{"id":14701,"date":"2022-06-29T06:51:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T06:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/optimize-ecommerce-sales\/454390\/"},"modified":"2022-06-29T06:51:15","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T06:51:15","slug":"drive-online-sales-with-these-5-search-optimizations-via-sejournal-lorenbaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/?p=14701","title":{"rendered":"Drive Online Sales With These 5 Search Optimizations via @sejournal, @lorenbaker"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Remember when you had to leave the house to go shopping? What a hassle that was.<\/p>\n

But then, way back in 1982, Boston Computer Exchange<\/a> was launched as the first ecommerce site and the convenience of shopping in your underwear was born.<\/p>\n

Today, electronic commerce, the buying, and selling of products and services on the internet is a massive part of the global economy.<\/p>\n

In 2021, more than 2.14 billion people<\/a> worldwide bought something online. And in the U.S., ecommerce sales for just the first quarter of 2022 totaled $250 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come a long way from those early days of local used computer sales.<\/p>\n

These days, you can find everything from shoes to mechanic services to $5,000 heart-shaped potatoes<\/a> for sale with just a few clicks of the mouse. And nearly every business of every type has a website through which they\u2019re selling their goods and services.<\/p>\n

And while that\u2019s really good for shoppers, if you\u2019re an ecommerce retailer, that means you\u2019re facing a lot of competition.<\/p>\n

How do you stand out? How can you not only get people on your product pages but turn them into customers? It\u2019s no small task.<\/p>\n

But you\u2019re in the right place.<\/p>\n

In this article, you\u2019ll find five essential ways you should optimize your ecommerce website for maximum exposure and ROI. Ready to get started? Scroll on.<\/p>\n

1. Your Homepage Is Where The Heart Is<\/h2>\n

Your most-trafficked page, it\u2019s often the first thing any visitor to your website will come across.<\/p>\n

It sets the tone for your business, starts the conversion funnel, highlights sales or new products, and directs people to other parts of your site.<\/p>\n

Of course, we\u2019re talking about your homepage<\/a>. And the first step to optimizing your ecommerce site to maximize sales is to make sure your homepage is living up to its weighty role.<\/p>\n

Make Navigation Easy<\/h3>\n

One major issue you\u2019ll want to tackle immediately when optimizing your homepage is navigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You want to make it easy and efficient for visitors (and search engine crawlers) to find your content. There should be clear direction as to where the content they want lives.<\/p>\n

And a key part of that is using a prominent navigation bar.<\/p>\n

In addition to helping users quickly navigate between parts of your site, the navigation bar is also a great opportunity to highlight specific parts of your website, for example, your best-selling product line.<\/p>\n

Your homepage also should have an effective and prominent tagline.<\/p>\n

Your tagline is a short, usually eight- to 12-word phrase that connects your company with its audience.<\/p>\n

Sometimes mistakenly called a slogan (slogans are campaign-specific, taglines are brand-specific), taglines are something too many ecommerce retailers overlook \u2013 which is a mistake.<\/p>\n

Many first-time visitors to your website will only give it a quick scan.<\/p>\n

A descriptive and memorable tagline<\/a> will help them quickly understand what your site is about and compel them to dive deeper. This leads us to our next point:<\/p>\n

Content Is Still King<\/h3>\n

At the end of the day, content is still the single most important factor of your homepage or any page for that matter.<\/p>\n

People are using the internet to find a particular product or solution.<\/p>\n

If you offer what they need, you can convert them into sales \u2013 provided they land on your page and not your competition\u2019s.<\/p>\n

That starts with search engine optimization (SEO). And SEO starts with keywords.<\/p>\n

Identify which words and phrases your target audience is looking for and include them organically in your copy. (That is, don\u2019t force them where they don\u2019t belong. This is called keyword stuffing<\/a> and it can negatively impact your Google ranking.)<\/p>\n

Have trouble identifying which keywords are most important? Search Engine Journal has a webinar<\/a> that will help you determine and implement a keyword research strategy.<\/p>\n

There are also a number of free tools<\/a> you can use to help you decide what language needs to be included on your homepage.<\/p>\n

Once you have your keyword strategy down, you can sit back and relax and watch the sales come rolling in, right? Of course not. You\u2019re just getting started.<\/p>\n

Next, you should think about the visual assets on your homepage.<\/p>\n

Are you using generic stock photos to add visual interest or are you using this valuable web real estate to promote products? Smart ecommerce website operators will choose the latter.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to include images of every single product you offer (and in fact, that\u2019s probably a terrible idea), but using prominent images of your best-sellers on your homepage is very important. And make sure clicking on these images directs users to that product\u2019s page.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t underestimate the importance of using internal links. Create links to your most important pages directly from your homepage.<\/p>\n

This could be a product category page or a link to your best-selling item. They could be in the navigation bar, the page\u2019s footer, the content, or some combination of the three.<\/p>\n

Another best practice is to make sure you\u2019ve created a breadcrumb trail users (and search engine bots) can use to find their way back to the homepage.<\/p>\n

For some examples of what a great homepage looks like, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. It\u2019s All About The Products<\/h2>\n

The purpose of your ecommerce site is to make sales.<\/p>\n

To achieve this, your product pages need to compel visitors to make purchases. Your product pages give you the perfect opportunity to control the narrative around each item you\u2019re selling, which can make a big difference.<\/p>\n

Here are some tips to make your product pages exceptional.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s In A Name?<\/h3>\n

Words can be very powerful. Your goal is to use that power to influence buying decisions. And that starts with your product titles.<\/p>\n

It sounds deceptively easy, but it takes practice and A\/B testing<\/a> to get right.<\/p>\n

Exactly what works for you will vary based on your industry, product, and audience, but here are some general guidelines:<\/p>\n