The Impact of Technical SEO on Your Ecommerce Store

In ecommerce, having a visually appealing and user-friendly website is just the beginning.

To really land customers, your ecommerce business needs to be optimised for search engines. The process of optimising it is called SEO, and technical SEO is what we are going to focus on today.

In this article, we’ll talk about how technical SEO can impact your ecommerce store. We’ll talk about the importance of site structure, page speed and mobile compatibility. We’ll also look at the ways partnering with an ecommerce SEO agency or an ecommerce SEO company can help your business.

What Does Technical SEO Include?

Technical SEO, as the name might suggest, refers to the optimisation of your website’s technical aspects. This optimisation is done with the intent of improving your site’s ranking position in organic search results.

Technical SEO involves a vast range of practices, but we’re going to look at a few.

1. Site Structure: A well-organised site is easier for search engines to crawl and index.  To ensure your site structure is attractive to search engines, you need to have a clear hierarchy, logical product categories, a well-thought-out internal linking system and content-rich product pages.
2. Page Speed: Fast-loading pages are essential for both user experience and search engine rankings. Technical SEO looks at your ecommerce store’s page loading time, keeping it low to reduce bounce rates.
3. Mobile Compatibility: Online shoppers are relying more and more on their mobiles for browsing. So, your site must be mobile-optimised. Technical SEO will ensure your site is easy to browse and navigate on mobile.
4. Structured Data: Structured data helps search engines understand the content of your pages better. This can increase the chances of your site appearing in Google functions like structured snippets, which can help land your site more clicks.
5. Security: Ensuring that your ecommerce platform is secure (e.g., using HTTPS) is important for protecting customer data and building trust with potential customers.
6. SEO Audit: Conducting regular SEO audits helps identify and fix technical issues that could be negatively impacting your site’s performance.

Why Is Technical SEO Important?

Technical SEO is the foundation of a successful ecommerce website.

Here’s why it’s so important:

• Improved Crawling and Indexing: A technically optimised site is easier for search engines to crawl and index. This can lead to better visibility in search engines.
• Better User Experience: By improving page speed and mobile compatibility, technical SEO offers users a better experience. A better experience means users might be tempted to stick around longer, which could lead to increased conversion rates for your shop.
• Higher Rankings: Search engines love ecommerce websites that provide high-quality, fast and secure experiences. Technical SEO helps your site meet these criteria, which can move your site up through the rankings.
• Increased Organic Traffic: Better rankings lead to increased organic traffic, which brings the all-important customers to your site!

How to Improve Technical SEO

Improving technical SEO involves several steps:

1. A Thorough SEO Audit: An SEO audit will find any technical issues that are affecting your ecommerce website. Tools like Google Search Console can help pinpoint problems such as crawl errors, broken links, and duplicate content. Once we know where the errors are, we can make a plan to fix them.
2. Optimise Site Structure: Your site needs a clear, logical structure. Categories and subcategories should be used effectively, and a robust internal linking strategy is essential.
3. Improve Page Speed: Compressing images, browser caching and using a content delivery network (CDN) can improve page speed. Tools like Google Page Speed Insights can give recommendations.
4. Ensure Mobile Compatibility: Responsive design will ensure your site functions well on all devices. Your site should be tested on devices of all sizes.
5. Implement Structured Data: Use schema markup to help search engines understand your content better.
6. Secure Your Site: Ensure your site uses HTTPS to protect customer data and build trust. An SSL certificate is essential for any ecommerce store.

The impact on your website

Improving your site’s technical SEO is crucial for achieving and maintaining higher rankings in search engine results. Technical SEO ensures that search engines can easily crawl, index, and understand your website’s content, directly influencing your site’s visibility and ranking positions.

Without proper technical SEO, even the best content and a strong backlink profile may not be enough to secure and sustain top rankings. Issues such as poor site structure, slow page speeds, and lack of mobile optimisation can severely hinder your site’s performance, making it difficult to rank well, regardless of other SEO efforts.

Therefore, investing in technical SEO is essential not only to climb the rankings but also to keep your site competitive and relevant in the long term.

The Role of Ecommerce SEO Services

Partnering with an ecommerce SEO agency can massively improve your store’s performance. Technical SEO agencies can create a comprehensive ecommerce SEO strategy, which will include tasks like:

• SEO Audits: Identifying and fixing technical issues that could be affecting your site’s performance.
• Custom SEO Strategies: Developing a tailored ecommerce SEO strategy that aligns with your business goals.
• Continuous Optimisation: Regular monitoring and optimising will ensure your site remains competitive.

Case Studies: The Impact of Technical SEO on Ecommerce Businesses

Several of our ecommerce clients have seen significant improvements after implementing technical SEO strategies:

1. One of our clients, an outdoor toy company, saw a 21% increase in organic revenue after our technical SEO services helped bring 40% more organic traffic to their site.
2. We also offer technical SEO for an online furniture client. That client has seen a 25% increase in revenue along with a 30% reduction in CPA.
3. In the bespoke jewellery industry, our client saw a 52% increase in revenue and a massive 50% increase in average order value.

Conclusion

Technical SEO is an essential strategy for ecommerce stores.

It involves optimising various technical aspects of your ecommerce store, such as site structure, page speed and mobile compatibility, to improve search engine rankings and user experience.

By partnering with an ecommerce SEO company, you can ensure your online store is well-optimised, secure, and ready to attract (and convert!) potential customers. Investing in technical SEO boosts your search engine visibility but also improves the overall performance of your ecommerce website, leading to increased online sales.

Technical SEO, however, is more than just a one-time task. It’s an ongoing process that demands regular attention and effort. By staying updated with the latest SEO trends and continuously improving your site’s technical aspects, an SEO agency can help you get a competitive edge.