How to optimize website content for SEO

[Erica00]

I know this is a general discussion, but what are some recommendations to optimize a Shopify store's content for SEO? I think many small business store owners would benefit from this discussion since most don't have a hired content marketer. (at least I don't.)

Tips, tools, best practices are all welcome.

[haticeo]

Hello Erica, 

As a digital marketer, I'd suggest the following best practices to improve your Shopify store's content for SEO.

1. Optimize Shopify Meta Descriptions and Titles

Title tags and meta tags are still among the most powerful on-page SEO elements. A title tag is what users see in SERPs, which indicate the title of a specific page.

Use only one H1 tag on your pages. H1 tags are often used as the headline of a page, and they usually include keywords.

Tip: Shopify page titles are H1 tags by default. So, avoid creating additional H1 tags anywhere else on a page.

Make sure your titles are under 60 characters, so they show fully on SERP. Google displays the first 50-60 characters of most page titles. This is why you should include your main keyword near the beginning of your page title.

A meta description is the snippet text displayed under the page title in the search engine results. A better meta description can increase your CTR and thus help your rank higher. You should keep your meta descriptions under 155 characters. Google often cuts off longer meta descriptions.

Use Popupsmart’s free SERP preview tool to ensure your title and meta description length is optimal.

You can optimize your page titles and meta descriptions by:

• Including keywords in the title and meta description
• Using power words that drive clicks
• Using numbers, parentheses, brackets
• Including a date in the title
• Making sure your page titles are compelling

On your Shopify website, you can scroll down to “Edit Website SEO” to edit a page’s title and meta description.

Optimize the titles and meta descriptions of the following pages for SEO on Shopify:

• Blog posts
• Products
• Collections
• Homepage
• Pages

2. Include Keywords in Page URLs

Search engines see a page URL as an indication of what the page is about. To optimize your URLs and improve SEO on Shopify, you can:

• Include keywords in page URLs
• Keep the URLs short
• Avoid including stop words like “and” or “the”
• Optimize URLs of blog posts, pages, products, collections

You can edit your URLs in the “Edit Website SEO” section of your Shopify website.

Note that you shouldn’t change the URL of an existing page already receiving traffic or has links pointing to it. It might hurt the ranking and traffic.

3. Optimize Image Alt Tags and Filenames

Image optimization is another significant element in SEO for Shopify stores.

Write descriptive alt tags and filenames to your images.

Google Images make up nearly 23%  of all web searches.

To ensure your images show up in Image results, you should name each file with something descriptive and write descriptive alt tags that clearly explain the image.

Bad filename: img-16354.png Good filename: mens-white-shirt.png

4. Include Keywords in the Copy

Include your target keyword in the H1 of the page and the body text. Using a target keyword 2 or 3 times is often enough. Make sure the sentences sound natural. If not, you must have overdone it.

Use Synonyms and LSI Keywords

Aside from the exact target keyword, you can use synonyms and LSI(Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords as well.

LSI keywords are conceptually related terms that Google uses to deeply understand the topic of a web page.

You can use LSIGraph  to find LSI keywords.

5. Optimize Your Pages to Get Higher Engagement

Many SEOs believe that Google has started using engagement metrics to determine the level of relevance of a page shown in the search results. To optimize your pages for higher engagement in eCommerce, you can:

• Write detailed descriptions on your product pages.
• Give links to relevant products.
• Always use high-quality product images and videos.
• Highlight reviews and rankings for social proof.

If you also aim for Shopify blog SEO, you can:

• Keep your paragraphs and sentences short.
• Opt for a simple language.
• Use headings and subheadings properly according to a headline hierarchy.
• Include media such as images, videos, and gifs.

6. Map Out a Strong Internal Linking Strategy

When you use an anchor text to add a link from “Page A” to “Page B” on your site, it is called an internal link.

Internal links are helpful in SEO for Shopify Stores and any website because they can:

• Pass some of the SEO value from one page to the other.
• Make it easy for users to find relevant content.
• Help Google understand the content of a page.

In your Shopify eCommerce store, you can either add links manually or add a “related products” section to product your pages.

Bonus: If you want your site visitors to read your blog posts or go to your product pages, you can use Popupsmart's Shopify popups to promote them. That way, you can draw the attention of more users to where you want them to look.

I've also written an extensive Shopify SEO checklist if you'd like to learn more about the topic.