Of all the digital marketing channels at your disposal, in our experience, nothing leaves new store owners scratching their heads like programmatic optimization.
While most people use and believe in tools like Google in their daily lives, understanding how search engines index and rank sites don’t come naturally to most people, at least not initially.
Much of the knowledge we’ve mastered about SEO has come from growing a store of our own, where organic traffic has become a mainstay for our overall growth.
While SEO is ultimately a long-term investment, new store owners can get tons of utility by building a simple strategy and making sure their storefront is following on-page best practices. To help you do just that, here’s a list of suggested steps to get you started:
Basic SEO checklist
Buy a custom domain
Register a custom domain name through Shopify. Your store needs its own domain to achieve search. Plus, it builds trust with potential buyers when they click through search engines. It’s also memorable. Choosing a website name associated with your industry helps you rank better for related keywords. Setup and configuration are fully automatic through Shopify.
Don’t have a domain name? Try Shopify’s domain name generator. Simply enter your ideal brand or name and get ideas that are available for purchase.
Set up Google Analytics
Create your Google Analytics account. Go to Google Analytics and click Get Started for free. Follow the instructions to align a property and find a tracking code so Google can collect data from your website.
Create a Universal Analytics property. Next, you’ll want to attach Google Analytics to your Shopify store. Start by creating a Universal Analytics property. From there, enable eCommerce tracking in your Google Analytics account. It is possible to enable basic eCommerce tracking, which only tracks transaction and revenue data. Likewise, you can enable enhanced eCommerce tracking, which provides more information about visitor behavior.
To learn how to align this, read the Google Analytics fix inside the Shopify Help Center.
Set up Google Search Console
Submit your sitemap to Google to the Webmaster Tools account you just created. Shopify stores automatically generate a sitemap file, which shows the individual pages of your website. A sitemap tells Google and other search engines the structure of your site. If you’re curious, Shopify store owners can access their sitemaps via [www.yourstore.com/sitemap.xml].
Check Google Webmaster Tools to check for crawl errors. Search engines index websites through bots that “crawl” an internet site and its pages. A crawl error occurs when a bot tries to reach a selected page (or site) but fails. If you are alerted to an error, work to fix it immediately.
Verify your Shopify domain. Some third-party services, such as Google Webmaster, require you to verify your domain. This ensures that you are the correct owner of your Shopify store before they provide you with services. Learn how to verify your domain to use Google’s services.
Set up Bing Webmaster Tools.
Create a Bing Webmaster Tools account. Bing is the second-largest program within the United States. Bing Webmaster Tools can be a free service from Microsoft that allows you to add your store to the Bing crawler. Once added, it will appear within the program. Open a free Bing Webmaster account by accessing the registration page, then add and verify your website.
Read the Bing Webmaster Tools first steps checklist for more information.
Be on a paid plan
Sign up for a Shopify paid plan. Stores with free trials are crawled and indexed. But, if you’re not on a paid plan, the work you’ve set up will disappear once your trial is over. It’s also important that you remove password protection from your pages, even if you’re still making some. Release the finished pages for Google to start crawling and indexing your site.
Consider SEO tools
Staying on top of algorithm changes, rankings and competitors is challenging but necessary for online businesses. There are good SEO tools, both paid and free, that you’ll be able to use to meet search goals. You’re already one step ahead if you look at Google Search Console and Analytics.
Paid:
– Ahrefs, a full suite of SEO tools for audits, research, tracking, and more.
– Keywords Everywhere, for easy keyword research.
Free:
-Surfer SEO Chrome plug-in, for free search data and content guides.
-Keyword.io, for free keyword suggestions
-Screaming Frog, for finding crawl errors on your site.
-Moz, for a complete SEO marketing suite.
-MozBar, for on-the-fly SEO research.
On-page SEO checklist: product pages, blog, and collections.
Keyword research
Use Moz Keyword Explorer to calculate keyword search volume and get keyword ideas. It helps to know a keyword research tool. When we talk about “search volume,” we are referring to the approximate number of monthly searches for a selected keyword.
I also use and recommend Ahrefs, but regardless of which keyword tool you go with (there are dozens), it’s more important that you simply explore thoroughly and continue to learn the basics.
On-page optimization.
Make sure you are using one, and only one, H1 append to your pages. H1 (Heading 1) tags are often used because the main headline of a page and usually contain the main keywords of the page. Note that Shopify page headlines are the default H1 tag for pages that are created through Shopify-avoid manually adding an H1 tag anywhere else on the page.
Keep your page titles under 60 characters so they don’t get truncated in the results. Currently, Google always displays the first 50-60 characters of most web pages. Always include your most important keywords near the beginning of your page title. Finally, don’t forget that you can structure your page title to look more like a listing of sorts rather than an article title or a complete sentence by incorporating appropriate characters or callouts to highlight key information.
Try to keep your meta descriptions punchy and under 155 characters. Google has stated that there is no precise number of characters to display or truncate meta descriptions. Moz research indicates that many meta descriptions stop around the 155-160 character mark. To adapt, include your target keywords and the strongest text at the beginning of your meta description, and check that you don’t exceed 155 characters.
Assign keywords to content types. It’s important to remember that each page on your site – product pages, categories, blog posts, home page – can rank for multiple keywords. Keyword research can help you know which pages to create. For example, several of your pages may target information searches (“what is aromatherapy”), while others target keywords that are lower in volume but indicate a purchase intent (“buy aromatherapy bottles”).
Write compelling page titles that are human-readable. The content you write for page headlines and meta descriptions should clearly describe the content of the page, contain important keywords, and be interesting enough to be clicked on. Don’t leave out the people who read your text: Appearing in search results is only part of the job, as you must also convince users to go to your page over all other options.
Include a keyword in your page URL. Shopify store owners should take note that the page title becomes the default URL. I recommend including your target, but keeping the URLs short and sweet, trying to avoid filler words (note the URL we are using for this very blog post).
Ensure your images have alternative texts and descriptive file names. Google images now structure almost 23% of all web searches. To ensure that your photos appear in Image results, you should name each image file descriptively (i.e., don’t name an image “298343798.jpg”) and write descriptive ALT tags that specify what each image is.
Add Schema markup to instantiate rich snippets. Schema code helps Google better understand your website content. It improves the way your page is displayed in SERPs, which can lead to higher click-through rates and more website traffic.
As an example, this Shopify article that was categorized for “online retail sites” uses schema markup.
Content
Start planning a basic content marketing strategy. Developing and executing a complete content marketing strategy can take months, but that doesn’t imply there aren’t simple exercises to help you get started:
1- Plan customer inquiries. For example, at Weave Got It, we help clients understand the different grades of hair extensions available and what they should consider when deciding between each grade.
2- Help customers get more value out of products. have you ever noticed what percentage of stores that sell food products also feature simple recipes to urge them to get started? this is often a sensible approach for various products – often, customers are not expert users and should not understand the ideas and tricks you recognize in order to urge the most out of their purchase.
3- Use keyword research to match questions to search terms. Of course, content ideas should be matched with the particular terms people are checking out.
Informational sections and blog posts are typically around 500 words. Clear and concise content is effective, but there is usually a minimum length necessary to fully answer a question and have a chance of appearing in search results. Most queries warrant a minimum of two hundred words, although keep in mind that quality is much more important than quantity.
Write original product descriptions. All content on your website should be original and written exclusively for your store. For example, do not use manufacturers’ product descriptions. Writing your own descriptions also gives you the ability to make a sales pitch for the features and benefits of your products.
Consider adding product reviews to your product pages. 95% of buyers read reviews before making a sale, so they are essential for building trust. But product reviews also bring additional, linked content to your product pages, which can help them rank for long-tail keywords. you’ll install Product Reviews, a free app developed by Shopify, to incorporate SEO-friendly reviews into your product pages. I exploit it on all my product pages.
Register your business on other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. When you’re just starting to build your brand, registering your name on social accounts will help protect your identity in the future, but it also gives people a place to find you today. Link your social accounts from your store as well, but stick with the channels where you intend to succeed and sell to potential customers.
Link building checklist for SEO.
Create a link-building strategy. Search engines like Google use the quantity, quality, and relevance of links to a selected page or website as a ranking factor. You can use links as “mentions” that create trust in the eyes of search engines.
In my opinion, the simplest way to approach backlink building is to specialize in partnerships or determine to whom (publishers, other sites in your industry, etc.) you are going to provide and share value. If you recognize a beauty blogger who regularly reviews the type of skincare products you sell, an easy introduction is often the start of an interdependent relationship.
Analyze links and mentions earned by your competitors. Thanks to tools like Moz’s Link Explorer and Ahrefs Site Explorer, you can explore which sites and pages link to your competitors. What’s especially useful is to know the context: Why are these sites planning to link to your competitors? What does the page have to merit a link?
Spotting these trends – such as whether your competitors’ stores get a lot of mentions in gift guides – can help you get ideas about which partners to feature and how you’ll provide enough value to earn a high-quality link.
Look for opportunities for mentions in the press. To get started, read the guide to getting press coverage, which will help you come up with a list of ways to get a mention on other websites. If you’ve already gotten some traction, see if you employ a brand monitoring tool to look for “unlinked” mentions of your store or products on other sites. Once you receive an alert, politely ask the author or publication to include a link.
Technical SEO checklist
Check if your store is mobile-friendly
Check your site on mobile. All Shopify theme store themes are mobile-friendly, but if you don’t use Shopify, use this tool to check what it looks like on a mobile device. All pages should be as readable on mobile as they are on desktop.
If you want to check your mobile optimization, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Enter your website page and see if it is optimized or not.
Make sure your store is fast
Speed can be a ranking factor for both desktop and mobile searches. Run your site through PageSpeed Insights to urge Google’s list of recommended settings to improve your store’s performance.
Use redirects when necessary
When a page on your site becomes inactive – such as when you remove a product that wasn’t for sale – you can redirect that page to another relevant existing page on your site, giving visitors a replacement destination instead of a dead link. to send a redirect in Shopify, read our documentation on how to easily set one up.
Create an internal linking strategy
Internal linking is one of the main SEO marketing tactics. It consists of linking from one page to another within your own website. If done well, it will improve your program’s ranking.
It consists of linking specific topic pages to other relevant content pages. In this way, search engines recognize your subject authority, rank your content and rank your pages.
E-commerce store owners can create internal links through:
-Related articles.
If a visitor lands on your product page, related products will be displayed. Google understands that these two items are linked and will index them accordingly.
-Featured articles.
Display featured articles on your home page or on category pages that link to product pages. Try to incorporate the most popular products here. Use anchor text containing keywords when linking to products.
-Blogging.
Create articles about specific products and topics associated with your brand. In the article you should link to products or other pages.
Learn more about links by reading Moz’s [SEO 2021] guide on inbound links.
Build a global navigation menu
The global navigation of a website contains the most important links to your online store. With these links, you tell visitors which pages you consider important. It gives them an easy way to get to specific pages, whether they are product, collection, or sales pages. For SEO, your global navigation links tell crawlers which pages are the most vital on your site.
The most common types of navigation links are
Single-bar navigation. All links sleep on one bar and are limited.
Double-bar navigation. Primary and secondary links sleep in the navigation bar. They overlap each other.
Drop-down navigation. Designed so that when the user hovers the mouse over the navigation link, an inventory of links is displayed.
Your store navigation also includes footer menus. Shoppers are likely to consult your footer menu for contact and policy information.
Learn how to align this by reading Understanding navigation inside the Shopify Help Center.
Optimize your URLs
URLs are a little gem, but they are important for SEO. URLs tell search engines what content is on your page. Since both search engines and visitors read your URL, you’ll want to follow a couple of best practices:
Make URLs readable.
✅ https://yourdomain.com/pink-socks
🛑 https://yourdomain.com/index.php?24551=p44=?
Use hyphens not underscore.
✅ https://yourdomain.com/pink-socks
🛑 https://yourdomain.com/pink_socks
Include the target keywords.
✅ https://yourdomain.com/mens-yellow-socks
🛑 https://yourdomain.com/polkdotsocks-yellow-white-for-men
Your goal: Keep URL structures simple. Organize your content so that URLs are embedded in a human-understandable way. Read Google’s guide on URL structure for more information.
Correct duplicate content
Duplicate text occurs when there is similar content in two different URLs. This causes search engines to not know which of the two pages to rank. Product pages and collection pages are the most common duplicate content in a store.
If the duplicate content is dynamic pages, use a canonical URL. Use this tag when you want to inform Google which page to prioritize. You should add a rel=”canonical” link at the top of any page with duplicate content.
Read this helpful guide to tell search engines not to follow a selected page.
Local SEO Checklist
Setting up Google My Business
Google My Business is a great free SEO tool for local businesses. It makes it easy for consumers to find you on Google Search and Google Maps. Start by heading to the signup page. Then follow the instructions to create your business listing.
You’ll need basic information about your business such as name, category, location, and contact details. Once you’re done, optimize your Google My Business page to encourage people to find you in searches and connect with customers.
Submit your store to the major directories and platforms.
You’ve probably heard of submitting your business to web directories. Although there are many directories, few of them will influence your SEO.
The top 10 directories you should consider are
- Apple Maps
- Google My Business
- LinkedIn Business Directory
- Bing
- Yelp
- Better Business Bureau
- Foursquare
- Yellow Pages
- Angies ListFeel free to browse more web directory listings. You will find niche directories that you think are best for your business. Add your business listing accordingly.
Fill out your contact page thoroughly.
Building your home page and landing pages requires a lot of thought. For local businesses, your Contact Us page is vital for building trust and attracting local customers. A contact form can provide shoppers with their name, address, and phone number. This is often crucial for local SEO because Google values consistent and accurate information for searchers.
Consider creating city-specific landing pages.
If you have establishments in multiple cities, consider creating a unique landing page for each city. This makes it easier to rank for each market area without having to create a separate web page for each location.
Be sure to create a specific copy for each landing page. This tactic can be time and resource-intensive, especially if you have many locations. Avoid publishing sparse and unhelpful pages. Google may penalize your site.
What to do if you get stuck?
Research changes daily, so stay informed with a reading list. There’s a lot more to find out about SEO, and it’s a discipline that sees many small and frequent changes as search technology advances. you’ll start by getting updates directly from Google by reading their Google Search Center blog and their Think With Google posts.
If you’re unsure, check out Google’s official recommended practices. I always remind our merchants that the customer experience comes first, and not all of Google’s recommendations match the SEO best practices currently in use. However, as a general rule, Google’s guidelines can help you avoid questionable practices that will get your site penalized. If you are ever in doubt, consult Google’s recommendations.
If you want additional help, you can always hire a Shopify expert to help you with your search marketing strategy. Or download an SEO plugin for your website within the Shopify App Store.
Give searchers what they need
While the way people use search engines will continue to evolve, one thing that will remain constant is the reason we bother to use search at all: in order to get things we’d like or remember things we’ve seen.
With this in mind, the only timeless SEO strategy might simply be to provide searchers with what they are trying to find. Search engines, especially Google, have successively rewarded websites that take this into account. The vast majority of what we discussed above-fast-loading websites, interesting content and replicas, clear page descriptions, and images-are things that make life easier for search engines.
When building your site, always keep this connection between user experience and search optimization in mind. As search technology improves, these two things seem to march in unison, suggesting that the easiest way to please a search engine is to please the people who use it.