Top 10 Benefits of E-Commerce SEO 

1. Increased organic search visibility 

93% of all online experiences start with a search engine. Making sure your business is there when your customers are looking for the products and solutions you offer is essential for success. Research shows that only 6.6% of search engine users are willing to go to the second page of the search results when looking for information. 

When your website appears on the first page of the search results, you significantly increase the chances of users finding your website when they search for the terms relevant to your business, encouraging them to click through and buy from you, rather than your competitors. 

2. Enhanced user experience 

Technical SEO, on-page SEO and off-page SEO best practices all require your website to be easy to use for your visitors. This involves ensuring it’s structured to make products and information as easy to find as possible, that your site loads quickly and that the content is optimised specifically for the user. All of these elements make your site as easy to use as possible for your website visitors, enabling them to quickly locate the information they need and convert easily. 

SEO and user experience are becoming more and intwined with each other. Google’s Helpful Content Updates and algorithm updates mean that Google and other search engines like to see e-commerce websites that are fully optimised towards the user rather than simply trying to please the search engines are more likely to beranked highly. Search engines like to see that users are interacting with your site when they land on it from the organic search results rather than bouncing straight back to the results pages. This signals that you’re providing your users with the information they need. 

3. Higher conversion rates 

If you optimise your website properly, it should appear in the search engine results pages, specifically when your potential customers are searching for your products online. 

When your SEO strategy targets keywords across the customer journey, from finding information to conversion, you will drive highly relevant traffic to your website. Remember that these people are actively searching for what you offer so they’re much more likely to buy from you after visiting your website. 

In addition, as we have already mentioned, SEO involves optimising your website and its structure which makes it easier for users to convert once they’ve fond what they’re looking for. 

4. Cost-effective marketing strategy 

SEO is a long-term strategy. It can take 6-12 months to start seeing real results, and you’ll have to invest time and resources into keyword research, creating relevant content and optimising your website. However, once you reach the top positions and you’re driving organic traffic to your website, this traffic will continue over the long term. 

Once you’ve hit those top positions for your key products and pages, you'll just need to maintain your website in the future to ensure you continue driving the same results. 

When compared to other digital marketing strategies such as PPC where you pay to have your ads appear at the top of the search results, SEO offers a much more cost-effective solution. After the work has been done for SEO, it takes much less time to maintain and will drive traffic over the long-term. On the other hand, as soon as your budget for paid ads stops, so does the traffic. 

5. Competitive edge 

In a crowded marketplace, standing out from your competition is not just an advantage; it’s a necessity. A good SEO strategy will play a crucial role in ensuring your business not only competes,  but leads the pack in terms of driving traffic and sales. 

Using SEO to ensure your website ranks highly in the search engine results pages is key to making sure potential customers find and buy from you rather than your competitors. 

Plus, continuous maintenance of your SEO efforts is key to maintaining these rankings and preventing your competitors from stealing a march on you. 

6. Increased brand awareness and authority 

If your brand appears at the top of the search results for relevant keywords and phrases when your potential customers are searching, you start to build brand awareness and become better known for your products. Eventually, you might get to the stage where you’re so well-known for the products you offer that people will come directly to you instead of turning to Google for alternatives. 

Brand awareness sits at the top of the marketing funnel. If you can target informational and transactional keywords to drive traffic to your website, you have a better chance of converting them. By answering your potential customer’s questions without directly selling to them, you build trust and authority, making them more likely to come back to you. 

In addition, providing high-quality  content and information helps to build your authority with both customers and search engines. If search engines can see that your content is useful to users, they are more likely to rank your content more highly, giving your results a boost. 

7. Sustainable growth  

SEO is a long-term strategy that helps to drive traffic consistently to your website. Optimising your existing website and content to push your website into top positions for your key products and blog posts will build your site’s authority. 

Once you’re ranking highly for these terms, you can add new products, categories and pages to build on your strategy and ensure you’re appearing for even more keywords in the search engine results pages. 

The more you invest in SEO over time, the greater the results will be. 

8. Better Return on Investment 

Statistics show that the average ROI for e-commerce SEO is between 700% and 900%. In addition, the average business drives 53% of its traffic through organic search and is also involved in some part in every purchase that’s made online. Customers are unlikely to search for something and immediately buy from your website. They will research first and then turn to search engines to do this. 

The reason SEO offers a better ROI than other activities is because the biggest cost is resources. You will need to spend time creating content and optimising content or employing an agency to help you but, as we have already mentioned, once you’re appearing in those top spots, you will continue to drive traffic over the long-term. 

9. Improved local visibility 

If you have a brick-and-mortar store or you serve customers in a specific location, optimising your website for location-specific terms can boost the visibility of your website in your local area. 

Whether you optimise your whole site for local terms or build landing pages targeting the areas you cover, local SEO is highly valuable. 46% of all Google searches are local, and 50% of all smartphone users visit a store within a day of conducting their search. 

Alongside optimising your website for local search terms, setting up a Google My Business account and optimising it with your business contact details which should match those on your website and across other profiles will help local customers to find your business. 

10. Data-driven insights 

Tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console can show you where your website traffic is coming from and provide insights into the keywords searchers are using to find your website along with demographic information such as their location, interests, age and gender.

These insights not only help you to further optimise your website and refine your SEO strategy, but they also provide you with insights that can feed your other strategies, such as paid search or paid social to help you get the most from your budget. 

Key takeaways 

E-commerce SEO offers a range of benefits. By enhancing your site’s visibility, improving user experience, and targeting highly relevant traffic, SEO not only drives increased sales but also provides a sustainable and cost-effective strategy for long-term success. 

Plus, the benefits of integrating SEO into your overall digital marketing strategy extend far beyond immediate sales. It increases brand awareness and builds your reputation as an authority in your field, which are invaluable assets for any business. 

Whether your business is large or small, leveraging the power of SEO can transform your marketing efforts. If you haven’t already, consider working with a skilled e-commerce SEO expert or invest in learning these skills yourself. The digital landscape is ever-evolving and staying ahead of the curve will ensure your business not only survives but thrives. 

If you’d like to know more about e-commerce SEO, book a free 30-minute consultation call with one of our experts to chat about your goals and improvements you could make. 

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