Optimizing your eCommerce site for search engines is the only way to survive in the digital marketing age. Visibility and success rely only on how well you run your SEO. This makes SEO audits critical yet very complicated tasks. Using our 15-step eCommerce SEO audit checklist will ensure you do it right and fast.
This article outlines everything you need to know about improving your site image for search engines. From explaining what is eCommerce SEO to delivering the best on-page, off-page, and technical SEO tips, we help you build a powerful site in the modern world of online shopping.
Why Is SEO Audit Important?
eCommerce SEO audits are a crucial step in maintaining a successful website. They assess and optimize a website’s performance in search engine rankings. An audit serves as a diagnostic tool, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement in the website’s SEO strategy.
Imagine the eCommerce SEO site audit as any regular checkup on your car or home appliance. With time, their functioning deteriorates. As search engine algorithms evolve, outdated webpages will drop in ranking. Getting the ranking up again means updating everything that the engine marked outdated. To do so, you must skim every corner of your page and see what works and what doesn’t.
You can deal with issues your way and do monthly updates on keywords and links only, but completing the audit enables you to refine the content fully. You will ensure it aligns with search engine algorithms and user intent. A well-executed SEO audit enhances organic visibility and improves user experience and site performance. And as engines like Google get more and more regular updates, keeping your site on track with recent trends is a must.
What Does An eCommerce SEO Audit Checklist Include?
A comprehensive eCommerce SEO audit is an exhaustive process. It can include north of 20 separate steps and take hours to finish. The audit checklist divides these steps into successive tasks. It helps you ease the whole process by transforming it into a list of bite-sized items. Go through the items individually, marking each one when done, and the whole thing suddenly becomes a breeze.
Checklists can look different based on the specifics of your website. They should all include three main segments: an on-page, off-page, and technical checkup. Each segment then consists of various steps covering everything that might push your engine ranking down. Let’s review some of the best eCommerce SEO tips for improving your site’s ranking.
On-Page SEO
The first step of any eCommerce website audit is to smoothen the visual aspect. On-page SEO focuses on the content itself. It is best described as ‘the things visible to the reader,’ including:
Keywords Checkup
Keywords are the main ingredient of any SEO strategy. They pop your page or blog post on search results targeting the products you sell. Using the wrong or oversaturated keywords is the main symptom of lower ranking. And they aren’t constant. Keyword popularity changes over time, so the phrases you stuffed on your site can no longer be beneficial.
To optimize keyword targeting, first list what people search for, then evaluate your articles and product pages to see if you use those queries enough. You can use free tools like Keyword Planner as starting points.
Meta Tags
Your meta title (MT) and meta description (MD) concisely summarize that page’s content and intention. Search engines use them as focal signs of whether your content is relevant to the user’s query. They also increase the click-through rate (CTR) by encouraging users to click on the page if they find the description appealing.
To optimize meta tags, make sure to follow these three rules:
- Use the main keyword in both the MT and the MD.
- Keep them simple and relevant.
- Keep the meta title between 50 and 60 characters and the meta description between 150 and 160 characters.
Header Tags
There’s a reason every successful eCommerce site has a multi-header hierarchy. Dividing your blog posts into H1, H2s, H3s, and so on has multiple effects. It gives your pages a structure, emphasizes keywords, increases your chances to feature in rich snippets, and improves the overall experience for both web and mobile users.
Optimizing header tags comes naturally with each page. The best pages will have one H1 with multiple subheaders that logically organize the content. Use the top keywords in the titles, but don’t clutter them too much. Also, avoid using too many headers when it isn’t necessary. A good rule of thumb is a minimum of 80 words per H2 and a minimum of 40 words per H3.
URL Structure
Clean and descriptive URLs are important for two reasons. One, they help users find relevant pages, and, two, they help engine crawlers discover and index your site for relevant queries. They also make your product pages more shareable on other media. People tend to avoid robotic URLs as they seem less secure.
A well-optimized URL will replicate the meta title even more concisely. Aim for simplicity and relevance, use hyphens to separate words, and avoid unnecessary parameters.
Product Descriptions
Your products are the main content of your eCommerce websites. Thus, a good product description can truly make or break your site’s success. They will make your site more visible and authoritative and increase conversion rates for potential buyers.
High-quality product descriptions will resonate with your target audience, address potential concerns, and highlight the features and benefits that set your products apart. Remember that these mini-texts are here to make your site unique and stand out from the competition.
Internal Linking
Internally linking all your pages cannot be overstated in eCommerce SEO. It helps your readers to navigate the site easily and has a crucial off-page benefit. Internal links reduce the bounce rate by making users stay longer and explore more of the site. This sends a positive signal to search engines that your content is extremely relevant and high quality – instantly pushing it to the top.
The best internal linking strategy is to use short, two to three-word anchors that provide natural and contextually relevant structure. Make sure to update internal links as often as possible to include new content in older pages and maintain their relevance.
Image Optimization
SEO is not all about text. It also involves multimedia optimization for all the page images, videos, and other visual data. Besides improving page loading time and social media sharing, image optimization greatly helps your ranking, too. It helps engines understand the context of the image, and thus, your page ranks it higher for relevant keywords.
Image optimization has four key rules:
- Use compressed images without sacrificing quality
- Use appropriate file format (JPEG is generally better than PNG)
- Use descriptive file names
- Include relevant alt-text
Off-Page SEO
Building authority should be the main goal of any eCommerce website. Granting search engines high trustworthiness will skyrocket your site to the top of any relevant query. It will drive organic traffic up, enhance company awareness, and create an overall positive online presence. It will take your site from a low-level selling merchant to a well-known brand in the industry.
Backlinks Checkup
Where internal links motivate users to stay on your site, backlinks help them get to it in the first place. They are pathways for readers to discover your site. Also, having backlinks from reputable high-quality sources contributes to the domain authority of your eCommerce site. Regular backlink checkups also give an edge over your competitors and bring long-term sustainability of high search results.
When optimizing backlinks, make sure to add more local sources. This is especially important for eCommerce ventures with physical locations. Use only relevant and diversified anchors to help engines understand your content. Go for reputable websites in the industry to increase your authority further.
Social Media Marketing
Many eCommerce sites do everything right but get punished purely due to a lack of social media presence. Today, marketing your website everywhere you can, especially on top social media platforms, is a must. It increases your brand visibility, provides more backlinking opportunities, and indirectly increases ranking with social signals like likes, shares, and comments.
To maximize the impact of social media marketing, focus on growing your profiles during the eCommerce SEO site audit. Post shareable content, consistently build your accounts, and get involved in more and more conversations within your industry.
Online Partnerships
eCommerce website audits are not only about SEO editing. Forming partnerships with reputable sites, influencers, and popular social media accounts is the best form of marketing in today’s online world. It’s a holistic approach and one of the best long-term strategies you can develop. Algorithms will keep pushing your site up the more they see your product appear in trending posts. Reputable sources further increase backlinks and authority, while successful partnerships will snowball into even more deals.
To best leverage online partnerships, focus on building long-term relations with entities who align with your brand message and audience. Collaborate on more joint content creations to boost each other’s reputation and stay relevant together.
Technical SEO
High-quality content and marketing are one thing, but are not the only aspects that contribute to your website ranking. Put equal attention on resolving technical issues too. This ‘invisible’ stuff behind the HTML code of your website plays a big role in aligning your site with search engine algorithms. A technical SEO audit helps create a solid foundation for the engine to crawl and rank your web pages effectively.
User Experience
User experience (UX) involves aspects that improve the usability of your website. It takes into account site architecture, loading time, page design, and other front-end features. A well-designed UX can even reduce cart abandonment rates, one of the biggest conversion concerns for eCommerce websites.
To enhance user experience during your eCommerce SEO site audit, focus on streamlining site navigation, optimizing page speed, simplifying the checkout process, and ensuring mobile responsiveness. Take into account user reviews and concerts to know which parts of your site need improvement.
Mobile Optimization
The mobile versions are an often forgotten aspect of most eCommerce websites, even though they play a key role in modern SEO. For one, most of your customers will be mobile users. Stats show that a significant portion of online shopping in 2023 came from smartphones. Not only that, but Google, for example, uses the mobile version of a site for ranking first.
Optimizing mobile-friendliness of your eCommerce site means ensuring easier navigation, better readability on small screens, faster loading, and mobile-friendly popups. When testing your website, try it on various devices with different operating systems.
Robots.txt
Robot.txt files control the access of engine crawlers to specific pages of your website. In simple terms, it helps crawlers focus on important URLs and ignore irrelevant content. Optimizing them during an eCommerce website audit helps preserve your budget and puts attention on high-value pages that boost profits.
When optimizing robots.txt, divert crawlers from irrelevant stuff like shopping carts and wishlists. Also, make sure you are not blocking search engine bots from accessing URLs you want to be crawled.
XML Sitemap
XML sitemaps are files that give engines a list of URLs that appear on your website. They are basically maps that help bots navigate and index your product pages more efficiently. While engines like Google claim they use sitemaps for ‘very large websites’ only, the reality is that all sites need them for better SEO. A good sitemap will index the entire site and never miss out on ranking you high for relevant keywords.
To improve your XML sitemap, check for incomplete or missing URLs, and any formatting issues with the file or the content, update information, remove duplicates, and fix broken links. Keeping the sitemap’s size to a reasonable limit is also beneficial to help crawlers skim it faster.
HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a secure version of the HTTP system that transfers data between your website and the user’s web browser. In simple terms, it’s a sign that shows the communication between the reader and your site is encrypted and secure. HTTPS boosts user trust in your website and boosts its rankings over competitors lacking high-quality protection.
Obtain an SSL/TLS certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA) to implement HTTPS on your eCommerce website. Install the certificate on your web server, configure server settings for HTTPS, update internal links to use ‘https,’ and ensure that all third-party resources support secure connections.
Tools For Best eCommerce Website Audit
SEO audits are a long and tiring process. E-commerce websites take an even bigger effort to optimize due to their commercial nature. You must go through hundreds, if not thousands, of product pages and blog posts, marking an exhaustive checklist of SEO tips that cannot be skipped.
Using various tools is crucial if you want to do the audit right and within a reasonable time. They will automate the data, identify technical issues, prioritize tasks, and provide insights that are invisible to the naked eye.
Which SEO tools you use will depend on your needs and the site’s nature. Some of the most popular choices are:
- Ahrefs – helps audit backlinks, research keywords, and analyze your competition.
- Screaming Frog – a multi-functional tool that can locate many issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and missing meta tags.
- Semrush – is a more organized alternative to the previous option. Can address hundreds of issues, diving the process into multiple thematic reports.
- Moz – a slightly more complicated tool to use, but it gives a comprehensive analysis of your website with tons of advanced features.
The above tools are great as they help with every step of an SEO audit. But they can be pretty pricy if you run a tight budget. As an alternative, here are some free tools you can use instead:
- Google Analytics – one of the best free SEO tools with insights in many aspects and an ability to predict future developments too.
Google Search Console – free, simple, and easy to use, this tool can provide information about engine crawlers, indexing, and other search engine bots, as well as data about your XML sitemap, keywords, and backlinks.
FAQ
If you notice a sudden drop in search rankings or a high bounce rate, it’s a clear sign you need an eCommerce website audit. Website SEO is not a one-time process. It’s a constantly developing aspect of a successful eCommerce venture. Plan an audit once every two to three months for best results.
Insufficient keyword research, not building site authority, ignoring technical issues, and forgetting about mobile-friendliness are the most common mistakes during SEO audits. Creating an extensive audit checklist, following each step, and using the proper tools are the best ways to avoid making these mistakes.
Completing the full eCommerce SEO audit checklist can take from one to six weeks, depending on the size of your website. Smaller sites can be audited in four to five days by an SEO expert. Larger eCommerce sites with thousands of products can take up to a month and a half.
