eCommerce SEO Onsite Tips

By: Mike Bradbury

According to Nielsen net ratings, every month, about half of all search engine queries are unique. This statistic, although vague and seemingly insignificant, is actually the greatest factor behind why eCommerce Soltuions fare so well in search. We interpret the statistic like this: Half of all searches cannot be predicted, the other half can be. Great. So what does that have to do with eCommerce? The reason why eCommerce and SEO are better for each other than Forrest was for Jenny is due to the massive amount of content contained within the average eCommerce solution and that content's ability to target both predictable and unpredictable (long-tail) search phrases. eCommerce solutions have a major advantage over any other database driven site for a number of reasons.

Abundant Content: Unlike a blog, article directory or content managed site, thousands of search engine friendly pages can be literally uploaded and indexed by the search engines.

Easy Unique Content: A product or category page needs a few tech specs and a brief description. As long as that content is unique to the site, a webmaster can litter the search engines with products and categories. The time it would take for a blog or content managed site to reach that same level using unique content is staggering.

Targeting the Predictable & Unpredictable: Category pages can be targeted for predictable searches like "red widgets." Product pages can capture the unpredictable ones like "red widgets with tassels"(provided they contain keyword-rich descriptions). So how can you make the most of your eCommerce solution in the search engines? As promised here is a list of general tips. Most Importantly:

Pick the right solution: Get an eCommerce provider that allows you to do everything we mention in this list. And hey, what do you know? Bridgeline's eCommerce Solution lets you do all of this… Crazy how that works out, no?

Onsite Optimization Tips

Unique title tags: The content contained within should not be repeated verbatim within the site.

Put your site name after the product or category name in the title tag: Use your site to Brand, use your search engine listing to get clicks.

Unique meta data: Take the time to make your meta data (description & keywords) unique for each page. Obviously, that can be tricky if you have 10,000 skus, so try and get your developer to populate that area with the product description.

Use H1 tags: And put your keywords in them. Go to your source. Search for '

Use more than manufacturer data: If your product pages only contain the specs and descriptions that your manufacturer provides, the search engines will lump that product page together with the hundreds of other ones out there with the same specs and descriptions, meaning it won't find its way into the search engine result pages (SERPS).

Take the time to add unique copy to your product and category pages

Link to other products and categories from that copy

Use alt tags: I know. I heard too. They're useless. Use them anyway. SEO is about a conglomeration of variables, not a single supreme one.

Have a clear category tree: Search engines like that.

Use a search engine friendly navigation: Text links are best. Don't like text and want to use images? Make sure you use alt tags. Using flash or doing postbacks? Stop that!

Create an XML based sitemap and put it in Google webmaster tools
eCommerce SEO Onsite Tips is brought to you by Bridgeline Software's ecommerce solutions and shopping cart solutions. Bridgeline's ecommerce module support provides you with even more power in promoting and managing your online ecommerce business.