SEO-friendly Web Design for E-commerce Websites
Your customers are surfing the web and looking for products similar to the ones you offer. What are you doing to drive that traffic to your site?
E-commerce has quickly replaced traditional marketplaces worldwide. More customers are now purchasing products via digital stores than ever. A responsive e-commerce website for your small business can boost your sales significantly–but only if the right customer base can reach you.
Driving traffic to your e-commerce website requires good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because it dictates your website’s rank in the search engine result pages. After all, your audience won’t look past the first search result page to find what they’re looking for.
The first step is to incorporate SEO-friendly web design elements to your e-commerce site. Not sure where to start? Hire our professional web designing services to get started today.
Here’s a quick introduction of how professional SEO services can put your e-commerce site on the map.
Does My E-Commerce Site Really Need SEO?
An e-commerce website, or an online store, can only generate sales if it’s visible to customers. E-commerce websites need good SEO for the following reasons:
Increased Visibility: SEO ranks your e-commerce website higher on search engine results pages (SERPs), allowing it to reach a larger online audience.
Competitive Advantage: Good SEO practices can help your website stand out from the competition. It ultimately ranks higher on SERPs by showing up for relevant search.
Better User Experience: An SEO-friendly web design improves user navigation and overall experience. Web design experts can help create a better structure, organize web content, and incorporate visual elements that retain user attention.
Credibility and Trust: If your site ranks high on the first search result page, it appears more credible and trustworthy to users. As such, users are more likely to make purchases from your e-commerce site.
Recommended Read: SEO Services for E-commerce Websites: What You Should Know
SEO-Friendly Web Design Elements That Take Clicks to Cart
So what kind of web design elements does your e-commerce site need to have in order to drive traffic? Here’s the verdict from our professional website designers.
Keyword Research
SEO and keyword research go hand-in-hand. You can’t optimize your e-commerce site without incorporating relevant keywords. Finding relevant keywords requires keyword research.
Here’s how to get started:
Keyword intent
Keyword intent is the purpose behind a specific search query. For instance, if a user searches “best seafood near me” on Google, you can tell what they were intending to look for. They want to find the highest-rated or best-reviewed seafood restaurants in their vicinity.
For e-commerce websites, two types of keyword intents are the most relevant:
Informational keyword intent shows that a user wants to understand something.
When a user types in “hiking trails in Arizona” in the search bar, they’re not looking for a product. Instead, they want to learn more about a specific topic.
However, this search query and these keywords will still be important for your e-commerce site if you sell products related to outdoor activities like hiking. You can incorporate such relevant keywords in your product descriptions and web content. This way, search engines will recommend your site to any user who searches for those keywords.
Commercial keyword intent, on the other hand, shows that a user is looking to purchase a certain product. If your e-commerce website sells stationery items, then a user query like “buy notebooks online” will be relevant to you.
As an e-commerce website selling notebooks, your goal is to appear in the first page results like these sites. Professional web designing services that understand SEO-friendly web design can help you accomplish this goal.
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to find high-ranking keywords for your e-commerce niche.
Informative and Optimized Product Pages
Many e-commerce websites fail to properly optimize their product pages. This significantly hurts their SEO rankings.
Have a look at these two product pages:
The most obvious difference is the product description. Customers like knowing details about the product they’re interested in purchasing online. The lack of information about a certain product forces users to make their own assumptions. This can lead to disappointing purchases (or worse, no purchases) and hurt the credibility of your online store.
The Nike product page shown above also lets users click on the “Show Product Details” button to display this pop-up screen:
Did you notice the different keywords incorporated in this content?
In the above example, shoe-related keywords can include “Air Jordan,” “Air-Sole,” “foam cushioning,” and “semi-gloss leather.”
Mobile Responsiveness
People use their mobile phones to make purchases more than their computers. Some studies suggest that more than half of all global website traffic is generated through mobile devices.
A website design agency can help improve your site’s mobile responsiveness. This refers to a website’s ability to adapt and display properly on various screen sizes and devices, when people use their smartphones, tablets, or other devices.
The following example might help you get a better idea:
Note that the first website is too cluttered, with overwhelming visuals and excessive content. The Marvel Comics webpage on the right is significantly better; a lot more readable and understandable.
Mobile responsive websites have better content organization, reformatted pictures and fonts, white spaces, and easily clickable buttons.
Most users don’t stay on a poorly designed website for more than ten seconds. Therefore, good user navigation is important.
Good website navigation requires you to incorporate user-friendly elements in your web design. Users should be able to find relevant service pages and contact page easily. You can add quick links in your website’s footer to improve navigation.
Page load speed also makes a significant difference here. Sites that take too long to load have a bounce rate. Consider hiring professional web design services to boost your site’s loading speed and improve active site traffic.
Products should ideally be sorted into categories, allowing users to find what they’re looking for more easily. Use a main menu in your header to organize web pages. If your website header has a logo, make sure it links to the homepage.
The ASOS website is a great example. It allows users to easily find and navigate to product pages by categorizing them in the main menu. The site thus has a logical hierarchy that’s easy to follow.
All these elements make it easier for users to navigate your e-commerce website. As a result, users spend more time on your site, and search engines consider it relevant.
Optimized Service Page Links
URLs and webpage links are critical to SEO.
An e-commerce website should have concise links for each webpage, especially product pages. Search engines take into account permalinks, or permanent links when determining the credibility and authority of your e-commerce site. A permalink is the permanent URL users and search engines see on your webpages.
A concise permalink, with relevant keywords, helps boost the webpage’s SEO rankings. Take these webpage URLs, for instance.
The major difference between both URLs is that one is much easier to understand than the other. When customers and search engines are trying to find a product page on your site, a simple and short URL allows them to navigate to the product page right away.
Recommended Read: How to Boost Your Online Store’s Google Rankings: A Practical Guide to E-Commerce SEO
The Bigger Picture: A Holistic SEO Strategy for E-Commerce Websites
Optimizing your own site to incorporate SEO-friendly web design can be challenging. Let our team of web design experts help you out with e-commerce web design!
Search Berg offers full-scope SEO services for small and large businesses. Regardless of the industry your business operates in, we can help your professional website rank higher.
So, connect with our team now and let your online customers know what you have to offer.
