Few businesses stand to gain from correct SEO strategies as online stores/e-commerce sites. These are sites where products/services can be directly bought. Good SEO for these sites results in larger income for the business. However, these practices are always evolving in response to many factors including search algorithms and user preferences among others. Below is a list of the most dominant trends that are coming out strongly in 2016.
- Out-of-the-box SEO
These are third-party technologies, which are developing as rapidly as search engines change their search criteria. Some of them include tools, apps and widgets which webmasters can use with minimal input to improve search performance. A few of these include tools for template web design so that sites go live with on-site optimization already in place. However, even with these tools, knowledgeable input is necessary to customize elements, such as rich snippets, title tags and navigation for best results.
- Long-form content
For a long time in the past, e-commerce site product pages were characterized by short-form content which presented unique SEO challenges – all you had was product titles, brief descriptions, some images and reviews. However, search engines have evolved to favour long-form content virtually everywhere including for e-commerce sites. Therefore, product pages should provide detailed descriptions with long tail keywords consisting of conversational phrases and higher market differentiation. Each page MUST be unique. You can pick creative topics to give long-form content without unnecessary embellishment.
- High shareability
With the rise and popularity of social media, its importance to online websites has become cemented. In fact, more than half of business owners have shown better returns with social media marketing in addition to SEO, and many more are working towards increasing their social marketing budgets.
This trend can be expected to increase as more users sign up for more social media platforms. New technologies like Instagram and Snapchat are changing the pace on online social communication, so it is no longer enough to have just Facebook and Twitter. Applied to SEO experts, product pages and content should therefore be optimized to allow high shareability, depending on your target demographic. Create content that will be useful to your target demographic, and encourage social sharing all through the shopping and checkout process. They can share products as well as reviews. The idea is to keep them engaged with your site even when they are browsing their social media pages.
