Having access to the right information is critical in SEO. Even seasoned digital marketers can get tripped up with the shifting Google landscape and what actually constitutes effective search engine optimization.

Here we’ve put together some helpful Ecommerce Seo Resources that can help guide merchants when working on their own SEO, or when sourcing the help of an agency partner.

Essential SEO Tools

When it comes to SEO tools, there are dozens on the market and they all have their merits. We’ve written extensively about the various SEO tools that are out there, some of which have expensive paid plans and whatnot.

For our purposes here, we will focus on two FREE SEO tools: Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends.

You can consider these 2 tools as being essential for laying the groundwork for an optimized website, or more specifically, an optimized keyword strategy.

With Google Keyword Planner, you can investigate Keywords in your niche and get a sense for how competitive they are. Although the tool is primarily for the PPC side of things, the search volumes and difficulties of keywords in Google Ads are similar to their organic counterparts. If you find a keyword that has a healthy volume and relatively low difficulty in the Google Keyword Planner, you can expect that it would be a solid keyword to target in your SEO strategy.

There are always exceptions, but Google Keyword Planner is providing information straight from Google, and it’s FREE, so you can’t really argue with that.

Likewise, Google Trends will help you get a feel for what’s hot and what’s not on Google. With this tool, you can gauge interest over time on a particular subject, see what is taking off on Google, and get a feel for the overall traffic volume in your niche. This can help you make smart business decisions and also change your SEO strategy accordingly.

Combined, these two tools can certainly guide you toward making great keyword choices and also can give you a sense for your potential in a certain niche. However, with SEO the devil is truly in the details. Having solid keywords alone is never going to magically net you a ton of traffic – you have to utilize those keywords within a framework of a strong SEO strategy.

Here are some recommended resources so you can put said strategy together:

eCommerce SEO Resources

There are thousands of SEO guides on the web. Much of the information out there, however, is outdated and not specifically geared toward eCommerce.

Here at 1Digital, we specialize in eCommerce SEO services and providing merchants with strategies that cater specifically to the world of eCommerce. In terms of building organic ranking strategies for online stores, we’ve seen it all.

Over the years we have amassed quite a bit of high-quality resources on the subject that you can view right here on our website.

Let’s take a look at some of the more important things to consider.

What Keywords to Target: Long-Tail vs Short-Tail

Let’s return to the keyword research phase. Knowing what kinds of keywords to target and why is essential for a successful SEO effort.

One of the biggest decisions you will be faced with is going after either long-tail or short tail keywords.

For the uninitiated, long-tail = keywords typically containing 3 or more words, usually with lower monthly search volumes but also lower difficulty to rank for. Short-tail keywords are more generic and aren’t necessarily eCommerce focused, yet tend to have much larger search volumes. They also have much higher difficulties on average.

A healthy SEO campaign should have a mix of both. One thing that is important to note is that longer tail keywords pave the way for the generic variants. If you don’t yet rank well for any long-tail keywords in your niche, you simply will not rank for a generic short-tail keyword. While there are rare exceptions, it is nearly impossible to do this.

Therefore, you can’t simply go after high volume, short-tail keywords from the start of your SEO efforts.

In reality, it doesn’t often make sense to specifically target many short-tail keywords in a campaign because once you start ranking for enough long-tail keywords, this kind of happens on its own. Depending on what products you offer and your niche in general, there is a chance you will never rank for certain generic keywords.

For instance, if you sell high-quality skincare products and you are growing as a business, you will still find it difficult to ever rank on page 1 for “skincare products.” This would require a monumental effort.

You’re up against Ulta, Amazon, and Cosmopolitan, but that’s besides the point. Though the intent is commercial, you have to question the conversion potential of anyone searching for something as generic as “skincare products” in the first place. Do they even know what they are looking for yet?

One of the worst pitfalls with SEO is becoming too obsessed with so-called “high volume keywords.” You would be better off targeting something with only 30 monthly searches but only an 8% difficulty. In a few months you could potentially reach page 1 spot 1 and draw in the lion’s share of that 30 searchers a month, resulting in meaningful revenue.

Meanwhile, you would need a massive SEO budget and a few miracles to get on page 1 for “skincare products” and even then, staying there would be another issue.

Learn more about keywords with our breakdown on Long-Tail vs Short-Tail Keywords.

We also have this guide on additional keyword research tips.

Off-Page SEO

Backlinking is still important in SEO. While it isn’t as critical, link juice is still what powers the web and is something Google takes seriously.

Yet sourcing backlinks, what is known as “off-page SEO,” is something most eCommerce merchants struggle with. Where do you even begin?

We’ve put together a short guide on some off-page SEO basics to help steer you in the right direction.

Blogging and Blog Structure

Another important element to SEO is blogging. Many eCommerce merchants believe they can get by without a blog, but for 99% of online businesses, it’s a must if you want to rank on page 1.

Blogs provide much needed topical authority and also pass link juice to important pages on your website, such as category and product pages. They also provide helpful information to readers and can wind up acting like mini sales funnels.

There’s an art to blogging however. It’s not just writing about whatever is on your mind.

We have several blogging guides available, such as how they provide SEO value and how to format blogs properly.

Technical SEO

Another important area of SEO is the technical side of things. This can get really complicated, especially for those who aren’t that tech savvy.

Google prefers technically sound websites. That means as few broken links and dead pages as possible. The website should be easy to navigate, easy to crawl for Google’s bots, and have proper meta titles and other SEO conventions in place.

We have a guide to technical SEO that can help to introduce you to some of the most important parts to focus on.

Other SEO Resources

SEO is constantly evolving as a practice. If you want to stay ahead of the game, having the right resources at your fingertips is going to save you a lot of time and hassle. Take a look at our eCommerce blog to stay up to date on the latest SEO trends and tips.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to us directly and request an SEO audit. We can help uncover a ton of useful information for you that can help you make a choice as to whether you need the help of a dedicated eCommerce SEO agency or not.

Even if you aren’t yet ready to invest in a full-fledged SEO campaign, it’s worth laying the foundation as soon as possible. This will put you in the best possible place to go head to head with your competition organically when the time comes. Review the guides linked above or reach out to us for more information.

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