If you own a Shopify store, you are aware of how strong of an e-commerce platform it is for you to sell your goods online. But just having a Shopify store won’t be enough to increase traffic and sales. To ensure that potential customers can quickly find your products, you must ensure that your store is optimized for search engines. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) enters the picture here.
SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to appear higher in search engine results, such as those provided by Google. You want your store to appear on the first page of search results when people search for the products you sell. This can be difficult because millions of websites compete for the same keywords. However, with the right strategies and techniques, you can increase the visibility of your store and drive more traffic and sales.
So, how do you optimize your Shopify store for SEO? Here are some tips to get you started:
Use relevant and targeted keywords
When individuals search for things online, they utilize words and phrases known as keywords. In your store’s content, including product titles, descriptions, and tags, it’s crucial to employ pertinent and targeted keywords. Search engines will be better able to match your products to pertinent searches if they can better grasp the nature of your offerings. You can utilize a keyword research tool to locate the best keywords, such as Google’s Keyword Planner or programs like Ahrefs or SEMrush.
To add keywords to your Shopify store, you can use the following steps:
- Use a keyword research tool, such as Google’s Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush, to find the keywords that are relevant to your products and have a good search volume.
- Include your targeted keywords in your product titles, descriptions, and tags, but make sure to use them naturally and avoid keyword stuffing.
- Use clear and descriptive language to help both search engines and customers understand what your products are about.
Optimize your store’s structure and navigation
Both customers and search engines can more easily traverse a store that is well-organized and user-friendly. Use distinct and evocative product titles and tags, and classify your products into categories and subcategories. Use breadcrumb navigation to make your store’s layout more clear to users and search engines.
Use alt tags for images
The content of a picture can be described using alt tags (alternative text). Because search engines can only read the language that surrounds images, they are crucial for SEO. You can make your product photographs more visible in search results and aid search engines in understanding what the images are about by adding alt tags to them.
To add alt tags to your Shopify store, you can use the following steps:
- Go to your Shopify admin panel and click on “Products” in the left menu.
- Click on the product for which you want to add an alt tag.
- Scroll down to the “Images” section and click on the image that you want to add an alt tag to.
- In the “Alt” field, enter a short and descriptive alt tag that describes the content of the image.
- Click “Save” to save your changes.
Use a sitemap
A sitemap is a file that lists every page and item on your store, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index it. You can develop and submit your own sitemap to Google Search Console in addition to Shopify’s automatic sitemap generation for your store.
Steps for adding a Sitemap to Shopify
- Shopify automatically generates a sitemap for your store, but you can also create and submit your own sitemap to Google Search Console to help search engines crawl and index your store more efficiently.
- To create a sitemap for your store, you can use a tool like XML Sitemaps or Screaming Frog’s XML Sitemap Generator.
- Once you have generated your sitemap, you can upload it to your store’s root directory by following these steps:
- Go to your Shopify admin panel and click on “Settings” in the left menu.
- Click on “Files” and then click on the “Upload files” button.
- Select your sitemap file and click “Open” to upload it to your store’s root directory.
- To submit your sitemap to Google Search Console, you can follow these steps:
- Go to Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account.
- Click on the “Add a property” button and enter the URL of your store.
- Click on the “Add” button to add your store as a property.
- Click on the “Sitemaps” link in the left menu and then click on the “Add/Test Sitemap” button.
- Enter the URL of your sitemap and click “Submit” to submit it to Google Search Console.
Include Meta Description on your Shopify store
Shopify values meta descriptions since they aid search engines in comprehending the content of your store and raise its prominence in search results. In the search results, below your store’s title, are brief, descriptive sentences called “meta descriptions” that sum up the information in your store.
You may aid search engines in comprehending the nature of your store and matching it to pertinent searches by incorporating pertinent and targeted keywords in your meta descriptions. This can improve the likelihood that your store will appear in search results, bringing in more customers and revenue.
To add meta descriptions to your Shopify store, you can use the following steps:
- Go to your Shopify admin panel and click on “Online Store” in the left menu.
- Click on “Themes” and then click on the “Actions” button next to the theme that you want to edit.
- Click on “Edit HTML/CSS” to open the theme editor.
- In the “Layout” folder, click on the “theme.liquid” file.
- Scroll down to the head section of the file and look for the “meta” tags.
- Add a meta description to the “description” meta tag, using a short and descriptive phrase that summarizes the content of your store.
- Click “Save” to save your changes.
Include Schema text on your Website
Shopify values schema language, sometimes referred to as structured data, as it aids search engines in comprehending the content and structure of your store and increases its exposure in search results. Schema text is a defined method for including metadata in the HTML code of your business, and it aids search engines in comprehending the information on your store and displaying it in a more user-friendly manner in the search results.
You can mark up a variety of information on your store, including items, reviews, articles, and events, using various forms of schema text. You can increase your store’s visibility in search by adding schema text to it, which gives search engines more details about it and its contents.
To add schema text to your Shopify store, you can use the following steps:
- Go to your Shopify admin panel and click on “Online Store” in the left menu.
- Click on “Themes” and then click on the “Actions” button next to the theme that you want to edit.
- Click on “Edit HTML/CSS” to open the theme editor.
- In the “Snippets” folder, click on the “schema.liquid” file.
- Replace the default schema text with your own schema text, using the guidelines provided by schema.org.
- Click “Save” to save your changes.
Add descriptive title’s to your website
On Shopify, titles are crucial since they aid search engines in comprehending the content of your store and increase its presence in search results. Titles serve as the primary heading for your store in the search results because they are succinct, descriptive sentences that sum up the information in your store.
Search engines can better grasp your store’s content and connect it to pertinent searches if you use focused and relevant keywords in your titles. This can improve the likelihood that your store will appear in search results, bringing in more customers and revenue.
To add titles to your Shopify store, you can use the following steps:
- Go to your Shopify admin panel and click on “Online Store” in the left menu.
- Click on “Themes” and then click on the “Actions” button next to the theme that you want to edit.
- Click on “Edit HTML/CSS” to open the theme editor.
- In the “Layout” folder, click on the “theme.liquid” file.
- Scroll down to the head section of the file and look for the “title” tag.
- Add a title to the “title” tag, using a short and descriptive phrase that summarizes the content of your store.
- Click “Save” to save your changes.
Conclusion
Finally, SEO is an important strategy for optimizing your Shopify store’s visibility in search results. You can increase traffic and sales to your store by using targeted keywords, optimizing your store’s structure and navigation, adding alt tags to your images, creating and submitting a sitemap, and optimizing your store’s loading speed.
SEO can be intimidating, particularly if you’re new to it. However, with the right strategies and techniques, you can increase the visibility of your store and reach a wider audience of potential customers. You can optimize your Shopify store for SEO and drive more traffic and sales by following the tips and steps outlined in this blog post.
