5 Common SEO Mistakes in eCommerce

From the outside, it would seem that SEO is completely forgotten about by eCommerce websites. Given that so many business owners seem to struggle with optimising their eCommerce websites for search engines, we’ve decided to delve into this topic deeper. This blog post will detail the five most common SEO mistakes made in the land of eCommerce, allowing you to take steps to avoid them.

Your Products Are Invisible to Google

By this, we mean that you haven’t included any product descriptions on your product pages. This is a mistake commonly made by online gift shops and clothing companies, but it applies to all eCommerce stores. Google can’t see your product images, so if you don’t give it descriptions to read, you’re basically making your products invisible to Google. The best way to counter this is to write unique content to describe each of your products.

You’re Taking Product Descriptions Straight from Manufacturers

This is a real no-go. As soon as you copy and paste a manufacturer’s product description into your website, Google is getting ready to penalise you in search engine results. Naughty SEO actions like duplicating content and content scraping will put you on the Google blacklist faster than the speed of light. If there are some products where you absolutely can’t write new descriptions in your own words, ensure you use the NO INDEX tag. It’s the only excuse for duplicate content in the eyes of Google.

You Don’t Have Any Reviews

Reviews act as huge social proof that your products are worth paying for. Social proof works a bit like peer pressure; if everyone else is buying your products, then maybe I should too! You can use this to your advantage by encouraging people to leave reviews or testimonials on your website. This also has the benefit of generating unique content, as each review is a piece of user generated content, plus it makes your website look more active to search engines. What’s not to like about that?

Your Keywords Aren’t Relevant

In SEO terms, headlines, title pages and product descriptions are prime real estate. You need to be using some quality keywords in these places so people can easily find your products. And when we say quality keywords, we mean things that people actually type into Google and other search engines when they’re looking for what you sell. Try to think of it from your customer’s perspective in order to figure out what they would type to find you. You could also conduct a customer survey to get keyword ideas. Your SEO company should help you create the list of keywords that are relevant to your business.

Your URLs Are Nonsensical Product ID Numbers

“Speaking URLs” are URLs that use real words to describe the product rather than simply numbers or other nonsensical characters. It’s recommended that you change your URLs to “speaking URLs” wherever possible. There are some benefits to doing this, such as setting off a positive expectation in the customer, as your URL will describe the product and they’ll know what they’re getting when they click it. Having descriptive keywords in your URLs also increases the relevancy of your product in online searches.

Need Help with eCommerce?

If you’re wondering what unique content means, or how on earth you get yourself a “speaking URL”, don’t panic! Contact the team at ZOFELA to make sure you’re on the express train to eCommerce success. Our team of SEO specialists have all the knowledge needed to optimise your eCommerce site and generate as many leads as you can handle. Call ZOFELA today on +8615059787796.

Author - Piyush Kotadiya

Piyush Kotadiya is a Managing Director at ZOFELA, a full service digital agency focused on web design, ecommerce web design, SEO, paid media advertising and social media marketing. While much of his current work is focused on research, strategy development and UX, he has a passion for ecommerce.