What are your top tips for optimizing SEO on a Shopify store?

Hey all! :sparkles:

I recently finished a definitive guide to Shopify SEO and I thought it would be useful to folks on this forum. In the past Shopify had a bad reputation when it came to SEO, but that’s definitely not the case any more. Here are my top tips when it comes to optimising your Shopify store for search :blush:

:right_arrow: Start with keyword research. Without this, you won’t know which keywords or phrases you want to rank for or which pages should be ranking for each keyword. This is the basis for ALL your SEO work. There are plenty of keyword research tools out there to help you with this (Ubersuggest, Semrush, SE Ranking). It’s also worth popping your competitor’s websites into one of these tools to see what they’re ranking for :eyes:

:right_arrow: Think about keyword intent. If a keyword or phrase is often searched by people looking for information, you’ll want to create a blog or article focusing on that keyword. If it’s something people search when they want to make a purchase, you’ll want to optimise a product page for this keyword. If you’re unsure, pop the keyword into Google and look at the search results. If there’s a lot of blogs, it’s likely you’ll want to create your own blog targeting this keyword.

:right_arrow: Add meta titles and descriptions to every page. Yes, Google can create something based on your page’s content, but it’s often not quite right or too long. I’ve seen a lot of search results in Google that have the privacy policy or something unrelated as their description :persevering_face:

:right_arrow: Optimise your images. eCommerce stores have hundreds, if not thousands, of images, so use this to your advantage! Make sure all your images include your keyword in the file name before you upload them. This is quite difficult to change if you’ve already uploaded them, but it’s not a dealbreaker - you won’t be penalised by Google if you haven’t got the keyword in your filename. Make sure you add alt text too, so that visually impaired visitors to your store can get an idea of what your products look like. Yes this can help with SEO, but it’s also a really nice thing to do :blush:

:right_arrow: Use a Shopify SEO app. At Exposure Ninja we like Yoast SEO, but you should browse the app store and find one that suits you. Most apps offer free trials so you can get a feel for how they work before committing.

I hope this was helpful! There’s more detail in my Definitive Guide to Shopify SEO about how to conduct keyword research, how to make the most of your Shopify blog, how to do technical Shopify SEO and more.

Have a wonderful day ~

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Thanks so much @NinjaJess for liking Yoast SEO at Exposure Ninja!

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It’s fab @Sid_Yoast :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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I am really glad to know that :slightly_smiling_face:

The guide and tips you shared are really interesting and helpful!

And for anyone else interested in Shopify SEO and our app, our Shopify SEO: the ultimate guide has also some useful info.

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hi @NinjaJess

here is a complete tutorial we made on how we ranked and get sales for our clients up to $200K per month via google organic traffic with SEO

This is gold. We will try to help our merchants make use of this in their journey!

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For Shopify beginners, we need to save time on prep so we have more time to think about strategy.

For example, what do I need to focus on optimizing? How can we shorten the time for uploading and optimizing the listings? What tools are available to help us create images? What tools do we need for email marketing?

  1. What do I need to focus on optimizing?
  • Product Pages: Ensure titles, descriptions, and images are high quality and keyword-optimized.

  • SEO: Use relevant keywords in meta titles, descriptions, and alt texts. Improve site speed and mobile responsiveness. Here some Shopify AI-SEO tools can help, like SEOAnt, TinyIMG.

  • User Experience: Simplify navigation, ensure quick load times, and create a clear call to action.

  1. How can we shorten the time for uploading and optimizing the listings?
  • Bulk Uploads: Use Shopify’s CSV import tool to upload multiple products at once.

  • Templates: Create templates for product descriptions and other recurring content.

  • Automation Tools: Tools like Oberlo (for dropshipping) and Shopify Flow (for automating tasks) can significantly reduce manual work.

  1. What tools are available to help us create images?
  • Canva, Figma, Midjourney: User-friendly for creating professional images and graphics.

  • Placeit: Great for creating product mockups and social media visuals.

  • Adobe Spark: Offers powerful tools for designing promotional content.

  1. What tools do we need for email marketing?
  • Klaviyo: Excellent for personalized email campaigns and integration with Shopify.

  • Omnisend: Offers a wide range of automation features for email marketing.

  • ActiveCampaign: Known for its robust automation and CRM features.

  • Shopify Email: Shopify’s own tool for simple email marketing, easy to use for beginners.