So working more and more in the eCommerce world these days and constantly am asked “What should I do for SEO, can’t you just do it for me?” So today I am going to provide the simple things I tell every eCommerce store owner!
Know thy shoppers as you know thy self! – Many eCommerce owners don’t truly know the customers that are shopping at their store. Are they using mobile devices or regular browsers? What pages do they make it to, and which ones do they leave from? How does your conversion rate match up against the industry standard of 2% – 3%?. If you can’t answer these questions, the real thing you should be asking your SEO guru is how to use the Google Analytics platform. If they say it isn’t setup… find another Guru!- Satisfied customers tell 100 friends, Unsatisfied customers tell millions – The world has gone social. Think about the past where one happy customer may tell 10 friends, well now the tell all of their “Friends” on Facebook But the same is true about unsatisfied customers. They will post reviews, join forums and discuss how unhappy they were. Keep your customer satisfaction up and people will follow!
- Money has been replaced by Time – That sounds odd to most people, but lets be honest. If you are reading this you are likely a small business owner, that has limited operating income. Do you want to spend thousands a month to have someone post blogs, create your social network and manage it, all to increase from 1.5% conversions to 3%? OR would your rather learn a little, and take the time you spend on Facebook and put it to use? For the time to write an email you can post a blog, share it to millions, and pull in a few new customers!
- Content is King! – In the eCommerce world this goes beyond just writing good product descriptions (but trust me you need to work on that too). Think about your product photos, your logo, and all other visual aspects of your site. These all go to building your brand. For the cost of a few hundred dollars, and some free online tutorials, you can make brilliant product photos in your own home. Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) once said “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.”
- There is no magic wand! – There is no 1 thing you can do to be on the top of Google. So honestly stop wasting time, money, and effort in trying to find that one thing. If I knew it, I would be a millionaire, and Google well… they would be out of business along with every other SEO guru out there! We aren’t lying when we tell you that a strategy is needed. Something stable, properly put together, and embedded in your every day work will give you the best results. It takes time. Simply accept that and move forward!
So there you go, 5 simple tips for starting your SEO process. If you keep these in mind when starting an SEO project, looking for an SEO guru, or when you are planning to start your eCommerce business… things will be much easier!