The barrier to launching an eShop is lower than before. Many IT companies now specialize in online-store development, with pricing ranging from a few thousand Hong Kong dollars to several hundred thousand. Competition is intense, and large eCommerce brands often spend millions each year promoting products. For small businesses, standing out at a lower cost can be challenging.
What is SEO?
If you do not have a large advertising budget, search engine optimization can help. Search engines are an important channel for users to discover information. Ranking differences affect exposure, traffic and how customers perceive a company. The higher a website ranks in search results, the more visibility it can gain.
Many people assume SEO only applies to content-heavy websites, but it can also be applied to eShops. Online stores should pay attention to the following points.
1. Add Structured Data
Use schema.org Product Markup
Google search results now include many shopping-related features, such as Product Knowledge Panels and Product Carousels. Product Knowledge Panels usually appear on the right side of desktop search results or near the top of mobile results, showing reviews or price comparisons. These panels are not fully controlled by merchants; their purpose is to help users preview eShop products.
Product Carousels, on the other hand, can be influenced by merchant data and can show detailed online-store product images. Adding Product Schema markup helps Google understand that a page should rank for product-related purchase keywords. This structured data gives search engines more product information so results can be displayed in a more useful way.
Popular Products Carousel
When you search for products from certain brands, Google may recommend popular products from that brand. This display is called the Popular Products Carousel. Users can filter product categories and colors, read reviews and compare prices without entering a website.
Merchants can help products appear in the carousel by adding Product Schema markup or submitting product feeds through Google Merchant Center. Following these steps can support better SEO performance for an online store.
2. Free Product Listings
Google opened free organic product listings in April 2020. Merchants need to upload a product feed to Google before products can appear in organic Google Shopping results. A product feed is usually an Excel, TXT or XML data file containing product information such as images, titles, product IDs and descriptions.
Another method is to use the Local surfaces across Google program in Google Merchant Center, which can make products appear across Google Search, Google Images, Google Shopping, Google Maps and Google Lens.
If products successfully appear in Google Shopping listings, they can reach customers who are already using Google to find products. These free features should be used carefully because they can support long-term eShop SEO performance.
There are many more ways to optimize online-store SEO. In the next article, we will explain evergreen content optimization and common pitfalls eShops should avoid.
Translation supported by AI.