WooCommerce Search Engine Optimization

WooCommerce SEO is very
similar to regular SEO.
You just have a lot more
moving parts to watch.
!
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Keyword Research
Similar to regular SEO, keyword research should be a core part of your
marketing plan. You have to know what buyers are searching for so know how
best to position your products.
Common Problems: Online store launched without any keyword research
Haphazard or quick keyword review
Very broad keywords that are difficult to rank
Keywords that not relevant to actual buyers
Best Practices: Research products, manufactures, and competitors
Create a seed list for products, categories, and topics
Pull search volumes for possible keywords
Rank keywords for relevance
Helpful Tools: Amazon autosuggest
Google related searches
KW Finder
SEMrush
SpyFu

Site Mapping
Site mapping is critical for ecommerce based websites, because it is very easy to
compete with yourself due to the cross over of products, categories, tags, and
topical areas.
Common Problems: Lack of structure and planning
Primary keywords are assigned to products
Keyword phrase used more than once as focus
Best Practices: Assign highest priority keywords to categories
Create topical areas for seasonal or clearance items
Extend usage into comparison and buyer guides
Keep overall structure no more then 3 clicks deep
Helpful Tools: SEMrush
DynoMapper
Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool

Site Mapping
Search Phrase
Ugg Boots
Results 1 – 3
Manufacturer or Brand
Results 4 – 5
Reseller Category

SEO Friendly URLs
SEO friendly URLs help search engines understand a website’s architecture and
the structure of the content. They also help users quickly find products.
Common Problems: Convoluted URLs without structure
Constantly changing URLs due to category modifications
Extremely long URLs with multiple layers
Best Practices: Human readable URLs
Focused keyword phrase within URL
Set limit at three levels deep
Consistent usage or use of 301 redirects
Helpful Tools: DynoMapper

Duplicate Content
Duplicate content (in this case) refers to the same content displayed under
different URLs within the same website.
Common Problems: Non-canonical URLs
Session IDs
Duplicate URL paths due to multiple categories
Best Practices: Keep URLs clean
Set any areas of duplications as no index
Watch category usage within URLs carefully
Helpful Tools: DynoMapper
Winter Boots Adirondack II /winter-boots/adirondack-ii/
Snow Boots Adirondack II /snow-boots/adirondack-ii/

Product Descriptions
If you want your store to rank over other stores, you have to give search engines
a reason to elevate you in search. One way to accomplish this task is through
high quality product descriptions.
Common Problems: Limited product descriptions
Manufacturer’s description as only content
Bullet list of words and no actual sentences
Best Practices: Create unique, keyword rich descriptions
Utilize manufacturer’s descriptions, but augment
Review competitor websites and write better content
Think less about keyword density
Think more about Semantic Search
Helpful Tools: Google Search Console
DynoMapper

Category pages also need
descriptions.
Don’t just list products.
Tell search engines and users
what is listed on the page.
!

Manufacturer Part Numbers
Consumers search for manufacturer part numbers when needing specific
products. Optimizing for these data points will help increase search and shorten
the sales cycle.
Common Problems: Missing or incomplete manufacturer part numbers
Best Practices: Include complete manufacturer part numbers in one or
more of the following places:
ü Description
ü Product name
ü H1
ü URL
ü Meta title and description
ü Short descriptions for list based pages
ü Image file name and alt text

Meta Titles and Descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions give search engines and users an idea of what the
page is about and what they should expect to see as they digest the content.
These data points appears in search engines result pages.
Common Problems: Duplicate meta titles and descriptions across products
Keyword stuffing within meta titles and descriptions
Best Practices: Create unique meta for each product
Include focused keyword if applicable
Add in offers to help set you apart in SERPs
Helpful Tools: Yoast SEO
All in One SEO
DynoMapper
Mozbar
Google Search Console

Meta
Search Phrase
site:ugg.com/uk/
womens boots
Ask yourself this:
Can you tell the
difference between
the search results?
You can, because
good meta titles and
descriptions make that
possible.

Breadcrumbs
ü Improved usability and helps eliminates additional clicks
ü Shows hierarchy
ü Reduces bounce rates
ü Helps with search engine optimization
Common Problems: 23% don’t have breadcrumbs at all
68% suffer from sub-par breadcrumb implementations
Best Practices: Implement breadcrumbs on category and product pages
Style so they are easy to read and use
Check mobile devices to make sure they are usable
Helpful Tools: Breadcrumb NavXTb
Yoast SEO

Link Building
ü Internal linking is important because it tells search engines which content is
most important
ü Inbound linking is important because it demonstrates authority and relevance
Common Problems: Limited inbound linking strategy
Broken links
Lack of 301 redirect usage
Limited or no inbound linking efforts
Best Practices: Use internal linking to support top SEO focused content
Use 301 redirects and use them wisely
Build inbound links to support top SEO focused content
Helpful Tools: SEMrush
SpyFu
Ahrefs
Moz Open Site Explorer

Link Building in WooCommerce
ü Remember that the way you link
content is just as important as the
link itself
ü Watch your verbiage closely so
you don’t confuse Google or
human visitors
ü Consistency is very important to
both SEO and usability

Link Building and Spreading the Love

Social Media
ü Facebook and YouTube dominates social media traffic and conversions
ü Pinterest and Instagram as also very popular for certain target demographics
ü 87% of Pinterest users have purchased an item because of Pinterest
Common Problems: Dormant social accounts with little activity
Lack of social sharing icons for visitors to use on products
Failure to build communities and engagement
Best Practices: Actively engage with social media users
Actively share content from the entire website and store
Build a community first and sell second
Helpful Tools: Social Warfare
Meet Edgar

In today’s world of search,
you cannot forget about
technical SEO. It’s now a vital
part of success with SEO.
!

Technical SEO Considerations
ü Yoast SEO Plugin Time
ü Tags and Categories Time
ü No Index URLs Time
ü Broken Links Time
ü 301 Redirects Time
ü Page Ordering Time
ü HMTL Sitemaps Time
ü XML Sitemaps Time
ü Images Time
ü Tabs and Accordions Time
ü JavaScript Time
ü Accessibility Time
ü W3 Code Validation Time
ü Cross Browser Testing Time
ü Mobile Time
ü Performance Time
ü Structured Data Time
ü Robots.txt File

Schema, Structured Data, and Rich Snippets
ü Structured Data helps Google understand the content on your site, which can
be used to display rich snippets in search results.
ü Google is very focused on Structured Data and usage is increasing all the time.
ü Rich snippets can also help with click through rates.
Common Problems: No schema
Incorrectly applied schema
Best Practices: Allow product reviews
Apply product based schema
Validate schema is correct via external sources
Helpful Tools: Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool
Yoast WooCommerce SEO
Schema WooCommerce Plugin by Schema App

XML Sitemaps
An XML sitemap is a file where you can list the content within your site to tell
Google and other search engines about the organization of your content.
Common Problems: Missing
Incomplete
Errors
Best Practices: Set XML map to automatically update
Connect to Google, Bing, and other search engines
Include products, categories, tags, and topic areas
Validate and check for errors
Helpful Tools: Yoast SEO
All in One SEO
Google Search Console
Bing Webmaster Tools
http://tools.seochat.com/tools/site-validator/

Mobile Responsive
ü Mobile commerce is now 30% of all U.S. ecommerce
ü By 2020, mobile commerce will make up 45 percent of total ecommerce
Common Problems: Lack of mobile website
Unexpected redirects to desktop site
Hidden or lack of information
Large images which impact performance
Checkout processes that are not optimized
Best Practices: Optimize the checkout process for mobile
Make user reviewed easy to locate
Compress images to improve page speed
Helpful Tools: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
http://ready.mobi/
https://crossbrowsertesting.com/
http://ami.responsivedesign.is/

Mobile Responsive Testing
Warning:
This is not a site wide
testing tool.
Use Google Search
Console to view
Google’s concerns over
your entire website.

Speed and Performance
ü If an ecommerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1 second page delay
could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales every year
Common Problems: Slow and sluggish page loads due to large images, poor
code, or cheap website hosting
Best Practices: Avoid landing page redirects
Enable compression
Improve server response time
Leverage browser caching
Minify resources
Optimize images
Optimize CSS Delivery
Prioritize visible content
Remove render-blocking JavaScript
Helpful Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights
Pingdom Tools
GTmetrix

Speed and Performance Testing

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS?

Rebecca Gill
SEO Consultant and Instructor
@rebeccagill
RebeccaGill.com

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