The relevance of SEO to businesses is a topic of constant debate but statistics show that 30 percent of traffic comes from organic searches. 30% is a significant amount and should not be taken for granted by business owners, no matter how big or small.
Understanding SEO better will show how important it is. It should be part of any ecommerce business’ marketing strategy. SEO should be given importance because:
- It is an investment with high ROI
- It impacts how buyers research products, and how they mature through the sales cycle
- It multiplies the impact of other marketing efforts
- It builds trust and credibility among customers
- It allows a brand to stay ubiquitous
- It provides opportunities to compound traffic while improving overall SEO profile
It is sad that some people cannot see it but SEO is really important. That being said, here are 9 SEO strategies that you should implement this year:
Strategy Number 1: Be selective when branding products
It is tempting to brand your products with a catchy name. However, it wouldn’t do you much good when it comes to SEO. What would do you good is to use generic terms and let your products be known for their features and benefits. That way, when anyone would search for a product, take a bag, for example, your page would be seen with your product offering. There would be more people to find you this way other than having to search for the name of your product.
Strategy Number 2: Consistently create good content
Gone are the days when you have to riddle your content with repetitive keywords. It’s all about quality content now. Two ways to do this is by interviewing industry experts, and by writing about current trends and issues. You can also consider coming up with instructional content.
For ecommerce businesses, you should put a lot of importance with your product description. Set your products apart from those that your competitors are selling. Not only will this give them more insight about your products, but it will also make them stay longer on your site, and may entice them to purchase.
Strategy Number 3: Consolidate duplicate content
Having multiple content that talk about one and the same thing don’t make any sense, but a lot of marketers are doing this. What should be done is to consolidate duplicate content into one compelling material. Also, this will save you from getting the red flag from Google.
Strategy Number 4: Craft a mobile-first experience
2017 will put a lot of focus on mobile. It is therefore essential to also focus your marketing strategies for mobile platforms. With more and more people doing their search activities on handheld devices, there is no reason to ignore this strategy.
And when talking about improving the mobile search experience, take into account the following:
- Pages must load quickly
- Limit interstitials.
- Take note of local relevance
- Mobile keywords should be tracked
Strategy Number 5: Earn Links through product reviews and public relations
Connect with bloggers, journalists, and other media personalities, and offer them your products in exchange for product reviews. This won’t only increase interest on your products, but it will also increase the trust that consumers will give to you. Having known and credible personalities review your product gives them assurance that your products are worth it.
Strategy Number 6: Enhance product pages with custom content
Don’t be like other ecommerce businesses that don’t take the effort in coming up with custom product description. A lot just follow the product descriptions coming from the manufacturers, which, more often than not, are very uninteresting.
We recommend that you make custom product descriptions which comply with the following best practices:
- Communicate your product to the ideal customer
- Highlight your products benefits
- Include the details and features of your product that your customers will value
- Prove your claims
- Tell your customers what life with your product will be
- Lower your customers’ guard with a story
- Use visual language
- Use social proof (testimonials, reviews)
Strategy Number 7: Interlink your content
Google appreciates site architecture. If you have not been putting this in consideration, a quick solution is to manually interweave your content by inserting links. Interlinking your content can also provide the following benefits:
- Providing related content can keep your audience engaged.
- Your search rankings can potentially be improved.
- Google searches will be directed to other pages on your site.
Strategy Number 8: Reduce your bounce rate
Google is particular with user experience. Having high bounce rate is an indicator that users are not interested in your site. To reduce bounce rate, do the following:
- Popups should be avoided
- Make your website design attractive
- Make page rendering faster
- Make your navigation bar intuitive
- Craft a helpful 404 error page
Strategy Number 9: Salvage decommissioned product pages
Instead of deleting the pages of products that have been decommissioned already, use them to direct users to similar products. This way, those who have bookmarked such pages won’t get an error, and they would be directed to an available product that they may like even better.
STRATEGIZE YOUR SEO WELL FOR 2017
SEO is truly an important marketing activity but like others, it won’t do you any good if you don’t strategize well.
Start 2017 with strategies that are sure to help your SEO initiative more effective. With our tips above, your SEO campaign will be able to help you reach your marketing goals more efficiently.
About the Author: Kenneth Sytian is one of the leaders in web design in the Philippines. He has been designing websites and developing web apps for more than a decade. His no-nonsense approach to design coupled with his vast creativity is a winning combination for his clients.
