SEO for e-Commerce: How To Promote Your Online Store

When starting an online store or any other kind of online business, it's important to focus on driving traffic to your website. Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics is an invaluable way of boosting the number of visitors to your website.

So, what is SEO? Simply put, SEO tactics are strategies to help you improve your site's visibility when people look up related terms on search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and so on.

Often, new business owners don't pay enough attention to SEO requirements when setting up their online stores. This guide will draw your attention to some of the most commonly overlooked SEO tactics and explain how they can help drive traffic to your store.

One of the most important steps toward improving your search engine performance is making sure that your website is fully optimized. If your website is slow, your website traffic will likely suffer as a result. This is because search engines take your website's load time into account when ranking web pages. The slower your site is, the lower you'll fall in that ranking.

Not only does website optimization improve your website's visibility, but it can also boost your conversion rate. Studies indicate that even a one-second delay can see conversions drop by as much as 7%.

Speed and load times also impact the usability of your website, which has a direct impact on customer retention. The more seamless your website's performance, the better the customer experience; the better the customer experience, the more likely they are to be loyal to your store.

There are several steps you can take to improve your website's speed and overall performance. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of our top tips:

• Optimize the size of pictures on your site.
• Streamline the list of plugins your site uses.
• Utilize caching.
• Cut down on website redirects.
• Use a content management system (CMS) to optimize databases.

When you're optimizing your online store, make sure that you also pay attention to its performance in mobile browsers. As our world becomes increasingly digitized, more and more people are browsing the web on the go from their smartphones. This means your store's performance on mobile devices is of key importance.

Furthermore, Google's search engine takes mobile site performance into account when ranking sites, even on desktop versions. This is so that users don't have to contend with web pages with low performance and poor responsiveness. This all means that it's especially important to keep your store running smoothly both on desktop and mobile.

If you're not very tech-savvy, or if you think you'd just benefit from getting a second opinion, consider reaching out to our team here at Kokonut for advice and support.

Another important thing to consider is the accessibility of your website. You should make sure that your website is easy to navigate. This means cutting down on any clutter that may be obscuring your website or that might make it difficult for people to find what they're looking for. It also means you should make sure that your navigation panel is simple and easy to read, to avoid any possible confusion.

On top of this, you should ensure that your website is also easily accessible for disabled people. You can make a few simple tweaks to your online store to increase your accessibility:

• Include alt text for all the images on your site.
• Make use of transcripts if there are any videos on your web page.
• Be conscious of the colors you use in your website design.
• Choose clear, bold fonts that are easy to read.
• Consider including audio recordings of blog posts and other pieces of text.

By making sure you are as inclusive as possible in your website design, you will draw in as many potential customers as possible. Abled and disabled people alike benefit from clearly laid out websites, and, as we've already discussed, ensuring the user has a pleasant experience on your page is essential for driving traffic and sales conversion.

As with our previous pointer, make sure that you pay attention to the accessibility of your online store on mobile browsers, too. Make sure that all your hyperlinks work and that the format of your web page isn't muddled on mobile browsers.

SEO isn't all about website accessibility and optimization. You also need to make sure that the content on your web page will help with SEO. An important first step towards this is conducting keyword research.

Keywords are words and phrases that people are most likely to search for when looking up stores like yours. For example, if someone is searching online for a dog grooming service, they might look up "professional dog grooming" or "dog groomers near me." These are examples of keywords.

Keywords can be broadly split into two different groups: short-tail and long-tail. The difference is quite simple. Short-tail keywords are single words or short phrases that people search for when looking for products or services like yours, whereas long-tail keywords are longer phrases that people might search for.

Both short-tail and long-tail keywords have their benefits, so you should make sure that you don't neglect either. Since short-tail keywords are more general, they can draw in a wider audience. But since long-tail keywords are more specific, users who find your site with them are more likely to make a purchase.

Try to determine who your target audience is and think about the sort of terms they might search for when looking for goods or services like yours. Determining which keywords you should include on your website will help you get a better feel for your market competition and the shape of the industry. It will also help you drive your website traffic.

As you discover keywords during the research phase, you'll come to a better understanding of how customers in your target demographic search online. By gaining a better sense of the customer journey, you should find that it becomes easier and easier to deploy keywords effectively on your website.

No matter how attractive and user-friendly your store is, this won't mean anything if you don't have useful, SEO-friendly content. This is where your keyword research will come in handy.

Having unique and useful content on your online store will help drive website traffic. Your web page is more likely to perform well in online search engine rankings, meaning that potential customers are likely to choose your store over your competitors.

When it comes to online stores, one of the best ways to include great content on your site is to work on your product descriptions. By composing well-written and unique product descriptions that effectively use keywords, you're more likely to stand out to your customers from other stories similar to your own.

Whether you're selling handmade goods or goods from a manufacturer, it's unlikely you're the only store out there selling your particular product. This is why it's so important to go above and beyond the standard manufacturer description. Put aside some time to write up a unique, useful description of your product.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Try to avoid using technical language and jargon where possible.
• Use short paragraphs and sentences to make sure your description is easy to read.
• Utilize bullet points to emphasize important pieces of information.
• Use headers to boost your SEO and to help your customer navigate your page with ease.
• Make sure your sentences are grammatically correct and not overcomplicated.

A final key point is to not overuse keywords. Yes, keywords are very important—but forcing them into sentences where they don't naturally fit will only make your writing feel awkward and clunky. It may even make your product descriptions difficult to understand.

This article has provided some key tips on how you can promote your online store using SEO practices. By optimizing your website, making sure it's accessible, conducting keyword research, and incorporating that research into high-quality product descriptions, you're sure to boost traffic and conversion.

Search engine optimization is a very broad topic. If, after reading this article, you're still wondering how to promote your online store using SEO, why not reach out to Kokonut to enquire about your services? We've helped loads of online businesses get up and running by providing them with essential SEO services. We'd love the opportunity to help you make your online store a reality, too.