Search engines have been replacing commercially-oriented sites that lack quality useful content, with their own shopping programs and free or paid ads. It is becoming quite difficult for Ecommerce sites to survive the algorithms which Search Engines use. And yet, online shoppers are increasing as they can now trust Web purchasing than previously. This has created a great opportunity for online merchants who know how to strive ahead. They can now stay ahead of their competitors by modernizing their ecommerce SEO.

You should know that, about 90% of the search is owned by none other than Google. You Tube is also owned by Google and it is the second largest search engine. It is important therefore, to make your site appealing to Google by adopting the following 7 e-Commerce SEO tips for 2013 so you can remain relevant and cut an edge in the competition.  

Do not stuff your site with keywords all over, in the content, title tags, alt text, product descriptions and links, like merchants used to do in the past. This is no longer necessary and in fact excessive keywords will impact your search results negatively. Google is shifting away from links and keywords and increasing their density will be interpreted as a focus on search engine rankings instead of the user. All you need to do is to put the keyword in the title and ensure that the pages are about the keywords without mentioning them excessively.

When a site takes a long time to load, customers abandon the site and move to competitors sites which load faster. To make them stay on your site you need to minimize load times to keep them interested in what you are offering. Sites which load slowly are a discouragement. People are conscious of time and you need to minimize load times to keep them engaged.

In order to catch the attention of online visitors, your site has to be interactive as well as engaging. This will keep the site visitors interested in what your site offers giving them an enjoyable experience which will make them come back over and over again. The word customer is derived from custom. When your customers keep coming back to buy from you, it means that they had positive buying experiences which they want to repeat. To keep them coming back you will need to create an interactive environment for them. You can do this by asking customers to leave feedback, write reviews and comments about the products and their experiences as well as having live chat, videos and such kind of interactions.

Online shopping via mobile has been driven by the rapid adoption of mobile devices especially smartphones and now the tablets. The use of mobile when shopping either in-store or on the go has become popular among consumers most of who prefer more mobile-optimized information of products while they are shopping.

If you have multi-channels like unique content, social media networks, Pinterest and mobile marketing, your site will not suffer when search engines change their algorithms. Your business will continue to grow and attract traffic helping you stay ahead in competition despite the algorithm updates like Panda, Penguin and future ones which are still unknown.

Developing and implementing a mobile strategy cannot be over-emphasized. You need a mobile commerce strategy if you do not want to be left behind in this playing ground. Mobile commerce involves buying and selling media products, travel, application downloads and advertising among others. By studying consumer buying behaviors and patterns, you can develop the right mobile strategy that is suitable for your e-business.

Great content catches the attention of online traffic that shares the information with friends, family and followers who visit their sites and social media networks. Facebook and Twitter play an important role in marketing businesses online. You should set-up profiles on these social networking sites to generate organic traffic. Relevant updated fan pages, blog posts, Twitter ‘tweets’ and Facebook ‘shares’ generate organic traffic despite algorithm updates.

Photo sharing has become a major element of e-commerce. Online shoppers are more likely to buy what they see making Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and Pinterest platforms to look out for in today’s e-commerce pursuit.

These days search engines results are based on content rather than on products. Content marketing which is a combination of original text, blogs, video, images and photos catches the attention of online visitors. Content has to be unique, useful as well as high-quality. If you want your ecommerce site to be ranked highly by search engines, you need to focus on quality content that is useful to readers.

High-quality content aimed at readers and not just focused for search engine rankings is ranked on top of Google SERP rankings. Browsers are looking for relevant information which will help them get what they require and that is why content has overtaken keyword optimization and link-building in its importance. Google helps people find high-quality sites by placing them on top of search engine ranking results. Sites which offer relevant content to users are therefore visible.

Original quality content which is user-friendly is rewarded by the main search engines.

Some merchants start an ecommerce site expecting to reap rewards almost immediately. But a lot of work has to be done before any rewards start to tickle in. Many things have to be put in their right perspective knowing that the customer is vital for ecommerce success. There is no need of selling items just because you like them. You have to find out what customers want and supply it to them.

Other important Ecommerce Seo Tips which you can adopt include starting a blog, a newsletter, writing articles and getting involved in press releases help to get your products or services noticed online.