A presentation I delivered at Search Marketing Summit in Sydney. Covering the topic of E-commerce SEO, step-by-step walkthrough of how to plan, execute and drive more organic search growth.
5. @jasonmun
Overdose Digital // Digital Commerce Agency
Jason Mun
Director of Search & Insights
@jasonmun / jasonmun.com
https://overdose.digital
http://au.linkedin.com/in/jason-mun-8698a13
12. @jasonmun
Develop a Strategy
• What do you need to do to improve?
• On-site, Technical, Content, Off-site
• How much effort is it going to take?
• Breakdown monthly optimisation tasks
1
2
3
4
5
6
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6
17. @jasonmun
https://backlinko.com/keyword-research
Gather all your findings and data in an Excel sheet.
• Plenty of tools at your disposal
• Use avg monthly search volume as barometer
• Be realistic, be relevant, be specific
• Don’t discount low search volume keywords
• Pick keywords for every “transactional” page on your website
Start with Keyword & Topic Research
29. @jasonmun
What is SERP CTR%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Estimated click-through-rate based on rank position
50%
30%
28%
20%
15%
12%
10%
8%
6%
3%
30. @jasonmun
Using Industry CTR Studies
https://www.advancedwebranking.com/ctrstudy/
Source: https://moz.com/blog/google-organic-click-through-rates-in-2014
Useful but wildly inaccurate due to difference in
niches/regions/user behaviour
31. @jasonmun
Find Out Your Website’s SERP CTR% Using Your OWN Data
16 months worth of search
query data!!!
32. @jasonmun
Export 16 Months Worth of Data in to Sheets
https://searchanalyticsforsheets.com/
Bypass the 1,000 rows export limit of GSC interface
33. @jasonmun
Remove Brand & Low Traffic
1. Add a new sheet
2. In column A1, enter the following formula:
=query(RAW!A1:E,"select * where NOT A contains ‘brand’ and B > 3")
*swap your brand in. eg, nike
3. Search Query data is now filtered to remove “brand” related queries and
queries with less than 3 clicks
4. Copy the filtered data to a new sheet and “paste as values”
1
2
34. @jasonmun
Calculate Average CTR by Position
1. Add a new column, F
2. In column F, enter the following formula:
=AVERAGEIF(E$2:E,E2,D$2:D)
3. This is going to calculate the average CTR% based on each query
position
4. Copy data in columns E and F, paste as values in to new sheet
12
35. @jasonmun
Your Very Own SERP CTR%
1. Sort data by Position
2. Remove duplicates by using this formula in column D1:
=UNIQUE(A1:B8692)
3. Chart it up if you like!
1
2
3
40. @jasonmun
Develop a Strategy
• What do you need to do to improve?
• On-site, Technical, Content, Off-site
• How much effort is it going to take?
• Breakdown monthly optimisation tasks
1
2
3
4
5
6
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6
Start Putting Your Strategy Together
47. @jasonmun
Plug the Gaps
Homepage
Category Category
Sub-categorySub-categorySub-category
ProductProductProductProduct Product
Category Blog
Blog Posts
NEW Category
NEW Sub-category
Expand your IA to
target more
keywords
48. @jasonmun
Here’s WHY
Type of page % of Traffic Example URL
Category pages 7% yourwebsite.com.au/jeans
Sub-Category pages 35% yourwebsite.com.au/jeans/skinny-jeans
Homepage 40% yourwebsite.com.au
Misc. pages 5% yourwebsite.com.au/about-us
Product pages 13% yourwebsite.com.au/levis-501-mens-skinny-jeans
Aggregated data of 50 e-commerce websites in various niches
49. @jasonmun
Type of page % of Traffic Example URL
Category pages 7% yourwebsite.com.au/jeans
Sub-Category pages 35% yourwebsite.com.au/jeans/skinny-jeans
Homepage 40% yourwebsite.com.au
Misc. pages 5% yourwebsite.com.au/about-us
Product pages 13% yourwebsite.com.au/levis-501-mens-skinny-jeans
(Sub)Category Pages are Huge Traffic Drivers
Aggregated data of 50 e-commerce websites in various niches
51. @jasonmun
It is the first interaction a user has with your website in the SERPs.
An opportunity to elevator pitch and encourage them to click-through
• Target keyword in the title tag
• Title tag limit: 60 characters
• Meta description limit: 155 characters
• Include unique selling propositions
• Have strong call-to-actions
• Communicate intent
• Every page should have UNIQUE meta-data
Title Tag & Meta Description Optimisation
OLD:
NEW:
52. @jasonmun
Scaling Title Tag Sitewide
Page Type Format Example
Category Pages Category Online in Country - Website Women’s Dresses Online in Australia – Prinzess
Category by Brand - Website Women’s Sneakers by Nike – Prinzess
CTA + Category – Website Shop Women’s Dresses Online in Australia – Prinzess
Category | USP - Website Women’s Sneakers by Nike | FREE Shipping - Prinzess
Product Pages CTA + Product Name – Website Shop Levi’s Mile High Super Skinny Jeans - Prinzess
Product Name | USP – Website Levi’s Mile High Super Skinny Jeans | FREE Shipping
CTA + Product Name by Brand – Website Shop Mile High Super Skinny Jean by Levi’s – Prinzess
CTA + Product Name | Serial Number - Website Shop Sony Bravia 50” LED TV | SB2364 - MyNextTelly
Repeat the same for meta-descriptions
54. @jasonmun
Fix Up Technical Kinks
https://www.slideshare.net/jasonmun1/technical-seo-for-ecommerce-websites
• Technical SEO is extremely important, especially with websites
that have thousands of pages
• There isn’t an E-commerce platform out there that is perfect
from a SEO perspective
• Most important issues to look out for:
1. Crawl budget and indexation issues
2. Duplicate and thin content
3. Structured data & rich snippets
4. Automatic IP Redirect
5. Hreflang tags
6. 404 errors
7. PageSpeed
8. Mobile friendliness
59. @jasonmun
Control the Bots
Homepage Category Sub-Category Faceted / Filtering Internal Search Result Pages
4 84 4 8
Crawl
&
Index
Crawl
&
Index
Crawl
&
Index
DO NOT
Crawl & Index
DO NOT
Crawl & Index
64. @jasonmun
Product Descriptions
Treat your product pages the same you would a landing page,
make it the best landing page of the planet
Demonstrate strong Expertise-Authority-Trustworthiness
• DO NOT use default descriptions from manufacturers
• Unique write up of product / service
• Detailed description of what to expect
• Encourage testimonials or reviews
• Good quality images and videos
• Answer most commonly asked questions
• Mark it up with Schema for rich snippets
This is how you increase content depth
https://www.snapagency.com/ecommerce-web-design-guide
67. @jasonmun
• 366 words of product description
• Multiple high quality images
• 43x product reviews
• Frequently asked questions
• Product video
• 137 words of product description
• Single product image
68. @jasonmun
Category Descriptions
Category and sub-category pages of an E-commerce website are
where you target popular and high search volume keywords.
Category descriptions help search engines determine relevance
and keyword targeting
• Aim for 150 – 200 words
• Include target keyword and semantically relevant secondary
keywords
• Explain product offering and explain why users should buy
from you
• Detail down unique selling propositions and call-to-actions
• Keep it short & punchy!
• Internal link to relevant & complimentary categories and
products
https://www.snapagency.com/ecommerce-web-design-guide
80. @jasonmun
Content Hubs
Jeans
Skinny Jeans vs Straight Jeans
How to Wear Boyfriend Jeans
How to Wear Ripped Jeans Like a Celebrity
How to Wash Your Jeans
Content hubs or buying guides are great additions to an E-
commerce website. They add depth, expertise and authority to
the website.
• Content topics should be RELEVANT
• Content topics have to be USEFUL
• Convince and help users to make an informed decision
• Inspire users to WANT
• Internal link to relevant category and product pages of the
website
Build out content hubs based on your growth forecast and priority!
87. @jasonmun
Overdose Digital // Digital Commerce Agency
Jason Mun
Director of Search & Insights
@jasonmun / jasonmun.com
https://overdose.digital
http://au.linkedin.com/in/jason-mun-8698a13
Slides Available at
jasonmun.com/sms19