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SEO

Our huge library of search engine optimization articles addresses strategies and tactics for ecommerce businesses. Our 12-part “How-to” series explains the basics. Advanced topics include faceted navigation, crawling and indexing, cross-border optimization, and much more.

Keyword Research | Link Building | On-page SEO | SEO Tools | Technical SEO
  • SEO

    SEO Consequences of Negative Reviews

    November 30, 2010 •

    An alarming new flavor of search engine optimization surfaced on Friday when The New York Times reported on DecorMyEyes, an unscrupulous eyewear etailer who goads customers into writing negative reviews for SEO benefit. Nothing boosts a well-crawled site’s rankings higher than an infusi...

  • SEO

    SEO Report Card: 877MyJuicer.com

    November 17, 2010 •

    Andrew Casey, founder and CEO of 877MyJuicer.com, asked for an "SEO Report Card" for his site. As always, I’m happy to oblige. Andrew started this business in 2004 by selling juicers on eBay. Over the past 6 years, he has grown his startup into a million dollar company with its own e...

  • Keyword Research

    Supercharge Your Opera, Firefox Web Searches with Search-Preference Keywords

    November 5, 2010 •

    Every major web browser allows users to conduct a web search directly from its address bar. But Opera and Firefox take this convenient shortcut a step further, allowing folks to search several different sites or engines directly from a single spot. For professionals who work on the Int...

  • Link Building

    Bing Social Search: Are ‘Likes’ the New Links?

    October 28, 2010 •

    Organic search revolves increasingly around personalization, delivering relevance not just to a searcher’s literal query, but also to the implied intent, geographic location, and historical preferences. Earlier this month Bing took another step toward integrating Facebook’s social dat...

  • SEO

    Ask an Expert: Subdomains, Subdirectories and SEO Implications

    October 20, 2010 •

    "Ask an Expert" is an occasional feature where we ask ecommerce experts questions from online merchants. For this installment, we address a series of questions on the proper use of subdomains. For the answers, we turn to Michael Stearns, CEO of the Internet marketing and design company...

  • On-page SEO

    Shopping Cart FAQ: How to Evaluate SEO Effectiveness

    October 14, 2010 •

    Editor's Note: We are excited to debut "Shopping Cart FAQ," our monthly column aimed at merchants who are evaluating shopping carts. Merchants frequently have different priorities for their carts. Some may seek specialized merchandizing features, others may seek customized shipping inte...

  • SEO

    SEO Report Card: AxisLabs.net

    October 4, 2010 •

    In this month's “SEO Report Card,” I'll look at the website for Axis Labs, a company that produces and sells nutritional supplements. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, this private company went international in 2006 and now distributes to six of the seven continents. Axis Labs curren...

  • Technical SEO

    SEO: Understanding Advanced Search Operators

    September 30, 2010 •

    Let’s face it, the engines control search. They may keep tight-lipped control of their algorithmic secrets, but they also provide their users with tools that SEO practitioners can use to understand how the engines see their sites. These advanced operators offer a peek behind the curtain...

  • Link Building

    SEO: 5 Ecommerce Link-Building Ideas

    September 24, 2010 •

    To obtain good organic rankings in the search engines, web pages need inbound links. This is because search engines look for some way to determine how to rank one page over another. They look for some sort of indication of quality, some sort of "approval" that one ecommerce product page...

  • SEO

    Google Instant: 9 Frequently Asked Questions

    September 21, 2010 •

    Roughly half of the visitors to an ecommerce site come from search engines, typically. And when those search engines change the method in which consumers search for online products, the effect on ecommerce merchants can be dramatic. Enter Google Instant, the new auto-fill search proces...

  • SEO

    Google ‘Instant’ a Game Changer?

    September 17, 2010 •

    Last week, Google introduced "Instant," a feature that predicts searchers’ queries as they type them and streams the results for that predicted query onto the results page in real time. Google announced Instant on its blog, at "Search: now faster than the speed of type." Google Instan...

  • Technical SEO

    SEO: Unique Content Good for Search Engines, Good for Consumers

    September 3, 2010 •

    Unique, valuable content is a critical part of a successful SEO strategy. That is especially the case for ecommerce sites that utilize non-unique stock product descriptions from the manufacturer’s database. But, I’m often asked if there’s a faster, cheaper, free way to generate content....

  • Link Building

    Ask an Expert: Do No-Follow Links Help with SEO?

    August 16, 2010 •

    "Ask an Expert" is an occasional feature where we ask ecommerce experts questions from online merchants. For this installment, we address a question about the search-engine-optimization value to no-follow links on social bookmarking sites, such as Digg and StumbleUpon. The question come...

  • SEO

    SEO for Anti-SEO Business Models

    July 29, 2010 •

    I recently changed SEO jobs. I went from an agency that manages clients' search-engine-optimization efforts, to an in-house SEO manager for a single company. I knew previously, from working with many ecommerce clients, that business models and product offerings have an impact on SEO suc...

  • Technical SEO

    The PEC Review: Online Image Optimizer Speeds Load Times

    July 26, 2010 •

    A slow-loading retail site is akin to the store clerk who ignores you in a brick-and-mortar shop. On a recent trip, I stopped at a small antique store. My wife and I entered the store, walked around for about 20 minutes, examined dozens of items, and never once during the entire experi...

  • SEO

    SEO Report Card: Woot.com

    July 23, 2010 •

    For this month’s “SEO Report Card,” I thought I would do something different and review a site that didn’t request it. The site I chose, Woot.com, is near and dear ...

  • Keyword Research

    SEO: Keyword Research and Analysis

    June 22, 2010 •

    Editor’s Note: is a contributor to Practical eCommerce and the owner of BillHartzer.com, a Dallas-based online marketing firm. Hartzer wrote the article, below, which first appeared in that company’s blog. Keyword research is one of the most important parts of online marketing. Somet...

  • SEO

    SEO Report Card: United States Golf Association, Photo Store Website

    June 16, 2010 •

    This month in “SEO Report Card,” I’ll be reviewing the photo store for the United States Golf Association Museum website. This was at the request of Robert Sabin, the president ...

  • Technical SEO

    Google Changes Search-Results Page, How Merchants Can Benefit

    May 25, 2010 •

    Google has made some major changes to its search results recently, adding more options for searchers. These are not changes to search algorithms, which determine the websites that show up, and where. Rather, the new changes give searchers options that allow them to tailor the type of s...

  • Technical SEO

    The PEC Review: Speedtest.net

    May 17, 2010 •

    Most ecommerce merchants are digital natives, spending hours each day online, managing orders, marketing, or just staying ahead of the competition. When so much of your working day is spent on the Internet, even modest changes in upload and download speeds can have a major impact on pr...

  • Technical SEO

    SEO MAYDAY: Analyzing the Impact of Algorithmic Changes

    May 13, 2010 •

    Google makes periodic adjustments to its algorithm that determines organic search results. It likely does this each day, using small adjustments, to avoid large-scale mayhem that infrequent adjustments would presumably cause. Recently, however, many SEO professionals have detected dram...

  • SEO

    SEO Report Card: Springbok-Puzzles.com

    May 10, 2010 •

    In this installment of "SEO Report Card," we'll be looking at Springbok-Puzzles.com. Springbok is a well-known brand among jigsaw puzzle aficionados. Allied Products is behind the Springbok Puzzles brand, having acquired the rights in 2002 from Hallmark, who used to sell the brand exclu...

  • On-page SEO

    The PEC Review: Page Speed

    May 10, 2010 •

    Site performance or speed is a key factor in improving sales conversions. How quickly your website loads may be the difference between making a sale or losing a potential customer. For example, 52 percent of respondents to a 2009 study from Akamai and Forrester Research said that page ...

  • Link Building

    Combine Search Engines and Social Media for Link Building

    April 27, 2010 •

    I recently spoke at an Internet marketing conference about that state of search engine optimization in 2010. One of the points that I made during the presentation is that search engines and social media networks are converging. In 2010, if you want to rank well in the search engines, yo...

  • On-page SEO

    Search Engine Optimization in 2010: What You Need to Know Now

    April 21, 2010 •

    Editor’s Note: is a contributor to Practical eCommerce and the owner of BillHartzer.com, a Dallas-based online marketing firm. Hartzer wrote the article, below, which first appeared in that company’s blog. If you want to use search engine optimization best practices, or want to get u...

  • Technical SEO

    SEO: Google Ranks Site Speed, Too

    April 19, 2010 •

    In its continuing quest to provide searchers with the best possible search experience, Google announced last week that site speed is now a signal in its search ranking algorithms. Along with the hundreds of other signals, like link popularity and keyword relevance, Google is now factori...

  • Technical SEO

    Search Engine Optimization Overkill

    March 31, 2010 •

    Editor’s Note: is a contributor to Practical eCommerce and the owner of BillHartzer.com, a Dallas-based online marketing firm. Hartzer wrote the article, below, which first appeared on his website, BillHartzer.com. Are you using search engine optimization tactics that lead to overkil...

  • Keyword Research

    Test: Mobile Search Results For Popular Retail-Shopping Keywords

    March 25, 2010 •

    The number of mobile users is increasing at a far greater rate, it seems, than the number of mobile sites. But some merchants have already begun reacting to the mobile web by optimizing their sites for these devices. In order to get a feel for the current status of the mobile ecommerc...

  • SEO

    SEO Report Card: Hybrid-racing.com Combines WordPress, Magento

    March 23, 2010 •

    The co-owner of Hybrid-racing.com, Will Davidson, requested a search-engine-optimization site review. I'm happy to oblige. The first thing that struck me was that WordPress was the main "wrapper" for the site, powering the home page, tech articles, gallery, blog, and product informatio...

  • SEO Tools

    Google Product Search: Creating a Data Feed

    March 17, 2010 •

    Editor's Note: This is our monthly installment of "Everything Google," a feature on products and services from Google that can help ecommerce merchants. The author is Bill Hartzer, the owner of BillHartzer.com, a SEO, pay-per-click and ecommerce consulting firm in Dallas. Google Produ...

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