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Shopify SEO Checklist: How To Boost Your Site’s Ranking
Do you want to improve the search engine rankings of your Shopify store? Use these SEO strategies for a boost.
While paid marketing campaigns can help your Shopify store gain more traction, this can be very expensive. Instead, aim for steady, organic site traffic that can help deliver better visitor-to-customer percentages and more sales. But driving organic traffic to your Shopify store can be quite a task.
The easiest, most efficient way to do this is with Shopify SEO. Improving your Shopify website’s SEO will deliver positive long-term results via better leads (i.e., more potential customers), increased sales, and a competitive brand image.
But what exactly is Shopify SEO? This article reviews the basics of Shopify SEO and the best Shopify SEO tips.
Feel free to skip to the topic that is most relevant to you using the table of contents below.
1. Get a custom domain for your Shopify store
2. Set up tracking and indexing tools
5. Optimize your Shopify site according to keywords
6. Optimize your category and product page title tags
7. Identify internal linking opportunities
8. Improve your site’s navigation
9. Use content marketing strategies
10. Optimize your images, including alt text
11. Get your products reviewed
13. List your store on major directories and platforms
1. Get a custom domain for your Shopify store
Investing in a custom domain is always better than having the generic “myshopify” in your URL. Since the URL path is always visible to the customer, you’ll want the name of your online store to stand out and come across as professional. Investing in a custom domain is important if you want people to take your business seriously. A custom domain also positively impacts your SEO performance.
You can purchase custom domains from Shopify or any other domain provider, such as GoDaddy.
2. Set up tracking and indexing tools
While Shopify Analytics helps you gain a basic understanding of site traffic, it’s not enough to drive organic growth. E-commerce retailers also need to set up the following accounts and plug-ins for an in-depth analysis of consumer behavior.
Google Analytics is the most important metric analysis tool because it helps you measure the success of SEO optimization and compile sales data.
Here’s what Google Analytics does:
- Evaluates sales as a result of SEO
- Identifies sales from organic traffic
- Identifies popular pages and products on your website
Google Search Console provides data on your website’s performance in organic search results. It helps you understand which search terms customers use to land on your website and the click-through rate (CTR) on search platforms.
In addition, Google Console performs these technical SEO tasks:
- Crawling and indexing the website’s pages through the robots.txt file
- Submitting a sitemap.xml file to Google crawlers
- Checking for website errors
3. Get Shopify apps for SEO
Shopify has scores of apps on its platform to help you meet your on-page SEO needs. Apps that can help meet on-page SEO include:
These SEO apps help you detect and change broken links, old backlinks, unhelpful alt tags, the meta description, and meta tags all in one click. You can also use SEO tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights and Ahrefs to help with your on-page SEO strategy.
4. Do keyword research
Identifying the keywords that work for your business is important because it tells you how people are searching for products online. Your customers are likely using a set of keywords through which they are discovering more about your products and brand. Researching these keywords is critical because it helps you discover sales opportunities and develop content and marketing strategies that improve your conversion rate. Keywords are also important when writing a post’s metadata, alt data, tags, headlines, and descriptive content.
Three concepts are most important when doing keyword research:
- Search volume. Search volume measures how many times people search for a specific word each month. For example, if you plan to launch a new flask, a keyword search might tell you that more people search for “bottle” than “flask” or vice versa. Plan your content strategy around these insights.
- Keyword difficulty. This measures how much competition there is for a particular keyword and how difficult it would be to get the top store rank for that keyword. Choosing the right keyword is important for getting your website to appear on such searches. If you use a keyword that many other retailers are already using or one that is hard to rank for, your page will probably show up at the bottom of the list or on subsequent pages.
- Search intent. Search intent is the purpose with which a customer does an online search. Identifying a customer’s purpose is important for zeroing in on appropriate keywords. If you use a keyword that offers informational results rather than those suited to the e-commerce store, people from outside your target group will visit your website.
Keyword research tools like Ahrefs and Semrush can assist with keyword ranking.
5. Optimize your Shopify site according to keywords
Once you’ve identified relevant keywords, start optimizing your home, product, and category pages using keywords. You should also use them in the page content to improve your search engine rankings. Use these keywords in product descriptions, as well. All of this will help rank your page higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
You’ll want to be strategic while including keywords in your blogs. Include them in your blog’s headings and body text (but avoid keyword stuffing). You should also include them in the alt text, title tags, URLs, meta descriptions, and anchor text.
6. Optimize your category and product page title tags
Title tags are important to optimize because they are what visitors first see when they make a Google search and your website pops up. To optimize your tags, use relevant keywords in the title and metadata and keep the title short enough (60 characters or less) that Google will display all of it. Each page needs a title tag so it will rank for what users are looking for.
For example, the title tags below are in blue. For Ahrefs, the tag is “What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization Explained,” and the one for Moz is “The Definition of SEO in 100 Words or Less [FAQs].”
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7. Identify internal linking opportunities
Internal links are different from external links. While external links send readers or users to another website, internal linking can help keep customers on your website and demonstrate page value to search engines.. That’s not to say external links are bad. Both are necessary for a good user experience.
Internal links help search engines determine the relationship between pieces of your content and understand its importance by judging its link value.
If a customer buys a T-shirt on your website and you add an internal link to prompt them to also look at a matching pair of pants, the customer could click on the pants and spend more time and money on your products.
Adding internal links also helps customers familiarize themselves with your brand and your site’s architecture. Internal linking improves their user experience, ensuring they are likely to remember you and keep coming back to shop.
8. Improve your site’s navigation
If your web page is easy to navigate, chances are you will retain users for longer periods and your Shopify rank will improve. Like Google, Shopify ranks websites more highly when they provide a smooth user experience with good navigation. In essence, avoid confusing page designs, leave enough empty space so the customer doesn’t feel overwhelmed, and avoid bombarding them with too much.
Ensure your product pages are easy to access, especially from the homepage. Your menu should also be easy to read and should define product categories clearly. You can use Shopify themes or design high-quality custom templates using services like WordPress or Wix.
Optimize the UI (user interface) for efficient use of mobile devices, too. Learn more about responsive web design.
9. Use content marketing strategies
Content marketing is a way to promote a brand and its products while also providing the customer with some informational or educational value.
Content marketing lets the customer understand the product while also engaging with the brand’s ideology. It creates long-term value and loyalty among customers. Business owners often use social media, websites, and blogs for content marketing, so consider it a subset of your digital marketing strategy.
Content marketing takes many forms. Here are some examples.
- Listicles and long-form articles. The article you are reading right now is a content marketing piece. It’s over 1,000 words, has multiple sections, and is more in-depth. While it’s helping you understand Shopify SEO better, you have found it on Upwork’s website. Whether you decide to use Upwork to improve your Shopify website’s SEO is immaterial to the content on this page. There is, however, a subtle subtext to finding it on a website that lets you hire SEO experts. Listicles are pieces of content that use a list as their structure. They tend to be at least 1,000 words.
- Video content. Video marketing has exploded in the last decade with the growth of Youtube and Vimeo. This means that even small businesses can invest in video marketing without spending thousands of dollars on traditional television marketing. Businesses can produce simple “how-to” videos or “video customer testimonials,” improving website traffic. Businesses can also leverage newer forms of video content, such as Instagram Live, Facebook Reels, and TikTok as distribution channels for their video content.
- Short-form content. Many businesses share posts on social media like Twitter and post blogs as another means of content marketing. Brands try to get a large following or readership and then include calls to action to get the readers to take actions.
- Podcasts. Podcasts are a form of content marketing that can boost awareness and drive conversions. There are podcast making tools like Adobe Auction that can help you record podcasts.
10. Optimize your images, including alt text
An e-commerce website will likely be image heavy, since images are crucial for selling your products. E-commerce is, after all, a very visual medium. Images, however, often make websites slower.
You first have to reduce the size of your product images and upload compressed versions so photos don't slow your website down. Compress images using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, or any other free compression software available online.
Second, remember that Google can’t see your images, which means you have to tell it what your image is all about through the alt text. This means you should ensure your alt text is descriptive and uses related keywords. Google can then identify the product and pull up your page in relevant searches.
11. Get your products reviewed
Positive product reviews help elevate the overall reputation of your brand. The Shopify store also has a Product Review app that pushes your information to Google so ratings in the form of yellow stars appear in search engine results.
You can also send free product samples to influencers, loyal customers, friends, family, and writers for them to review (and to extend your reach to newer customer bases).
12. Remove duplicate content
When you have multiple product pages with similar products, duplication is inevitable. However, try to avoid using duplicate content or tags on your website. Duplication makes it very difficult for search engines to identify which page to prioritize and which to rank in searches. In most cases, duplication or plagiarism can lead to your website getting banned.
If it’s absolutely necessary to include someone else’s work, use a canonical tag on your website.
13. List your store on major directories and platforms
Directories and platforms like Bright Local can help you list your site on search engines like Yelp and Google. This helps you attract more customers since you have higher visibility. Being listed on directories can be immensely helpful with your SEO.
Rank better with expert SEO services
Implementing, monitoring, and updating your site with all these techniques regularly can be a hassle. You can connect with SEO experts on Upwork to outsource the task to industry professionals while you focus on your core business activities. Engaging with the right experts can help ensure that your Shopify SEO checklist needs are met.
With Project Catalog, you can pick one of the many predefined project services on offer, make a purchase, and engage a professional.
Upwork connects businesses of all sizes with independent talent worldwide. If you’re looking for ways to help these companies grow, join our platform as a freelancer today.
Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyse and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.
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