Category

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
  • Google logo on a smartphone screen Technical SEO

    How to Generate Traffic from Google Discover

    December 2, 2021 •

    Google is not just a search engine. It's also a discovery engine. The difference is huge. Searchers have an idea of what they are looking for. They know what they need. But the discovery engine attempts to discern the interests of searchers regardless of their queries. In a sense, Google Discover informs searchers of what they need before they realize it.

  • Image of Google search on a tablet screen SEO Tools

    3 Ways Google’s Search Console Improves Organic Clicks

    November 25, 2021 •

    Google's Search Console is one of the most helpful search-engine-optimization tools. Moreover, Search Console provides data straight from the source: Google. It is also free. Here are three ways to use Search Console to generate more clicks from your organic listings.

  • Screenshot from YouTube of a video thumbnail reading "Which Laptop?" Technical SEO

    SEO: Google’s Video Carousels Are a Big Opportunity

    November 18, 2021 •

    Google's search result pages have greatly changed over the past decade. In addition to clickable listings, we now see highly visible, often interactive results in diverse formats. One of the newer sections is video carousels.

  • Image of Google logo under a magnifying glass Technical SEO

    Structured Snippets: The Low-hanging Fruit of SEO

    November 11, 2021 •

    I addressed rich snippets last week, explaining how they can enhance organic search listings for ecommerce product pages. Structured snippets are similar in concept, but they don't receive as much attention in the context of organic search. I'll address structured snippets in this post.

  • Image of a how-to video in a rich snippet Technical SEO

    Using Rich Snippets for Ecommerce Product Pages

    November 4, 2021 •

    Rich snippets are additional details in organic listings that stand out in search results. Ratings, prices, FAQs, videos — all are examples of rich snippets. "Structured markup" is programming code that creates rich snippets. Any website can contain structured markup — Schema.org is the most popular type.

  • Illustration with the words SEO Link Building

    Ask an Expert: Is Disavowing Spammy Backlinks Still Necessary for SEO?

    August 25, 2021 •

    “Ask an Expert” is an occasional feature where we pose questions to ecommerce practitioners. For this installment, we’ve turned to Bill Sebald, a longtime search engine optimizer, who addresses the effect of low-grade or spammy inbound links on organic search rankings.

  • Illustration of a male with a briefcase from Swisscows site SEO

    23 Search Engine Alternatives to Google

    August 23, 2021 •

    Google Search dominates global search with a market share of approximately 90%. However, alternative search engines offer many benefits, such as enhanced privacy, niche content and users, and new growth areas. Here is a list of alternative search engines.

  • Screenshot from GatherUp showing a male and female looking at a bicycle SEO Tools

    16 Tools to Manage Your Reputation

    July 20, 2021 •

    Reputation management is essential for any brand. Your company's future may depend on what’s been said about it in posts, comments, reviews, and rankings. Fortunately, there are affordable tools to help. Here is a list of tools to manage your brand’s reputation.

  • Screenshot from video of James Wirth and Armando Roggio Link Building

    CommerceCo Recap: A Process for SEO Link-building

    July 8, 2021 •

    Link building could be the most daunting search engine optimization task. It requires near equal portions of research, creativity, and outreach resembling cold calls. It's also critical for prominent organic search rankings.

  • Image of Bill Sebald and James Wirth Link Building

    CommerceCo Recap: SEO Link-building Is Hard

    June 10, 2021 •

    Link building is among the most important search engine optimization techniques. It is foundational and essential. Just about every successful commerce business wants or needs to build links, but it is hard to do well. Moreover, there is no easy way to "hack" link building.

  • Image of a smartphone with YouTube logo on the screen SEO Tools

    12 Tools for YouTube Search Optimization

    April 12, 2021 •

    YouTube is the second most visited website, after Google. Success on YouTube requires compelling videos, but it’s equally important to optimize them. Fortunately, there are tools to help. Here is a list of tools to optimize your video content on YouTube.

  • Illustration of gears with the letters SEO SEO Tools

    The SEO Benefits of Web Scraping

    April 6, 2021 •

    In "SEO for Google Shopping," I addressed the need to optimize product feeds. I stated that including keyword product descriptions and titles in the feeds was scalable with "scraping." But I didn't describe it further. In this post, I’ll explain scraping.

  • Screenshot of CommerceCo video interview with Bill Sebald SEO

    CommerceCo Recap: SEO Entities vs. Keywords

    March 31, 2021 •

    Some search engine optimizers believe “entities” have supplanted keywords as the foundation for organic rankings. But it doesn’t mean that keywords are irrelevant. Within SEO, entities are the people, places, things,

  • Illustration of computer devices with the word "Links" superimposed Technical SEO

    SEO: 10 FAQs for Internal Links

    March 9, 2021 •

    Internal links benefit search engine optimization. But knowing how to use them and understanding their value is not always clear. What follows are 10 frequently asked questions for internal-link management for SEO.

  • Image of a male and female in a podcast interview SEO

    10 SEO Tips for Podcasts

    February 23, 2021 •

    Podcasts have gone mainstream — 37 percent of Americans over the age of 12 listen to at least one podcast per month. But podcasts are often poorly optimized for search engines. Drive more organic search traffic to your podcast with these 10 tips.

  • Screenshot of Menard's dog food products Keyword Research

    SEO: Keyword Research for Product Content

    February 14, 2021 •

    For many commerce businesses — omnichannel retailers, ecommerce-only merchants, wholesalers — attracting a steady flow of site visitors from organic search results is vital for success. But achieving high rankings in those results requires optimizing a site with relevant content.

  • Screenshot of PageSpeed Insights Technical SEO

    SEO: Common Fixes to Core Web Vitals

    February 9, 2021 •

    Google stated in November that Core Web Vitals would become a ranking signal in May 2021. When Google announces such a change, heed the warning. The sooner you prepare, the better the chance of preserving or improving your organic search traffic.

  • ScImage of a smartphone with Google Shopping logo on the screen. SEO

    SEO for Google Shopping

    February 1, 2021 •

    Google has a storied history with services for ecommerce products. The first was Froogle. Then Google Base absorbed Froogle. Both provided a method for merchants to inform Google about their products to improve visibility in organic search results.

  • Image of bath bombs Technical SEO

    Don’t Overlook Technical SEO in 2021

    January 27, 2021 •

    Good ecommerce and blogging platforms should, by default, take care of most technical search engine optimization concerns. But this doesn't mean B2B and B2C ecommerce companies can ignore technical SEO in 2021.

  • Illustration of a person studying graphs on a computer screen SEO

    A Day in the Life of an SEO

    November 22, 2020 •

    Search engine optimizers are like black sheep in a family. Our work is often misunderstood. Colleagues wonder what we are doing or how we make money for the company. Why do we read blog posts all day, they sometimes ask? Success in organic search can be elusive.

  • Graphic of the letters S E O On-page SEO

    SEO: Excellent Content Moves Shoppers through the Funnel

    November 16, 2020 •

    Informational content such as buyers’ guides and how-to instructions can lure shoppers to your site while they’re in research mode. There, they could complete an action that delivers immediate or future value to your business. Examples include signing up for a newsletter, requesting more info, or the ultimate goal: purchasing a product.

  • Google logo on a magnifying glass SEO

    SEO: Google’s Product Knowledge Panels Drive Impressions (but Not for Amazon)

    November 9, 2020 •

    Every merchant wants to beat Amazon in Google's organic search listings. The easiest way? Upload data for placement in Google’s product knowledge panel. Product knowledge panels contain information you’d typically find on a product detail page, such as a product description, images, and reviews.

  • Image of a Google search bar on an iPhone Technical SEO

    SEO: What Google’s New Passage Indexing Means for Ecommerce

    November 5, 2020 •

    In its never-ending quest to improve search results, Google is extending natural language processing to "passage indexing," ranking individual sentences or phrases within a page. Google addressed this latest update in an October 15 blog post. The update will impact an estimated 7 percent of its search queries worldwide.

  • Image of wireframing process by designers On-page SEO

    Mobile Site Design Impacts Organic Search Rankings

    October 26, 2020 •

    The design of a mobile website impacts its ability to rank in organic search results. Mobile design controls the availability and readability of text, the usability of navigational elements, and even access to entire pages that are critical to organic performance.

  • Screenshot of Blue Nile engagement ring On-page SEO

    SEO: How to Move Skydivers through the Funnel

    October 20, 2020 •

    What happens when consumers parachute from organic search results and land on the page Google thinks is the most personally relevant? They skip as much as 95 percent of your prepared journey.

  • SEO - 5 Tips to Convert Visitors to Buyers On-page SEO

    SEO: 5 Tips to Convert Visitors to Buyers

    October 13, 2020 •

    Search engine optimization focuses on driving consumers to your site. But traffic alone doesn't pay the bills. Success depends on converting those visitors to customers. Use these five tips to convert more searchers into buyers.

  • Image of a magnifying class and computer screen Technical SEO

    ‘Domain Age Impacts Rankings’ (and 8 Other SEO Myths)

    October 5, 2020 •

    Many myths surround the complex signals that search engines use to determine organic rankings. In this post, I'll debunk nine such myths and share the four factors that matter.

  • SEO How to Target High-demand Keywords (or Not) Keyword Research

    SEO: How to Target High-demand Keywords (or Not)

    September 28, 2020 •

    Search engine optimization often has lofty goals, such as ranking on page one for a high-demand phrase. How can you reach a seemingly impossible objective? The sites that rank on the first page of the search results are Google's assessment of the best options.

  • FAQ Snippets Expand Organic Search Visibility Technical SEO

    FAQ Snippets Expand Organic Search Visibility

    September 22, 2020 •

    There is one rich snippet that has become increasingly popular: frequently asked questions. An FAQ snippet expands a listing's real estate in organic search results. It's based on implementing FAQ Schema in the code.

  • SEO- 9 Tips for Brand-friendly Content SEO

    SEO: 9 Tips for Brand-friendly Content

    September 8, 2020 •

    Branded marketing content and excellent organic search rankings are not mutually exclusive. Content is among the most subjective aspects of search engine optimization. It has also become the most important. And the best content is unique, well-written, and relevant. Here are nine tips to get started.

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