Search engine optimization or SEO, is all about making your website rank well in search engine results. Everyone who wants to be found on the internet – from bloggers to news outlets and online marketers. Depends on proper search engine optimization of their websites. Individuals and companies have learned that SEO is not something that should be looked over. And people who own and operate e-commerce websites need to take note. You can sell the best products for the lowest prices. But if no one can find you, you might as well close the shop for good. The difference between closing shop and thriving can come down to how well-optimized a website’s copy is.
It’s (Almost) all about the Keywords
Choosing and using the correct keywords in your e-commerce copy is paramount to having your copy well-optimize. Keywords work pretty easily. They are the search terms most people use when searching for the products like the ones you’re selling. It’s important for you to include the correct ones in your website copy. As a word or two can make a world of difference. You can be selling tabletop speakers and focusing on that keyword, all the while not knowing that “computer speakers” is a keyword people are using more in their searches.
But be warn, too much of a good thing can make it a bad thing. Using too many keywords in your website copy is a practice known as “keyword stuffing,” and it can actually hurt your search rankings. The idea is that the keywords should be mention naturally, so there’s no reason to have them in each and every sentence you put up on your website.
The Two Kinds of Copy Your Website Needs
Your website’s search rankings will, to some extent, depend on two types of copy – the product descriptions (provided by you) and product reviews created by your customers.
The general importance of having a product description isn’t something that needs in depth explanation. People need to know what they’re buying, and while pictures speak thousands of words in photography and photo-reporting, in e-commerce they are not enough. Remember that people who buy products online can’t try them out, touch them, or smell them. All they can do is look at them, and read your description of them.
As someone who is into commerce, you can see the opportunity to influence your customers these descriptions provide. From the SEO perspective, these descriptions are copy which could include keywords, and which can contribute to your website’s search rankings. Providing plenty of copy in the descriptions, and including just the right amount of keywords is key to getting the most out of your product description. Even more important, though, are the things you should never ever do – copy content from similar websites, or the manufacturer of the product. The fact that copy is call copy doesn’t mean you can just copy it – it really needs to be original.
Customer-generated product reviews will help you on two fronts. First, they are very effective when it comes to influencing other customers – people read other people’s experiences with the products they would like to buy before they make their decision. Second, they increase the chances your pages will be share over social media. And they might even give a bigger boost to your rankings that the product descriptions.
URL Optimization
Lastly, you’re pages URL’s need to be keyword-friendly and well optimized. If you have a page with a URL which contains a string of numbers and letters that are only meaningful to computers and not people, you’re not doing it right. If your pages, on the other hand, contain the keyword, clearly legible by human beings, well that’s a whole other story.
