Shopify and SEO

Most of the best practices for on-site and technical SEO apply when optimizing a Shopify site. However, there are specific Shopify techniques that can get your eCommerce site ahead of the competition. Follow this Shopify SEO checklist to establish your business as the customer’s go-to source.

No Shopify site should be without these essential tools and resources.

• Google Analytics – Learn who is visiting your site, what they’re buying, and when they convert to purchase, you can streamline the sales funnel and maximize your profits. See custom reports to gain a high-level understanding of your business progression.
• Search engine webmaster tools – Optimize every part of your website using robust online tools via Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Add structured data and rich cards, submit your sitemap, and gain valuable SEO knowledge such as crawl errors, mobile usability, broken pages, and schema markup data, all available and at a glance from helpful, data-driven dashboards.

Once you have signed up for these tools, you will need to optimize your site for Shopify SEO. Start providing the means for search engines to understand how your site is structured. You can accomplish this by taking the following actions:

• Submit your sitemap to Google and Bing. Your sitemap tells the search engines how your site is organized, providing them with your site’s page structure. Once submitted, Google and Bing will be able to crawl your site to add it to their indexes more efficiently. Larger sites and new sites benefit greatly from providing a sitemap. However, all sites should do so to ensure a deeper crawl. (Note: Your Shopify site will automatically generate a sitemap for you to submit.)
• Use Google Search Console/Bing Webmaster Tools to check for errors. Duplicate content, crawl errors, and 404/500 errors can all contribute to poor user experience, resulting in site penalties from search engines. Locate any mistakes you find immediately to ensure your site will be received favorably.

Implementing on-page and technical SEO for Shopify sites is critical for attracting customers and sales. Websites should familiarize themselves with the basics of search engine optimization and invest time in using advanced strategies to improve visibility on Google and additional search engines.

We have listed several crucial steps you should take to make your site more visible and appealing to both search engines and customers:

• Title tags, headers, and meta descriptions Having the right number of headers on each page help the search engines to understand your site. Best practices are to use one H1 tag, and then any number of H2s, H3s, and so on as needed and in hierarchical order. Your pages should each have a unique meta description to help attract users from the SERPs.
• Descriptive product descriptions. Write content for your product pages to help customers learn more about what you’re selling. Make each page’s content unique to each product to avoid a duplicate content penalty. Be sure to use the “rel=canonical” tag where needed as well.
• Target keywords. Incorporate your target keywords into the copy for your homepage and product pages. Keywords should generally match what customers are searching for to find your site. Avoid keyword stuffing by adding too many; instead, use keywords sparingly and only to help your content be as informative as it can be. With the right research, you should learn the best keywords to use to differentiate your site from your competitors’ sites.
• Category pages. Broad category pages should group your products under similar categories. Doing so will help Google and other search engines understand your pages better while assisting users in navigating your product offerings.
• Internal links. Building out your internal links helps users navigate between pages and enable them to find more answers about your products or services.
• Backlinks. Acquiring backlinks can be a tricky process if you aren’t careful. Paying for links, as was done in the past, is considered Black hat SEO and subject to penalties. Look into incorporating links related sources to increase the flow of healthy link juice and trust. Remove toxic links to keep your rankings in good standing.
• Blog strategy. Your Shopify site may benefit from regular, consistent blog posts to enhance its SEO strategy and build branding. Be sure to follow all the on-page SEO recommendations listed on this Shopify SEO checklist to optimize your blog posts. Don’t forget to attribute any appropriate tags for your blog posts as well.
• HTTPS. An eCommerce site without HTTPS may be considered “unsafe” by Google and other search engines. Secure your site with data encryption to ensure you do not miss out on any sales.
• Any necessary redirects. Old links, out-of-stock items, and other unneeded pages should redirect to current or relevant pages for proper navigation and user experience.
• A helpful 404 page. Should your users encounter a 404 error, make sure their buying experience does not end there. Build a 404 page that provides them with the means to continue searching for products or return to the homepage.
• Intuitive site structure. Search engines and users should be able to understand how to navigate your site to locate any page.
• Optimized images. Add descriptive alt text to each of your images to accommodate image searches and keep your site ADA-friendly. Keywords within the text can also help users find what they’re looking for while adding relevancy to search queries.

Choosing Shopify as your eCommerce platform has definite SEO advantages. From automatic sitemap generation to built-in headers, it has some SEO-friendly features implemented in the creation of your site.

To truly optimize Shopify for SEO success, you’ll want to follow this Shopify SEO checklist.