How To Do SEO on WooCommerce Stores in 2021?

SEO for a WooCommerce store starts is the same as for any other type of website. However, it includes a few additional steps to make your SEO campaign a huge success. Here are the 4 main steps involved in doing SEO for a WooCommerce Store in 2021:

1. Keyword Research
2. Competitors Analysis
3. On-page Optimization
4. Off-page Optimization

When we look at all the big brands sitting on top of the search engines for the majority of the money keywords, it makes us wonder if SEO would really work for smaller stores with a smaller budget for content. After you are done with on-page optimization, you really need to focus on creating new content regularly. As your store gets bigger, you need to switch to higher hosting plans. They are usually more expensive.

How can a small WooCommerce store get organic traffic with SEO?

1. Keyword Research

Small stores must start with comprehensive keyword research. Choose long-tail keywords where the competition from big sites like amazon is lower. At the same time do not go for the keywords with a very low search volume.

Benefits Long-tail keywords

Here are the main benefits of long-tail keywords

• High conversion rate
• customer intent is clear
• Low competition
• 1st-page rankings in 1 to 3 months

Average Monthly Search Volume of The Keywords

• If it’s a new site, you should target keywords with an average monthly search volume of around 250.
• If the site is older than 6 months, and you have some keywords on the top 3 positions then you can target keywords with a monthly search volume of 500 to 1000.
• If your website is older than 1 year, then you should target keywords with a monthly search volume of over 1000.

Using the above strategy we have been able to generate 1000s of highly targeted customers within 3 months.

Also, remember that your primary keywords can be supported with a bunch of long-tail keywords.

For example, if you are selling chandeliers. Then ranking for Chandeliers is nearly impossible for a small store. However, you could rank for a category of chandeliers. In this niche, even the categories face fierce competition. In such a case, find a sub-category. You can choose keywords related to the sub-category. You can even build your entire store around a sub-category.

This is exactly how micro niche sites became popular. This is how small online stores are making money. If your website has only 1 product, then SEO will not be beneficial. As products go outdated after some time. If you have a one-product store, then invest in social media marketing instead of SEO.

You must get this part right if you do not want to be disappointed after 6 to 12 months.

Here are the best keyword research tools you can use to help you in your keyword research:

• Google Autocomplete – FREE
• Seosurfer – FREE Chrome Extension (recommended)
• Ubersuggest For Keywords on Google search (free with a paid version) – FREE Chrome Extension (recommended)
• Keyword Dominator tool where you can find keywords on Amazon, eBay, Etsy Keyword Tool, Google, Bing, Google Shopping, Walmart, YouTube – From $29 to $139
• Google Keyword Planner – FREE

You should consider the keyword intent during your keyword Analysis. Not all long-tail keywords have a high conversion rate. We have written a complete article on how you can use the keyword intent in your keyword analysis and keyword mapping.

2. Create a Website Structure Based on Your Selected Keywords

Create Product categories for products with similar characteristics. Create tags to define the products, for example, color, material, etc. You will create

3. URL Structure

• Use the focus keyword in the URL
• Never use the Year in the URL
• Do not use numbers or special characters in the URL
• Keep the URL short

4. Keyword Mapping

Once you have selected your keywords, you should download a complete list of all your web pages, including product pages, blog posts, and other pages. You can easily get this list from your sitemap. If you have Rank math Installed you can find your Sitemap Links under Rank Math. You can copy all the links and paste them on a spreadsheet, we prefer Google Sheets. Then you can match your selected keywords with the most relevant pages on your website.

Here is a simple keyword mapping guide to assist you:

We have written a complete article on Keyword Intent tagging And Mapping.

5. Create New Pages

If relevant pages do not exist on your website already, create new pages with new content. The content must include your relevant content focusing on the target keywords. Google appreciates content with images and structured data. You should use paragraphs, lists, tables, and FAQs. Once you reach the first page of Google, you will also earn the zero position, i.e. Featured Snippets.

6. Optimize Content

Here are a few tips for optimizing your content:

• Determine the required word count by analyzing the top 3 ranking pages.
• Use power words along with the keywords in the title.
• Add keywords in the Meta Title & Description
• Change the title every 4 weeks until you get a CTR of 4%
• Use LSI keywords in the Headings, subheadings.
• Keep your paragraphs to 5 to 6 lines.
• Use the words “you” and “I” within your content to create the illusion of a conversation.
• Structure of the content – Introduction, body, conclusion.
• Use the primary keyword in the first sentence of the first paragraph.
• have at least one H1 and more H2 & H3.
• Use ordered and unordered lists.
• Use numbers for ordered lists and bullets for an unordered list
• Use the primary keyword in the first sentence of the first paragraph
• Keep the keyword density similar to the top 3 ranking pages.
• Check the keyword density of the top 3 sites
• Add FAQs at the end of the content.
• End your conclusion with a question: Ask the reader for his opinion

7. Use images

Google likes images but they cannot be traded for a slow page speed. Minimize the size of the images while maintaining the quality of images.

• File Name: use keyword in the filename (Manual)
• Alt-Text: use keyword in the Alt text 
• Have as many images as your competitors
• High-quality Images
• Most suitable Formats – PNG & JPEG
• Compress your images

8. Install Plugins To Boost Your Rankings

• Rank Math (here is an interesting article on how to configure Rank Math For WooCommerce)
• Wp Rocket For Speed Optimization

9. Use Structured Data: Product Schema

You can easily create structured data in WooCommerce using many plugins. However, we prefer Rank Math’s ready-to-use templates. You also have the option to import products from any site. You can easily embed the product schema code by simply activating Schema and WooCommerce in Rank Math’s Dashboard. To get the most from Rank Math WooCommerce you can choose the following settings:

10. Create Internal Links

• Create Links to the related products in the same category.
• Add Product categories on the sidebar for easy navigation.
• You can create links from relevant blog posts to relates products and categories.

11. Add FAQs

Answer multiple related questions in a single article.

• Search for your keywords on Google Search
• Then copy questions from “People Also Ask” on the search results page of Google. 
• Copy the questions, rephrase, and answer in your own words.
• Upload to the website as FAQs at the end of each article using Rank Math (FAQs)

12. Off-page optimization

We do not recommend buying links. You should focus on earning links by creating well-researched content, creating useful infographics that other sites can link to. Focus on creating regular, valuable, well-researched content, and links will follow. 

Conclusion

Optimize e-commerce sites by carrying out in-depth Keyword Research, Competitors Analysis, On-page Optimization, and Off-page Optimization.  There are several free tools available to help you with keyword research, for example Google Autocomplete, Seosurfer, Ubersuggest, Keyword Dominator tool where you can find keywords on Amazon, eBay, Etsy Keyword Tool, Google, Bing, Google Shopping, Walmart, YouTube. If your website is on WordPress, you can install Rank Math to help you with on-page optimization.