Tips to Make Search Engine Friendly E-Commerce Web Site

The number of people buying products online is on a rise. And an e-commerce web site is an ideal platform to showcase and sell multitude of products to your target audience. But to ensure that your products reach to the maximum number of target audience, you need to make it seo-friendly so that it ranks high in the searches on Google and other search engines.

Here are some tips to make your e-commerce site seo friendly:

Use proper keywords

If you want to rank higher in the top search engines, you need to incorporate the best performing keywords in the site. Search popular keywords from the various keyword tools such as Google Adwords Keywords Tool External, Wordtracker or Keyword Discovery. The right keywords will help the site in reaching the top in major search engines.

List products in order of importance

You have only 30 seconds to grab the attention of your visitor to make him stay longer on the site for more. Therefore it makes sense that you sort out the products on the basis of importance and list the best and most tempting offers, on the first page itself.

Classification of products

Classifying products into categories and sub categories makes it easier for user to locate the products he/she is searching for. For example you have an e-commerce site which sells furniture online. You can classify the items into main categories such as beds, tables, sofas, chairs etc. and further break down categories into sub-categories. For example beds can have sub-categories such as junk beds, king size beds, queen size beds. You can also make categories by price, size, brand or any other product attribute.

Compelling product descriptions

It is a Web 2.0 world and undoubtedly content is king. A well-written and powerful product description not only persuades visitors to buy products but also boost rankings. Hence pay attention to the content part and create persuasive descriptions of products which urge visitors to take the final action.

Unique and keyword rich title tags

It is important to incorporate primary keywords in the title tag. Having well written and keyword rich title tags guarantee top rankings in the Google. And it is sensible to use different title tags for different pages. Don’t try to save time by writing just one title tag for all pages. This would cost you a lot in the long run. Google and other search engines display results which contain the keyword typed in by the user. And if you use only one title tag for all pages, you won’t be able to target other several keywords for different pages and ultimately you would be losing potential customers. Therefore each page must have clear, concise and unique title tag which should reflect the information pertaining to that particular page. For example if you are on the category page, then the title tag must contain the category name and if you are on a sub category page, the title tag must include the sub category name.

Use alt text for images

The images of product should be clear and attractive enough to tempt users to buy. And make sure that all your product images contain the alt text with the product name and link to the product detail page. After all search engines can’t crawl images but they can read the alt text.

Breadcrumb trail

Breadcrumb trail is the text that appears either on top of the page or at the bottom and shows you the path you took to reach the current page. Suppose you reached the dining table page on the e-commerce site selling furniture, then breadcrumb trail would show ‘home> furniture> dining table’. Having the breadcrumb trail not only enhances the usability of a particular page, but also makes it easier for search engines to index it.

Smooth navigation

The way products are organized in the site with categories and sub-categories makes a lot of difference. When a user comes to your site he/she must find it easy to locate the products. Having left side navigation bar throughout your site boosts the usability factor. It helps the visitors to know where they are in the site and how to navigate through it easily. A consistent navigation is also easier for search engines to crawl.

Avoid Flash

Never ever even think of having Flash intros for your e-commerce site. Flash takes time to load and is not very SEO-friendly. Though Google spider can crawl Flash now, it is still better to steer clear of using Flash. Customers don’t have time to wait for long to see and buy your products.

Simple checkout process

Complicated navigation can result in a loss of a potential customer. Make the checkout process as simple and easy as you can for the customer to complete a sale and pay you money. Display pricing and shipping information clearly and also include details about return policies in case of dissatisfaction, terms of use, privacy, access to customer service and the phone number. Nothing convinces the customer about your credibility more than knowing that you are just a phone call away.

Product & Category URLs

It is beneficial if the URLs contain keywords and not just the domain name. It is because Google and other search engines highlight the URL in bold if it contains the keyword, the user has searched for. This is the added advantage of attracting the visitors.

To create an e-commerce site which is SEO friendly is not easy. It requires skilled and talented designers, content developers and web marketers to develop an e-commerce site which attracts visitors and search engines alike.

Neha Arora is an experienced web content writer working for Wisitech Info Solutions, a leading name in end-to-end web solutions outsourcing web development companies based in New Delhi, India. Neha has written incisive and thought-provoking articles on web design and website development and how such work is being outsourced to Indian outsourcing firms web designs companies.

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com

Tagged with: keywords • search engine friendly • website design

Filed under: Web Design & Development

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!