Are you looking to start your online business in 2024?
Luckily, Shopify made it easy for online business owners to build a feature-rich online store.
But what happens after building your website? How do you improve your online store's visibility in front of the search engines?
How do you reach your prospects and get them to shop with you instead of your rivals? That is where search engine rankings come into play.
Yep, today... we'll be talking about SEO or Search Engine Optimization!
Admittedly, creating and sharing valuable content is a good thing...
But... it doesn't guarantee that customers will find your store whenever they use Google or any other search engine.
So, the key here is to improve your online store's visibility!
You need to increase website traffic by leveraging the best SEO practices for 2024.
That's why we have created this Shopify SEO checklist. To help new and seasoned sellers increase their website traffic.
Understanding Shopify SEO
Search Engine Optimization is a digital marketing strategy. It's a tactic that helps you rank higher on search results.
Organically, by the way.
The biggest advantage of Search Engine Optimization is... It gets people to your website and even helps them turn into paying customers.
It's because SEO is a broad concept that revolves around many strategies you can implement.
But that's if you optimize your web pages properly... which I will help you with.
And the good news is...
SEO for Shopify is easier than you think. With some basic understanding, anyone can increase website traffic and yield terrific results.
While Shopify offers a few SEO features, there's still so much you can do to improve your online store.
Unlike in the past, when SEO was confined to keyword research and optimization only.
But now, today's SEO is all about creating an all-in-all positive user experience.
Your goal as an online store owner should be to make your website more relevant to your target audience.
Remember, the more relevant your website is, the more likely Google will rank it higher and recommend it to other users.
Shopify SEO is a little different from SEO for generic websites and blogs.
Why? Because you're not optimizing the general content... but product listings to increase visibility and conversions.
Let's deep dive, shall we?
Why Is SEO For Shopify Stores Important?
There are many reasons why Shopify SEO is beneficial for your eCommerce store.
We're going to discuss a few of them down below.
1. It’s A Free Form Of Advertisement
That's right. SEO is free because Search Engine Optimization is to gain organic traffic.
The competition in the digital space made customers more picky and sophisticated.
So, before making a buying decision... most people conduct thorough market research... compare different options... ask hundreds of questions from customer support, and then make a purchase.
Some customers, on the other hand... trust the recommendations of their friends and family. They also read reviews before they buy anything online for themselves.
What SEO does is allow your target audience to find your brand on search engines?
As a result... more people can see your brand online. Even without having your business invest in inexpensive marketing strategies.
So... don't allocate a huge portion of your budget to paid ads! Instead, use some of it to improve your SEO.
2. It Helps Position Your Brand
You should aim for the first page of the search results.
Because while more and more people prefer digital channels to buy their desired things... most of them don't even bother to check the second or third pages of Google.
A Moz study reveals that the first page of Google receives 71% of traffic compared to the 6% of traffic received by the second page.
3. Boosts Sales And Conversions
When you get more traffic to your Shopify store, you're on your way to increasing sales and conversions.
In other words... SEO can provide Shopify store owners to convert their visitors into leads. Then customers.
4. Increases Customer Reviews
That goes without saying that when you turn more prospects into customers, you also get more feedback in the form of reviews and testimonials.
More customer reviews mean more sales and conversions.
5. Improves Customer Loyalty
This benefit is also somehow connected to customer reviews.
According to the Local Consumer Review Study... over 91% of consumers go through customer reviews before trusting any local online business.
Getting more reviews not only fuels your conversion process but also results in more recommendations and improves brand affinity and customer loyalty. Check out our interesting blog about the difference of brand affinity vs brand loyalty.
So you see, SEO is extremely important to increase your website traffic and sales.
Now you must be wondering how to create a foolproof SEO strategy for your Shopify site that converts.
Read on to learn 12 proven tactics you can use right away to improve your online store's search visibility and website traffic.
12 Ways To Optimize Your Store To Get More Traffic In 2024
1. Get Your On-Page SEO Right
You may want to reconsider your approach if you think that on-page SEO is all about keyword research.
Yes! Keyword research forms the foundation for on-page SEO, but there are so many other equally important things you need to pay attention to before you even think about getting started.
Conduct Keywords Research
First things first, you have to create buyer personas based on the demographics (age, gender, location), likes, and buying preferences of your target audience.
The next step is to conduct keyword research using a keyword research tool available online. You can try Google Search Console.
Go after a high search volume to see how many people are searching for your products and services.
Continue to look for all long-tail keywords and phrases currently trending in your area of expertise.
Optimize Meta Titles And Meta Descriptions
To achieve your SEO success, it's also critical to optimize all the meta titles and meta descriptions for individual website pages.
What are they, anyway? Meta titles are what your prospects can see as your page titles on the search result. While meta descriptions talk about what your web page is about.
This strategy, if done right, can go a long way as it will help you rank higher on SERPs.
Image Optimization
Another essential on-page tactic that many online sellers forget is to optimize their images. The process is simple too. All you need to do is add an alt tag to the images available on your site so that search engines can categorize them easily.
2. Choose The Right Shopify Theme
It may be tempting to install a Shopify theme that is attractive and comes equipped with plenty of design elements.
But most of those themes fail to perform well when it comes to user experience.
Choosing the right eCommerce theme for your Shopify site could be the ultimate deal-breaker as it enables you to rank better on search engines.
A theme like Debutify can help you create an interactive Shopify store. The best part is... without compromising on load speed. It's mobile-responsive too.
Another thing is...
3. Improve The User Experience
Did you know your site's search engine rankings heavily rely on the user experience you're offering to your visitors?
When a website takes too long to load, the customer will abandon the page and check out other options.
So make sure you create a store that loads within 3-seconds or less.
In addition to that, it is also critical to provide the same user experience to your web and mobile users.
For this, you have to choose a mobile-responsive theme. Also, make your text visible and readable. Last but not least, create clear and noticeable CTAs.
The key here is to make everything for your visitors easy.
You wouldn't believe the next one...
4. Avoid Duplicate Content
Thin or duplicate content is the biggest enemy of SEO.
Even if you're using multiple URLs for identical products containing duplicate content... make sure you tell Google which specific URLs to index.
Pro tip: Hire a developer who knows how Shopify handles canonicalization and filtering.
Next is...
5. Integrate With Google Analytics
Google Analytics is our favorite tool when it comes to tracking website traffic info. That information includes website traffic sources and their behavior on your Shopify store.
Make sure you use the latest GA tracking code. The good news is you can also embed your tracking code into your Shopify store by going to your Admin panel.
And to add to that...
6. Build Links To Your Shopify Store
Link building is another essential part of Shopify SEO that increases your website traffic and establishes credibility and reputation.
This tactic is also said to be the “word of mouth of SEO”. There are numerous ways you can earn backlinks for your website.
For instance, you can ask your supplier to link to your website. Also, you can reach out to famous influencers working in your niche for an interview and get content and a link.
If your business has been mentioned in different places, you can use mention.com to identify the sources for those mentions and ask them to link to your site.
You need to dive deeper into SEO to learn more about link-building.
And to ensure your SEO success, you need to...
7. Use The Best Shopify Apps And Tools
Fortunately, Shopify offers its users access to several SEO tools and apps that they can use to increase website traffic and conversions. Some of our favorite SEO tools for Shopify include:
Smart SEO
Now you don't have to write your meta tags or alt tags manually for your store. Smart SEO provides structured data to search engines that improve search results and rankings.
Yoast
Yoast is another powerful SEO tool that allows Shopify store owners to check their site's SEO strength. With this tool, you can edit multiple pages with a single click.
SEMRush
Nothing compares to SEMRush when it comes to competitor analysis and quick SEO checks. This tool enables you to spy on your competitor's top converting keywords that you can use to tweak your strategy for more traffic and conversions.
Here's more...
8. Canonical Strategy
Canonical strategies and SEO go hand in hand. These strategies come in handy when you want to avoid Google treating your Shopify store as multiple domains.
In simple words... creating a canonical strategy enables business owners to avoid duplication and define their preferred iteration for Google or other search engines.
And wait, you also need to...
9. Product Reviews
Another proven trick to increasing website traffic through SEO is by creating a comprehensive strategy to incentivize product reviews.
Here are a few things you can do to get this step right:
- Make sure your reviews are marked up accurately.
- Use tools like Google's Structured Data Testing Tool to check how your competitors have marked up their product reviews.
You can also...
10. Leverage Content Marketing
After getting your on-page and off-page SEO strategies right, the next thing you may want to consider is your content marketing.
Having a comprehensive content marketing plan also ensures your site ranks higher on SERPs.
Do not copy/paste descriptions you get from your supplier.
Invest your time and resources wisely. You need to create and optimize your content.
How? By creating engaging content and product descriptions that hook your visitors' interest. It must also reflect the creative nature of your business.
Now, another thing you need to do is...
11. Organize Your Website Structure
The way your content is organized on your website can also influence SEO.
A website with a simple and navigable website structure will keep your visitors engaged. And they will spend more time on your website.
As a result, you can improve your search engine rankings.
You can organize your Shopify site by following this sequence:
- Homepage > Category Pages > Sub-Category Pages > Product Pages
12. Reduce Your Bounce Rate
Did you know search engines assess their success by monitoring your bounce rate?
When you make efforts to reduce your bounce rate, you'll witness improvement in your website traffic and conversions.
Here are a few things you can do to reduce your bounce rate:
- Fast and free shipping
- Interactive product recommendations
- Discounts and sales pop up
- The simplified checkout process
These are also applicable to other Shopify stores, even if not exactly to improve SEO.
What are you waiting for?
Improve Your Shopify Store's Visibility With These SEO Tips!
You see, creating a digital marketing strategy includes optimizing your website for search engines.
And it may not be easy, but it's definitely achievable with these Shopify SEO tips!
But to get better results, you can pair your SEO strategy with a functional and user-friendly Shopify theme.
To help you with that, you can download Debutify!
It's an eCommerce theme that also helps you optimize your conversions, profits, and AOV with over 50 Add-Ons!
Optimize Your eCommerce Website And Try Debutify For Free
14-Day Free Trial. 1-Click Installation. No Credit Card Required.
Ricky Hayes
Llouela Asim