Learn Ecommerce SEO

Understand how to audit and optimize ecommerce websites.

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Understanding Ecommerce SEO

Ecommerce SEO is a sub-section of search engine optimization specifically for ecommerce businesses. Because each product that a business sells online has its own product detail page (or PDP), ecommerce websites tend to have a lot of pages; a lot more than, say, a small professional services website.

Doing SEO for websites with thousands or even millions of pages comes with its own set of challenges. For example, some ecommerce SEOs find it a struggle auditing a very large website using a desktop crawler. For ecommerce sites with hundreds of thousands of pages, a cloud crawler is usually needed.

Is SEO still worth it for ecommerce?

If you believe that SEO is dead and GEO has replaced it, we (and most respected SEOs, including Aleyda Solis) respectfully disagree. SEO is far from dead—especially when it comes to ecommerce businesses. Yes, some people are starting to search using ChatGPT and other answer engines, but Google still dominates in terms of market share. Plus, we would argue that if people are searching for product recommendations using ChatGPT, that means that it falls within the remit of SEO. Not only that but last time we checked, ChatGPT and other LLMs get their information from the internet. So if your ecommerce business isn’t doing SEO then there’s a good chance LLMs aren’t going to cite it.

Ecommerce SEO best practices

Technical SEO for ecommerce sites

1. Audit and optimize indexability

• Use a combination of crawl data and keyword/value assessment to decide which pages should be indexed.

2. Handle canonicalization correctly

• Avoid self-canonicals on parameterized URLs unless needed.

3. Manage faceted navigation smartly

• Only allow indexing of filtered/faceted combinations with real search demand.

• Use canonical, noindex, or disallow based on value.

• Use robots.txt and rel=‘nofollow’ to control crawl depth. Only expose valuable filtered pages to bots.

4. Remove or manage out-of-stock pages

• If temporarily out of stock: keep page live, show availability.

• If permanently out of stock: redirect or repurpose with 410 or 301 depending on value.

Check out: How to Approach Stock Management for SEO in Ecommerce by Ana Perez

5. Structured data implementation

• Prioritize ecommerce-specific schema like Product, Review, Offer, Organization, etc.

6. Optimize site speed and performance

• Prioritize templates with poor LCP/FCP.

• Lazy load offscreen images and remove unused JS/CSS.

• Reducing load time by even 0.1s can improve conversions significantly. (Source) 

On-page SEO for ecommerce sites

1. Optimize PLPs and PDPs

• PLPs: Include keyword-targeted H1, category description, filters, and user intent cues.

• PDPs: Unique descriptions, rich media, reviews, and clear CTAs.

2. Use meaningful, clean URLs

• Avoid unnecessary parameters and ensure keyword relevance.

3. Enhance metadata

• Craft compelling title tags and meta descriptions using keyword + value proposition.

4. Internal linking strategy

• Use breadcrumb navigation and context-based internal links for both crawlability and UX.

5. Include UGC (reviews, photos, videos)

• Boosts content uniqueness and helps with long-tail keyword discovery.

Check out: 5 Ways User-Generated Content Can Boost Your SEO

6. Incorporate schema for visual SERP features

• Add review ratings, price, availability, FAQs to enhance rich snippets.

Off-page SEO for ecommerce sites

1. Build high-quality backlinks to key PLPs

• Focus link building efforts on high-value category and seasonal landing pages.

• When expanding into new markets, pursue local backlinks to support your new ccTLD or domain strategy.

2. Use digital PR to promote product launches and guides

• Combine data-driven PR campaigns with product/category promotion.

3. Leverage user-generated content (UGC) to build trust and differentiate

Encourage customers to share real photos, videos, and comments.

4. Encourage branded searches

• Improve brand recall and increase organic CTRs by building awareness through email, social, and content. This is especially important in the age of AI search.

Common ecommerce SEO issues

The table below lists common SEO issues for ecommerce websites. These issues are all discussed in our Ecommerce SEO Auditing Course. We’ve included which module covers each issue—‘cos we’re good like that.