Guide to SEO for Ecommerce Websites

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is crucial for ecommerce websites to increase visibility, drive organic traffic, and ultimately boost sales. Unlike informational websites, ecommerce sites face unique challenges, such as managing large inventories, dealing with duplicate content, and ensuring quick page load times. This guide delves into some SEO strategies tailored specifically for ecommerce.

What is Google Merchant Centre?

Google Merchant Centre is a platform that allows ecommerce businesses to upload their product data to Google and make it available for Google Shopping, Search, and other Google services. While the platform was originally designed for paid ads, Google now offers free listings, enabling your products to appear in the Shopping tab of Google Search without the need for an ad budget.

Why Use Google Merchant Centre Free Listings?

• Increased Visibility: Free listings allow your products to appear in Google Shopping searches, expanding your reach. The organic Shopping results feature prominently for many product search terms, sometimes twice on the first page of Google’s results with 8 products shown in each “pack”.
  
  
• Organic Traffic Boost: Your products can gain exposure (i.e. rank in organic search results) independently of how your actual pages might rank, leading to more organic traffic. Plus, the visual nature of Shopping results attracts more attention than standard web page listings.
  
  
• Competitive Advantage: Adoption of free listings can give you a leg up over competitors who haven't optimised their Google Merchant Centre presence, as the free listings have slightly more stringent criteria for inclusion than for their use in ads.

Setting Up Google Merchant Centre Free Listings

1. 1. Create a Google Merchant Centre Account:
      • Sign up at Google Merchant Centre.
        
        
      • Verify your website (this often happens automatically if you already use Google Analytics or Google Search Console) and claim it as your own (this sets your account as the only one that can use the website address).
        
        
   2. Prepare Your Product Feed:
      • Ensure your product feed includes all required attributes, such as ID, title, description, link, image_link, price, availability, and condition. Note that requirements vary by product category and there are considerations around unique product identifiers (GTIN/barcodes, MPNs and brands). See below for guidance on these.
        
        
      • Use Google’s Product Feed Specifications as a guide for what you need (or should) include for the types of products you sell.
        
        
   3. Submit Your Product Feed:
      • Upload your product feed to Google Merchant Centre. This can be done either by having Google fetch your feed from a URL on a daily basis (typically via an XML file generated on demand by the website) or through the Merchant Centre API (the method that Shopify amongst others use).
        
        
      • Regularly update the feed to reflect changes in product availability, pricing, and other attributes. It’s unusual for a feed to be generated manually, although there are circumstances where this is necessary (e.g. if the required information resides in an offline system rather than the website). If you’re using a fetched feed, you may need to manually request an update in Merchant Centre to immediately reflect any changes you’ve made, otherwise they won’t take effect until the next scheduled fetch.
        
        
   4. Monitor and Improve Performance:
      • Use the performance dashboard to monitor how your products are doing.
      • Tweak product data to improve click-through rates (CTR) and conversions.

1. Product Titles

Importance: Product titles are one of the most crucial elements for both Google’s algorithm and potential customers. They help define the product and influence its ranking in search results.

Best Practices:

• Include Relevant Keywords: Incorporate important keywords that potential customers are likely to use when searching for your product, with the most commonly used terms placed at the beginning of the title. Remember to include the brand and MPN of the product if available, as some people will use these when searching. You can use Feed Rules in Merchant Centre to add this data to titles automatically, which is often easier than manipulating the data in the feed itself.
  
  
• Be Descriptive but Concise: While it’s important to include relevant details, avoid making titles too long. Aim for a balance between being descriptive and keeping the title readable. Typically only the first 70 characters of the 150 maximum are displayed in search results, so consider how they will read to users.
  
  
• Follow a Consistent Format: A common format could be “Brand + Product Type + Key Features + Model Number.” For example, “Nike Men’s Running Shoes Air Zoom Pegasus 38.”
  
  
• Avoid Keyword Stuffing: While keywords are essential, overloading your title with them can make it less readable and appear spammy to both users and Google.

2. Product Descriptions

Importance: Descriptions provide detailed information about your products, helping customers understand their benefits and features. Google also uses this data to determine relevancy.

Best Practices:

• Include Key Features and Benefits: Clearly outline the main features, benefits, and any unique selling points of the product. This helps differentiate your product from competitors.
  
  
• Use Natural Language: Write descriptions as if you are speaking to a customer. Avoid technical jargon unless it’s absolutely necessary for the type of product.
  
  
• Incorporate Keywords Naturally: Include relevant keywords, but ensure they fit naturally within the text. The description should still be engaging and easy to read.
  
  
• Highlight Special Offers or Guarantees: If applicable, mention any special offers, discounts, warranties, or guarantees that can enhance the product's appeal.

3. Product Images

Importance: High-quality images are critical as they directly influence click-through rates and conversions. Images are often the first thing users notice about a product.

Best Practices:

• Use High-Resolution Images: Ensure that all images are high-resolution, clear, and showcase the product accurately. The minimum size might be 100x100 pixels (250x250 for clothing), but you should aim for much larger than this for good quality images.
  
  
• Show Multiple Angles: Provide images from various angles to give users a comprehensive view of the product. Google does allow users to hover and view multiple images for a single product in Shopping results.
  
  
• Include Lifestyle Images: Where possible, use images that show the product in use or in a real-world setting. This helps customers visualise how the product fits into their lives.
  
  
• Comply with Google’s Image Requirements: Ensure your images meet Google’s specifications, such as not including promotional text, watermarks, or logos. Beware that Merchant Centre may “enhance” images automatically, so check your settings in the Automatic Improvements tab in the Products page (also check the automatic updates settings here in case you don’t want prices, availability or condition updated automatically).

4. Product Categories and Product Types

Importance: Accurate categorisation helps Google understand your product's context, ensuring it appears in relevant search queries.

Best Practices:

• Use Google’s Predefined Categories: Assign your products to the most specific and relevant categories from Google’s product taxonomy. This improves the accuracy of where your products appear. Again, you can use Feed Rules based on your own Product Types (usually categories in the website) to map to Google’s categories.
  
  
• Add Product Types: While Google categories are predefined, product types are custom fields where you can include more detailed categorisation based on your own taxonomy. This adds another layer of specificity to your listings.
  
  
• Avoid Misclassification: Ensure that products are categorised correctly to avoid misplacement in irrelevant searches, which can harm visibility and CTR.

5. Pricing and Availability

Importance: Pricing and availability are key factors influencing both rankings and user decisions. It’s unusual for out of stock products to appear in Shopping results.

Best Practices:

• Ensure Consistent Pricing: Make sure the prices in your product feed match the prices on your landing pages. Discrepancies can lead to account suspension or a loss of customer trust. You can check the “Needs Attention” tab in the Products page of Merchant Centre to see if Google has found any mismatched prices.
  
  
• Use Competitive Pricing: Monitor your competitors and adjust your prices accordingly to stay competitive. There is a Pricing tab in the Products Analytics page of Merchant Centre to help you compare your prices to the market.
  
  
• Provide Accurate Availability Information: Always keep the availability status (in stock, out of stock, pre-order, etc.) up-to-date to avoid disappointing potential customers. As noted above, Google may update this automatically based on information on your website and sometimes this can conflict with feed data (usually due to a lag between one or the other getting updated) – check the Automatic Improvements tab and the Needs Attention tab to see if you have any issues here.
  
  
• Highlight Discounts and Promotions: If applicable, clearly mention any discounts, special offers, or promotions in the product feed. There is a Promotions section of Merchant Centre where you can create promotions to be highlighted in your listings, such as discount codes and free gifts, so make use of this when appropriate (see the policies here).

6. GTINs, MPNs, and Brand Information

Importance: Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPNs), and brand names are known as unique product identifiers and help Google accurately identify and classify your products. If Google thinks your products should have these and they are missing, products will have limited visibility or possibly disapproved. The requirements for these are more stringent for free listings than for Shopping ads.

Best Practices:

• Include GTINs Where Applicable: Ensure GTINs are included for all products that have them. GTINs help Google identify the exact product, improving its chances of appearing in relevant searches. You may need to find a way to add these to your product data, as it is common for ecommerce sites not to store this data as barcodes are not typically required.
  
  
• Use Correct MPNs: Use MPNs to provide an additional layer of identification, whether or not you have GTINs for your products.
  
  
• Always Include the Brand Name: Including the correct brand name in your product data helps in proper categorization and increases trust with users. If there is no brand, that’s OK, although many retailers use their own brand in this circumstance.
  
  
• Set identifier_exists to false when necessary: If there is no GTIN or MPN (for bespoke, handmade or otherwise unique products), you can add a field to your feed called identifier_exists and set the value to “false”, to tell Google that it shouldn’t require unique product identifiers for your items. However, if the reality is that they do exist but you don’t have them, it’s likely the products will still be disapproved or that visibility will be limited.

7. Shipping and Tax Information

Importance: Accurate shipping and tax information are necessary for transparency and trust. Incorrect information can lead to cart abandonment and a poor user experience, plus if Google thinks there are discrepancies between your feed data and the information on your website, it’s likely to disapprove the affected products or issue an account-level warning.

Best Practices:

• Provide Accurate Shipping Costs: Ensure that the shipping costs displayed in Google Merchant Centre match those on your website. You can set your delivery options and rates in the Delivery and Returns section of Merchant Centre.
  
  
• Offer Multiple Shipping Options: If possible, provide various shipping options (e.g., standard, express) to cater to different customer needs.
  
  
1. Specify Tax Rates Correctly: Make sure the tax information is correct and complies with local regulations to avoid any discrepancies during checkout. Google requires that your product prices are inclusive of VAT, even if you normally sell to trade customers who quote prices excluding VAT

What is Structured Data?

Structured data, also known as Schema markup, is a standardised format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content. For ecommerce websites, product structured data helps search engines understand key details about your products, such as price, availability, and reviews.

Why is Product Structured Data Important?

• Enhanced Search Visibility: Structured data can enhance your search listings with rich snippets, such as star ratings, price, and availability, making them more attractive to users.
  
  
• Better Click-Through Rates: Rich snippets can improve CTR by providing users with more information upfront and standing out against the competition.
  
  
• Increased Chances of Appearing in Rich Results: Properly implemented structured data increases the likelihood of appearing in rich results, like product carousels or knowledge panels.

How to Implement Product Structured Data

1. 1. Choose the Right Schema Markup:
      • Use Product schema markup to add product information to your pages. This data provides search engines with certainty about what specific pieces of text on a page relate to (e.g. the number that is a price, the text that is the product name etc.) That certainty is what enables them to make use of the data in rich snippets.
        
        
      • Include attributes like name, image, description, SKU, brand, offers (price), aggregateRating, and review.
        
        
   2. Add Schema Markup to Your Pages:
      • Insert JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa directly into your product pages’ HTML.
        
        
      • JSON-LD is recommended by Google for easier management. Typically, your ecommerce platform will generate this code automatically in your product pages. If it doesn’t, there may be plugins or apps available to add this functionality, or your developer may be able to code the necessary functionality (naturally, Wired In have implemented this across various sites built with nopCommerce and .NET more generally).
        
        
   3. Test Your Markup:
      • Use Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure your structured data is correctly implemented.
        
        
      • Fix any issues that might prevent your data from being read correctly. This may require tweaks to your page templates or the code that is generating the structured data (contact us if you need assistance with this!)
        
        
   4. Monitor and Maintain:
      • Regularly check for updates to schema.org to ensure your markup is current.
        
        
      • Use Google Search Console to monitor errors related to structured data in the Product Snippets and Merchant Listings sections. You can also monitor the performance of both of these by applying a Search Appearance filter in the Search Results Performance report.

What is Faceted Navigation?

Faceted navigation is a system that allows users to filter and sort products based on various attributes, such as size, colour, brand, and price. While it greatly enhances user experience, it can create SEO challenges due to the potential for creating numerous URL variations with similar content, leading to duplicate content issues.

SEO Challenges with Faceted Navigation

• Duplicate Content: Faceted navigation can lead to multiple URLs with identical or very similar content, confusing search engines and diluting page authority. There is also a risk that search engines pick the wrong canonical URL and send users to a filtered page or one with a sub-optimal sort order applied.
  
  
• Crawl Budget Waste: Search engines may waste crawl budget on indexing multiple variations of the same page, reducing the efficiency of your website’s crawl (i.e. pages that you do want crawling may not be discovered or refreshed as quickly).
  
  
• Index Bloat: Having too many unnecessary pages indexed can dilute the overall SEO value of your website, as “thin” pages or duplicate content can be seen as a signal of a low quality site.

Best Practices for Managing Faceted Navigation

1. Use Canonical Tags:
• Apply canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page to search engines.
  
  
• For example, canonicalise all filter variations back to the main product category page. Be very careful not to inadvertently canonicalise something you do want indexing though – this includes paginated URLs, where page 2 of a category is definitely not the same as page 1!
  
  
2. Noindex, Follow Certain Pages:
• Apply noindex, follow to filter pages that don’t add significant value to search engines (e.g. colour variations).
  
  
• This prevents them from being indexed but still allows search engines to follow the links on those pages (although without the page indexed, no PageRank will be passed to them from that URL).
  
  
3. Implement AJAX for Filtering:
• Use AJAX to load filtered results without creating new URLs, thereby avoiding the issue of duplicate content altogether.
  
  
• This approach is more technically demanding but can significantly improve SEO by reducing unnecessary page variations. However, be sure that a full URL can be found and crawled for any pages that should be indexed (e.g. pagination).
  
  
4. Create Static Pages for Important Filters:
• For popular filters (e.g., “Red Dresses”), consider creating dedicated static landing pages optimised for those keywords.
  
  
• These pages can rank well and attract targeted traffic without the SEO issues caused by dynamic faceted navigation. Whilst it’s completely unnecessary to create separate optimised pages for every possible combination of filters, in many cases there are some commonly-used ones that are search terms (keywords) in their own right. This can give you a competitive advantage, as many ecommerce sites don’t have optimised pages for those “filtered” categories.

If you want advice or help implementing any of the above to improve your ecommerce SEO, contact Wired In today and get the benefit of our rich experience in optimising product data and websites.