So
we've blogged in the past about how important SEO
is for your store, but are the search engines still giving you a
headache?
Check
out these top 10 do's and don'ts to get you on the right track to
bring success to your store....
1. Do create unique content
If
you sell a lot of stuff that's pretty similar then it's likely that
your product info and features will be the same. The problem is,
Google really doesn't like duplicated content and will rank you lower
if you have it. The key is to not copy and paste the same description
over and over – you need to find a way to write unique content for
each page.
SEO
Checklist:
- Get
a professional to create unique content for your site
- Make
sure your content is something that people will want to read
- Regularly
check to make sure your content
is unique
2.
DO take advantage of social media
Social
media is a powerful tool that should not be underestimated. It has
transformed many businesses and it will certainly help with your
rankings. The more people follow you, the more content you can post
and the more traffic you'll bring - meaning you'll turn into a
high-quality online store! Remember not to over-sell to your
followers, be someone who is interesting and provides entertaining
posts, along with offers and exclusives.
SEO
Checklist:
- Post
useful content on your social media
- Be
fun and interesting enough to follow
- Don't
over-sell too much
3. DO allow for product reviews
Allowing
your customers to leave reviews can definitely help bring more
traffic to your store. As you need to have unique content, this is
kinda a free way for you to get exactly that, without having to pay
for it! It can also help entice other people to click the buy button.
If you're worried about negative reviews then you can always set up a
way to monitor it.
SEO
Checklist:
- Let
your customers create product reviews on your page
- Monitor
to make sure you aren’t getting negative reviews
- Get
your customers to give you a star rating
4. DO add title tags and meta descriptions
So
meta descriptions and title tags on every page are really important
to help with SEO. It's essentially a description placed on each page
so that Google knows what it's all about. As mentioned above, it's
really important to keep it unique, but you should also think about
adding the specific product into your title and meta description to
help it become better optimized.
SEO
Checklist:
- Add
the product to your title tag and keep the title tag to 30
characters
- Keep
your meta description between 150-160 characters
- Make
sure description and title tag is unique to each page
5. DO use a site map
So
as the name implies, a site map is the map of your online store. They
are especially helpful because they offer better navigation and
visibility by search engines. Also, it means that if you make a
change to your site, a search engine will find out quicker. The thing
is, you need to create two site maps – one for humans using the
HTML format – and one for Google using XML format. On this occasion
however, Google won't penalize you for having duplicated content in
the form of a site map!
SEO
Checklist:
- Create
two site maps – one in HTML and one in XML format
- Keep
it updated with changes
- Notify
Google about your site map using Google Webmaster Tools
6. DON'T overstuff with keywords
Yes
you need to add keywords, but you need to be careful not to overstuff
your copy with keywords. They don't make it easy do they?! The secret
to doing this is to not think about writing content with Google in
mind – instead think about your customer. What are they searching
for? What do they want to read on your page? Keep it natural and the
keywords will flow from that.
SEO
Checklist:
- Do
your keyword research carefully and consider your customer
- Add
relevant keywords to your images, URL, meta descriptions and titles
- Keep
your copy natural
7. DON'T link back to your store too much
Google
has started to cut down on link-building – content that is stuffed
full of links back to your store. Creating external blog posts is a
great way to bring exposure to your site, but you need to make sure
you don't over-kill it with links back to your site. Instead link to
high-quality websites that are relevant to your post and you'll find
that your content will be better received.
SEO
Checklist:
- Don't
put too many links back to your site
- Do
link to high-quality
websites
instead
- Create
external content with just your name and logo to bring exposure
8. DON'T copy your competitors
So
your competitor may be doing better than you and they may be higher
ranked on Google. But should you go and copy all of their meta tags
and keywords for your online store? No, you definitely shouldn't!
There's no harm in checking out the competition, but copying their
keywords will only rank you lower. You need to make sure keywords and
tags are unique. Take a look at Adwords
to discover high searched terms with low competition.
SEO
Checklist:
- Make
sure you don't copy your competitors keywords and tags
- Sign
up for an AdWords account and make use of their keyword tool
- Use
a keyword that is highly searched, but offers low-medium competition
9.
DON'T hide your products from your homepage
When
it comes to the link structure of your website, you need to make sure
your products aren't too far away from your homepage. Not only will
it be hard for customers to come and find out what you are selling,
but it will have an impact on your PageRank score. Your products are
your most important thing, so make sure they are just a few clicks
away.
SEO
Checklist:
- Organize
your link structure for effective navigation
- Put
your products no more than 3 clicks away
- Check
your PageRank score for your products
10. DON'T solely rely on Pay Per Click
Pay
Per Click or PPC as it's more commonly known, does have its benefits
and can bring people to your store. But relying on PPC alone is not
cost-effective and if you stop using it then your online store will
completely vanish! Plus, there are many people out there that won't
click on those ads, merely for trust reasons, so it's best not to put
all of your eggs in one basket.
SEO
Checklist:
- Don't
rely on just PPC
- Put
your efforts into organic searches
- Monitor
your costs and web traffic to see how much you benefit from PPC.
Do
you have more?
So
that's our 10 SEO do's and don't, but if we've missed any then make
sure you let us know in the comments below! Did you enjoy this post?
Make sure you follow us for plenty more on Twitter,
Facebook
and Google+.
Oh
and did we mention, we've got a bunch of SEO
tools
that can help your store soar to success!