Building an eCommerce website takes time. First, you have to choose a platform. Then, you have to work consistently on the content to make sure customers can discover the items you have to offer.
One of the most popular eCommerce website platforms out there is Magento. Perhaps you have already started on this platform or are considering using it. Indeed, it is praised for its customisation features, scalability and mobile-friendliness. But, there is one thing that people struggle with, and that is making sure their website is optimised for search engines. Let’s take a look at five common SEO problems people have with Magento and what you can do about them.
Duplicate Product Descriptions
If you are selling a lot of similar items, it can be tempting to upload the same product description on Magento. After all, the specifications are the same, and there will only be a few small differences. So, it can seem like a way to save time. However, when it comes to SEO, this is not something you want to be doing. Remember that this is duplicating content, which is not what you want to do.
Instead, you want to write unique product descriptions for each item. This is a good opportunity to tell Google what the page is about and use keywords to appear for relevant searches. If you need help with writing optimised descriptions, you can always hire a Magento SEO consultant. This is a way good way to save you time if you have a lot of product descriptions, as well as to ensure they are being used appropriately for SEO purposes.
Keyword Stuffing
Keywords are something that is important for reaching the right audience and ranking highly on Google. But, this is only true when you carry out proper research and make sure you are using them naturally in the content you have on your website. Unfortunately, many eCommerce businesses get impatient and try to use keywords more than they should. This is known as keyword stuffing, and it can actually have the opposite effect of what you would like. It can harm your Google ranking.
You need to limit how many times you use keywords. They should only appear in around two to three per cent of the content you are creating. Use them naturally and focus on writing for the customer. In addition, be careful and choose the right keywords to begin with. You are more likely to rank higher when you concentrate on relevant, low-competition keywords.
Slow Page Speeds
There are many people that say Magento is a slow platform. However, this is not necessarily true. This might be the case because your website is not optimised and fast at loading. This is something that can happen without you realising it and be a result of the design. For example, you might have many extensions, and certain themes could be slowing down your website. This is going to affect user experience, making it frustrating for users to find what they want.
If you are suffering from slow page speeds, you need to spend time optimising your site. There are tools you can use to test your page speeds. Then, you will need to do things like compress images and remove unnecessary extensions. Again, if you are not sure what you are doing, it is best to seek help from those that do.
Not Optimising Title Tags
Title tags are often created automatically on Magento. But, while you might have a lot of products on the platform and think this saves time, this could actually be damaging to your SEO. They should be optimised for search, allowing you to appear to the right audience.
So, something you will want to do is go through and optimise each title tag. While this can seem like a tedious and long-winded task, it is one that can pay off for boosting your Google ranking. It will allow the search engine to understand the page properly and ensure you are appearing on search results.
Having Broken Links
Do you have any broken links on your website? Hopefully, the answer is no to this question. But, there are many sites that do, and this is something that can affect your Google ranking. You need to make sure that you are checking for broken links, with a variety of tools out there to find them.
The key is to have a good link profile for your Magento website. This is going to help you secure a top place on Google search results. So, make sure you check for broken links regularly and fix them.