Boosting your SEO not only improves your search results rankings on search engines like Google or Bing. It also helps in building your online presence. When you get a higher ranking, the more your website will appear in the search results. Of course, this means more people will see your online business. But, SEO for online stores techniques can be very overwhelming or even difficult to put in place. Although the search algorithms used to determine search rankings are unknown, there a few practices that produce positive results. Here, are a few tips to help you boost the SEO for your online business.
1. Conduct an extensive research on keywords
Keywords are words that relate to what most users would search. Study the keywords that relate to your online business. Search engines use them to determine the web content that is relevant to search queries. Thus, it is advisable to have a list of available keywords so that you can centre your content on it. Yet, this does not mean that you should fill your website content with every possible keyword. This will do more harm than good. Indeed, this tactic will only cause your online business to be flagged. Which may lead to its immediate penalization. Use the keywords wisely to the benefit of your website. Use third-party tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner. It will help you discover the keywords relating to your business. Indeed, this service is provided free of charge or after paying a subscription fee.
2. Optimize your meta descriptions
Meta descriptions are the pieces of information about your web pages. A search engine serves users with your meta description when they search. Apply the keywords you identified within these meta descriptions and the alt tags. Search engines will rank your content higher for search queries. Make sure these meta descriptions are not very lengthy. Lengthy descriptions are not advisable. It may affect how a search engine will rank the website. Also, make sure each meta description and alt tag is unique. That is, each webpage should have its own meta description and alt tag. Make sure the meta description is compelling enough to make a potential customer want to click on your link. Also, avoid duplicating these descriptions as it is manipulative and could lead to penalization.
3. Build a unique on-page copy
On-page SEO involves making your website as search engine friendly as possible. Of course, this can be done by attracting other websites to link yours. And creating content such as blog posts and videos to inform your customers about your products. Here’s a step by step description on how to use On-page SEO to your advantage;
- Determine the keyword you want your business to relate to. Most people assume that ranking first on the most popular keyword on the internet will give their websites a lot of traffic. But, find a keyword that is not as popular, as it will be much easier to rank.
- Organize your website by subject matter making sure each web page relates to a unique keyword. Make sure you do not repeat keywords on your web pages as it will only harm your SEO.
- Write compelling headings which relate to your keywords. Make sure each webpage has a unique title tag which should include the unique keyword relating to the content of that webpage.
- Linking to your own content. This is an SEO technique that is neglected by most online business owners. Set up internal links to your website’s content to show the search engine how vital the keywords are.
- Avoid redirecting your website’s content to your homepage. Check your content as often as you can to make sure this does not happen.
- Stay ahead of your competitors by avoiding the descriptions provided by the manufacturer for your products.
4. Use Google search and Webmaster Tools to your advantage
Understanding how search engines such as Google and Bing assess your website is helpful. It will help you in improving your search engine optimization. Using webmaster tool is free and helps website owners check on the guidelines to see whether they are adhering to them. You can even request these webmaster tools to index new or updated content on your website. They can even help you resolve any issues on your website such as broken links and duplicate content. This will improve the SEO for online stores in your particular case.
5. Submit your business information to the search engines
Google, one of the most popular search engines in the world, has set new guidelines on how websites should be. This has made many business owners avoid setting up online businesses. But, submitting your business information such as the location of your business, the number of hour you operate and even your website link to a search engine has been shown to improve SEO. Google and Bing have their own web directories, that is, Google My Business and Bing My Places respectively. Submitting your website for review and listing on one of these directories will help your online business grow. This will help you increase the success rates of your online business which will build your online presence.
Final Words
Follow these five steps and you will notice how different your online business will be. However, most people will misuse these tactics as a ploy to manipulate search engines in a bid to boost search engine optimization. This should be avoided at all costs!