eCommerce platforms are perfect for search engine optimization. Popular search engines love large websites with common content themes, and eCommerce stores naturally fit this bill. A few beginner search engine optimization techniques can start you down the road of gradual success.

Keep in mind that most search engines have a period of time where they will hold your rankings low for popular search terms. This is typically called the sandbox. Don’t let this discourage you, and if you can be patient and wait out this sandbox period you will be greatly rewarded.

First of all we have to assume that you have a product that is of value, consumers are searching for your products on popular search engines and that you can compete on price and quality with other high ranking eCommerce stores offering similar products. If this is true of your products, then you can be profitable optimizing an eCommerce store.

Picking a Domain Name

If you don’t already have a domain name that’s been up and running for awhile, you should take the time to pick a winner. Over time I have found that search engines seem to prefer short domain names that contain at least one of your major keywords. Long domain names seem to cause delay in high search engine rankings.

Title and Meta Tags

Your title tag should contain the most popular two and three word phrases that your potential customers are searching for. Take time to make sure that several word combinations can be derived from words in your title. It also helps if your most popular phrase is the first part of your title. Your title content must directly relate to content and images found on the page your listing links to. Unrelated titles can lead to high ‘bounce rates’. I will discuss this in future articles, take my word for it. If you have the dedication, unique titles should be made for every category, sub-category and product in your store.

The meta description should contain your company name and/or your brand names for the the products you’re selling as well as popular search phrases for your products or services. If you’re selling off-brand products, or you manufacture your own products you should develop a catchy company name or brand name for brand recognition. The meta description should be well written. Many searchers will read descriptions before deciding to click on a search result, so a call to action or clever wording might help to entice a searcher to click on your listing. Do not mislead searchers in your description or title, as this may increase your ‘bounce rate’. I will discuss bounce rates in future articles, again just take my word for it. If you have the dedication, unique descriptions should be made for every category, sub-category and product in your store.

Keyword meta tags are generally ignored by most search engines, but it is still good practice to include keyword tags. Add as many popular two, three, or four word phrases to this tag as can be found on the immediate page. The first keywords listed should relate to your title and description tags. I have not realized a limit in keywords to affect search engine rankings, but I advise that you don’t add keywords that don’t relate or can not be found in your page content. If you have the dedication, unique keyword tags should be made for every category, sub-category and product in your store.

Get more stucture tips in Basic Page Title, Meta Description & Meta Keywords Structuring Rules.

Product Image File Names and Alt Tags

Product image file names should include product numbers and keywords that relate to the product. Use dashes to separate words, not underscores. For example a file name for Adidas running shoes would be as follows… adidas-running-shoes-A10.jpeg

Alt tags should contain the same keywords and product numbers for consistency.

Text Content Development

Writing content can be like pulling teeth for some people. Don’t get too caught up with the ‘SEO’ tricks and think that they will substitute quality content development. You must take the time to write detailed, well written product descriptions, main page introductions, sub-category descriptions and about us information. Don’t copy this information from a supplier or a competitors website. Popular search engines will recognize the duplicate content. Paraphrase any information that you must take from another website.

If you follow these suggestions then you will be headed down the path of eCommerce success. Look for future articles from me to discuss topics such as…

1. Bounce rate reduction strategies
2. Link Building (it’s critical to do this correctly, so don’t rush into it)
3. Search Engine friendly urls (there are a few ways of doing this, so stay tuned for my tested theories)
4. Keyword research
5. Dynamic content
6. Internal link structures
7. Many, many more to come…

Note: We are pleased to announce a new author to eCommerce Optimization, Slingshot. We will see posts from him off and on as he has time to help us out with contributions related to organic optimization, running an eBusiness, getting started strategies and beginner tips and tricks as well as many advanced strategies that will help Online merchants sell more.

Stay tuned for the new author profile for more information about Slingshot.