The 6 Most Common SEO Mistakes for E-Commerce

SEO mistakes ecommerce

The e-commerce store that you have painstakingly built, the world must know about it, right? You need SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for that. In simple terms, SEO is the magnet that attracts customers to your store like bees to the beehive.

Is SEO difficult? Not necessarily.

But, e-commerce store owners, including both veterans and newbies tend to make several mistakes that can be avoided. These mistakes weaken their store’s search engine rankings, leaving them trailing in second or third or even later search result pages.

That is definitely not a good sign to improve conversion rates. So we thought of compiling a comprehensive list of most common SEO mistakes that online store owners tend to make.

Are you making these mistakes? Check yourself and take preemptive actions right away. Let’s get started boosting your search engine ranking.

Improper Keyword Research

Most e-retailers focus on researching and using keywords that are more similar and related to the products that they sell. They miss considering the phrases or words that targeted audience will actually think and use to search for such products.

Using generic keywords like laptops, shoes, bags etc. will fail to bring in the exacttarget users who can become buyers. You have to be specific like Dell Inspiron Laptops, Brown leather shoes, black laptop backpack bags, etc.

Possible Damage:

Miss bringing the right target audience to the store

What you must do:

Brainstorm and find long-tailed keywords and search phrases that actual users of your products will search for. Long-tailed keywords have lesser competition and hence can achieve a higher ranking. Use SEO keyword planned tools like Google AdWords, SEMRush, Ubbersuggest, Soovle, Google Trends, Google webmasters, SEOStack, etc. to find such appropriate keywords.

Keyword Stuffing For Higher Ranking

Unnatural keyword stuffing in H1, H2, meta descriptions, product descriptions, website content, etc. is a common practice amidst most online retailers.

Sadly, these are no longer ideal ways of higher search engine ranking. Google’s search engine algorithm has evolved over time to rank valuable content with appropriate keyword positioning.

Possible Damage:

Inferior UX, inflate website bounce rate and might also cause penalizing by Google.

What you must do:

Avoid keyword spamming. Create your own content that is relevant to your store. Wrap keywords into the content in a natural and flowing manner.

Duplicating Content Across The Website

Creating good content is not easy. Especially creating unique content for headings, product descriptions, lists, etc. is definitely not going to happen overnight. Of course, there are unavoidable situations when you will have to use duplicated content like manufacturer descriptions, product stubs, taglines, etc.

However, it does not mean you can duplicate content across your website for all product descriptions and lists.

Possible Damage:

Google and other search engines can easily trace it and pull down your website ranking.

What you must do:

Create unique content wherever possible. In case duplicated content needs to be placed, set 301 redirects or no-index controls so that the search engine bot does not penalize your page.

Taking Security Lightly

Security is the first frontier that keeps hacking and online frauds at bay. Sadly, online retailers (typically new entrants) make the terrible mistake of giving SSL encryption and related online security measures a skip to save money. Little do they know that it will also impact their search engine rankings negatively.

Possible Damage:

Financial loss, payment data pilferage, customer identity theft, tarnished reputation. In the coming days, there is also the possibility of search engine ranking falling down due to lack of HTTPS like security measures.

What you must do:

Adopt SSL security encryption and HTTPS for your e-commerce store. An SSL certificate trust badge on the website address bar is a great way to show customers that their transactions are carried out through safe networks. Google gives priority to websites with SSL Server certificates over those which do not.

Adding a SSL badge helped Blue Fountain to increase their conversion by 42%. (Source: Optinmonster)

Bonus tip: Opt for Extended Validation SSL certificate. EV SSL security Certificate can be compared to a military-grade bullet proof against hacking for your online store. It not only keeps hackers and unauthorized access into the website server but also boosts customer confidence in the website through display of a green padlock symbol and green HTTPS.

Compromising On Page Loading Speed

52% of online shoppers stay loyal to online stores that load faster. In other words, fast page loading speed is a deciding factor that balances between a customer buy or an abandoned cart. Unfortunately, 73% of mobile shoppers experience website loading speed to be as high as 10 seconds.

Possible Damage:

Amazon found that it lost tentatively 1% of its sales (which runs into millions) for every millisecond delay in page loading. Other damages will include a drop in customer satisfaction, lower search engine ranking and losing customer loyalty.

What you must do:

Optimize page loading speed under 3 seconds. Most e-commerce platforms like Magento have page optimization techniques that help achieve faster page loading speeds.

Ignoring Product Reviews

Local online reviews matter to your SEO. online reviews help spike search engine ranking, sell more and assist customers to make an informed decision. Ignoring to place product review options in your online store is nothing but a serious mistake.

Possible Damage:

Customers tend to lose trust in stores/products that lack product reviews. Online product reviews can double up as original user-generated content that can help improve search engine rankings organically.

What you must do:

Give customers as much as possible ways to give user reviews and ratings. Ask your customers to leave online reviews in an ethical way. Stay away from email spamming and compulsory review posting as they can backfire.

When it comes to SEO, e-commerce sellers make endless varieties of mistakes. But, these 6 mistakes are the grievous ones that can stunt your store’s growth – both financially and reputation wise. So avoid them at any cost to grow your online store’s SEO presence.

Last, but not the least, stay updated with Google’s algorithm changes and adapt your website accordingly to win higher search engine ranking.

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ECN Team
E-Commerce Nation is The 1st B2B Web Media about E-Commerce in Europe. The team of E-Commerce Explorers help businesses to reach new potential market through delivering useful content. Let us know in comment if you enjoyed this content.