Shopify SEO Step-by-Step Guide 2023 with 10 Tips

Your online store can’t operate at its maximum potential without effective optimization for a strong online presence. The way to achieve this is with the help of search engine optimization, or SEO. You can increase the exposure of your Shopify website, increase organic traffic, and eventually boost sales by putting good Shopify SEO strategies into practice.

Whether you're just starting out or looking to improve your current SEO efforts, this guide will give you the tools and knowledge you need to succeed with solidifying the online presence of your Shopify store.

Table of Contents

• What Is Search Engine Optimization for Shopify?
• Shopify Technical SEO
• Shopify On-Page SEO
• Shopify Off-Page SEO
• How to Improve SEO on Shopify with 10 Proven Tips
• Getting Started with Shopify SEO in 2023

What Is Search Engine Optimization for Shopify?

By 2024, 2.14 billion people will use the internet to buy goods and services, according to Statista. This translates into a large untapped market and potential for physical as well as online businesses.

And when you try to sell online, you have a pressing issue to address: How do you attract people to your store?

The answer is: By improving your store's ranking in search results.

That’s exactly how search engine optimization (SEO) helps you reach customers looking for products or services like the ones that you provide and take them to your website.

When your Shopify website ranks well for pertinent keywords and phrases, it increases the amount of organic traffic coming to your online store.

The more people go to your store from organic search, the more Google sees you as a trustworthy and relevant website, and the more visibility it will give you.

That’s why SEO optimization is an integral part of the process of how to start a Shopify store.

Shopify Technical SEO

Your ecommerce website's optimization approach must include technical Shopify SEO. These are simply the technical parts of your website being optimized so that search engines - like Google, Bing, and others - can efficiently crawl and index your site.

The most crucial technical SEO elements for a Shopify website are:

1. Domain

Your domain is an important factor in technical SEO for Shopify. It should be short, memorable, and relevant to your business. When choosing a domain, try to incorporate your main target keyword as well as your brand.

2. Website Structure

The organization of your website could impact your SEO efforts. Adopt a structure that is easy to understand and navigate through, both for search engines and human customers. Make sure each page is linked to from at least one other page (internal linking) and group your pages into logical sections (using categories and tags).

3. Page Speed

For Shopify, page speed is a key component of technical SEO. Strive for a load time of no more than three seconds as search engine algorithms are paying more and more attention to speed in an effort to provide online users with a better experience. To reduce load times, pick a trustworthy web host, optimize your images (high resolution, small size), and make use of a content delivery network (CDN).

4. Mobile Optimization

Make your Shopify store mobile-friendly given the rising use of mobile devices. Adapt a responsive layout that adjusts to various screen widths, and make your website's content mobile-friendly. Ensure that mobile users can not only navigate through your website in an effortless manner but can also easily purchase goods.

5. URL Structure

Descriptive and keyword-rich URLs should accurately reflect the content on each page of your Shopify store. Use hyphens to separate words, rather than underscores, and avoid using unnecessary parameters in your URLs. Keep them as short as possible without making them dubious.

6. Meta Tags

Employ informative and keyword-rich meta tags, such as SEO titles and meta descriptions, to assist search engines understand the content of your pages. Your meta tags should accurately reflect the content on each page and include your main target keyword. Keep SEO titles within 60 characters and meta descriptions within 160 characters.

7. Schema Markup

Use schema markup to provide additional context to search engines about the content on your Shopify website. This improves the appearance of your website in organic search results and helps drive more targeted traffic to your site.

Shopify On-Page SEO

The second component of the ecommerce marketing for your online store is on-page SEO. Each page on your website should be optimized for Shopify's on-page SEO algorithms to increase its exposure in search engine results pages (SERPs). Some of the most vital factors of on-page SEO in relation to a Shopify website are as follows:

1. Keyword Research

The very first step is to conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high-volume keywords for your business.

Then, you should use these keywords in your page titles, meta descriptions, and throughout your content. However, make sure to keep things natural and not get into keyword stuffing. Neither search engines nor human users like this practice.

2. Internal Linking

You can use internal linking to connect your web pages in a relevant manner and help visitors navigate your website. This also helps search engines understand the most important pages on your website - the pages with the most internal links.

You should aim to distribute link equity throughout your website as this will improve your overall SEO.

3. Content Marketing

The core of on-page SEO optimization for your Shopify store is providing compelling, informative, and high-quality content that satisfies the demands of your target audience.

This applies to both product pages and your blog where you can publish various articles to educate your target audience on all sorts of related topics. Remember to employ your target keywords in your pages and posts naturally and not stuff them.

4. Meta Data

Make sure to appropriately reflect the information on each page in your meta data, including titles and descriptions, and to include your target keywords.

This is important not only for search engines to understand the meaning of your content but also for customers to click on your page and not on a competitor’s page. Meta data is the short information users see when they search for something on Google, so that’s your chance to make them want to check out your content.

5. Categories and Tags

From scratch, organize your content into logical categories and tags and give them names that are appropriate and illustrative. This is another good opportunity to use your keywords in a relevant manner.

This helps users have a better experience on your website and make it simpler for search engines to interpret the content there.

6. Images

Use alt text and descriptive file names that appropriately reflect the content of your images to optimize them. This will help increase the accessibility of your website and give search engines more information about your Shopify store.

7. Duplicate Content

On your website, avoid using duplicate content as this may result in penalties from search engines in addition to being confusing for users.

Shopify SEO experts agree that the best practice in this regard is to utilize 301 redirects to move people away from duplicate pages and canonical tags to identify the preferable version of a page.

Shopify Off-Page SEO

The third crucial component of Shopify SEO for your online store is off-page search engine optimization.

Off-page SEO is the practice of enhancing external elements to increase a website's visibility and position in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Backlinks, social media activity, and other online references are some of the external variables that search engines use to determine a website's authority and relevance.

In other words, search engines are likely to give preference and rank higher websites and content that is liked, shared, and linked to by authoritative sources in the industry or relevant industries.

To boost your Shopify website off-page SEO standing, try the following:

1. Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are essential for off-page SEO, and having a few high-quality links is preferable to having many low-quality ones. Reputable and trusted websites with high domain authority are the ideal sources of high-quality backlinks.

Search engines perceive these backlinks as more credible and authoritative, and they can raise a website's ranking. Meanwhile, the ranking of a website can be harmed and penalized by backlinks from spammy or unrelated websites.

Types of Backlinking

• Broken link building: This off-page SEO strategy involves finding broken links on other websites and offering to replace them with a link to your Shopify website. The key is to provide high-quality, highly relevant content that others would like to link to.
• Directory submissions: Submitting your website to high-quality directories helps improve your visibility and build backlinks. However, in 2023 this cannot be the core of your Shopify SEO efforts for maximum results.
• Influencer marketing: This strategy entails collaborating with influencers in your niche to help you reach a new audience and build backlinks.
• Editorial backlinks:** **An editorial backlink is an inbound link to your website that appears naturally in the text of a reputable website from a relevant field. Content writers and content managers frequently include links to other websites in their content as this helps with their own SEO efforts. For example, they may link to the website where a statistic was first published if they wish to highlight it.
• Relationship-based backlinks: Relationship-based backlinking relies on methods different from mere cold outreach (i.e., contacting a site to ask them to place a link to your content. Companies that wish to use relationship-derived backlinking need to develop a network of sources from top business figures to link organically.
• Acknowledgment backlinks: Sites typically feature acknowledgements when a business presents a gift, sends a representative to speak at an event, or sponsors an industry gathering. For instance, you could publish a press release to mark major events for your business hoping that it will reach others in the industry and they will link to your website when writing about the event.

2. Anchor Text

Anchor text refers to the clickable text used in a hyperlink and is an integral part in off-page SEO for Shopify. The anchor text should be descriptive and relevant to the content it links to. When search engines crawl your website, they use anchor text to understand the content of the linked page.

Relevant and descriptive anchor text helps improve your ranking for specific keywords. However, using the same anchor text repeatedly can be seen as spammy and can result in a penalty. Thus, it’s best to provide variations of the target keyword in the backlinks you get from other websites.

3. Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is the practice of writing content for other websites in your niche and including a link back to your website. Guest blogging can help you reach a new audience and build backlinks to your Shopify website.

When guest blogging, choose websites that have a high domain authority (DA 50+) and are relevant to your niche. Also, make sure that their spam score is below 1%. Remember that your guest post should provide value to the readers and not be overly promotional.

4. Social Media Engagement

In your content strategy, provide useful material that appeals to your audience and publish it frequently on social media to increase your audience engagement.

By answering messages and comments left by your followers as well as taking part in online discussions, you can interact with them as well.

How to Improve SEO on Shopify with 10 Proven Tips

Enhancing your Shopify store's SEO can help you become more visible and attract more visitors to your website. Here are 10 tried-and-true tips to boost SEO on your Shopify website:

1. Use keyword research tools

Use keyword research tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Keyword Planner to increase the exposure of your content.

These tools help you identify keywords with high search volume and low competition because they are simpler to rank for and have the potential to increase traffic to your website more quickly.

2. Optimize your product pages

The visibility of product pages on SERPs can be increased by optimizing them, following all the strategies discussed above.

Most importantly, create original, evocative, and keyword-rich titles and meta descriptions for your pages to aid search engines in comprehending the content of your pages and give them the appropriate ranking.

3. Publish new content regularly

Posting fresh content is an efficient approach to communicate to search engines that your website is active and up-to-date and enhance your search engine rankings. Interesting and worthwhile content can draw in visitors and keep them interested, increasing traffic and conversion rates.

Furthermore, once your content is about one year old, you should start editing it. Search engines favor content that is up-to-date and relevant to the current needs of online users.

4. Post content on social media

The reach of your Shopify store content extends beyond your website when you share it on social media networks. This practice enhances visibility, engagement, and traffic.

Social media can also give you a way to interact with your audience and create a brand-centered community.

In addition, it increases your chances of building natural backlinks to your content.

5. Use internal linking

Your website's search engine rankings are enhanced by linking to pertinent pages within it, which tells search engines which pages are vital and how they relate to one another.

Internal linking can also help visitors stay on your website longer and learn more about related subjects. Pages which succeed in keeping users for longer are seen as more engaging and relevant by search engines, so it helps boost their overall ranking in search results.

6. Optimize your images

You increase the search engine visibility of your website and make your pages easier to understand when you optimize your images. According to SpeedBoostr, a 3D product graphic increases a product's chance of being bought by a customer by twofold.

For Shopify SEO, it’s important to give your images meaningful file names and alt text, which give search engines and assistive devices like screen readers better context and information.

7. Encourage customer reviews

Search engines appreciate websites with high-quality and pertinent material, so positive reviews and mentions can help your website's ranking as they help build the online reputation of your business.

Customer testimonials can promote credibility and confidence among new clients, increasing conversion rates and revenue.

An easy way to automate customer review collection is to send emails to loyal customers asking them to write a review. You can consider offering them a small gift or reward for doing so.

8. Use schema markup

Implementing schema markup enables you to add details about your content, such as product descriptions, company profiles, and customer reviews. It gives the display of rich snippets in search results.

Rich snippets can push up click-through rates (CTRs), and schema markup improves your rankings by assisting search engines in recognizing the value and relevance of your content.

9. Be mobile-friendly

For better search engine results and a better user experience, you must make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and runs rapidly on mobile devices. Shopify reports that mobile devices are now used to place 66% of Shopify shop orders.

A mobile-friendly website can increase your exposure in mobile search results because search engines use it as a ranking factor.

10. Monitor your website analytics

Keep track of your website's traffic, rankings, and other metrics to measure the effectiveness of your Shopify SEO strategies and identify areas for improvement.

You should understand from the beginning that SEO for Shopify is not a single-time effort. To the contrary, it is an ongoing process where you have to continue looking for opportunities to improve and optimize. Moreover, search engine algorithms change all the time, so you should keep an eye on them.

Getting Started with Shopify SEO in 2023

Enhancing your Shopify store's SEO can help you become more visible to online users and attract more visitors to your website.

You can raise your website's search engine ranks and draw more potential consumers to your online store by improving your website's on-page and off-page SEO, producing high-quality content, and using a variety of SEO tools and tactics.

Besides SEO, there are other strategies ecommerce companies can use to give their Shopify store an extra push. Coretava’s products can help you:

• Launch a loyalty program to build customer loyalty, increase repeat purchases, and generate more revenue
• Build a personalized ecommerce marketing strategy via pop ups, emails, and SMSs
• Personalize the shopping experience based on each customer’s persona and behavior
• Gamify the online shopping experience to increase engagement
• Streamline online and offline loyalty experiences for a seamless integration across all touchpoints

Click here to learn more about Coretava and how it can help you grow your Shopify store.