Unfortunately, most online merchants think that by creating tons of product pages and targeting common keywords, new customers will start rolling in.<\/p>\n
This is far from the truth.<\/p>\n
SEO is a lot harder than you think. Once e-commerce businesses grow their inventory and create more content, a lot of problems arise. They might eventually fall from the graces of Google because of too many 404 pages, unorganized site architecture among many others.<\/p>\n
The good news? As long as you avoid these common SEO mistakes, your e-commerce site will be okay.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Mistake #1: Lack of Product Reviews<\/span><\/h2>\nWe all love product reviews.<\/p>\n
In fact, having 50 or more reviews per product can mean a 4.6% increase in conversion rates. Sixty-three percent of buyers<\/a> are also more likely to purchase from a site with a good amount of reviews.<\/p>\nAnd search engines love them too.<\/p>\n
E-commerce stores with more reviews are ranked better because they are perceived as more relevant and trustworthy. In fact, Google\u2019s search results on product pages reveal the star rating and the number of reviews\u2014making it a strong indicator of credibility.<\/p>\n
For example. Amazon\u2019s product page for the Apple iPad was found on the first page of Google\u2019s search results because it had 102 reviews and a 4.7-star rating. Since Amazon is popular and its accumulated many reviews, they\u2019re able to stand out from other stores selling the same product.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-1.png\")
<\/p>\n
Now, how can you get more product reviews? Tools like Yotpo<\/a> let you collect more site and product reviews, ratings, and Q&A through AI requests made through their in-mail technology.<\/p>\n<\/span>Mistake #2: 404 Page<\/span><\/h2>\nA 404 error appears when a page can\u2019t be found. It may show up based on several reasons:<\/p>\n
\n- The page has been deleted.<\/li>\n
- There is a change in the product categories.<\/li>\n
- The products are not in stock or taken off the website.<\/li>\n
- There\u2019s a change in CMS providers which led to errors in the migration process.<\/li>\n
- External or inbound links are pointing to a page that has been deleted or a page that doesn\u2019t work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Why is this relevant? 404 pages can frustrate site visitors.<\/p>\n
If you see a page like this, will you come back to the site? Probably not.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-3.png\")
<\/p>\n
Customers are dissuaded from returning to the site, so it\u2019s clearly bad news.<\/p>\n
If you have several 404 pages, this may reflect negatively on your site\u2019s ranking. You might lose some link value and decrease user engagement.<\/p>\n
The good news is you can find 404 pages with WebCEO’s Technical Audit tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Timely](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-19.png\")
<\/p>\n
Or follow-up with your web developer because they might be able to deal with deleted pages. For example, if a product is out of stock. they could set up redirects.<\/p>\n
But 404 pages are sometimes unavoidable. If you have a high number of products in your inventory, it might be impossible to remove them completely. That said, you can customize your 404 pages to keep users engaged with your site.<\/p>\n
Here are some examples:<\/p>\n
<\/span>Airbnb<\/span><\/h3>\nAirBnb\u2019s 404 page has a funny visual and some helpful links that get visitors back to the site.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-4.png\")
<\/p>\n
<\/span>HBO<\/span><\/h3>\nHBO\u2019s 404 page has a casual apology and links to their different categories. It also includes a site header that can get people to sign in, view the schedule or return to the home page.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-5.png\")
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not rocket science, but customized 404 pages can be highly effective.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Mistake #3: Lack of High-Quality Content<\/span><\/h2>\nMany amateur e-commerce entrepreneurs underestimate content marketing. They think that as long as there are CTAs, product descriptions, and content, then everything\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n
This couldn\u2019t be further from the truth.<\/p>\n
If you publish blog posts with poor meta descriptions, mediocre SEO titles and boring blog posts, then you\u2019ll get lesser traffic and engagement rates. After all, would you buy from an e-commerce store with errors and boring copy? I don\u2019t think so\u2026<\/p>\n
Both search engines and customers judge a business based on the quality of the content that they produce. Nobody talks about businesses that don\u2019t have fresh, unique and useful content.<\/p>\n
As a result, optimizing your content is a top priority. You need to create keyword-rich headlines, create interesting posts and adopt best practices for SEO.<\/p>\n
Here are some examples of businesses with great content:<\/p>\n
<\/span>Taft<\/span><\/h3>\nTaft, a seller of leather shoes, has become popular thanks to the superb presentation of its products on its landing page.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-6.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/span>Glossier<\/span><\/h3>\nGlossier started as\u00a0\u201cInto the Gloss\u201d \u2014 a blog by Emily Weiss. It garnered popularity thanks to its feature on makeup rituals of celebrities and moguls. When the blog reached 1.5 million views per month, Weiss launched her own line of products. At present, the brand gets 1.86 million visits per month and is worth $17 million.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-7.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Businesses that fail to understand the importance of high-quality content will experience a drop in their search engine rankings. Therefore, invest in your content marketing strategy. Take time to create high-quality photos, visuals, blog posts, and videos.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Mistake #4: Duplicate Page Titles<\/span><\/h2>\nPage titles appear at the top of search results and browsers. They explain what the page is about to users and search engines.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-8.png\")
<\/p>\n
It might not seem like a big deal, but you need to avoid duplicating page titles from landing pages.<\/p>\n
If several pages are identical, search engines will find it hard to choose which pages to recommend. In the end, they might not recommend any of them.<\/p>\n
To fix this, you can check WebCEO’s Website Auditor<\/a> and SEO Analysis tools.<\/a> Visit their On-site Issues Overview page and scroll down.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-9.png\")
<\/p>\n
Next, you’ll then find a list of pages with titles that are duplicated.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-10.png\")
<\/p>\n
<\/span>Mistake #5: Site Speed is Slow<\/span><\/h2>\nSure, it\u2019s important to have high-quality images and videos in your landing page, but not at the expense of loading time. Studies show that people expect sites to load by 2 seconds. If it takes more, then the back button is the immediate option.<\/p>\n
But how do you improve site speed? Here are some tips you need to know:<\/p>\n
<\/span>Image Optimization<\/span><\/h3>\nImages with 2000 pixels feel great in your imagination, but not so much in reality. The higher the resolution, the more time it takes to load the webpage. And if users have to wait more than 30 seconds, they won\u2019t be impressed.<\/p>\n
The solution? Optimize your image on Photoshop or other image editing tools. You can also reduce pixel size, so instead of 2000 pixels, you can opt for 700 pixels.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Minify Codes<\/span><\/h3>\nMost developers add unnecessary characters like spacing and comments in their JavaScript and CSS codes. They do this to improve readability and understand their work.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, more characters make it harder for computers to read and execute the codes. The solution? You can use tools like JavaScript Minifier<\/a>. Just paste the code on the text box and click the minify button.<\/p>\n<\/span>Minimize Redirects<\/span><\/h3>\nRedirects can negatively impact your site\u2019s loading time.<\/p>\n
You click a link, it loads. You\u2019re then redirected to another link, then it loads again. This takes a toll on your site\u2019s speed.<\/p>\n
Tools like\u00a0W3C Broken Link Tool<\/a>\u00a0help you identify redirects and replace them with the appropriate URL.<\/p>\n<\/span>Choose the Right Hosting Option<\/span><\/h3>\nThere are currently three options for hosting:<\/p>\n
\n- Shared hosting<\/li>\n
- VPS hosting<\/li>\n
- Dedicated server<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Most e-commerce site owners opt for shared hosting because it\u2019s the cheapest. At $5 per month, you can get basic server resources like disk space, CPU and RAM – but you’ll share the server with other sites.<\/p>\n
This option isn\u2019t wrong per se, but you’ll need to upgrade when you pick up more traffic.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-11.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
(Source<\/a>)<\/p>\nVPS hosting gets you portions of the server’s resources but you still need to share with other sites.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-12.png\")
<\/p>\n
Finally, dedicated hosting is like owning your own home. You don’t get to share your server’s resources. You get more space, but you’re also responsible for maintenance, technical setup, and configuration.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-13.png\")
<\/p>\n
If you’re starting out, shared hosting seems like a good choice. But as you pick up more traffic and gain popularity, you might need to switch to VPS hosting or get dedicated server hosting.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Mistake #6: Lack of Mobile-Friendliness<\/span><\/h2>\n
And search engines love them too.<\/p>\n
E-commerce stores with more reviews are ranked better because they are perceived as more relevant and trustworthy. In fact, Google\u2019s search results on product pages reveal the star rating and the number of reviews\u2014making it a strong indicator of credibility.<\/p>\n
For example. Amazon\u2019s product page for the Apple iPad was found on the first page of Google\u2019s search results because it had 102 reviews and a 4.7-star rating. Since Amazon is popular and its accumulated many reviews, they\u2019re able to stand out from other stores selling the same product.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now, how can you get more product reviews? Tools like Yotpo<\/a> let you collect more site and product reviews, ratings, and Q&A through AI requests made through their in-mail technology.<\/p>\n A 404 error appears when a page can\u2019t be found. It may show up based on several reasons:<\/p>\n Why is this relevant? 404 pages can frustrate site visitors.<\/p>\n If you see a page like this, will you come back to the site? Probably not.<\/p>\n Customers are dissuaded from returning to the site, so it\u2019s clearly bad news.<\/p>\n If you have several 404 pages, this may reflect negatively on your site\u2019s ranking. You might lose some link value and decrease user engagement.<\/p>\n The good news is you can find 404 pages with WebCEO’s Technical Audit tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n Or follow-up with your web developer because they might be able to deal with deleted pages. For example, if a product is out of stock. they could set up redirects.<\/p>\n But 404 pages are sometimes unavoidable. If you have a high number of products in your inventory, it might be impossible to remove them completely. That said, you can customize your 404 pages to keep users engaged with your site.<\/p>\n Here are some examples:<\/p>\n AirBnb\u2019s 404 page has a funny visual and some helpful links that get visitors back to the site.<\/p>\n HBO\u2019s 404 page has a casual apology and links to their different categories. It also includes a site header that can get people to sign in, view the schedule or return to the home page.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not rocket science, but customized 404 pages can be highly effective.<\/p>\n Many amateur e-commerce entrepreneurs underestimate content marketing. They think that as long as there are CTAs, product descriptions, and content, then everything\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n This couldn\u2019t be further from the truth.<\/p>\n If you publish blog posts with poor meta descriptions, mediocre SEO titles and boring blog posts, then you\u2019ll get lesser traffic and engagement rates. After all, would you buy from an e-commerce store with errors and boring copy? I don\u2019t think so\u2026<\/p>\n Both search engines and customers judge a business based on the quality of the content that they produce. Nobody talks about businesses that don\u2019t have fresh, unique and useful content.<\/p>\n As a result, optimizing your content is a top priority. You need to create keyword-rich headlines, create interesting posts and adopt best practices for SEO.<\/p>\n Here are some examples of businesses with great content:<\/p>\n Taft, a seller of leather shoes, has become popular thanks to the superb presentation of its products on its landing page.<\/p>\n Glossier started as\u00a0\u201cInto the Gloss\u201d \u2014 a blog by Emily Weiss. It garnered popularity thanks to its feature on makeup rituals of celebrities and moguls. When the blog reached 1.5 million views per month, Weiss launched her own line of products. At present, the brand gets 1.86 million visits per month and is worth $17 million.<\/p>\n Businesses that fail to understand the importance of high-quality content will experience a drop in their search engine rankings. Therefore, invest in your content marketing strategy. Take time to create high-quality photos, visuals, blog posts, and videos.<\/p>\n Page titles appear at the top of search results and browsers. They explain what the page is about to users and search engines.<\/p>\n It might not seem like a big deal, but you need to avoid duplicating page titles from landing pages.<\/p>\n If several pages are identical, search engines will find it hard to choose which pages to recommend. In the end, they might not recommend any of them.<\/p>\n To fix this, you can check WebCEO’s Website Auditor<\/a> and SEO Analysis tools.<\/a> Visit their On-site Issues Overview page and scroll down.<\/p>\n Next, you’ll then find a list of pages with titles that are duplicated.<\/p>\n Sure, it\u2019s important to have high-quality images and videos in your landing page, but not at the expense of loading time. Studies show that people expect sites to load by 2 seconds. If it takes more, then the back button is the immediate option.<\/p>\n But how do you improve site speed? Here are some tips you need to know:<\/p>\n Images with 2000 pixels feel great in your imagination, but not so much in reality. The higher the resolution, the more time it takes to load the webpage. And if users have to wait more than 30 seconds, they won\u2019t be impressed.<\/p>\n The solution? Optimize your image on Photoshop or other image editing tools. You can also reduce pixel size, so instead of 2000 pixels, you can opt for 700 pixels.<\/p>\n Most developers add unnecessary characters like spacing and comments in their JavaScript and CSS codes. They do this to improve readability and understand their work.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, more characters make it harder for computers to read and execute the codes. The solution? You can use tools like JavaScript Minifier<\/a>. Just paste the code on the text box and click the minify button.<\/p>\n Redirects can negatively impact your site\u2019s loading time.<\/p>\n You click a link, it loads. You\u2019re then redirected to another link, then it loads again. This takes a toll on your site\u2019s speed.<\/p>\n Tools like\u00a0W3C Broken Link Tool<\/a>\u00a0help you identify redirects and replace them with the appropriate URL.<\/p>\n There are currently three options for hosting:<\/p>\n Most e-commerce site owners opt for shared hosting because it\u2019s the cheapest. At $5 per month, you can get basic server resources like disk space, CPU and RAM – but you’ll share the server with other sites.<\/p>\n This option isn\u2019t wrong per se, but you’ll need to upgrade when you pick up more traffic.<\/p>\n (Source<\/a>)<\/p>\n VPS hosting gets you portions of the server’s resources but you still need to share with other sites.<\/p>\n Finally, dedicated hosting is like owning your own home. You don’t get to share your server’s resources. You get more space, but you’re also responsible for maintenance, technical setup, and configuration.<\/p>\n If you’re starting out, shared hosting seems like a good choice. But as you pick up more traffic and gain popularity, you might need to switch to VPS hosting or get dedicated server hosting.<\/p>\n<\/span>Mistake #2: 404 Page<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/span>Airbnb<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n<\/span>HBO<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n<\/span>Mistake #3: Lack of High-Quality Content<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Taft<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n<\/span>Glossier<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n<\/span>Mistake #4: Duplicate Page Titles<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/span>Mistake #5: Site Speed is Slow<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Image Optimization<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Minify Codes<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Minimize Redirects<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>Choose the Right Hosting Option<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/span>Mistake #6: Lack of Mobile-Friendliness<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-16.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-17.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/ecommerce-seo-mistakes-18.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Sign](\"https:\/\/www.webceo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/CTA.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"