SEO: Search Engine Optimisation for Online Shops

With targeted search engine optimisation activities, online merchants have the opportunity to place their online shop and their products high up in Google’s search results. Increasing visibility boosts traffic and thus the chance of higher sales – a potential that should not be missed. In this context, search engine optimisation in combination with search engine advertising is of central importance within the marketing mix of an online shop in order to acquire new customers and maximise sales.

SEO and its importance for Online Shops

The optimisation of an online shop for the search engine is intended to achieve the best possible ranking for certain search terms. All measures are focused on making the Google algorithm rate the shop as highly relevant for a certain keyword so that it places it at the top of the rankings.

It is always important to remember that Google is concerned with providing searchers with the best answers to their queries. For this reason, ranking factors have been and are regularly defined, on the basis of which the bots orient themselves during crawling and evaluate the page accordingly.

The results of the first page are particularly relevant. The graph below shows how strongly the CTR (Click Through Rate) decreases from position to position. If an online shop lands on the second or even third page, you should not expect additional traffic.

This is exactly where online shops reach their potential customers. Search engine optimisation is essential to …

• increase visibility in the long term
• generate traffic and new customers
• increase the reach of your website
• address specific target groups
• improve the conversion rate
• optimise the use of the marketing budget with other measures such as SEA
• increase sales

Which search engine optimisation measures for online shops are used?

Basically, SEO measures can be divided into OnPage and OffPage optimisation, whereby the technical implementation is counted to the OnPage measures.

OnPage Optimisation

OnPage refers to the content of the online shop itself. Possible questions for e-commerce SEO are:

• Does the visitor get all important information about the products presented in a detailed, structured and reader-friendly way?
• Are relevant keywords included in the texts?
• Are questions from customers answered in a targeted way?
• Do photos and videos accompany the customer journey?

The higher the quality of the content and the interaction of customers with the content, the better the page will be rated by Google.

Technical optimisation refers to all factors that are important for Google to be able to crawl the page without any problems. It is, so to say, the basic framework for all other OnPage and OffPage measures to take effect. The technical aspects include the URLs, a simple structure of the website and the existing data, ensuring the canonical URLs, the use of an SSL certificate and the reduction of the loading time.

OffPage Optimisation

In OffPage optimisation, the focus is mainly on backlinks. These help Google to classify a page as relevant for a previously defined area or topic. Online shops with niche products and precisely definable target groups score particularly well here because the competition is not yet as strong in this area.

The references back to the online shop are placed as links on external pages and thus increase the authority in the search engine, which ultimately serves as an evaluation for the ranking. With these “recommendations”, it is always true that they are high-quality backlinks.

E-Commerce Marketing Mix for Search Engines

For efficient online marketing in e-commerce, search engine optimisation and search engine advertising as well as the use of services such as Google Shopping always go hand in hand. In combination, the sub-disciplines of search engine marketing significantly improve visibility and cover different types of search results, increasing the chances of higher traffic.

While SEA works primarily in the short term, SEO is a long-term activity, so the first visible results can take a few months. Here, you need to be a little patient, but in the end it is worth it for the organic search queries. One intersection is above all the keywords that can be specifically strengthened.

4 Tips to start with SEO in the Online Shop

With our 4 tips, online merchants can start directly with the first activities in SEO for the online shop.

1. Finding Keywords

Keywords are the central key to good rankings. As soon as a user enters a search query with a keyword, the search engine sets out to crawl content according to this query and list the most relevant pages for the search intention in the SERPS (Search Engine Result Page) according to the corresponding ranking. But how do you find the right keywords for your online shop? For this we recommend the use of special tools:

• Google Suggest with suggestions of similar and related search queries
• Google Keyword Planner in Google Ads
• Hypersuggest or Ubbersuggest for keyword combinations and topic identification
• Google Trends for insights into previous strong search interests
• Identify questions visitors have regarding products, what solutions they expect, what concerns them in this context, etc.

2. Optimise Product Descriptions

The actual content on the website is the be-all and end-all of SEO for the online shop. Product descriptions in particular are often neglected. Yet there is a lot of optimisation potential here. You can improve this directly:

• Include the product name and the main keyword in the first heading (H1) and secondary keywords in the subheadings (H2, H3)
• Write a short teaser with all important information
• List all the important USPs of the product clearly using bullet points
• Write a text with all the added values and tips worth knowing about the product
• Use subheadings to make the text easy to read
• Include a high-quality product image and icons

Important: Speak the language of your target group (salutation, casual, emotional, factual, etc.). A product description should be around 200-300 words. If a product is in particular need of explanation, the implementation of a tab menu is suitable. Here, the visitor can decide for him or herself what additional information he or she needs.

3. Title Tag and Meta Description

The meta data (title tag and meta description) is information about a page that is displayed in the search results. On the one hand, they should awaken the visitor’s interest and encourage him to click. On the other hand, they are important for the placement in the SERPs themselves. You will find the meta data in the header of the HTML document. This way, you can directly create a good title tag and meta description:

Title tag:

• The title should not be longer than 55 characters (incl. spaces)
• Include the main keyword right at the beginning.
• Grab the user’s attention with questions or added value
• Add your company name
• Include emojis

Example: “Jeans that always cut a good figure 🤩 | jeansbude”

Meta description:

• Write a meta description that is not longer than 155 characters (including spaces)
• Tease out what the customer expects to find in your online shop
• Include the main keyword
• Matching icons or emojis can increase attention
• Place a call-to-action

Example: “Jeans for every event and preference ➜ casual five pocket ✓ comfortable mom fit ✓ casual boyfriend look ✓ trendy cropped style ✓ Buy now at jeansbude.com”

The goal of the meta data is to generate initial attention and bring traffic to the page. Once this has been achieved, the tools from uptain support online shops in converting the traffic into customers. With the help of smart exit-intent popups, cart abandonment emails and newsletter popups, which are used intelligently and personalised, SEO in e-commerce becomes a target-oriented sales booster.

4. Optimisation of the URL

The URL also offers optimisation potential for SEO, because it is one of the search engine’s ranking factors and thus influences the ranking. Check your URLs therefore for the following parameters:

• Keep the URL short and concise
• Orientate yourself on a meaningful structure
• Add the main keyword
• Separate words with a hyphen
• Use only letters and numbers

Example: jeansbude.com/mens-jeans or jeansbude.com/women-jeans/five-pocket

Conclusion: Use SEO for your Online Shop

Today, SEO is essential for every website and thus also an important element of online marketing for online shops. However, SEO should not be used in isolation, but always embedded in a comprehensive search engine marketing and in harmony with search engine advertising. This way, the chances are good to achieve high rankings in the long run. uptain subsequently helps you to convert the traffic gained into sales.