The primary purpose of any web store is to sell. However, how can you get a much-desired sales boost if your eCommerce website appears outside search results? Getting a consistent stream of high-quality traffic is one of the primary goals of every brand. By implementing wise search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, your business can connect your web resource to the target audience. How do you achieve that on your Shopify store? This guide discusses the most effective Shopify SEO strategies to help your store rank higher in search rankings.
What should you know about Shopify SEO?
Shopify SEO covers a series of practices and tactics that allow your eCommerce website and its products to appear in higher search results when customers look for relevant products or services. These practices and tactics are based on the factors that search engines like Google and Bing consider important when scanning, ranking, and displaying web pages in search results, like relevancy, speed, mobile-friendliness, etc.
You can generate more organic traffic to your store by focusing on Shopify SEO. The top position on Google’s search results often secures a click-through rate (CTR) of approximately 28.5%, indicating that nearly one out of four users selects the first organic listing. As rankings drop, the CTR decreases notably, with the second position achieving around 18.7% and the third position capturing about 10.2%.
There are three major types of Shopify SEO you should focus on:
- On-page SEO refers to all the work done on your website, helping search engines better understand the content of your store.
- Off-page SEO includes your activities to present your web store on another website, like social media marketing, guest posting, affiliation, influencer marketing, etc.
- Technical SEO refers to the website and server optimization activities that help search engines crawl and index your website.
Like other CMS and eCommerce platforms, Shopify supports many features that are needed to optimize your store for better SEO. These include, but are not limited to, site structure optimization, metadata, editing robots.txt.liquid for crawling, etc.
That said, let’s consider the major steps you need to take to improve Shopify SEO.
Store SEO App – step-by-step guide
1. Install and configure store SEO App
- Navigate to Apps > App and Sales Channel Settings > Shopify App Store.
- Search for Store SEO or similar tools and install the app.
- Opt for the free plan (suitable for up to 50 products).
- Follow the setup instructions, including enabling app embed, syncing products, and configuring SEO settings.
2. Optimize titles and descriptions
Leverage AI tools like ChatGPT to craft compelling and keyword-rich titles and descriptions:
- Product Titles: Include high-search-volume keywords. Example: “Red Light Therapy Portable Infrared Beauty Device”.
- Descriptions: Use engaging language with a clear focus on benefits and features. Incorporate keywords naturally.
3. Enhance Product Images
Use images that show the product in use. Ensure images are clear, high-quality, and optimized with alt text that includes focus keywords. You can use Free AI Image Alt Text Generator
4. Refine Meta Titles and Descriptions
Keep meta titles between 50-70 characters and descriptions within 120-165 characters.
How to improve Shopify SEO – basic tips
Shopify SEO is a field that even non-techie users can master. By following the tips and recommendations listed below, you can make your website and its content more visible in search results. Let’s see how to improve Shopify SEO step-by-step.
Step 1. Do keyword research
This crucial initial step lays the foundation for effective on-page SEO. Incorporating relevant, high-impact keywords into your product pages, collections, and homepage metadata ensures your store aligns with users’ search queries. Take the time to thoroughly research which keywords are the most advantageous for your business.
Focus on transactional keywords—terms that indicate a clear intent to purchase. Words like “buy,” “sale,” and “discount” should be seamlessly integrated into your chosen keyword phrases to capture intent-driven traffic.
Where to find keyword ideas? Google is an excellent starting point. As you type, it offers real-time suggestions and displays related search terms at the bottom of the results page. These recommendations aren’t just user-friendly—they’re a goldmine for keyword researchers. Begin with a few core terms related to your products and see what Google uncovers.
If your budget allows, consider investing in keyword research tools like Ahrefs, Answerthepublic, or Keywordtool.io. Alternatively, Google’s free Keyword Planner is a viable option, though you’ll need a Google Ads account.
These tools generate related keyword ideas and provide valuable insights to help you prioritize the best terms. Pay attention to two key metrics: search volume (the number of times a term is searched) and difficulty (how challenging it is to rank for the term). The ideal keywords will strike a balance—high search volume with low ranking difficulty.
Step 2. Work on site structure
Your Shopify store’s clear and well-organized structure serves a dual purpose: it simplifies shoppers’ navigation and improves search engine visibility. By prioritizing simplicity, you can avoid overwhelming both users and search engines with unnecessary complexity. A three-tiered structure—Home → Category → Sub-category → Product page—is highly effective for maintaining clarity and organization.
To optimize your store’s structure, ensure every page is accessible within three clicks from the homepage. This practice helps distribute page authority efficiently, increasing the chances of higher rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Excessive page layers can dilute this authority, reducing your store’s overall SEO effectiveness.
Shopify makes implementing this structure straightforward. Categories correspond to the collections you create, while product pages are your products. Sub-categories are collections but should be nested under relevant categories to maintain hierarchy and organization.
Menu item names play a significant role in user experience and SEO. Use descriptive keywords rather than jargon, and ensure handles (URLs) are clean and free of stop words like “and” or “the.” Shopify automatically generates handles from menu titles, but you can easily edit them in the Shopify admin if needed.
Once your store’s structure is ready, submit it to Google Search Console. This step adds your site to Google’s database, allowing it to appear in search results. You can locate your sitemap by appending /sitemap.xml to your root domain. If you don’t already have a Google Search Console account, create one to submit your sitemap and ensure search engines recognize your site.
Step 3. Optimize your On-Page SEO
On-page SEO involves refining all content on your product and collection pages to improve visibility and relevance. It’s where your keyword research becomes actionable. Here’s how to get it right.
Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Search engines rely on page titles and meta descriptions to understand your content, and these elements are what users see in search results.
- Page Titles: Keep titles within Shopify’s 70-character limit. Use your primary keywords naturally and include your brand name for recognition. Avoid keyword stuffing, which can deter users and lower rankings. Ensure each page has a unique title.
- Meta Descriptions: Aim for around 160 characters, even though Shopify allows up to 320. Write compelling, natural descriptions using keywords, synonyms, and phrases like “free shipping” or “best deals” to attract clicks.
Edit these elements in Shopify under the Search engine listing preview section.
Headers
Shopify auto-generates headers based on your page titles, which search engines evaluate. Following best practices for page titles ensures your headers are effective.
Alt Text for Images
With visual search on the rise, adding descriptive alt text to images is essential. Alt text helps search engines understand your images and makes your site more accessible.
- Describe the image content clearly and avoid emotional or vague terms.
- You can add alt text to product images under Products → All products in Shopify or to theme and collection images through the Theme → Customize section.
On-Page Content
Incorporate blog posts to create fresh, keyword-rich content. Blog posts are ideal for targeting long-tail keywords, which are more specific, less competitive, and often indicate a high intent to purchase.
- Use blogs to share category guides, tutorials, or gift guides tied to your products.
- Ensure the content flows naturally and avoids keyword overuse.
Product review apps like Yotpo, Judge.me, or Stamped.io can enhance on-page SEO. These apps provide structured data to Google, enabling rich snippets in search results and making your pages more engaging and informative.
Step 4. Expand your SEO beyond your store
SEO isn’t confined to the boundaries of your website—external sources can also elevate your credibility. These external endorsements can seal your brand’s approval, whether from other websites, social media platforms, or influencers.
Google evaluates the quality of your web pages by analyzing backlinks—links from other sites to yours. The quality and quantity of these links are critical factors in determining your search engine ranking. Tools like Backlink Management Tools can help you assess the effectiveness of these links.
Building a collection of high-quality backlinks requires effort, but the payoff can significantly enhance your store’s SEO. Here are some effective strategies:
- Guest blogging lets you demonstrate your expertise while creating valuable backlinks to your store. Look for reputable publications that align with your brand’s niche and values. Ensure the content you submit is original, engaging, and offers value to your audience.
- Collaborate with influencers in your niche to amplify your reach and build backlinks. Offering influencers free product samples or affiliate links incentivizes them to promote your store. This strategy improves your SEO and boosts brand visibility and credibility.
- Leverage your blog content to drive engagement and backlinks. Craft compelling articles, guides, or infographics your audience will want to share. Promote this content actively on social media and encourage your followers to spread the word. If your content is truly captivating, it will naturally attract shares and backlinks.
* You can use PRNEWS.IO services to get more articles in media, learn how to do it here – How to Use PRNEWS.IO: Where to Start and How to Maximize the Effect of Its Use?
Step 5. Do on-site maintenance
When it comes to SEO, you should be ready to manage certain processes on your website regularly. For example, to monitor keyword performance, you should periodically review your website’s key performance metrics like page speed, check links, update plugins, install updates, etc.
Broken links can harm your SEO by increasing bounce rates and signaling to search engines that your site may need to be updated or better maintained. To avoid this, periodically audit your website for broken links. Tools like Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) or various SEO plug-ins can help you locate and remove these problematic links quickly.
Page speed plays a significant role in your store’s search engine ranking. With Google incorporating page speed into its Core Web Vitals, ensuring your Shopify store loads quickly is more important than ever. Faster load times improve your SEO and enhance the user experience, reducing bounce rates and encouraging conversions.
Here are a couple of easy ways to speed up your Shopify store:
- Use tools to reduce image file sizes without sacrificing quality.
- Only keep essential apps installed on your store. Too many apps can slow down your site.
- Let browsers store certain files locally, reducing load times for repeat visitors.
Closing Words
Above are the vital Shopify SEO steps to ensure your target audience can find your store, its products, and services through an online search. As you can see, most of these steps do not require programming skills to be implemented on your website. Remember that consistency is the key, and the result is where your focus is. Work on your website’s technical, on-page, and off-page SEO, and watch your web store ranking higher in SERPs.
