Search engine optimization is crucial in this digital age. Having an SEO-friendly website will ensure better visibility in search results. But how do you decide which keywords go where on your website? How do you even decide on keywords in the first place? In these slides, two of our SEO experts discuss how you can organize your site's keyword targeting to make shopping easier for customers and indexing easier for search engines. Topics will include: - How to conduct keyword research - Keyword organization on the category and product level - Structuring your categories to match keywords - Examples of great keyword structure - And more!

1. Structuring Your Site from Top to Bottom
Keyword Hierarchy

2. Agenda
➔ Hello!
➔ The theory
➔ Back to basics
➔ Put it into practice
➔ There’s always a “but”
➔ Questions

3. We’re your hosts
Jacob King
SEO Team Lead. Loves sites
that are organized. Has a
beard.
Katie Syk
SEO Team Lead. Content
aficionado. Loves all things
sweet.

4. What is it?
Keyword hierarchy focuses on
structuring your keyword targeting to
funnel from the broadest terms to the
most specific.
Think of it like a pyramid, with
most keyword phrases at the
bottom
Align your keyword phrases with
the natural shopping process
Search engines love organized
keyword targeting

5. The Theory
The “why” behind structured targeting

6. Here’s the idea
Use keyword phrases to describe what each page is
about
Organize those keyword phrases logically throughout
the site to guide search engines and customers from
page to page
Make everyone happy

7. Why it’s important for customers
Customers don’t want to have to guess to find what they need. The
clearer the path, the happier they are with their shopping experience.
Convoluted targeting/structure
○ Shoppers can’t find what they need
■ Conversions drop
Clear targeting/structure
○ Fluid shopping experience
■ Repeat customers

8. Why it’s important for search engines
Search engines (SEs) can’t “see” your site, so they rely on text to find
their way. The clearer the path, the easier their job.
Convoluted targeting/structure
○ SEs give site lower priority
○ Site could show up in fewer searches
■ Conversions drop
Clear targeting/structure
○ Accurate signals to SEs
○ Better chance to rank for
important terms

9. Keyword hierarchy in practice
Formal shoes for women,
women’s casual shoes
Women’s designer shoes
Red 3” pumps, black leather wedge
sandals, striped pink bow ballet flats
Women’s pump heels, wedge heel
sandals, women’s designer flats

10. Back to Basics
How to conduct keyword research

11. The keyword trinity
Volume
How frequently is it searched?
Competitiveness
Are competitors optimizing?
Relevancy
Does it make sense for the page?

12. Are potential customers even searching
for the phrase? Keyword phrases
should be selected based on what
users are already searching.
● Doesn’t need to be really popular
Super popular = hard to optimize for
on-site
● But shouldn’t be obscure, either
Super rare = no one is searching for
it right now
Search Volume

13. How many competing sites are
optimizing for this keyword phrase?
We want a healthy dose of
competition to know we’re on the
right track.
Keyword
competitiveness
● Competitors reveal important
industry phrases
● They may segment keyword
phrases in a way you hadn’t
considered

14. Keyword relevancy
In the end, no amount of data matters if
your keyword phrase isn’t relevant to
the page or doesn’t match the
searcher’s intent.
● Be specific
Is the shirt gray or blue?
● Avoid deception
Don’t use vague, easily confused wording
Don’t target a phrase unrelated to the page

15. Things to keep in mind
● Target longer (long tail) phrases
Anything under three words is likely too
short
● Don’t fixate on search volume
Really popular doesn’t always mean the
keyword phrase is what you need
● Target 3-5 keyword phrases per page

16. Start your list with a Google search

17. No tool is perfect, and many serve
different research purposes. In addition
to your own industry knowledge and
intuition, we recommend trying out
some of these tools.
Keyword
research tools
● SEOBook Keyword Generator,
Ubersuggest & keyword.io
Help generate initial lists
● Google Keyword Planner
Shows seasonality and pay-per-click data
● Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
Features competitor info such as top search
results
● SpyFu
Shows ranking history, backlinks, volume, etc.

18. SEs look in a few key spots of a
landing page to figure out which
keywords you’re targeting. Volusion
has all of these spots built into the
Advanced Info > Search Engine
Optimization tab of your site’s pages.
Where to use
keywords on-site
● Product/category title
● Category/product URL
● Meta tag title & meta tag description
● Photo alt text tag
● On-page category/product
descriptions

19. z

21. Put it into Practice
Do’s & don’ts of keyword structuring

22. Remember that your website is a
pyramid, so the bulk of the keyword
phrases need to be at the base.
Hierarchy Do’s ● Choose broad (but specific) keyword
phrases for homepage and top
categories
Use these as a basis for lower level pages
● Assign a keyword phrase to one page,
and one page only
● Distinguish between product group
KWs vs. single product KW
men’s v-neck shirts
men’s baby blue v-neck shirt

23. ● Clearly defined category
structure helps segment
keyword groups
● Removes all guesswork for
SEs and customers as to
what they can find where
Categorization
builds a foundation

24. ● We can now segment keyword
groups and identify subsets of
keyword groups
● This approach helps begin
categorization of product pages
A foundation makes
segmentation easier

25. ● We can now organize by types
of grinders and secondary
grinder parts
● The next step is product-level
○ Make and model
○ Size
○ Material
Segmentation
organizes keywords

26. Your keyword phrases are an
introduction to the page’s purpose, so
the signal must be clear from the
beginning.
Hierarchy Don’ts ● Target same KW phrase on every
page
● Target product-level KWs at the
category level or category-level
KWs at the product level
● Stop halfway through the process
● Assume SEs will be able to
“figure it out”

27. Categorization starts out well, leading to...

28. Natural segmentation, which could lead to...

29. More sub-categories, but it stops at “casual”

30. Don’t expect SEs to “figure out” your products

31. What to do when your site is unique
There’s Always a “But”

32. Shift your keyword research focus to
describing and explaining every
facet/application of your product. Think
of questions customers ask and use
those as a basis for informational
keyword phrases.
I sell one product
● Hemp sneakers
How to clean hemp shoes
● Eco-friendly sandwich bags
Easy ways to cut down on food waste

33. Target informational searches & be the expert

34. Think of ways you can naturally
segment your products beyond the
make and model.
I sell a lot of really
similar products
● Different colors/styles
Solid-colored vs. patterned
nursing scrubs
● Slight variations
Crewneck vs. V-neck shirt
● Different applications
Scooter vs. wheelchair batteries

35. By theme/category offers new KW possibilities

36. So buyers can follow a general product theme

37. Or browse by age range, instead

38. I sell in a specialized
industry
Specialized industries often have
limited edition products that sell out
and never replenish. In these cases,
make your product information as
concise as possible.
● Wholesale
Be sure to include model numbers
in your product info
● E-cigarettes
Lemon lime vape juice
Mechanical mods
Branded searches
PG/VG ratios

39. Brand-focused pages capture branded searches

40. E-liquids by type, size, brand for different KWs

41. Takeaways
Think of your site like a pyramid with the bulk of your
keyword phrases at the base
Organize keyword phrases concisely across the site,
utilizing each relevant phrase in a single location
Structure leads to clarity, clarity makes SEs and
customers happy, which improves SEO health

42. Resources
Tools:
Keyword.io Google Keyword Planner
SEOBook Keyword Generator Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
UberSuggest SpyFu
Volusion Blog Posts:
Volusion Takeover: How To Do Keyword Research
5 Things You Should Know About Keyword Stuffing and SEO
5 Secrets to Researching SEO Keywords Like a Pro
The Four Ps of Writing a Great Meta Description
Best Practices for Creating SEO-Friendly Title Tags
DIY SEO eBook

43. Let us help
Call our sales team at 877-591-7006
to get free setup on SEO services this month!
Buy this week and get three custom-designed
graphics as a special bonus for your site.