How to balance content for SEO on eCommerce websites

In an online world where there are  12-24 million live eCommerce websites, it’s important that your eCommerce website stands out amongst the crowd. One way to do this is by achieving organic visibility for your eCommerce platform, which is an indispensable tool for your business’s growth. 

eCommerce SEO isn’t just about using the right keywords and slotting them in wherever you can; it’s about striking the right balance between user experience and search engine friendliness. But where to start? 

The NMG Content Team is here to walk you through the nuances of crafting and optimising content that caters both to your audience and search engines. After all, it’s all about finding that perfect balance.

The importance of eCommerce SEO

Before we delve into the specifics, it’s important to understand just why your eCommerce website needs SEO. In what feels like a never ending sea of online stores, how can you ensure that your business is the one a user clicks on? 

Well, here’s where you can make your mark with SEO. A well-optimised eCommerce website not only drives organic traffic but also ensures that the traffic is relevant, leading to increased conversions and sales. And who would say no to that?

Understanding the eCommerce SEO content balance

You’ve probably heard it all before — “at the heart of SEO lies content”, “content is king”, and so on. — but it’s vital to remember that not all content serves the same purpose. For an eCommerce website, its content should seamlessly and consistently merge user interests with updated SEO requirements.

For instance, it’s all well and good meeting recommended word counts and including a few target keywords here and there, but what’s the point in the content if it doesn’t actually serve your target audience?

Prioritising quality over quantity

While it’s tempting to stuff pages with keywords in the hopes of securing a page 1 ranking, modern search engine algorithms favour high-quality content over anything else.

For instance, Google’s E-E-A-T principle has outlined that it favours content that provides expertise, authority, trustworthiness, and, ultimately, a positive user experience to the reader.

To write content in line with this principle, your copy should provide value, answer queries, and engage users. In short, as long as you prioritise and assess your content in line with your desired user experience, your content will be of a high-quality — whether that’s a 5 word title, or a 1,500 word blog. It truly is a case of making every word count. 

A good idea is to proofread your content in the mindset of your target user and edit accordingly. There’s no shame in having to delete a few sentences that serve no purpose — after all, it could be the difference between a conversion or a bounce.

Making keyword placement matter

Business owners and SEO experts alike are well aware that keywords are essential for securing high rankings for website visibility. While we agree that keywords are essential, their placement is equally as important — and this should be a well-thought-through process. 

Create a keyword map or a spreadsheet, and assign each of your landing pages and product pages 1-3 unique keywords. Ensure that there’s no overlap in your chosen keywords, as this could result in page cannibalisation where your pages start competing against one another, damaging their organic rankings.

Then, integrate these keywords naturally within product descriptions, meta descriptions, and headlines. Remember — it doesn’t matter whether you include the keyword once or a hundred times if the copy doesn’t serve the reader.

Tips for crafting a balanced piece of eCommerce content

Instead of rambling on, let’s dive into a few actionable steps you can start today to create content that resonates with your desired user and search engines alike.

1. Understand your audience

Before you start any content writing for eCommerce, it’s important to really understand who you are writing for. Think about the type of person that usually lands on your website — what are they looking for? What do they need from you? And most importantly, how can you make it as easy as possible with the help of your content?  Let this thought guide the tone of your copy.

It’s also a great idea to dig a little deeper. For instance, creating buyer personas can be immensely helpful. This will ensure your eCommerce content speaks directly to the user’s intent.

2. Write clear, informative product descriptions

Each product on your website deserves a unique, clear, and engaging description. This not only aids users in their buying journey but also offers ample opportunities for targeted keyword integration.

3. Optimise your metadata

Title tags and meta descriptions play a pivotal role in enhancing the click-through rate of your page. After all, a meta description may be the first thing someone reads in the search engine results page (SERP). To make sure that yours is the one they click on, ensure that your metadata copy is compelling, within the recommended length of 160-165 characters, and naturally contains your chosen primary keyword(s).

4. Utilise and build user reviews

It’s never a bad idea to encourage user reviews on your products and services. You can even use a third-party plugin like TrustPilot to make the process much more integrated.

Another easy way to do this is to add review submissions into your email marketing strategy. Make it as quick and easy as possible, and your website visibility will thank you. Not only do reviews provide fresh and updated content, but they also enhance trust and credibility between yourself and your target audience.

5. Incorporate blog content

Having a blog section can be instrumental in improving your eCommerce website’s SEO — that is, as long as you use it correctly.

It’s integral to regularly and consistently publish articles related to your products or services, such as how-to guides or explainers on industry trends. This not only establishes your authority within your business niche, but also provides more opportunities for long-tail keyword placements and queries that may not fit onto any of your existing pages.

Another pillar of eCommerce SEO is establishing secure, high-quality backlinks — and you can do this through the medium of a blog. 

Be sure to cross-reference between your website’s content and link to your website’s other pages using relevant anchor text; this will create an internal link which helps Google bots crawl your website quickly and easily, therefore making your page more likely to rank in the SERP. 

Just as we’ve done above, you can also link to external sources to back up any claims, or to provide further context to a piece of copy. As long as you link to an established website, this creates a high-quality external link which can boost your website’s domain authority (DA). As a result, this can have a positive impact on your keyword rankings and website visibility.

Don’t forget about technical SEO

While content is still perceived as king, technical SEO aspects play a vital role in the search visibility of eCommerce websites. Follow best practices by ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly, loads quickly, and has an updated XML sitemap. Internal linking, which we’ve already touched upon, can also enhance user experience and distribute page authority.

Monitor, update, and refresh

Most importantly, it’s vital to be aware of the fact that SEO is not a one-time task. SEO is an organic, sustainable solution for improving your website’s visibility, in comparison to the instant reward of a PPC campaign. 

It’s always a good idea to regularly monitor your website’s performance using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, track your keyword rankings using Ahrefs or Moz, and keep an eye on the performance of your pages. 

Never be afraid to update your content in line with changes in your industry — SEO is all about experimentation and finding what works within your niche. The SEO practices of one website will be completely different to another, and it’s important to keep this in mind.

As your industry changes, it’s only natural for your website content to change, too. If anything, your website copy should reflect this to stay current and on-topic for your users.

Need help with your eCommerce content?

Balancing content for SEO on eCommerce websites is truly an art that marries technicality with creativity. 

With the above tips under your fingertips, we hope you feel well-equipped to make your website search engine-friendly while offering value to your users. In the world of eCommerce, this balance is the key to sustainable growth and success — and we’re here to assist you every step of the way.

For more information on how we can help you with eCommerce content creation, get in touch with our team at NMG today.