Shopify SEO: The Ultimate Guide for Your Online Store

As highlighted in Shopify’s The Future of Commerce in 2022 report, a downside of almost the whole world going online and the commerce having its “second renaissance” is the massive increase of the customer acquisition costs (Rivera, 2022). This is because while the ecommerce is continuously growing and attracting new potential customers day by day, the competition in every niche only gets fiercer.

That is why, as an online business owner, you need to constantly find ways to make your store and products visible. You have to be on the first few pages of every relevant search engine result. In other words, you need to focus on your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy. This will help you find people who are looking for what you sell and convert them not just into one-time buyers but lifelong customers.

Now to give you a headstart, we will be discussing how you can improve your Shopify SEO and make your store the go-to place for your target customers in this all-inclusive guide. Let’s get started!

Why Care About Your Shopify SEO?

Before we go into how you can improve your Shopify SEO, let’s first discuss why it even matters that much in the first place. After all, there are other marketing channels such as paid ads, social media marketing, email marketing, etc. that can bring traffic to your store.

The answer is pretty simple: because optimizing your website for the search engines can help you get organic traffic. This means that people will be coming to your store not only because you’re paying for it but because they actually want what you’re selling. These are usually people who are at the bottom of the purchase funnel or those who are the most likely to buy.

Furthermore, making the most out of SEO can potentially lessen your customer acquisition costs up to 87.4% less than other marketing strategies such as paid ads on social media (Terakeet).

Now the only question is, how exactly do you make the most out of your Shopify SEO? Let’s begin by taking a look at your Shopify store.

Your Store

The overall structure of your website has a big impact on its SEO. From your domain name to your navigation, each element can affect how visible your site is on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Thus, it’s important to take a closer look at each one and see how you can optimize it further.

Also check out our blog: A Quick Guide to Selling on Shopify

Domain Name

According to Shopify itself, your domain name isn’t just really a name–it’s what your customers will remember you by and it’s what can bring potential ones to your store. That is why it’s important to choose a domain name that is relevant to your brand, related to your niche or products, and catchy enough to be remembered.

And if ever this is something you’re having problems with, you can always resort to using Shopify’s free domain name generator and find one that suits your store perfectly.

Know Your Tools & Store Features

Shopify offers a wide variety of features and tools to help you update and adjust your store in terms of SEO. Some are paid such as Ahrefs, while some are completely free of charge just like the Surfer SEO plugin. The key here is to know which one to use for your store and when.

A friendly tip: Purchasing Shopify’s paid plan is also something you might want to consider from the get-go as all your progress can be gone in a snap once your trial period is up.

Use the Right Metadata for Your Store

Metadata refers to the information that search engines use to index your store’s pages. The most important among them are the page title, URL, and meta description.

The page title is the name of your store’s page as it appears on the search engine results pages. The best practice here is to keep it short and sweet–preferably under 60 characters.

The URL, on the other hand, is the address of your store’s page. It should be easy to read and relevant to the page’s title and content.

The author name is the name of the person who created, for example, a piece of content or a post on your store.

And lastly, the meta description is a brief summary of your store’s page or post. It gives people a preview of what they can expect if they decide to visit it. This is where you have to be creative and use persuasive words to encourage them to actually click on your link.

Make It Easy to Navigate

So your target audience is already on your store’s page. What now? Do they immediately know what to do or where to go?

Your store’s navigation will play a big role in keeping them engaged and encouraging them to explore more of what you have to offer. A good rule of thumb is to keep it simple and straightforward. Use clear and concise labels for your store’s menus and sub-menus. You can also add links to your most popular pages or products.

Moreover, use index pages such as the home page and collection pages to prominently display your best-selling products. This can be done by using your product page’s drop-down menu feature. Finally, you can also consider putting a search bar close to the top of your store’s pages to make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for.

Keep It Fresh and Up to Date

Whether it’s your homepage, a landing page for a certain collection, or an actual product page, it’s always important to keep the content on your Shopify store fresh and up-to-date. Those pages that haven’t been updated in a while are more likely to be pushed down the search engine results pages.

One way to do this is by adding a blog feature on your store. You can use it to post new content regularly such as product reviews, popular blog posts from other sources, and even tutorials describing how your products are used or even made.

Another tip is to keep up with your competitor’s page updates as this can help you determine what needs to be changed or improved on your own store.

Your Products

After making sure your store’s structure and pages are optimized for search engines, you can now focus on your products. Here are some tips to help you improve your Shopify SEO for the products on your store:

Use the Right Keywords, Strategically

We’ve mentioned the importance of keywords earlier and this applies to every single corner of your online store–especially your products which are what you’re actually selling.

Make sure your product names and descriptions are well-written and make use of relevant keywords without overstuffing them. This will not only help improve your product’s ranking on search engines but can also help encourage people to actually click on and buy your product. 

Furthermore, don’t hesitate to use long-tail keywords as these can potentially bring customers with more specific needs to your store.

Create Compelling Product Descriptions

Apart from using relevant keywords, your product descriptions should also be compelling enough to encourage people to buy what you’re selling. Use persuasive language and highlight the unique selling points of your products.

And speaking of unique selling points, it’s also helpful to list down the different variations or color options your products have. This can help improve your product pages’ ranking on Google Images.

Make Every Tag Count

When it comes to product tags, don’t be afraid to get creative and use as many as you want. Just make sure every tag is relevant and carefully chosen as they can potentially help improve your product pages’ ranking. Remember, your customers won’t see these tags but they affect your products’ visibility on search results pages depending on the categories or terms they belong to.

Don’t forget to do the same with your alt tags! These are the tags used to describe your product images and they can also help in getting your product pages to the right audience.

How People Find Your Brand

Now, onto the more marketing and advertising-related side of things. Improving your Shopify SEO isn’t just about using the right keywords or publishing fresh content. It’s also about making sure you’re appearing on the right platforms and in front of the right customers.

Here are some tips to help you do just that:

Link Your Social Media Posts to Your Store

If you have social media pages, make sure your posts are linked to your Shopify store. This way, potential customers who see your posts on social media can easily click through and visit your store without having to search for it instead.

For example, on Instagram, you can craft stories with shoppable tags that lead directly to your product pages. On Pinterest, you can also create group boards to display your products alongside related pins from other users. 

By linking up your social media posts with your Shopify store, you can gain more visibility from potential customers who are already looking for what you have to offer.

Work with Influencers and other Brands

Another great way to spread your store’s link and of course, the word about your brand is to build relationships with other online influencers and brands.

For example, you can collaborate with other brands or individuals who are popular in your niche and have them promote your products on their social media channels or blog. You can also do a guest blog post on their site which can not only help you get more traffic but also gain trust and authority from people who are looking for products in your niche.

Make the Most of Your Email Marketing

Got a huge list of email subscribers? Make sure you’re using it to its full potential. Apart from your regular newsletters, you can also send specific offers or discounts to your subscribers. For example, you can send a coupon code for an upcoming sale or holiday just for your email subscribers.

Another thing you can do is to create an automated email sequence for people who have abandoned their shopping carts. This can help encourage them to come back and complete their purchase.

Get Listed in Google My Business

If you want to make it easier for potential customers to find your store, then you need to get listed in Google My Business. This is a free listing service from Google that allows businesses to manage their online information.

By getting listed in Google My Business, you can make it easier for customers to find your store’s address, hours, and contact information. You can also use it to post updates or special offers about your business.

Take Advantage of Paid Ads

Make your every penny count by spending it on the right online advertising platforms. For example, if you sell custom facemasks and tote bags, then it would make sense to run ads on platforms like Pinterest, YouTube, and IGTV, which are geared towards a more visual audience.

You can also create Google Shopping ads to showcase your products on SERPs. These are great for driving traffic to your store and getting more customers to convert.

Leverage Online Reviews

Finally, don’t forget the power of online reviews! Customers who are looking for new products often turn to reviews to see what others think about a particular brand or product. And since most people trust other users more than branded content, it’s a good idea to do your part by encouraging happy customers to leave reviews about their purchase.

Make sure you have review pages with the right SEO keywords and tags so they can be easily found on search engines. You can also showcase customer reviews on your product pages as social proof to reassure potential buyers that your products do what they say they do.

Get Noticed by Your Target Audience Today!

While Shopify makes it easy to set up your online store, optimizing your Shopify SEO can take a little more work. However, by following the tips above and investing in your online store’s success, you can get noticed by your target audience and increase your chances of making more sales in no time.

Just make sure you focus on the right strategies and don’t forget to experiment with new tactics as well. And while organic traffic can be slow, you’ll begin to see the fruits of your labor pay off soon enough!