Search engine optimization is one of the best sources of free traffic for eCommerce websites. However, most store owners neglect to implement a good SEO strategy.

It is great to use social media and paid ads to drive customers to your website, but it requires constant effort and money. SEO also requires a lot of work to implement, but once you rank, you practically make sales on autopilot.

This SEO strategy guide will provide you with the latest tactics used by seasoned online marketers to drive traffic to their websites and make money.

Why You Should Care About SEO

A study by Outbrain reveals that search is the number 1 source of traffic for content websites. Another study by SEMRush shows that organic search and direct traffic accounted for 80% of traffic to websites.

Ecommerce stores should have plenty of product descriptions, reviews, and engaging images to entice customers to buy. But without traffic, you will never make a sale. To make your SEO strategy work, you should be able to focus on a variety of platforms and approaches including social media, video marketing, content marketing, copywriting, and the like.

Proper Keyword Research

Keyword research should be your top priority. Never neglect this fundamental step because this can either make or break your SEO strategy.

When posting product pages, product reviews, or blogs on your website, you should target not only specific keywords but money keywords as well. Money keywords are specific words that people use when searching for products to buy.

You can use Amazon Keyword Tool to get ideas. You have 3 free searches per day. You may also use Google’s keyword tool. If you are at a loss for keywords to use, you can spy on your competitors’ websites to determine which keywords they are targeting.

On-page SEO

When you create product pages, there are some steps your should not ignore. First of all, put your primary keyword in the page URL, in the title, meta description, image alt tag, header, and product description. Second, be sure to add relevant images and videos on the page to take advantage of ranking on image and video search.

Do a Site Audit

Make sure not to hurt your rankings. Avoid broken links, low site speed, missing meta-data, and using thin or duplicate content. You can use a free tool like Beam Us Up to check for any site issues to fix.

Content Marketing

Search engines love fresh content. Most marketers use blogging as their number 1 content marketing strategy. You can post the newest updates about your product, or interesting blog topics related to the niche you are targeting.

Blogging also allows you to rank for many other keywords related to your niche. Remember to use related keywords on your blog posts to boost your primary pages.

To rank high on the search engines, write at least 1,000 words of content. Most pages on the top search engine results have an average of 2,000 words of content. Writing long content is hard so at least aim for 1,000 words.

Build Links

You should be able to build backlinks from other websites to give your site a boost in search engine rankings. Partner with influencers or become a guest blogger on popular websites. Another common strategy is to write engaging topics that people are willing to share on their websites, blogs or social media accounts.

Conclusion

The best SEO strategy for ecommerce stores is to remain consistent in doing the above-mentioned approaches. Doing SEO is difficult, but the fruit of your labor will be very rewarding.

Organic traffic is still the best source of sales for many online marketers. Although you can use paid advertising to sell products, you can make a lot more sales with SEO.