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SEO For Adobe Commerce: Best Practices + 4 Bonus Tips to Boost Your Store's Visibility

  • DATE PUBLISHED (31/0/2023)
  • READ TIME (5MIN)

SEO is crucial in driving traffic and sales to an eCommerce website. Amazon is a prime example of this – their eCommerce SEO strategy has contributed to their impressive $11K revenue per second. According to SimilarWeb, a significant portion of Amazon's traffic and sales come from organic searches, accounting for 26% of their overall traffic. Amazon's success didn't happen overnight – their search traffic has grown consistently year after year.

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Top traffic sources to amazon, as shared on Similarweb

This shows the importance of investing in a solid SEO for Adobe Commerce. Optimizing your website for search engines can increase your visibility, attract more qualified traffic, and ultimately drive more sales.

Why is SEO such a Game-changer for eCommerce?

Did you know that 47% of people start their online shopping journey with a google search?

To be discovered through any search engine’s organic search results, there is a process to optimize the content. That process is what we know as SEO. Organic search is, most often, the primary source of website traffic. Now there are three main reasons why marketers consider SEO important - 

  1. Traffic from optimizing for the search engines is free.

  2. Once a business ranks high in search engine results, the traffic will be consistent.

  3. It presents an opportunity to reach massive audiences on Google (or any other search engine) which is otherwise impossible.

What is SEO in eCommerce?

How is eCommerce SEO different from regular website SEO? First, it’s important to understand that the SEO fundamentals never change. 

eCommerce websites differ from general website types like service sites or blogs in terms of URL structure and website architecture; the approach to building a strategy will change by a few steps. 

Here are the few things that differentiate eCommerce SEO from optimization practices in general -

  1. The main focus is on Home Page and Category Page

  2. The architecture of the Website - Site Hierarchy and User Navigation matters

  3. The Keyword research process - In eCommerce, the focus is on the keywords with buying intent rather than the informational keywords.

  4. UGC content matters - A proper strategy is needed to include customer reviews, and testimonials.

  5. SE optimization (for home and category pages) and Conversion optimization (for product pages) are required for an eCommerce website.

  6. Complete Optimization of Product Images

  7. Approach for writing Title and description changes in eCommerce SEO.

  8. Identifying the right Schema data - Generally, we use schema markups to share extra information about the website. In eCommerce websites, it’s important to identify the right schema data like - reviews, site links, or breadcrumbs.

You might think your product is good enough to sell itself. However, while the quality of your product makes a difference in customer retention and loyalty, it will not necessarily drive acquisition. 

To attract the maximum amount of organic traffic, your entire site needs to serve your SEO goals, and you need an eCommerce platform capable of supporting them.

Is Adobe Commerce Well Positioned for SEO?

Adobe Commerce is a leader in intelligent eCommerce, and businesses can provide customers with personalized content and curated product recommendations. Adobe Commerce is well positioned for SEO due to its powerful built-in features, integrations with third-party SEO tools, and strong developer community. 

The platform includes customizable URL structures, meta tags, and sitemaps and integrates with tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These features and integrations can help improve your eCommerce website's search engine visibility and ranking and provide valuable data and insights for optimizing your website's SEO.

How is Content Managed with Adobe Commerce?

Adobe Commerce store optimization is made easy with a powerful extension called Page Builder. It is responsible for managing content on the online store. This extension provides a range of features that make it easy to create and customize content for your site. With Page Builder, you can drag and drop pre-built content elements, use the form editor to customize the content, and preview your changes in real-time on the storefront. This allows you to quickly and easily create professional-looking content for your online store.

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Adobe Commerce's content management system is designed to help you create content in an SEO-friendly manner. The system includes features that allow you to easily add structured content to your pages, including insertable headings, blocks, banners, dividers, and HTML elements. You can also use CMS Pages, widgets, and other plugins & SEO tools for Adobe Commerce to easily insert content into various pages on your site, including product and listing pages. 

Additionally, the system allows you to easily add meta titles, meta descriptions, and alt text to images, all of which can help improve the SEO of your content. However, Adobe Commerce does not offer a built-in blog or FAQ management solution, so you may need to acquire a third-party integration to add these types of content to your site.

What are the Adobe Commerce Best SEO Practices?

Let's uncover the secrets of boosting your Adobe Commerce website's search engine rankings. First, we will help you understand the best practices to optimize a store for top Google results and drive more organic traffic.

We have also added some insider tips in the later section on how to do SEO for the Adobe Commerce website. 

1. Search Engine Friendly URLs

Adobe Commerce gives complete control over the management of the URL system so that your store gets the most traffic in the long run. But first, let’s understand why it is so important to optimize URLs in eCommerce.

A URL can be used to define the hierarchy of an eCommerce website by organizing the content into a logical structure that reflects the relationships between different pages. For example, you might use a URL structure like -

www.example.com/category/subcategory/product

It indicates that the product page is a sub-page of the subcategory page, which is, in turn, a sub-page of the category page. 

This helps search engines understand your content's hierarchy and can improve your website's visibility in search results. It can also make it easier for users to navigate your site and find the products they're looking for.

Here are 2 important tips to remember when structuring a URL -

  • Include keywords in your URL structure. Adding descriptive and relevant keywords that you want that page to rank for can help search engines understand what your pages are about and improve the visibility of your website in search results.

  • Use clean URLs. Long URLs with a lot of parameters and session IDs can be difficult for users to understand and remember. They can also be challenging for search engines to index and crawl. On the other hand, shorter URLs are more likely to include relevant keywords and are more accessible for crawlers to process.

TIP: If you have to use a URL with a lot of parameters or a session ID, you can use mod_rewrite or similar tools to create a redirect from a clean URL. This can improve the user experience and make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your pages.

What are 301 redirects?

A 301 redirect is a way to tell the internet that a page or website has moved to a new location. Let’s take an example. For example, you want to retire a popular product (red sneakers) from your store and replace it with a new version.

To ensure that customers can still find the new version, you use a 301 redirect to automatically redirect users from the old product page to the new one. This helps improve the user experience and search engine visibility of the store.

Now the obvious question is, how does it affect SEO? 

  • Consolidating Link Equity: A 301 redirect can help preserve the ranking power of a page that has been moved to a new location.

  • Updating Search Engine Indexes: A 301 redirect can help search engines discover and index a page that has been moved to a new location more quickly.

You can use the built-in redirect management tool to create a 301 redirect in Adobe Commerce. This tool allows you to specify the old URL and the new URL for the redirect, as well as set options for the type of redirect (e.g., 301, 302, etc.) and the status code for the redirect.

Here's a quick step-by-step guide for creating a 301 redirect in Adobe Commerce manually:

  1. Log in to your Adobe Commerce account and navigate the redirect management tool.

  2. Click on the "Add New Redirect" button.

  3. In the "Old URL" field, enter the URL of the page you want to redirect.

  4. In the "New URL" field, enter the URL of the new location for the page.

  5. Select "301" as the type of redirect.

  6. Select "Permanent" as the status code for the redirect.

  7. Click the "Save" button to create the redirect.

2. Image Optimization

Have you ever visited an eCommerce store and been frustrated by how slow the images were to load? Image optimization can help fix that problem. It's the process of making image files smaller without sacrificing their quality. This can help eCommerce websites run faster and provide a better experience for visitors. 

The alt and title attributes of an image are basically the textual descriptions commonly referred to as 'alt tag' or 'alt text' and created for SEO purposes.

Alt text, specifically, is used by screen users. It is a short description of an image displayed when the image cannot be displayed (e.g. if the image file is broken or the user is using a screen reader). Adding alt text to images can help search engines understand a page's content and improve the page's search engine visibility.

Why is Alt Text Important for SEO? 

Alt text is important for SEO because it helps search engines understand the context of an image. Consider an online apparel store. It has an image of a red sweater on a product page. By adding alt text that describes the sweater as "red," the store can help search engines understand that the page is about a red sweater. This may improve the page's ranking in search results for queries related to red sweaters.

How to Add an Alt Attribute in Adobe Commerce? 

In Adobe Commerce, you can add alt text to images by editing the image properties in the media library. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Adobe Commerce account and navigate to the media library.

  2. Find the image to which you want to add alt text and click on it to open the image properties.

  3. In the "Alt Text" field, enter a short image description.

  4. Click the "Save" button to update the image properties.

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Here are two tips for optimizing images on eCommerce stores for SEO:

  1. Don't include the same information in alt text as the surrounding text on the page. Often, images are just illustrations of points made in the text, so there's no need to repeat the information in the alt text.

  2. It's okay to leave alt text blank for an image if the image doesn't have any purpose or if the same information is already in the text on the page. It will look like this - <img src="image.png" alt="">

  3. Use appropriate image formats for different types of images. For example, use JPEG for photographs and PNG for images with transparent backgrounds.

3. User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) can be a game-changer for eCommerce businesses. It's content created by customers, not the brand, and can include reviews, ratings, photos, and videos.

UGC is valuable because it helps build trust with potential customers. Seeing that other customers have had positive experiences with a brand can be incredibly persuasive. Plus, UGC can be shared and spread through social media and other channels, helping to boost a brand's visibility. 

  1. UGC can improve the quality and relevance of a website's content, which can be attractive to users and search engines.

  2. Such content builds a website's credibility and authority, improving its ranking in search results.

  3. UGC can generate inbound links to a website.

  • Other websites may link back to UGC content on the website as a reference or resource.

  • Users may share reviews on their websites or social media profiles, which can also generate inbound links.

  • UGC can be promoted or featured on other websites, generating inbound links.

Here are some recommendations for managing User Generated Content (UGC) on Adobe Commerce -

  • Advanced Review Management: Moderates, manages, and displays customer reviews on Adobe Commerce websites.

  • Customer Reviews for Magento 2: Manages customer reviews on Adobe Commerce websites.

  • Product Questions and Answers: Allows customers to ask and answer questions about products on Adobe Commerce websites.

4. HTML Tags, Schema, and Structured Data

Meta tags, schema, and structured data are secret messages for search engines. They provide extra information about a page that isn't necessarily visible to users visiting the page. This helps search engines understand the content better without disturbing the user experience.

Think of it as a way for your website to whisper behind-the-scenes information to search engines, so they can understand your content more accurately and give you a better ranking in search results.

Meta Titles and Descriptions 

Title tags are an important factor in helping search engines understand the content of a webpage, according to Moz.

On the other hand, meta descriptions are not directly used in Google's ranking algorithms, but they hold an important position in the Adobe Commerce SEO checklist due to their impact on CTR from search results.

Therefore, page titles should be around 65 characters to avoid being cut off in SERPs. In comparison, meta descriptions are limited to 160 characters based on the average length shown in search results.

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Schema, Structured Data, and Rich Snippets

  • Schema is basically a form of microdata that is tasked to convey to the search engine what the content of the webpage is about. 

For example, schema markup can help search engines understand what the stars or numbers mean if you list reviews or pricing on a page. Imagine if search engines couldn't understand your reviews – they'd be like reading a foreign language!

  • Structured data is like a cheat sheet that supplies additional information on the content to the search engines. 

For example, structured data can help search engines understand what each piece of information means if you have a product page with lots of details and specifications. It's like having a map to help search engines navigate your webpage.

  • Rich snippets are the extra information search engines show in their results using your schema and structured data. They can make your search results stand out, like little gold stars or product ratings. 

For example, if you have a product with many positive reviews, rich snippets can show the average rating in your search results, helping it stand out from the competition. Rich snippets are not on your website – they're what search engines show in their results using your schema and structured data.

SEO Strategy that Will Boost Your eCommerce SEO Results

Keyword Research 

When it comes to selecting keywords, there are two different page types to focus - 

  • Category pages 

  • Product pages

The first step is to get a complete inventory of the product and category pages. You can easily export these pages from Adobe Commerce platform backend.

Or, you can just add - /sitemap.xml to the end of the store URL. It will show a full list of pages the search engine will crawl. You can prioritize these by the pages that are -

  • generating the highest revenue or 

  • generating the highest traffic for your store.

Once you have decided the pages to focus on, look for a head term as well as long tail variations. In general, a head term would be a more popular keyword with a higher search volume.

Long tails would likely have lower search volume but are modified variations of the head term.

It could be done with a paid tool where you can use keywords explorer. Add a seed keyword that’s broadly related to the niche (product/category). You can search for relevant keywords from the parent category that broadly match the type of products.

From this list, you can find some keywords that will fit the category pages, some will fit subcategories. Now you have to match up the best keywords with the current structure of the eCommerce site based on the types of products that you sell.

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Tip: Keyword research for branded product pages is a little different as you can leverage the brand name and product number in the keywords. Otherwise, it’s better to include more descriptive keywords for on-page optimization that are related to popular searches.

2 Must-have SEO Tactics for eCommerce Success

  1. Secure your website with HTTPs. Because you want to keep your customer information (not just credit card details but name, address, and other personal details) encrypted. It is important that all the pages in your e-commerce site are set up correctly. You do not want Chrome returning privacy error screens like - Your connection is not private. Google has also officially stated that HTTPS will be used as a ranking signal.

  2. Run a site audit to identify technical SEO issues. Ecommerce properties are one of the easiest types of websites to unintentionally create a mess of indexation and cannibalization issues because of the sheer size.

If you're looking to optimize your Adobe Commerce website for search engines, check out our comprehensive Adobe Commerce SEO best practices guide, which covers everything you need to know about how to set up your store for SEO success.

Add 4 Bonus Tricks to your Adobe Commerce SEO checklist to Boost your sales

Tip 1: Have the Content Relevant to Users at Different Stages of the Shopping Journey

For example, you might have content that helps users understand the features and benefits of your products, content that compares your products to similar market options and provides helpful tips and resources for using and caring for your products. 

By creating content that is relevant and helpful to users at different points in their decision-making process, you can guide them toward making a purchase and increase the chances of converting them into customers.

Tip 2: Markup Product Variants Correctly

For example, if you have a t-shirt in different sizes and colors, make sure each variation is marked up as a separate product with its unique URL. This helps search engines understand the different options available and makes it easier for users to find and compare them.

Tip 3: Preserve Deal Page URLs

For example, if you have a sale on a particular product and create a special landing page, keep the URL active even after the sale is over. This helps maintain the value of any links pointing to the page and can help improve the page's ranking in search results.

Tip 4: Understand that Ranking Signals Don’t Change Overnight

Changes to your website's content or structure might take a few months to impact your search rankings fully. To succeed with SEO for Adobe Commerce, be patient and give changes time to take effect. Avoid constantly altering your strategy, which can harm your rankings.

FAQs

Is Adobe Commerce Good for SEO?

Yes, Adobe Commerce is considered good for SEO. There are a variety of SEO tools for Adobe Commerce, and the platform itself offers rich features, such as customizable URLs, meta tags, and sitemaps, and allows for integrating various SEO extensions and plugins to enhance its SEO capabilities.

Which are the Best SEO Plugins for Adobe Commerce?

Several SEO plugins are popular among Adobe Commerce users. SEO-Friendly Images is one such plugin that helps improve the SEO of images on an Adobe Commerce website by automatically adding alt tags based on file names. Another popular plugin is Rich Snippets, which enhances the appearance of search results by adding structured data like product ratings and reviews to the HTML code.

Do Adobe Commerce Sites Rank Well?

Yes, Adobe Commerce websites generally rank well in search results. Adobe Commerce is a robust and SEO-friendly platform that provides a strong foundation for optimizing a website for search engines. 

Which is an SEO Friendly eCommerce Platform - Shopify or Adobe Commerce?

Both Shopify and Adobe Commerce offer a range of SEO-friendly features and tools that can help improve the search engine visibility of an eCommerce website. However, the best platform for SEO will depend on the specific website's needs & goals. Read the detailed blog above to know more about SEO for Adobe Commerce.