SEO for online retailers is the process of improving a website potential in order to gain more organic non-paid traffic from the major search engines. Normally, SEO uplift doesn't happen overnight and it can take a long while to rank well for non brand key terms.
The rule of thumb is this: the more competition a relative term has, the harder you'll find it to rank for the term. With that said, you've got to start somewhere and there at least 50 ways I can think of to improve your SEO.
Choose your hosting provider carefully
1. If you're targeting one specific region, say the UK, ensure that the physical IP address is country specific which will improve the likelihood of ranking in the UK
2. Always opt for a fixed IP address even if it costs slightly more
3. Run an IP address search to ensure the IP address hasn't been black listed before. Domain Tools are an excellent source for quick IP address lookup
4. Ensure the server returns accurate response:
- 200 OK The request has succeeded - As an example you should see this server response for your homepage (www.sitename.com)
- 301 Moved Permanently - As an example you should see this server response for your non www version of your homepage (sitename.com)
- 302 Found - Use this server response only if you are redirecting temporary
- 404 Not Found - Always display a correct 404 response so you can get an indication when a page is broken for better user experience
Increase crawl rates because you can never get enough of Google
5. To check when your site was last crawled and indexed, search for site:sitename.com and play with “date range” advanced search options
6. Update the site's content as often as possible. For online retailers, new promotions and offers offer a fantastic opportunity to update their content
7. Ensure pages are loading quickly by analyzing your code, content and images. Web Page Analyzer is an excellent source to analyze a page load time
8. Fix duplicate content issue such as having two versions of your homepage, for example www.sitename.com and www.sitename.com/index.php
9. Add an XML site map and submit it to the major search engines
Ensure image optimisation across the site to enjoy traffic from Google image search
9. Keep images on a folder level rather than a subdomain so sitename.com/images/ is better than images.sitename.com
10. Use a descriptive name for the image, such as the product name
11. Use alt text for all your images and use a descriptive name again for the image alt text name
12. Use caption by placing a small description directly under, on top or on the side of your image
13. When possible save the image as jpg format
14. Use a free tool such as xenu to find images with no alt text
Ensure metadata optimisation to get high level of qualified traffic
15. Ensure that every page has unique metadata in terms of page title and page description
16. Limited page title to 70 characters and page description to 150 characters
17. Don't bother too much about keywords, do something else
18. Optimise each page around one key term
19. Place the most important term first, followed by a soft (non spammy) call to action and brand
20. For product pages, opt for an auto generate metadata solution based on <product title> + <call to action> at <site name>
21. Use AdWords ads to test the best text for better CTR by creating a few ad variation in AdWords which include your key term
Content is truly king
22. Every page should have unique content which reads well for users (and therefore for the search engine spiders as well)
23. Don't repeat the key term more than 3 times so to avoid keyword stuffing
24. Place the key term in the page H1 title, image alt text and once in bold
25. Use "recommended products" to link between similar products to increase their relevancy
Apply essential URL and coding tweaks
26. Use robot.txt to block parts of the site you don't wish the engines to index
27. Offer an HTML site map which is auto updated based on the XML site map
28. For sites running on PHP use an .htaccess file to avoid content duplication
29. Use breadcrumbs navigation across the site for better user experience and SEO
30. From time to time, view your site using a text browser such as SEO Browser to "see" how spiders are likely to find your on page content
31. If your site architecture has more than three levels, restructure it so to m ake the information more accessible to both users and spiders
32. Keep URLs short for better SEO and to create a better viral effect as short URLs are more memorable
33. Include your key term such as a product title in the URL
Apply essential maintenance from time to time
34. Fix all your 404 errors and consider redirecting to a more appropriate page
35. When products are removed from stock or discontinued ensure that a 301 is placed to the main category or to a similar product
36. When linking to another site, consider checking whether you're linking to a bad neighborhood using a free tool such as text link checker
37. If you have multiple domains unify around one domain using a 301 redirect taking into account links pointing to each domain, domain age and the domain name
The Google PageRank issue
38. Don't pay too much attention to Google PR as it won't effect your ranking
39. If you want to control page rank, use a nofollow HTML attribute on pages such as "terms and conditions", "privacy policy" etc
Content is king, so start blogging
40. Place your blog on a directory level so www.sitename.com/blog/ rather than a sub domain blog.sitename.com
41. Blogging at least once a week will help increase your crawl rate
42. Read The Definitive Guide To Higher Rankings For Your Blog
Get more links, otherwise no one will see you
43. If you're considering directories as part if your link acquisition, focus on quality reviewed directories such as Yahoo and Best of the Web
44. Don't pay for links, you'll get caught at some point
45. Help your customers help you by placing on each page an easy way to share content using a sharing tool such as AddToAny
46. Ask for links take 1 - place a nice soft request in your website sale confirmation email to link back to your site
47. Ask for links take 2 - ask your suppliers and contractors for a link
48. Give blogger prior notice of new products and ask for a review
49. Offer great products at competitive prices and the links will come organically
50. Kick off a social media strategy to encourage discussion (and links) on social networks and other user-powered sites
Learn more...
Econsultancy has published an SEO Best Practice Guide, a comprehensive report about search engine optimization written by Dr Dave Chaffey which has been described as an "SEO Bible". We have also published an Online Retail Checkout Special which may interest retailers.
Ran Nir is founder of Conversion Counts, a web analytics and conversion optimisation agency, and a guest blogger at Econsultancy. He can also be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Posted 25 March 2009 14:35pm by Ran Nir with 45 comments
Tags: SEO, Google, search engines, tips, retailers
Topics: Ecommerce, Search Marketing - Organic/Natural (SEO)
Sectors: Retail
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Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
Chief Operating Officer at Start.co.uk
3:17PM on 25th March 2009
Hate to be a smart arse, but you should probably have something in here about checking all your links before you publish them:
Check out your 'AddToAny' link
Editor in Chief at Econsultancy
3:28PM on 25th March 2009
LOL - my error, thanks Tom. Fixed.
Chief Operating Officer at Start.co.uk
3:36PM on 25th March 2009
Just need to delete these comments now, and no-one will ever know...
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
3:46PM on 25th March 2009
Thanks for the heads-up.
Ran
Designer of Precision Keyword Finder at Precisionkeywordfinder.com
2:58AM on 26th March 2009
Very nice list of tips Ran! One to add to the list is that choosing the key term to optimize for is critical. The key term that has a balance between # of searches and a low # of sites that are optimizing for that term will do you wonders for both traffic and search engine ranking.
6:21AM on 26th March 2009
Great Ran, its a great list and really helpful for all Search Marketers.
Keep up the good work.
8:51AM on 26th March 2009
Great list there! informative and to the point.
Web Manager BC France at British Council France
1:39PM on 26th March 2009
hey Ran, that's an excellent SEO checklist that comes in really handy! I have taken and bookmarked 3 of your links provided as good technical SEO resources, as well as this page. Very useful and informative post, thank you.
1:53PM on 26th March 2009
Thanks Ran, This an excellent list though a little daunting. Question...I have a blog that is on a seperate URL that I write in daily and also link regularly to my main site. How does that strategy grab you?
Web Manager BC France at British Council France
1:58PM on 26th March 2009
hi Simon,
I know you have asked Ran, but i am taking the liberty to reply in case it helps.
Ideally you should have your blog set up within the structure of your own domain name, that way you will benefti more from the trust and authority of your domain more effectively. The general rule is that if the blog is related somehow to your business, the one represented by your main domain, then it'd be better off staying together, either as a subdomain, or yet better as a folder structure of your domain: eg: www.yoursite.com/blog/
hope that helps, David
Creative Director at Foliovision
1:59PM on 26th March 2009
Fantastic list. We do most of this as a matter of practice, but it's nice to see someone else's list itemized.
We have a detailed guide to repairing your site with Xenu Link Sleuth which might help with step 14.
More articles like this please.
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
2:16PM on 26th March 2009
Hi Simon,
David is correct, any authority gained will go towards the blog, rather than towards your main domain. I'd also like to add 4 more reasons why you should host your blog on the main domain
2. If you link too many times from your stand alone blog to your main domain, you are risking the engines discounting the links
3. It might look odd to customers that the blog resides elsewhere
4. One of the best ways I know to get new products (so this one is more relevant for retailers) indexed quickly is to link from an internal high authority page on your site (such as a blog ;)) to the new product
5. Adding new content often using a blog will increase your crawl rate
Hope this helps.
Ran
2:22PM on 26th March 2009
Place your keyword inside PHP code comments. This should not be abused.
4:11PM on 26th March 2009
Great list, I would suggest adding the Firefox Web Developer toolbar to find a lot of those issues. Thanks!
7:02PM on 26th March 2009
solid list. great post. how do you automatically update a html sitemap based on your XML sitemap? more homework...
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
8:57PM on 26th March 2009
Hi Eugene,
You'll need a script that can convert your XML sitemap to a useable HTML sitemap file. You might need to tweak the script depending on how many products you've got as there's little gains from listing 10,000 products both for SEO and for users.
Ran
10:21PM on 26th March 2009
Wow, I think you covered pretty much everything here. Great advice.
10:30PM on 26th March 2009
SEO is kind of hard to do. Will have to come back for reminders. Your list should be helpful but there's just too many things to remember.
11:36PM on 26th March 2009
thanx for sharing ! - very competent stuff - very qualified - very applicable - and, even presented in an extremely condensed ´cook book´ style - well done !
- actually, it is so good that I would like to add the info to one of the danish weblogs for micro entrepenuers at www.mikronet.dk
- regards with
highspirit
Dann Sommer / DK
8:05AM on 27th March 2009
short and to the point.
thanks for the info - i sent it over to twitter.
11:29AM on 27th March 2009
Thanks, for the list. I'll give it to my new employee
MD at Screen Pages
3:26PM on 27th March 2009
Ran - excellent summary (I shall blog it). Question: does the location of META TAGS in the page source have an impact (as long as they are in the HEAD tag). Any views/experience? Does it matter if they are at the top or half way down for example?
KR, Roger.
3:54PM on 27th March 2009
It reflects that you have spent a lot of time in compiling the list.
thanks
2:21AM on 28th March 2009
Another way to drive retail or online ECommerce sales is to integrate all your direct response advertising to encourage cross-channel shopping. Using targeted online or email campaigns which drive consumers to a specialized landing page which offers an in-store promotion or online promotion, done well, encourages engagement and traffic. Consider using some of your budget to test a CPA (Cost-Per-Action) online or email campaign. Since you pay only for the customers who actually purchase your product, its an excellent (risk free) way to test drive an integrated direct response strategy!
6:59PM on 29th March 2009
Wonderful list, something for me to work through and hopefully increase awareness of my new site.
If anyone can point me in the right direction for getting more backlinks, then please get in touch. I am especially interested in getting backlinks from erotic clothing & lingerie sites.
Many Thanks for the comments
Treasure
x
10:11AM on 30th March 2009
Hi,
One point that you may find interesting is the IP address allocation. You touched on it in the list. Say you're a recruitment business and have two different URLS eg. www.jobsonline.com and www.ukjobs.com. Google would not list both these sites (for the same search term) if they are on the same IP or even the same IP range. Therefore, if you can get both sites on different IP subnets, both site would list. Having two different subnets on the same server is difficult, if not impossible, for hosting most providers - ring them to find out and then call me at ForLinux (www.forlinux.co.uk), because we can.
Regards,
Steve Nice
Technical Director
ForLinux Limited
Innovation House, Cafferata Way,
Beacon Hill Business Park,
Newark,
Notts.
Web: www.forlinux.co.uk
DDI: 08454210440
Switchboard: 08454210444
Mob: 07917618779
3:19AM on 31st March 2009
hey! these are great tips. You have just provided your readers detailed and comprehensive SEO tips.
Head of Marketing at Glasses Direct
11:02AM on 31st March 2009
Great work, Ran. Bang on the money as usual.
7:23PM on 1st April 2009
Thanks a ton for this article. Actually it was that one link which you have provided to Seo Browser which may solve a few problems i had been facing for quite some.
I checked one of my websites. And it showed 60 errors. Could that be a good reason for it struggling to do well on Google?
A reply will be appreciated. Thanks!
Founder at Conversion Counts Ltd
12:22PM on 2nd April 2009
Hey Amit,
There could be many reasons so it would be irresponsible of me to make any assumptions. Certainly fixing site errors will help.
Ran
1:37PM on 2nd April 2009
this one is by far one of the most useful posts on SEO that I have read in weeks. Only the first four points about hosting really made my day..
10:01PM on 3rd April 2009
Great article, lots of nice tips. Not so sure I agree with this: "23. Don't repeat the key term more than 3 times so to avoid keyword stuffing" - you can put a keyword in there 15 times if you wanted, it all depends on the ratio of the keyword vs. the rest of the content on the page (keyword saturation vs. keyword stuffing)
2:49AM on 13th April 2009
For those looking to start his business online, this listing of tried and tested SEO tips will always work. Thanks for the effort.
1:21PM on 22nd April 2009
Thanks, for the list. I'll give it to my new employee
4:32PM on 8th May 2009
great list and very informative
5:06PM on 8th May 2009
This list is brilliant. Thanks for posting this :)
1:31PM on 6th June 2009
thanks for posting this wonderful 50 tips
Thanks/Regards
netultimate
11:13AM on 19th June 2009
Thanks for this info. The hosting is an important one to look into, something I jumped into at the start and got stung!
12:37PM on 16th July 2009
Very nice list of tips Ran! One to add to the list is that choosing the key term to optimize for is critical.
medyum
7:16AM on 18th July 2009
the more competition a relative term has, the harder you'll find it to rank for the term. With that said, you've got to start somewhere and there at least 50 ways I can think of to improve your SEO
4:22PM on 31st July 2009
It was a great tip.
12:17PM on 13th August 2009
what a nice post. really helped me a lot. thanks
2:39AM on 22nd September 2009
Thanks Ran, This an excellent list though a little daunting. Question...I have a blog that is on a seperate URL that I write in daily and also link regularly Chisto my main site. How does that strategy grab you? .
7:52PM on 22nd September 2009
This is a great list! However, i do think keywords are important.
12:11PM on 20th October 2009
Information like this is important to ecommerce website owners and acts as a great guide to help them get better search results. I would just make one point, this blog should have stated a little more about how important back links are for good SEO positions. Apart from that its a great information source.