How to perform keyword research for e-commerce 

Why is keyword research important for e-commerce?

When someone performs a search on a search engine such as Google, the algorithm decides which websites to show from a possible hundreds and thousands of results. Searchers use keywords or phrases to find the information or products they want online. 

Ensuring that your e-commerce website is optimised for relevant keywords will help your website to appear highly in the search results, driving traffic to your website. The top three organic results on Google capture over 68% of all clicks on the page. 

So, you need to make sure your website appears when they’re searching. 

Starting with e-commerce keyword research: The basics 

Finding the right keywords is the first place to start. Make a list of all the products and categories associated with your business and then find the actual terms that searchers are using online. 

Use tools such as: 

• Ahrefs
• SEMrush 
• Google Keyword Planner 

These tools will provide you with the exact keywords searchers are using in the search engines, the amount of competition for each keyword, and the number of searches performed using that particular keyword every month. 

You will find that the keywords with high search volumes will also have high competition and those with lower search volumes will have less competition. High competition keywords will be extremely hard to rank for whereas the low competition keywords will be easier to rank for. 

We suggest recording the information for each of the keywords related to your business and then selecting the ones that are most relevant to your business and which have relatively high search volumes without too much information. 

Keyword intent

Alongside keywords, competition and search volumes, you’ll also need to consider the intent of the keywords you’re choosing. This will help you to decide whether you should optimise a product page, blog page or a landing page. 

Types of keyword intent include: 

• Informational - these searchers are researching and looking for initial information. They usually want to know something or do something. E.g. ‘how to change a lightbulb’. Use these keywords for blog posts or advice-centred content. 
• Transactional - these users are ready to make a purchase or subscribe to your business. They have the highest intent out of all the keyword intents so these are ideal for your product pages, coupon pages or signup pages. Search terms might include ‘electronics shop near me’ or ‘buy television’. 
• Commercial - searchers using these keywords aren’t quite ready to buy yet. They’re doing their final bit of research before making their purchase. Searches might include ‘samsung smart tv vs android tv’ so this is your opportunity to provide comparisons on the products you offer and others to encourage visitors to buy from you. 
• Navigational - searchers using these keywords are looking to navigate directly to a particular website or brand. E.g. Currys. These will be your brand terms and you’ll only start to appear for these once your brand is well known. 

Ensuring you match the content you create to the keywords and their intent will help you meet the needs of searchers and provide them with the information they need to make a purchase. 

Organising and prioritising your keywords 

This step is crucial for maximising the impact of your e-commerce SEO strategy. Categorising keywords by relevance and purchase intent helps you to tailor your website content to meet the specific needs and behaviours of your target audience.

Once you have categorised your keywords, the next step is to prioritise them based on your business goals. For example, if you want to boost profits, focus on keywords related to high-margin products. 

Alternatively, if your objective is to increase seasonal sales, prioritise keywords that are relevant to upcoming events or seasonal trends. This approach not only enhances the visibility of your products during peak buying times but also aligns your content with consumer demand patterns, thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion. 

Create a keyword map 

Creating a keyword map is an effective way to guide your website architecture and content strategy. A keyword map will provide a blueprint that assigns each of your keywords or group of keyword to specific pages on your site. This helps ensure that each page is optimised for a set of closely related keywords, which can improve search engine rankings and user experience. For example, a product category page might be optimised for general terms that describe the products while individual product pages could be optimised with specific model names or unique features. By systematically mapping out where each keyword should be utilised on your site, you can create a more cohesive and navigable site structure that effectively targets the various stages of the customer journey. 

How to integrate keyword research into your e-commerce website 

Now you have your keywords mapped out, it’s time to optimise your website. There are key ways to optimise your site, including: 

Page (meta) titles

Your page title is the text that appears in the search results and lets both users and search engines understand the content of your page. It’s essential to ensure that your keywords are included here. 

Whether it’s a product page, a category page or a blog page, your page title explains what users can expect when they land on the page. It might be the category such as smart TVs or a specific product such as 42” Samsung TV.

Page (meta) descriptions 

Page descriptions are not a direct ranking factors but, as you can see in the examples above, keywords are highlighted in bold in the search results so this is another important place to include your keywords. It lets users know that your page is likely to find them with the products or information they need. 

Page headings 

Page headings are divided into H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5 tags to help search engines understand the structure of your website pages. Get the main keyword of the page into the H1 header and then use secondary keywords in headings further down the page. Each page should only have one H1 tag. 

Product descriptions

Your product description should always include relevant keywords. These are likely to be much more specific and allow uses to find the exact product they’re looking for in the search engines.  

URLs

URLs are another important place to include your keywords. This helps search engines to crawl and understand your website so that it appears when people are searching online. 

Category descriptions 

Just like product descriptions, your category pages will need a description too to capture the correct keywords and allow search engines to find your website. 

Balancing keyword optimisation with user experience 

While it’s important to ensure your keywords are included on your website as frequently as you can, it’s also important to keep user experience in mind too. Not only will this help you to drive conversions for your business, it’s important for ranking highly in search engines too. 

Don’t stuff keywords into as many different places as possible. They should be included in the content naturally and shouldn’t be shoehorned in. 

Tracking and analysing your keyword performance 

When you’ve optimised your site for relevant keywords, the next key step is to track and analyse your results. 

Remember that SEO is a long-term process so you’re not going to see immediate results in the days after you’ve added content to your site. It can take a few months to start seeing an uplift and it can take 6-12 months to really hit those top spots. 

Keep an eye on Google Analytics data, Google Search Console data and SEMrush data to see how your sites performing. If you find that certain pages are performing better than others, review the keywords you’ve optimised for and see if there are any further tweaks you can make to your pages to improve performance. 

Key takeaways 

Keyword research and getting the right approach should be a cornerstone of you e-commerce SEO strategy. Effective keyword research allows you to bridge the gap between your products and the customers searching for them, enhancing visibility, driving traffic, and boosting conversions. 

Prioritising keywords that align with both consumer intent and your business goals. By categorising keywords by relevance and intent, and creating a keyword map, you can structure your e-commerce site in a way that not only appeals to search engines but alslo provides a seamless and intuitive experience for users. 

Remember, e-commerce keyword research is an ongoing process. The online world is dynamic, and consumer trends can shift rapidly. Regularly reviewing and updating your keyword strategy is crucial to staying competitive and relevant in your market. 

The effort you put into your e-commerce keyword research will pay dividends in the form of targeted traffic and increased sales. Start implementing these strategies today and watch as your e-commerce business reaches new heights of online success. 

If you’d like to know more about keyword research or how to optimise your e-commerce website for SEO, book a free 30-minute consultation with one of our experts. 

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