When it comes to SEO, there are more nuances than you might initially think. Two of the most important variations are ecommerce SEO and standard SEO. While they share the same foundational principles, they cater to different needs and objectives. Understanding these differences is crucial for anyone looking to optimize a website effectively, whether it’s an online store or a content-focused platform.
We'll explore how ecommerce SEO and standard SEO differ, focusing on aspects like keyword strategy, content creation, link building, technical SEO, and user experience. By the end, you'll have a clearer picture of which strategies are best suited for your specific goals.
Understanding the Basics of SEO
Before diving into the differences, let's set the stage with some SEO basics. At its core, SEO is about making your website more visible to search engines like Google. This involves optimizing various elements of your site to improve your ranking in search results. The higher you rank, the more likely users are to visit your site.
SEO typically includes several key components:
- Keyword Research: Identifying the terms and phrases your audience uses to find content or products.
- On-Page SEO: Optimizing elements on your website, such as titles, meta descriptions, and headers.
- Off-Page SEO: Building authority through backlinks and social signals.
- Technical SEO: Improving the backend of your site, such as page speed and mobile-friendliness.
- User Experience: Ensuring your site is easy to navigate and provides valuable information.
Now, with these basics in mind, let's get into the specific distinctions between ecommerce SEO and standard SEO.
Keyword Strategy: Ecommerce vs. Standard SEO
Keywords are the backbone of any SEO strategy, but the type of keywords you target can vary greatly between ecommerce and standard websites. For ecommerce, the focus is often on transactional keywords. These are keywords that indicate a high intent to purchase. Think phrases like "buy running shoes online" or "cheap laptops for sale."
On the other hand, standard SEO might lean towards informational or navigational keywords. These are terms users might search for when they’re looking for information or trying to find a specific page. For instance, "how to tie a tie" or "best travel blogs" are more about gathering information than making a purchase.
Why does this matter? Well, targeting the right type of keywords can significantly impact your site's conversion rates. For ecommerce, you want to attract users ready to buy. For content-focused sites, it’s about providing value and information that keep users engaged and coming back.
Interestingly enough, ecommerce sites often also need to incorporate informational keywords to attract users at the top of the sales funnel. This can be done through blog posts or guides related to their products. A shoe retailer, for example, might have articles about "how to choose the right running shoes" to draw in potential customers early in their buying journey.
Content Creation: Tailoring Your Approach
When it comes to content, ecommerce and standard SEO take different routes. Ecommerce sites often have to focus on product descriptions, category pages, and occasionally, blog content. The goal is to create compelling and informative content that not only describes the product but also persuades the user to make a purchase.
Product descriptions in ecommerce SEO are crucial. They need to be unique, detailed, and optimized with the right keywords. It’s not just about listing features; it’s about highlighting benefits and addressing potential customer pain points.
With standard SEO, the focus shifts to creating content that educates, informs, or entertains. This could be blog posts, how-to guides, or opinion pieces. The length and depth of content often play a bigger role here, as users are searching for comprehensive information. For instance, if someone searches "how to start a blog," they’re likely looking for a detailed guide rather than a brief overview.
While ecommerce content needs to be concise and persuasive, standard SEO content can afford to be more expansive and exploratory. Both require quality, but the purpose and presentation differ.
Link Building: Differences in Strategy
Link building is another area where ecommerce and standard SEO diverge. For ecommerce, acquiring backlinks can be a bit more challenging due to the nature of product pages. These pages are often perceived as less link-worthy compared to in-depth articles or guides.
However, ecommerce sites can get creative with their link-building strategies. They might focus on creating valuable resources related to their products, such as buying guides, industry reports, or infographics. These types of content are more likely to attract links from other sites.
Standard SEO typically has more opportunities for natural link building. High-quality, informative content tends to attract backlinks organically. The key is to create content that others find valuable enough to reference and link to in their own articles.
Both types of SEO benefit from outreach strategies, such as guest posting or collaborating with influencers. The difference lies in the type of content being promoted and the angle of the outreach.
Technical SEO: Navigating the Complexities
Technical SEO is all about optimizing the backend of your site to ensure it meets the requirements of search engines. While the fundamentals apply to both ecommerce and standard sites, the specifics can vary.
Ecommerce sites often have more complex structures due to the vast number of product pages, categories, and filters. Ensuring these pages are crawlable and indexable is crucial. This might involve creating a robust XML sitemap, using canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues, and optimizing the site's architecture for easy navigation.
Standard websites might not face the same level of complexity, but they still need to pay attention to things like page speed, mobile-friendliness, and secure connections (HTTPS). These elements are vital for both user experience and SEO.
One interesting challenge for ecommerce sites is managing out-of-stock products. You need to decide whether to redirect these pages, leave them live, or provide alternatives. Each option has its pros and cons, affecting both user experience and SEO.
User Experience: Catering to Different Needs
User experience (UX) is a critical factor for both ecommerce and standard websites, but the focus areas differ. For ecommerce, the primary goal is to simplify the buying process and reduce friction. This includes having a clear and intuitive navigation, a seamless checkout process, and high-quality images that showcase products effectively.
Standard sites, on the other hand, might prioritize readability, ease of access to information, and engagement. The design should facilitate a good reading experience, with a clear hierarchy of information and interactive elements that keep users engaged.
Both types of sites should prioritize fast loading times and mobile responsiveness, as these are essential for retaining visitors and improving SEO rankings. However, the specifics of how you achieve these goals might differ based on the type of site you're working with.
Ultimately, a good user experience leads to longer time spent on site, lower bounce rates, and higher conversions—whether that's making a purchase or subscribing to a newsletter.
Tracking Success: Metrics to Consider
Measuring the effectiveness of your SEO efforts is crucial, but the metrics you focus on can differ between ecommerce and standard sites. For ecommerce, conversion rate is a key metric. It tells you how many visitors are turning into buyers, which is the ultimate goal of any online store.
Other important metrics for ecommerce include:
- Average Order Value (AOV): The average amount spent per transaction.
- Cart Abandonment Rate: The percentage of users who add items to their cart but don’t complete the purchase.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue you can expect from a customer over the course of their relationship with your brand.
For standard sites, engagement metrics often take center stage. This includes:
- Time on Site: How long users stay on your site.
- Pages Per Session: The average number of pages a user visits per session.
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page.
While both types of sites care about traffic, how they interpret and act on that data can be quite different. Ecommerce sites want traffic that converts, while standard sites may be more interested in traffic that engages and interacts with their content.
Adapting SEO for Mobile Users
With more people using mobile devices to browse the web, mobile SEO has become a priority for both ecommerce and standard websites. However, the approach can differ based on the type of site.
For ecommerce, mobile optimization often focuses on the checkout process. It’s all about reducing friction and making it as easy as possible for users to complete a purchase on their phones. This might involve simplifying forms, using larger buttons, and ensuring the site is responsive and easy to navigate.
Standard sites might focus more on readability and accessibility. Text should be legible without zooming, and images should fit within the screen without requiring horizontal scrolling. Interactive elements like menus and buttons should be easy to tap without accidentally clicking other links.
Both types of sites benefit from accelerated mobile pages (AMP) and ensuring that page speed is optimized for mobile users. Mobile-first indexing by search engines like Google means that your mobile site is often more important than your desktop site when it comes to SEO.
SEO Tools and Resources
Whether you’re working on ecommerce or standard SEO, having the right tools can make a big difference. Both types of SEO can benefit from a mix of free and paid tools that help with everything from keyword research to performance tracking.
Some popular tools include:
- Google Analytics: Track and analyze your website traffic.
- Google Search Console: Monitor your site's presence in Google search results.
- SEMrush: Comprehensive SEO tool for keyword research, site audits, and competitor analysis.
- Ahrefs: Known for its backlink analysis and keyword research capabilities.
- Moz: Offers tools for keyword research, link building, and site audits.
Interestingly, ecommerce sites might also need specialized tools to track things like conversion rates and cart abandonment. Tools like Crazy Egg or Hotjar can provide insights into how users interact with your site, helping you identify areas for improvement.
Final Thoughts
Both ecommerce and standard SEO play vital roles in driving traffic and achieving online goals, but they cater to different needs. Ecommerce SEO focuses on converting visitors into customers with transactional keywords, compelling product descriptions, and a seamless user experience. Standard SEO, meanwhile, emphasizes content depth, engagement, and providing valuable information to users.
If you're looking to enhance your ecommerce SEO efforts, consider partnering with Pattern. We've helped ecommerce brands and SaaS startups grow by driving more traffic from Google and turning that traffic into paying customers. Unlike most SEO agencies, we focus on results—not just traffic for traffic's sake. We create programmatic landing pages targeting hundreds of search terms, and our conversion-focused content doesn't just attract visitors but turns them into paying customers. We see SEO as part of a bigger growth strategy, ensuring every dollar you invest delivers real ROI. We don't make SEO a guessing game—we make it a growth channel that drives sales and lowers your customer acquisition costs.