Getting More Traffic to your eCommerce Site
If you own an ecommerce store or any retail business, you obviously want to increase traffic. This is especially true in today’s landscape, where more and more people are shopping online, but where they’re also having trouble finding local businesses.
In many ways, modern ecommerce is dominated by a few giants. But there is room to break through. To get more attention and traffic to your online store, you’ll need to use clever SEO tactics and high quality website content to draw people in.
Local SEO Tips for Retail & eCommerce
There are several aspects to improving your local SEO and building your retail and ecommerce store online. Properly optimizing your website and writing useful and descriptive content will help improve your search rankings and your sales.
- Make Sure Your Website is Set Up Correctly
- This means using HTTPS to secure your site, making sure your site is mobile friendly, testing that your website is fast on all devices, ensuring that you have a sitemap that is available to Google, and much more.
- Have a site structure that is logical and easy to follow. According to Google, “Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.”
- You can find a lot of the information you need to improve your website by using Google Search Console.
- Meta Tags, ALT Tags, and More
- Having clearly-written, descriptive, and SEO optimized page titles and meta descriptions helps search engines and visitors recognize, understand, and classify your content.
- ALT tags help search engines recognize images and they’re also incredibly useful for those who are visually impaired.
- Make Sure Content is Well-Written and SEO Optimized
- Write website content that is descriptive, easy to read, and that gives visitors the information they’re looking for. Modern search engines are smart enough to recognize good content, so write for those who are visiting your site. Give them what they need and they’ll turn into customers. Remember, the final purchasing decision is always made by a person, not a search engine.
- Set Up a “My Business” Profile
- Create a Google “My Business” account. This allows you to claim your local business listing, update your profile, manage how your business appears on Google Search and Google Maps, and much more.
Growing Your Local Business with SEO Content Writing
Written content is incredibly important for every website and especially critical for local businesses. To stand apart from the competition and to allow your business to compete with larger companies, you need to showcase your store, your product offerings, and what makes you the right choice.
- In addition to writing great page titles and page descriptions (meta tags), it’s also critical that the website content people see on the page is well-written and informative. For example, product descriptions are key. Not only do these help people understand more about the products you sell, but they also give search engines the information they need to properly classify your site.
- Try to avoid duplicate content. Copying content from a manufacturer’s website is easy, but it doesn’t help your company stand out. Often, when search engines see the same content on more than one website, they choose to showcase one site over the other. If the manufacturer’s site has the same content as yours, there’s a good chance that Google will show their site in the search results and not your ecommerce store. This is a lost opportunity.
- A focus on “long tail keywords” is important for local businesses. These keywords are often less competitive but more specific, so they’re great for smaller businesses and online stores. What are long tail keywords? They’re more specific key phrases, the kind that potential customers often use when they’re close to making a purchase.
- For example, compare the keyword “bookshelves” to the phrase “brown bookshelves for bedrooms.” The second phrase is an example of a “long tail” keyword.
- These phrases are great to target with your content because they’re less competitive (so your company has a chance to rank highly, even when faced with competition from the ecommerce giants) and they’re specialized, so they allow you to showcase your unique products.
- Figure out what long tail keywords work for your business and include them in your website content and product descriptions.
- Use calls to action in your content. Think about what you want visitors to do. Do you want them to add an item to their cart, for example? Then structure the content on your ecommerce site with this in mind.
As you can see, by creating great website content, you’ll showcase what makes your online store unique. This helps improve the search ranking of your ecommerce site and it also gives visitors the information they need to turn them into customers.
Increasing Organic Traffic for Your Online Store
Increasing traffic to your online store takes time and effort. By writing quality content, having a well-designed website that runs smoothly and is easy to navigate, and by focusing on giving your visitors what they’re looking for, you can build your ecommerce store and grow your business online.
It can sometimes seem hopeless to try to compete with large retailers online, but don’t get down. Your business has its own unique angle. You have your own specialties and your own advantages. Maybe you sell products that no one else has, or your curate collections with impeccable taste. Maybe you offer local delivery and pick up or superior customer service. Whatever your ecommerce store has to offer, highlight this in your content.
Need help with local SEO, ecommerce content writing, or copywriting for your online store? Contact us today.