptions and product descriptions need to be managed on a per intent basis.
The lowest hanging fruit for us means two things. Where’s the opportunity? Where am I making money today? And where can I make more money tomorrow?
You’re going to base your strategy on the fact that you’re going to be able to make money every day. Turn a profit tomorrow, next week, the following month, and ideally for years to come. And what are your growth opportunities? This is a very important terminology that a lot of people miss.
Don’t try to do something new. Look at where you’re making money and look at your growth opportunity. All of this requires a strategy and an execution. And if you don’t know where to start, you’re in good company with ninety percent of business owners.
They don’t know where to start. You need to talk to one expert, agency or freelancer that understands your goals. We keep saying this on every single Surge session because we find this to be the common cause for errors. Business and eCommerce owners often make errors by not communicating their goals with an expert.
Make the first move and start doing your strategy. Open a Google Doc or open a Word document and start writing things down. If you need a consultation, contact somebody who is good with this stuff.
Optimum7 enjoys informing you about SEO and other important eCommerce topics. We’ll talk to you guys next week.
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