How to optimize marketplaces, e-commerce or inventory driven Websites? In this presentation you have actionable tips to improve the most common technical related issues of marketplaces sites.
4. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @oraintihttps://a16z.com/2020/02/18/marketplace-100/
These are the largest
and fastest-growing
consumer-facing
marketplaces
5. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @oraintihttp://blog.linnworks.com/complete-list-of-online-marketplaces
Marketplaces are some of the largest Websites in the
world, with the highest traffic and online revenue
6. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @oraintihttps://a16z.com/2018/11/27/services-marketplaces-service-economy-evolution-whats-next/
They have evolved
and specialized to
connect and
support beyond
the initial,
discovery phases
of the customer
journey
7. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @oraintihttps://a16z.com/2020/02/18/marketplace-100/
… and can be found
across almost any
vertical now
8. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
From car rental to home decoration or sneakers
marketplaces
9. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Although marketplaces share characteristics with
e-commerce sites…
Transactional Inventory Driven
10. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
… they have an additional layer of complexity due to its
two-sided platform nature and business model
Transactional Inventory Driven Two-sided
11. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
They need to attract and convert customers,
as well as the clients of their customers
Clients of
Customer
Customers
13. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
With products/services that can be found with the same
descriptions across many other platforms too…
15. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Marketplaces can be
amazing sites to
sharpen your SEO skills
… or it’s SEO fun
Not sure if it’s fun…
16. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @oraintihttps://twitter.com/thetafferboy/status/1232068982045323265
…Particularly your
technical SEO ones
17. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Internal linking
and indexing of
facets with non-
standardized
attributes
Optimizing
products pages
with limited control
and highly dynamic
inventory
Facing challenges like these, which are also common
across big e-commerce and inventory driven sites
18. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Let’s see how to handle
them to help you win
survive your marketplace
technical SEO process!
19. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @orainti
Optimizing products
pages with limited
control and highly
dynamic inventory
#seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
20. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
All paths of your site lead to your products pages,
which can make or break conversions
21. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Marketplaces need
to be ready to
index and crawl a
highly dynamic
product inventory,
driven by supply
and demand that
you don’t control
22. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Your products
pages are
valuable
to attract bottom
of the funnel
searches
23. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Product pages
tend to be also
highly shared
and a magnet
for backlinks
24. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
… which can end up making them some
of your top URLs traffic wise too
26. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Which at an
aggregated
basis, doesn’t
only hurt your
Website
crawlability,
products
rankability and
user experience
…
27. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
…But also
ultimately, makes
you lose traffic
and conversions
that you could
otherwise refer
to other products
28. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti#seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Automated validation
for consistent indexing
and internal linking is
required through your
products lifecycle
29. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Assist merchants
through the
product
publishing
process to give as
many details as
possible to better
describe and
categorize them
30. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Establish minimum
descriptions
requirements within
the system when
products are listed
31. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
32. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Define a number of relevant categories the products
can be connected with, but don’t add to the URLs
33. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Create SEO best
practices,
guidelines and
tutorials for
vendors to make
the process easier
for them, while
gamifying the
process
34. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Use it to differentiate products metadata & descriptions
to be specific to target & rank with these characteristics
35. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Each product should be listed in at least a full
categories>sub-categories>facets path that is indexable
36. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
37. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Linking and including in the XML sitemaps
the original products URLs too
Don’t link to
canonicalized
Product URLs
39. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
40. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
41. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Giving also the
option to users
to be notified
when the
product comes
back in stock
again
42. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
43. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Avoid 301-redirects to generic or non-relevant
categories that won’t keep the old page relevance
44. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Another option is 301-redirecting to similar product
but it can cause high volume of chain redirects
45. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
46. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Don’t show 404s for out of stock products
w/ backlinks, you miss value & is bad experience
47. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
48. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Schedule continuous crawls to run & be delivered
automatically to identify remaining crawlability issues
Ryte
49. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
50. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
51. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Configure the alerts
to be directly
delivered to your
communication or PM
system to facilitate
their validation
Zapier, Integromat
52. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
It's about
aligning the
crawling and
indexing of
your products to
their lifecycle to
maximize their
value
53. #seomarketplaces by @aleyda from @orainti#seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Internal linking and
indexing of facets with
non-standardized
attributes
54. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Should a shoe query of a specific model and color be
targeted by a product or a listing page?
55. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Should you
canonicalize a
facet after a
certain level of
depth to its
parent
category?
56. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
You want to avoid a sub-optimal targeting and
rankings with a too specific product page …
57. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
58. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Sometimes this happens because the relevant
indexable facet doesn’t exist on the site
60. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
… or it hardly has internal links because the
navigation towards it is not crawlable
#seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
61. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
But you also don't want to waste your site crawling
on not worthy to be indexed nor ranked URLs…
62. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti#seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
It's about aligning your
Web taxonomy
indexing and internal
linking with the
audience demand and
your providers supply
63. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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?
#seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
64. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
… on the other,
the existing
supply: How
many of these
specific
products do you
have to offer?
65. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Also, can these queries generate conversions that
will compensate the optimization efforts of the facet?
>
66. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
So, those facets
with too little
products or
targeting non-
popular queries
should be
canonicalized to
their parents
levels
67. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
While obfuscating
their internal
linking, to avoid
crawling not
meant to be
indexed pages
68. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
However, you want
to start indexing
and optimizing
facets that target
worthy queries for
which you have
enough products
69. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
How can you identify these
opportunities with so many
category levels, facets and
products on your site?
70. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
71. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @oraintianalytics
Monitor your internal search results queries:
repeated, relevant ones that you’re not targeting yet
72. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Do the same with your trending products per category:
what are their brands, characteristics and/or locations?
73. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @oraintisistrix
Look for ranked
but cannibalized
categories/
products queries
results w/ non-
trivial search
volume
74. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @oraintisemrush
… Verify if your ranked pages are continuously
switching in search results for these queries
75. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @oraintisurfer
What are 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?
76. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @oraintisemrush
Check and
compare the
indexable facets of
the competitors
consistently
outranking you
77. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
How can you differentiate and organize your Web
listings to better address users needs in their journey?
Category Sub-Category Facet Sub-Facet
78. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Remember that is
not only about
start indexing and
linking to them,
but optimizing
their offering to
fulfill the user
search experience
and facilitate its
conversion
79. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
It should be about
effectively
showcasing the
existing supply to
satisfy a non-trivial
audience demand
80. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
... indexing &
linking your Web
taxonomy,
including facets,
accordingly
81. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Remember that is
not about indexing
more pages, but
better pages
83. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
It's doable when you have resources and flexibility
to optimize the platform configuration accordingly
When changes are released
84. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
Surviving winning
marketplaces technical
SEO challenges is
possible…
85. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti
... and it can be
highly profitable
and worthy when
it happens!
86. #seomarketplaces at #wtsfest 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
Thanks! Questions?
#seomarketplaces at #wtsfest by @aleyda from @orainti