In the age of Instagram shops, Reels, and Facebook carousel ads – it may seem pointless to focus on things like SEO if you run an ecommerce website. But the fact is that SEO is actually a tool that can be easily executed – and will bring you returns if done right.
The best SEO strategy for ecommerce websites involves a good combination of keyword research, targeting the right keywords, and both on-page and off-page SEO tactics. While social media requires you to create a campaign, make creatives, shoot videos, and target specific personas, SEO requires dedicated and steady upfront effort. But, once you rank for those keywords and searches, you can make regular sales and become the top choice, thanks to the best SEO strategy for ecommerce websiteyou have put in place.
Here’s a rundown of some of the SEO best practices for ecommerceyou should employ to boost visibility and conversions for your store.
Keyword research
You need to create a keyword strategy based on search volume, keyword difficulty and search intent. There are millions of sites – so you need to focus on ways to get discovered by people with the right search intent. Use tools like Ahrefs to gather data on the keywords you have picked. Tools like Google Analytics and Moz Keyword Explorer are also helpful in gathering data. And use Google KW Planner to uncover the approximate search volumes and CPC to determine buyer intent. You also need to ensure you are specific and actionable with your keywords. This is part of creating the best SEO strategy for an ecommerce website.
Amazon suggests and long tail keywords
It doesn’t get bigger or better than Amazon when it comes to the sheer volume of products listed on any single site, so it makes sense to learn a thing or two about the best SEO strategy for an ecommerce websitefrom the retail giant. Amazon is a literal goldmine for high buyer intent keywords. Start typing in your seed keyword to search for useful keywords on Amazon. Then, look at the autofill suggestions that Amazon spills out – these are all keyword ideas related to your product or service that you can use for later and mine in Google.
Product descriptions
Your product descriptions are another section of your ecommerce website you shouldn’t ignore. Have the basics in place – price, photo, alt text, title, etc. – but use the space for a detailed description to add keyword-rich information about the product that your audience may be searching for. A well-crafted description will entice the shopper – and search engines! Include information and text that customers will find useful. And then optimize by doing further keyword research to understand the intent behind each keyword.
Then, divide those keywords into informational keywords (great for blog posts) and purchase intent keywords (ideal for product descriptions and to drive conversions). This is one of the best SEO strategy for ecommerce websites.
Off-page SEO for ecommerce
Don’t ignore one of the best SEO strategy for ecommerce website:off-page SEO. This includes activities done away from the website in an attempt to increase the ecommerce website’s rankings. Some of the more common off-page SEO activities include building backlinks, encouraging branded searches, and boosting engagement and shares on social media.
Backlinks are a ranking signal that Google uses to determine whether you deserve to be in the SERPs. The more backlinks you receive from high-quality sites, the more authoritative your site is to Google.
The good news is, generating backlinks for ecommerce sites isn’t all that hard. Guest posting on blogs related to your niche is a fun, easy white-hat tactic to build links and readership. You can also try to write for product review blogs and websites. Simply email the founders/publishers of those blogs, and ask if you can write a few promotional guest posts for few. And be sure to include images!
When your ecommerce website is recommended to the audience by reliable, authentic sources, it is one of the best SEO strategy for ecommerce website conversions and traffic.
Technical SEO
Why do people visit an e-commerce website? Because you have something they need – and they intend to purchase it at some point. Your technical SEO needs to be clean and sound, move beyond sitemaps, and correct meta tags. If the internal linking if off, if there are redirects, if the URLs are long and complicated – you’re not on the right path. Thebest SEO strategy for ecommerce website includes technical SEO.
Inserting canonical tags and refining your homepage internal links for the right content can improve technical SEO and steer people in the right direction.
You also need to have tidy URLs: short, keyword-rich URLs that don’t run a mile long with sitenamee/category/subcategory/product/product name/product number. Phew! That’s way too long, will likely confuse Google, and dilute any impact keywords may have on your URL.
Keep your URLs short and with a 1-word description for the category, followed by the subcategory and then the product.
When your URLs are easily read by shoppers and search engines, it’s a win-win for all.
Next, if you want to ensure that your SEO strategies are concrete, you can rely on an SEO checklist that can help you improve your result.
Abide by an SEO checklist –
Review this checklist to determine what modifications and improvements you may make to your SEO strategy.
Include relevant keywords
Tidy up the website’s architecture
Include meaningful content
Put appropriate title tags in
Put alt tags
Make it mobile-friendly
Allow quick load times
Install Google Analytics and Search Console
Ensure the security of your URL and website
SEO to Level Up Your E-Commerce Game
In conclusion – SEO can level up your e-commerce game, big time. With the right keywords, product descriptions that click on an emotional and search-intent level, sound page structure and some effort with backlinks, SEO can bring you long-term gains and a regular inflow of new customers. So take these tips on the best SEO strategy for ecommercewebsiteand start today!
FAQs
1. What are the best ecommerce SEO tools?
Some of the best SEO tools out there include:
Google Analytics,
Google Search Console,
Google My Business,
SEO Site Checkup,
Google PageSpeed Insights,
Google Structured Data Testing Tool,
Google Keyword Planner
Google Tag Assistant.
Other great tools include Ahrefs, SEMrush, KWFinder, Moz Pro, Ubersuggest, Screaming Frog, WooRank, and SEOquake.
These tools can help you build the best SEO strategy for an ecommerce website.
SEO needs to be woven into several aspects of your e-commerce website: the content, the page layout, link building, URL structure, meta, and more.
To understand how to build the best SEO strategy for ecommerce website considering these factors, read our exhaustive SEO Resources blog, with details about tools to optimize your website from all angles.
Whether you look it up on a blog or approach an SEO agency for ecommerce,they can both attest to the fact that SEO can boost your chances of getting discovered and boosting conversions. You need to figure out yourbest SEOstrategy for an ecommerce website because the numbers don’t lie: statistics indicate that 44% of people start their online shopping journey with a Google search. And 37.5% of all traffic to ecommerce sites comes from search engines – more than via social media. If you want to get more traffic and sales to your ecommerce website, then sound on-page SEO and some well-planned off-page SEO for ecommerce is a critical first steps to gaining the right customers.
3. How can ecommerce search be improved?
Ecommerce search can be improved with a combination of on-page SEO, off-page SEO and an intuitive search interface within the website. Helpful text within the search box – similar to what Amazon does – for example, “search for products, categories or brands” should appear in the box to guide the user.
The box should also be populated with past search queries. And of course, the placement of the box where users can easily find it is important. This is among the best SEO strategy for ecommerce website.
4. How can I make sure my ecommerce website is mobile-friendly?
Today, ecommerce businesses need to understand that a considerable percentage of their audience uses mobile to scroll & shop. Thus, it is important to make your ecommerce website mobile-friendly. Here are some tips that will help you make your ecommerce website mobile friendly –
Ensure that your web page loads swiftly.
Add compelling calls to action.
Improve the user experience.
Simplify the checkout procedure.
Connect social media to your e-commerce website.
5. Why is upGrowth best suited if you are managing ecommerce business?
upGrowth has industry experts who have worked with multiple ecommerce websites to develop successful SEO strategies. upGrowth’s SEO strategies align with your business goals. The SEO team curates strategies after a thorough audit and analysis of the website.
6. How important is product page optimization for SEO?
Sales and revenue can all be increased with product page optimization. Your product pages need to be mobile-friendly. This is how more and more customers are searching online. Your content will reach your target audience more quickly and offer a better user experience on sites that load rapidly.
7. How do I write an SEO plan?
An SEO plan aims to raise a website’s position in search results so that it may draw in more natural traffic. Technical SEO, content strategy, on-page SEO, link-building, and user experience are some of the fundamental pillars this plan builds upon.
Consider the following pointers before creating an SEO plan –
Make a list of topics.
Make a list of long-tail keywords based on these topics.
Build pages for each topic.
Set up a blog.
Create a consistent blogging schedule.
Create a link-building plan.
Compress media files before uploading them to your site.
Watch: Best SEO Strategy for E-commerce Websites That Actually Works
A dedicated ecommerce SEO strategy builds a sustainable foundation for consistent organic traffic, unlike the transient nature of paid social media campaigns. While social ads require continuous investment for visibility, a well-executed SEO plan creates an asset that generates sales over time by ranking your site for relevant searches.
The key is to view SEO as a long-term investment. Investing upfront effort in keyword research and on-page optimization allows your store to become a top choice for customers with high purchase intent. This approach involves several core activities:
Keyword Research: Use tools like Ahrefs or Google Keyword Planner to identify terms with high search volume and strong buyer intent, balancing them against keyword difficulty.
On-Page SEO: Optimize product pages with keyword-rich descriptions, high-quality images with alt text, and clear titles.
Off-Page SEO: Build authority through backlinks from reputable sites in your niche.
By securing top positions in search results, you create a reliable sales channel that is not dependent on daily ad spend, as detailed in the full guide.
Targeting search intent is crucial because it aligns your content with a user's specific goal, separating casual browsers from motivated buyers. By understanding whether a search is informational or transactional, you can create content that directly addresses their needs, significantly boosting your conversion potential.
Failing to match content to intent leads to high bounce rates and low engagement, signaling to search engines that your page isn't relevant. A better strategy involves categorizing keywords based on user goals. For example, using a tool like Moz Keyword Explorer helps you differentiate between:
Informational Keywords: These are perfect for blog posts (e.g., 'how to style a denim jacket'). They attract potential customers early in their journey.
Purchase Intent Keywords: These are ideal for product descriptions (e.g., 'buy black denim jacket online'). They capture users ready to make a purchase.
This deliberate categorization ensures your product pages appear for transactional queries, driving sales more effectively. Dive deeper into mapping keywords to the customer journey by reading the complete analysis.
For a growing boutique, you should prioritize a strong on-page SEO foundation before scaling off-page efforts. While backlinks build authority, perfectly optimized product pages are essential for converting the traffic that authority will eventually bring. Without compelling, keyword-rich descriptions, even high rankings will not translate into sales.
Think of it as a two-stage process. First, establish a solid on-page core, then amplify it with off-page signals. Your on-page efforts should include detailed, unique product descriptions that answer customer questions and integrate purchase-intent keywords. Off-page SEO, particularly guest posting on relevant fashion or product review blogs, then serves to validate your site's credibility in Google's eyes. The combination of a great user experience on your site and external validation from high-quality backlinks is what creates a powerful, sustainable ranking strategy. To learn how to balance these two critical areas, explore the full strategic breakdown.
You can strategically use Amazon's search suggestions as a goldmine for discovering high-intent, long-tail keywords that customers are actively using to find products. Since Amazon's primary function is sales, its autofill suggestions are directly tied to what people are looking to buy, making them incredibly valuable for your product page optimization.
This method provides direct insight into the customer's mind. To implement this, start by typing a 'seed' keyword for one of your products into the Amazon search bar. The autofill suggestions that appear are long-tail variations that real shoppers are searching for. For example, typing 'women's running shoes' might suggest 'women's running shoes for flat feet size 8'. This specific phrase indicates a user who is very close to making a purchase. You can then use tools like Ahrefs to verify the search volume and difficulty of these keywords before incorporating them into your product titles and descriptions. The full article provides more examples of how to leverage this powerful technique.
An evidence-based strategy to demonstrate authority involves acquiring high-quality backlinks, which Google interprets as votes of confidence from other established websites. For ecommerce, the most effective techniques are guest posting on niche-relevant blogs and getting featured on product review sites, as these tactics generate relevant referral traffic and powerful ranking signals.
The key is to focus on quality over quantity. A single backlink from a highly-respected blog in your industry is more valuable than dozens of links from low-quality directories. Proven methods include:
Guest Posting: Identify blogs your target audience reads. Email the publishers with a proposal to write a genuinely helpful article that naturally includes a link back to your store or a specific product.
Product Reviews: Reach out to product review websites and offer them a sample to review. A positive review often includes a valuable backlink.
These white-hat tactics build both readership and the domain authority needed to compete. Learn more about executing a successful outreach campaign in the complete guide.
For a new store on a budget, an effective initial SEO plan focuses on foundational, high-impact activities you can manage yourself. The goal is to make your products discoverable to users who are actively looking to buy, laying the groundwork for future growth.
Here is a practical three-step plan to get started:
Target High-Intent Keywords: Use free tools like Google Keyword Planner to find specific, long-tail keywords related to your products. Focus on phrases that suggest a readiness to buy, like those including brand names, model numbers, or terms like 'buy' or 'sale'.
Optimize Product Pages: Write unique, compelling product descriptions for each item. Include your target keywords naturally, fill out all alt text for images, and create clean, descriptive URLs. This on-page work is fundamental.
Begin Light Off-Page SEO: Start by encouraging branded searches and social media shares. Then, identify one or two relevant blogs in your niche and pitch a guest post to earn your first high-quality backlink.
This focused approach ensures your initial efforts are spent on tasks that directly contribute to visibility and sales. For a more detailed walkthrough, see the full article.
An established ecommerce business must treat SEO as an ongoing process of refinement rather than a one-time task. To stay competitive, you need to continuously monitor performance, adapt to new search trends, and deepen your understanding of consumer behavior beyond initial keyword research.
Your strategy should evolve by incorporating a cycle of analysis and optimization. Regularly review your data and market landscape to identify new opportunities. Key ongoing processes include:
Performance Auditing: Use Google Analytics to track which keywords and pages are driving the most organic traffic and conversions. Identify underperforming pages for re-optimization.
Competitor Analysis: Periodically analyze the keywords your top competitors are ranking for. This can reveal gaps in your own strategy and uncover new product or content ideas.
Trend Monitoring: Use Amazon's search suggestions and Google Trends to spot emerging long-tail keywords and shifts in how customers search for your products.
This adaptive approach ensures your SEO efforts remain aligned with market realities. Discover more advanced techniques for maintaining a competitive edge in our full guide.
Ignoring product description optimization and off-page SEO are critical mistakes that lead to poor search visibility and low conversion rates. Generic descriptions fail to attract search engines or persuade shoppers, while a lack of off-page signals tells Google your site lacks authority and credibility.
Successful stores transform these potential weaknesses into powerful advantages. They avoid common pitfalls by implementing a dual-focus strategy. They treat every product page as a primary landing page and build external trust signals simultaneously. Here is how they do it:
Compelling Product Descriptions: Instead of using manufacturer descriptions, they write unique, keyword-rich copy that highlights benefits, answers common questions, and targets specific search intent.
Proactive Off-Page SEO: They actively seek high-quality backlinks through guest posting, collaborations with influencers, and features in industry publications, which boosts their domain authority.
This comprehensive approach is what separates top-ranking stores from the rest. The full article explains how to avoid these and other common ecommerce SEO errors.
Even as visual discovery grows, off-page SEO principles will remain critical because they build foundational brand authority that transcends any single platform. While social media provides immediate engagement, backlinks and branded searches create lasting trust signals that Google uses to determine your site's credibility and rank it for valuable commercial keywords.
A strong off-page profile acts as a digital reputation. This reputation influences search rankings far more permanently than a viral Reel or a successful ad campaign. The future of ecommerce visibility lies in an integrated approach where social media engagement fuels off-page SEO signals:
Social Shares and Engagement: While not a direct ranking factor, high social engagement can lead to more brand visibility, which in turn encourages branded searches and natural link acquisition.
Branded Searches: When users search for your brand by name, it signals to Google that you are a legitimate and popular entity, boosting your authority.
Building this authority ensures your brand remains discoverable. Read our complete analysis to understand how these trends will shape future SEO strategies.
The most common pitfall in ecommerce keyword research is targeting overly broad, highly competitive keywords instead of specific, long-tail phrases with clearer purchase intent. This mistake wastes resources and results in an inability to rank, while a more focused strategy can deliver qualified traffic and sales.
To avoid this, you need a data-driven approach that balances opportunity with feasibility. A successful strategy combines broad discovery with precise qualification. Use a combination of tools to build a list of actionable keywords:
Discover with Google Keyword Planner: Use this tool to get a sense of approximate search volumes and CPC data, which can indicate commercial intent for a broad set of terms.
Refine with Ahrefs: Use a tool like Ahrefs to analyze keyword difficulty, see who is currently ranking, and uncover long-tail variations your competitors might be ignoring.
Validate with Amazon: Cross-reference your list with Amazon's search suggestions to confirm the phrases are being used by actual shoppers.
This multi-tool approach helps you build a targeted list of keywords you can realistically rank for, as explained further in the complete guide.
Effective product descriptions successfully merge persuasive, customer-centric copy with strategic keyword integration. They go beyond simple features to tell a story and solve a problem for the shopper, while also providing the structured, relevant information that search engines need to understand and rank the page.
To achieve this balance, write for the customer first and optimize for search engines second. A well-crafted description should entice the shopper and naturally include the phrases they use to search. Key elements to include are:
Benefit-Oriented Copy: Focus on how the product improves the customer's life, not just its technical specs.
Targeted Keywords: Weave in primary and secondary keywords, especially long-tail variations, that reflect high purchase intent.
Useful Information: Include details customers find helpful, such as dimensions, care instructions, or potential use cases.
Structured Data: Ensure basics like price, a high-quality photo with alt text, and a clear title are in place.
This approach improves user experience and SEO performance. The full article offers more tips on crafting descriptions that convert.
Successful ecommerce companies integrate off-page SEO by treating it as a brand-building and public relations activity, not just a technical task. They secure guest posts and features on authoritative sites within their niche, which generates high-quality backlinks and introduces their brand to new, relevant audiences.
For example, a company selling high-end kitchenware might write a guest post for a popular food blog titled '5 Essential Tools for the Modern Home Chef.' This article provides genuine value to the blog's readers while naturally linking back to two or three of the company's products. Similarly, a fitness apparel brand like Gymshark (hypothetical example) could write for a bodybuilding website, building credibility and earning a powerful backlink. The key is that the content is genuinely useful and editorially relevant to the host site's audience. This approach ensures the backlink is seen as a legitimate editorial vote of confidence by Google. Discover how to identify and pitch these opportunities in the full guide.
Amol has helped catalyse business growth with his strategic & data-driven methodologies. With a decade of experience in the field of marketing, he has donned multiple hats, from channel optimization, data analytics and creative brand positioning to growth engineering and sales.
Growth Strategy and Planning
