Congratulations on launching your brand-new e-commerce store! As you embark on your entrepreneurial journey, gaining visibility online is essential for building brand awareness. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is key to this process, helping your store rank higher in search engine results and making it easier for potential customers to discover you.
However, the world of SEO can be daunting, particularly for newcomers. This guide is designed to empower you, the savvy startup founder, by offering a practical roadmap for conducting an effective SEO audit for your growing e-commerce store.
What is an SEO Audit and Why Do You Need One?
An SEO audit is akin to a thorough health check-up for your website. It involves a careful evaluation of various elements of your online presence, pinpointing areas that require improvement to boost both search engine visibility and user experience.
By conducting an audit, you gain valuable insights into:
- Technical SEO: This assesses how effectively search engines can crawl and comprehend your website. It identifies issues such as broken links, slow loading times, and mobile compatibility.
- On-page SEO: This focuses on the content of your individual pages, examining important factors like keyword usage, title tags, meta descriptions, and product descriptions.
- Off-page SEO: This analyses the external environment surrounding your website, investigating your backlink profile (links from other websites to yours) and your overall online reputation.
Addressing these aspects enhances your website’s overall health, resulting in improved search engine rankings, increased organic traffic, and ultimately, a greater number of potential customers.
Getting Started with SEO Audit for Your Ecommerce Website:
Gather Your Tools: Before diving in, equip yourself with the necessary SEO tools. Several free and paid options are available, including Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz. These tools offer features like keyword research, website analysis, and competitor tracking. Our suggestion is to go for the following tools:
Set Your Goals: What do you hope to achieve with your SEO audit? Do you aim to improve organic traffic, rank higher for specific keywords, or enhance the overall user experience? Clearly defining your goals will guide your audit process and help you prioritise your findings.
Technical SEO Audit:
- Crawl Errors: Use your chosen tool to identify any crawl errors, which occur when search engines struggle to access specific pages on your website. These can negatively impact your ranking, so promptly fix them.
- Mobile-friendliness: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, as a significant portion of online shopping now occurs on mobile devices. Test your website using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool and address any mobile-specific issues.
- Website Speed: Slow loading times can significantly hurt your SEO and user experience. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and address website speed issues.
On-page SEO Audit:
- Keyword Research: Identify relevant keywords your target audience uses to search for products like yours. Tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush can help you discover high-volume, low-competition keywords.
- Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: These are crucial for search engine results pages (SERPs). Craft compelling and informative title tags and meta descriptions that accurately represent your page content and include relevant keywords.
- Content Optimization: Ensure your product descriptions are informative, well-written, and keyword-rich, providing valuable information to potential customers.
- Image Optimization: Visual content is essential for ecommerce, but it can also impact your website’s performance if not optimized properly. Compress images to reduce file sizes without compromising quality. Use descriptive file names and alt text for images, incorporating relevant keywords where appropriate. Optimizing multimedia elements contributes to a faster-loading site and improves overall SEO.
- Examine URL Structure and Navigation: A clean and logical URL structure contributes to both user experience and search engine crawlers’ understanding of your website. Opt for short, descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords. Ensure that your ecommerce site has an intuitive navigation structure, making it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for. A well-organized site map can assist in this regard.
Off-page SEO Audit:
- Backlink Analysis: While building high-quality backlinks takes time and effort, analysing your existing backlink profile helps identify any spammy or low-quality links that might harm your reputation. You can disavow such links with Google Search Console. Backlinks, or incoming links from other websites, are a critical factor in SEO. Assess the quality and relevance of your backlink profile using tools like Moz. Focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources within your industry. Building a strong backlink profile can boost your ecommerce store’s credibility and authority in the eyes of search engines.
Prioritizing and Fixing Issues:
Once you’ve identified various issues through your audit, prioritize them based on their potential impact on your SEO and user experience. Start by addressing the most critical issues first, like crawl errors and mobile-friendliness.
Beyond the Basics:
While this guide provides a solid starting point, remember that SEO is a dynamic field. To stay ahead of the curve, consider these additional tips:
- Stay Updated: SEO algorithms are constantly evolving, so make it a habit to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices.
- Content is King: Regularly create high-quality, engaging content relevant to your target audience and industry. This not only improves user experience but also enhances your chances of ranking higher for relevant keywords.
- Monitor and Analyze: Regularly monitor your website’s performance using analytics tools like Google Analytics. Track key metrics such as organic traffic, bounce rate, conversion rate, and average session duration. Analyzing this data will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and help you identify areas for improvement.
Remember: Conducting an effective SEO audit and implementing its findings is an ongoing process. By dedicating time and effort to consistently optimizing your website, you
