Your objective is to build a business that’s profitable and sustainable; that means you need customers, as many as you can get from as many channels as there are.
Sure, this usually means investing in advertising with platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but there’s a free option that people often overlook (I blame the eCom gurus), and that’s Google searches.
No, I don’t mean paying for ads on Google; I’m talking about SEO for your site.
SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization, and it’s used to talk about improving your website so that it shows up higher on search results when people look for certain terms. If your store complies with Google’s fundamental criteria through SEO, then people will find you easily when searching what they need.
SEO for a Shopify store isn’t much different than for other websites, and failing to do so won’t cost you anything from your fund, but it’ll cost you lots of profits.
Therefore, let’s find out why you’re not a priority result for Google and how you can change that.
Why should you rank your store in Google?
To put it simply: ranking your store is the most cost-efficient marketing approach you can take. It can be better than paid ads as well since these clicks come from people who are actually looking for what you offer.
I know you’re here to find out how to increase your ranking, so I’ll be brief and just list the reasons why this is such a good approach in case you’re still underestimating it.
- The obvious one is that it’s completely free. You don’t really have to invest anything else than just the time you need to optimize your store. Therefore, all revenue from SEO is 100% profit except for your product’s price. You’ll also need to spend less in advertisement; I’ve known people who just focuses on their SEO, and their niche ensures paid advertising simply isn’t necessary.
- Since Google values user experience so much, your customers benefit directly. You need to improve your navigation, loading speed, information, and mobile responsiveness, and all of these are elements that your customers will appreciate greatly.
- Not only will you get more visitors, but you’ll also target people who are actively looking for the things that you offer. This means they’re more interested in your products, and they’ll be more likely to convert.
- It’s also great for your brand. Being among the top results on Google will make your customers see your business as a larger company that’s easy to trust, and that makes them prone to buying from you.
All in all, you’ll have to pay more attention to what your customers want and need, and that will make you a better businessman in the long-run, which will also give you an advantage over your competition.
How to do it
You just learned the foundation of SEO and Google ranking: understanding your customer’s needs and giving them a pleasant experience. Now, let’s put that principle into action.
SEO is all about giving search engines a reason to pay attention to your store and rank it over your competitors. This is important because, even if you’re spending thousands on paid advertising, people will hesitate to buy from you if they can’t find your store on the internet.
Before changing your pages and website in general, you need to understand what search engines look for in a website when ranking them. That’s not just for stores; it applies to all websites, so you need so be better than them.
User experience
Improving your visitors’ experience is imperative for any website. If neglected, people will be annoyed, and they’ll just bounce to a different website that’s more enjoyable.
This action tells Google that you’re not better than other websites ranked lower. It suggests that you failed to deliver what people expected, and this is especially true for Shopify stores. If your site is hard to navigate or frustrating to use, then Google won’t rank you over sites with better user experience.
As such, you want your store to be easy to navigate and load properly for customers to search, buy, and checkout swiftly. Of course, this isn’t good for SEO only. Your customers (and your business) will directly benefit from it.
Let’s talk about loading time for a moment.
This is a basic factor for ranking on Google, and anyone with a sliver of knowledge about SEO will tell you that. It’s common sense as well; if your visitors have to way too long to see a page, they’ll feel bored and leave your site.
The lower the better, but a solid loading time is around 3 seconds; you should still aim lower, though.
The good thing about Shopify is that the platform itself loads fairly quickly. It takes a lot off your shoulders, and their hosting’s runtime also helps a lot. Your task is not to mess that up by using subpar themes; instead, build on that foundation and make your site even better.
Mobile optimization is also paramount for SEO. Google pays special attention to how your website works on mobile devices, so if you’re using a theme that works poorly on mobile devices, be ready to see your ranking fall.
Mobile devices take up a huge portion of online traffic, and buying on-the-go is a must for your customers. The problem is that not all themes are good for it; this includes mostly free themes, but many premium ones are poor as well.
You can check out this fast shopify theme which is also high converting.
The best approach to improve your user experience is to install a responsive theme that loads perfectly on mobile, is fast, and aims toward enticing conversion while keeping your SEO optimal.
Keywords
Keywords are the specific terms that people enter on search bars, and that’s why they’re critical when ranking your website. Our next method relies on it, so it’s important to understand it completely.
You need to know which keywords relate to your business. Then, you must research which ones are the most popular and go for the ones that you can implement without forcing things.
The first step is to optimize your title tags, the HTML factor that specifies the titles of your pages. These tell your visitors what your website is about.
Title tags show up on result pages, so ensure that they’re accurate, providing a solid description of what your page offers; make sure your target keyword is among the first words as well – all without making it unreadable.
It’s your first impression, so don’t rush it. You can also display your store’s name on the tag for extra points.
Remember that each product page is a possible result on Google. If you can rank each page, then you’ll see a huge boost to sales.
Therefore, prioritize using the right keywords on your pages, both for the title and descriptions. Try to use them up to 3 times per page, and the same goes for the meta description, the small description on Google results.
The best way to find keywords is to use a tool like SEMrush, which provides information about every keyword used, including its popularity and competition.
Content marketing
Once you have your keywords, you can make your way to the top Google results by writing articles and blogs around them. Shopify includes blog functionality, so make the most out of it.
You’ll get customers organically by offering them helpful content and then directing them to your Shopify store.
For instance, let’s say you sell phone accessories. You can write articles about how to find good accessories, which are the best products right now, and how to keep them in good shape. Then, redirect them to your products and wait for the conversions.
You want to keep track of your articles’ length. Don’t overdo it, but adding new sections makes room for more keywords. As for the best length, try to search your keywords on Google and see how long the top results are.
Readability is also very important, so keep it free from grammar mistakes while keeping it engaging and relevant to your store. Readers should never feel lost or lose interest.
Besides articles, your contact and about pages are also important since they provide trust. Google also checks that you do exist to prevent scams, so keep these pages tidy.
Building links
This one’s fairly short, but it’s very important since Google checks your site’s authority. You always want to get backlinks.
You can get links from companies that provide the products you’re selling. Email outreach is another nice way to get links. Content marketing can also boost your backlinks; you can write guest posts for other sites, and sponsored articles are also a great approach.
Conclusion
It may sound complex, but ranking your website isn’t really difficult. Once you understand what you need to do and start implementing it, you’ll get used to it fairly quickly, and it’ll become second nature.
If you are looking for a super in-depth Dropshipping Course which goes over Store SEO check out my #1 recommendation here!
