Search engine optimization, or SEO, may be yet the least understood element of digital marketing, despite the fact that it seems to be right at home in the vocabulary of every marketing specialist and eCommerce entrepreneur under the sun.
What SEO is has never fundamentally changed. It is a collection of practices that, together, will improve ranking signals (what search engines like Google and Bing use to assign organic rankings) thereby improving a domain’s organic rankings.
Despite this general knowledge, there are still some people out there who believe that SEO can be (or is) platform-specific.
While there might be some validity here, by and large it is not true. So let’s talk about what “Shopify” SEO is (and what you can do) before you run and hire a Shopify SEO agency.
What Is Shopify SEO? The Glaring Truth
Let’s start with a glaring statement that, in certain circles, would be sure to ruffle some feathers. There is no difference between Shopify SEO and WordPress SEO, or Shopify SEO and BigCommerce SEO, or Magento SEO, or even Volusion SEO.
For the most part (the overwhelming majority of the part, that is) SEO is SEO is SEO. Best practices are just that and do not vary according to platform.
So, knowing this, feel free to apply the principles mentioned herein to your platform, whether it is Shopify or not.
Keyword Research Is Most Important
First off, before you can do anything with SEO, you need to do keyword research. Trying to optimize a website without first looking at what keywords you want to optimize for is a waste of time. You don’t want to waste resources or throw good money after bad.
You need to know what keywords your target audience is searching for and what they expect to do once they find results that appeal to them.
A good rule of thumb is to look for keywords with a transactional or commercial search intent. A keyword research tool like SEMRush can help with this.
You should also go after keywords that have high volumes, as these will bring you the most visibility, but with a word of caution. Try to keep difficulty scores below 30 if possible, especially if you are just starting out.
Then, once you’ve identified these keywords you want to rank for, you can do the following.
So, How Can You Optimize for Shopify SEO
There are over 200 ranking factors that Google uses to assign rankings, but making these basic optimizations to your Shopify website will go a long way toward optimization.
- Include keywords in page titles, headers, and in metadata elsewhere on the page. This includes the URL slug.
- Remove duplicate product descriptions and write new ones, including your target keywords where possible.
- Don’t keyword stuff. If a keyword appears more than 3 times per 100 words, that’s too many.
- Include keywords in your image alt text fields in the image file.
- Remove, compress, and re-upload images that are slowing down your website.
- Include internal links to key product pages from other pages that often result in cross-sales on your Shopify site.
- Start blogging. Write about topics that are relevant to the keywords that you’ve selected.
- Share your content on social media and engage with followers.
- Optimize any local listings that you have for your business. Make sure that all contact information is up to date.
There are many other things you can do to optimize a Shopify website for SEO, but this list is a good place to start.
What About Keyword Research and Backlinks? Hire a Shopify SEO Agency
Before we can sign off we have to address two large elephants in the room. Keyword research and link building.
For one, it’s hard to conduct keyword research if you don’t have any access to tools and are not familiar with what sorts of keywords to target.
For another, on your own, you can’t build backlinks, except in the old-fashioned way of trading and soliciting them.
For these two things, you might want to work with a Shopify SEO agency, especially one that has demonstrated proficiency in your industry and has a proven process for link-building.
Research a few potential contenders and consider working with 1DigitalⓇ Agency (1DigitalAgency.com). As a Shopify SEO agency with more than 10 years of experience optimizing for user experience, technical SEO, and conversion rate optimization, they can help you take your Shopify store to the next level by improving your site’s long-term rankings in the organic search results.
