Learn about the top challenges of ecommerce in 2020 and how to fix them - focusing on top tech SEO issues.

1. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
HOW TO
WIN SEO
FOR
ECOMMERCE
IN 2020
#seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti

2. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Organic search is the main traffic driver for
e-commerce and shopping sites after direct one
https://www.similarweb.com/

3. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
However e-commerce sites have characteristics
that make it challenging to optimize them
Complex
taxonomy
Highly dynamic
inventory
High number of
products

4. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
… as they can end up causing common SEO issues!
Content
indexing,
duplication and
cannibalization
issues
Internal linking
challenges
Crawl budget
issues

5. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Ecommerce sites can
be amazing sites to
sharpen your SEO skills
Not sure if it’s fun… or SEO fun

6. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @oraintihttps://twitter.com/thetafferboy/status/1232068982045323265
…Particularly your
technical SEO ones

7. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Let’s see how!
Optimizing products
pages with limited
control and highly
dynamic inventory
Internal linking and
indexing of facets with
non-standardized
attributes
Crawl budget
issues
Internal linking
challenges
Content
indexing,
duplication and
cannibalization
issues
1. 2.

8. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti#productseo at #smxwest by @aleyda from @orainti
Optimizing
products pages
with limited
control and
highly dynamic
inventory
#seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti

9. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
All paths of your site lead to your products pages,
which can make or break conversions

10. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Your products
pages are
valuable
to attract bottom
of the funnel
searches

11. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Product pages
tend to be also
highly shared
and a magnet
for backlinks

12. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
… which can end up making them some
of your top URLs traffic wise too

13. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s easy to
generate
errors with
them though

14. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Which at an
aggregated
basis, doesn’t
only hurt your
Website
crawlability,
products
rankability and
user experience
…

15. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
…But also
ultimately, makes
you lose traffic
and conversions
that you could
otherwise refer
to other products

16. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti#productseo at #smxwest by @aleyda from @orainti#seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Automated validation for
consistent indexing and internal
linking is required through your
products lifecycle

17. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Establish
minimum
descriptions
requirements
within the system
when products
are listed

18. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Don’t allow the same product to be listed twice by the
same vendor to add it in many categories or locations

19. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
If you’re also a
marketplace and there
are too many identical
products from different
vendors, enable a single
product URL for the
same product

20. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Define a number of maximum relevant categories to
connect with products, but don’t add them to the URLs

21. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Use characteristics to differentiate products metadata &
descriptions to be specific to target & rank with them

22. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Each product should be listed in at least a full
categories>sub-categories>facets path that is indexable

23. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
These categories/facets should be linked through their
canonical URLs, avoiding the usage of parameters
Don’t link to
canonicalized
Category URLs

24. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Linking and including in the XML sitemaps
the original products URLs too
Don’t link to
canonicalized
Product URLs

25. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
What happens when products are not sold anymore?

26. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
When the product goes out of stock, it should be then
eliminated from listings, internal search & XML sitemap
Don’t
link

27. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
If it’s a
temporary status
or you’re unsure,
the product page
should remain
indexable
recommending
related products
until it comes
back or during a
minimum time

28. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Giving also the
option to users
to be notified
when the
product comes
back in stock
again

29. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Feature a message explaining
why the user is redirected
If it’s permanent & the page has backlinks, traffic or
conversions, 301-redirect to indexable parent category

30. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Avoid 301-redirects to generic or non-relevant
categories that won’t keep the old page relevance

31. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Another option is 301-redirecting to similar product
but it can cause high volume of chain redirects

32. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Avoid 302
redirects to make
sure you pass the
old product page
value while
making sure the
destination
actually works
and is relevant

33. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Don’t show 404s for out of stock products
w/ backlinks, you miss value & is bad experience

34. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
You can use 410 http status for permanent out of
stock pages with no backlinks nor rankings/traffic
Personalize
your error page
to be usable
and relevant

35. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Schedule continuous crawls to run & be delivered
automatically to identify remaining crawlability issues
Ryte

36. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Set real time SEO
monitoring and
alerts, to be
warned if your
product pages
change their
crawlability or
indexing status
Little warden & content king

37. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Integrate Web traffic
and rankings data to
alerts validations,
prioritizing the ones
of those product
pages with certain
minimum value
Little warden & content king

38. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Configure the alerts
to be directly
delivered to your
communication or PM
system to facilitate
their validation
Zapier, Integromat

39. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
It's about
aligning the
crawling and
indexing of
your products to
their lifecycle to
maximize their
value

40. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Internal linking
and indexing of
facets with
non-
standardized
attributes
#seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti

41. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Should a shoe query of a specific model and color be
targeted by a product or a listing page?

42. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Should you
canonicalize a
facet after a
certain level of
depth to its
parent category?

43. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
You want to avoid a sub-optimal ranking & experience
by ranking with a too specific product page …

44. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
… or a still too generic sub-category that won’t be as
relevant for the user, who will need to filter further

45. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Sometimes this happens because the relevant
indexable facet doesn’t exist on the site

46. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Sometimes is because
queries are targeted by
indexable internal
search result pages that
generate content
cannibalization/
duplication issues and
are not internally
linked, not ranking well
as a result

47. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Sometimes the
relevant facet
does exist but is
not correctly self-
canonicalized and
is not indexed as
a result

48. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
… or it hardly has internal links because the
navigation towards it is not crawlable
#seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @orainti

49. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
But you also don't want to waste your site crawling
on not worthy to be indexed nor ranked URLs…

50. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
It's about aligning your
Web taxonomy indexing
and internal linking with the
audience demand and your
providers supply… if it
doesn’t spark joy, it
shouldn’t be indexable!

51. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
On one hand, it depends
on the demand volume
and intent: How many
searches does the query
have and what are the
characteristics?

52. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
… on the other,
the existing
supply: How
many of these
specific
products do you
have to offer?

53. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Also, can these queries generate conversions that
will compensate the optimization efforts of the facet?
>

54. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Those facets
with too little
products or
targeting non-
popular queries
should be
canonicalized to
their parents
levels

55. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
While obfuscating
their internal
linking, to avoid
crawling not
meant to be
indexed pages

56. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
However, you want
to start indexing
and optimizing
facets that target
worthy queries for
which you have
enough products

57. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
How can you identify these
opportunities with so many
category levels, facets and
products on your site?

58. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
You can quickly
validate the most
popular sub-topics
searched along your
products categories/
brands with keyword
research tools that will
group and show
searches for them
directly
Semrush

59. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @oraintianalytics
Monitor your internal search results queries:
repeated, relevant ones that you’re not targeting yet

60. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Do the same with your trending products per category:
what are their brands, characteristics and/or locations?

61. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @oraintisistrix
Look for ranked
but cannibalized
categories/
products queries
results w/ non-
trivial search
volume

62. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @oraintisemrush
… Verify if your ranked pages are continuously
switching in search results for these queries

63. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @oraintisurfer
Analyze the top
ranked pages
above yours:
What type of
pages are they?
What kind of
information do
they feature? Do
they provide a
better experience
than yours?

64. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @oraintisemrush
Check and
compare the
indexable facets of
the competitors
consistently
outranking you

65. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
How can you differentiate and organize your Web
listings to better address users need in their journey?
Category Sub-Category Facet Sub-Facet

66. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
It’s not only about
start indexing and
linking to them,
but optimizing
their offering to
fulfill the user
search experience
and facilitate its
conversion

67. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
It should be about
effectively
showcasing the
existing supply to
satisfy a non-trivial
audience demand

68. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
... indexing &
linking your Web
taxonomy,
including facets,
accordingly

69. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Remember that is
not about indexing
more pages, but the
right pages that are
the best

70. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Sounds like too
much work to do?

71. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
It's doable when you have resources and flexibility
to optimize the platform configuration accordingly
When changes are released

72. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti#seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
Winning
Ecommerce SEO
challenges while
sparking joy!

73. #seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
... which can be
highly profitable
and worthy!

74. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @orainti
Thanks! Questions?
#seoforecommerce by @aleyda from @orainti
I’m Aleyda Solis
* SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti
* SEO Speaker at +100 Events in +20 countries
* Author “SEO. Las Claves Esenciales.”
* Crawling Mondays YouTube SEO Video Series Host
* #SEOFOMO Newsletter Wrangler
* Blogger in Search Engine Land & Search Engine Journal
* Featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post
* European Search Personality of the Year in 2018