Elevate Your Online Presence with Ecommerce SEO Audit

Do you already have an eCommerce website, or are you intending to start one? Then, you must understand that starting an online business is one thing, but keeping it running and profitable is another. Today, 43% of internet users utilize it to find online products or services. Being on top in search results is a must for your eCommerce store.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as the name allows customers to quickly locate your online store and increase sales. An eCommerce SEO audit is the first step towards expanding your online presence. 

This blog will introduce you to the eCommerce SEO audit and explain its significance in increasing online business success. 

What is an eCommerce SEO Audit? 

An e-commerce SEO audit examines every element of your online store to help determine why it has yet to attract organic traffic. 

An eCommerce SEO audit’s goal is to assess why your site is not ranking well and identify areas for improvement.

Once you have identified all the issues plaguing your online store. Employ effective eCommerce SEO practices to increase its rank and draw more organic traffic.

An eCommerce website audit entails various mini-audits, spanning technical, content, and off-page aspects. Moreover, it focuses on 

• Site navigation
• URL structure 
• User experience
•  Load time
•  Security (including SSL certificates). 

There are tools available that assist in this endeavor.

Why is an eCommerce SEO audit Important? 

An SEO audit is time-consuming but should be part of your digital marketing strategy. It must focus on optimizing the store proactively to stay ahead of search engines. Regular eCommerce SEO audits help keep up-to-date and can:

• Discover Hidden Issues: An audit is like having a health check for your website. Helpings uncover minor problems before they snowball into larger ones. 
• Stay Ahead with Search Engines: As search engines update their search algorithms. An audit ensures your site stays compatible with Google.
• Increase Your Visitors Naturally: Attract more visitors without paying for ads.
• Convert Browsers into Buyers: Ensure visitors enjoy what they see and buy things.
• Staying Ahead of the Competition: Being at the forefront of competitors selling similar goods. 
• Knowing You’re Doing It Right: Know that your online store is set up for success.

When to Conduct an SEO Audit?

An SEO audit should be performed once a year to verify that your website is in line with the most recent search engine algorithms.

There may  be specific instances that call for immediate auditing.  A significant redesign, a new product launch, or updates in your e-commerce platform might prompt one, that necessitates an immediate check.

Conduct an eCommerce SEO Audit: Steps for Implementation.

Conducting an ecommerce SEO audit involves several crucial steps. Each is vital for optimizing search engine rankings for your online store. 

Let’s break down the SEO audit techniques for eCommerce: 

1. Technical SEO Audit: this step ensures search engines can efficiently index and crawl your site. It involves reviewing the organization of your website to ensure easy navigation for users,  and schema markup checks. Furthermore, metadata such as page titles and title tags must be optimized to ensure maximum SEO benefits.
2. On-Page SEO Audit: Optimising individual web pages with on-page SEO ensures they rank higher in search engines. Improving the user experience through speed optimization, mobile friendliness, and image optimization is also a priority. In addition, quality content must always remain at the core of any website’s strategy.
3. Examine Site Navigation and URL Structure: For optimal user experience and SEO benefits, your website’s structure must facilitate easy and intuitive navigation for visitors. Ensure URLs are logically organized, as this affects both the user experience and SEO rankings. Detect broken links or missing pages immediately so they can be resolved.
4. Internal Linking and Content Quality: Effective internal linking helps spread page authority throughout your website. An audit should focus on the quality of your content, ensuring it is informative, relevant, and engaging. Heading tags must also be effectively structured for easy readability.
5. Backlinks and External Links Analysis: Backlinks are a critical component of SEO. Assess the quality of backlinks to ensure they are from credible sources, as they significantly impact your site’s authority. Furthermore, any external links from third-party content producers must also be reviewed closely.
6.  Competitive Analysis: This step involves conducting an in-depth evaluation of your competitor’s SEO strategies to understand their strengths and weaknesses This could involve targeting keywords more precisely, improving content quality, or strengthening backlink strategies.
7. Regular Monitoring and Updates: SEO is an ongoing effort that constantly adapts to changes in search engine algorithms and market trends. Keeping your eCommerce store competitive while adhering to current SEO best practices.

Remember that every step in an e-commerce SEO audit process is interlinked Frequent audits provide an objective snapshot of your site’s performance. Moreover, allowing for informed decisions that optimize and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive digital market.

Tools Needed for Ecommerce SEO Audit: 

An Ecommerce SEO audit requires several different tools that target various aspects of SEO for your website; some essential tools include:

1. Google Analytics: It is ideal for tracking website traffic and user behavior. 
2. Google Search Console: It provides insights into your site’s performance within Google search results. 
3. Ahrefs or SEMrush: These tools offer comprehensive SEO analysis, such as backlink checking and keyword research capabilities.
4. I am screaming Frog SEO Spider: Ideal for crawling websites and identifying technical issues. 
5. PageSpeed Insights: Check loading speeds across both mobile and desktop platforms. Moz Pro: Provides various features, including site audits, rank tracking, and backlink analysis.

Each tool brings distinct capabilities to your audit, helping ensure a comprehensive evaluation and effective strategy formulation.

Conclusion

In today’s competitive marketplace, having an online presence is paramount for eCommerce stores. Most people use search engines like Google to look up products or services they need, with most clicking on the top results for these searches. Therefore, your eCommerce store should appear at the top of related search queries to generate sales.

With regular eCommerce SEO audits, you can ensure your site is fully optimized for search engines. To accomplish this, create an eCommerce SEO audit checklist and refer back to it whenever conducting an online store SEO audit.

If you need assistance conducting an eCommerce SEO audit, contact Market Media Connect’s eCommerce SEO specialists, who will lead the process from start to finish.