You put your heart and soul into building your Shopify store. Your products are top-notch, your website design is sleek, and your branding is on point. But there is just one problem – no one can find you. But with Shopify SEO, you can take control of your online presence.
Now if you are thinking that Shopify SEO is complicated and time-consuming, you are right. It can be if you don’t know where to start. But don’t worry, we will make things easy for you. In this guide, we will give you 25 proven SEO hacks that are 100% proven to boost your ranking.
26 Shopify SEO Hacks To Boost Your Online Store’s Visibility & Ranking
If you are eyeing the top spot on Google’s search results, here are 26 search engine optimization hacks for your Shopify store.
Improve Shopify Store Structure
1. Narrow Your Menu Focus
Make it easy for both users and search engine crawlers to navigate your site. Organize your categories logically and use clear, descriptive labels.
For example, consider the online store for women’s apparel shown above. Instead of just “Clothing,” go for proper categorization like “Women’s Dresses” or “Women’s Lingerie.” Similarly, rather than simply mentioning “Tops” and “Bottoms,” you can have categories like “Blouses,” “T-shirts,” “Jeans,” and “Skirts.”
This way, if a customer wants to find a specific type of blouse in your online store, they can easily click on the “Blouses” category from the main menu and browse through different styles and options without any confusion.
2. Be Flat & Wide
Avoid burying essential content under too many subcategories. Implement a flat and wide structure so that each page is accessible within a few clicks from the homepage.
So continuing on the previous example, instead of having a complex hierarchy like “Women’s > Clothing > Dresses > Shirts & Blouses,” go for a simpler structure like “Women’s Shirts & Blouses” directly under “Women’s.”
This improves user experience since the customer doesn’t have to go through multiple subcategories. Search engines can also easily crawl and index your pages. When someone searches for target keywords, having a flat and wide structure increases the chances of your store appearing higher on the search engine results pages.
3. Ditch Iframes, Go For Clear URLs
Iframes might seem convenient for embedding content but they complicate things for search engines. Avoid using them whenever possible. Instead, embed content directly onto your web pages.
Also, make sure each page URL is clear and readable. Don’t forget to add the target keyword to it. For instance, instead of a URL like “www.example.com/page?id=123,” go for something clean and descriptive like “www.example.com/womens-sleepwear.”
This makes it easier for both search engines and users to understand what each page is about.
Optimize For Mobile
4. Go Mobile
With 91% of consumers making purchases on their smartphones, the attention spans have become shorter than ever. So if the images take too long to load or appear distorted on the screen, the customer will likely leave for another site.
To prevent this, make sure your images and videos resize and load properly on smaller devices. Test your website’s responsiveness across different screen sizes.
Plus, prioritize mobile-friendly design elements like larger buttons and easy-to-read text. This ensures that mobile users have a seamless experience browsing through your eCommerce store.
5. Catch Every Eye
For online shopping on mobiles, visuals matter a lot. Make sure your product images are front and center. Use high-quality images that clearly show your products. If you are selling a floral summer dress, the product image should display the dress, its design, and details like color and pattern.
Use alt text to help search engines understand what your images are about. Describe your product using relevant keywords. For example, instead of just “blue dress,” use “women’s floral print blue dress – perfect for summer.”
6. Create Call-To-Action (CTA) Magic
It is even more important to have clear and easily tappable CTA buttons on mobile devices. Use action-oriented language that prompts customers to take the desired action. If you are promoting a limited-time discount on women’s watches, use a button that says “Get $25 Off” to create urgency and improve the checkout rate.
Test different button sizes and colors to find what works best for your audience. CTAs should also be strategically placed where they are easily accessible without excessive scrolling. Make sure your CTA buttons are spaced well apart to prevent accidental clicks and provide enough padding around them for comfortable tapping.
Perform Keyword Research
7. Read Users’ Minds
When doing keyword research, don’t just find words that match your products. Think about what the user wants when they type those words into a search engine.
Let’s say you are selling wellness products online like this natural stress relief supplements. If someone searches for “stress relief supplements,” they are likely looking for products to manage their stress without relying on artificial ingredients.
So your keyword research should focus on terms that reflect this intent. Instead of just targeting “stress relief,” include keywords like “natural stress relief” or “herbal stress relief.”
8. Know Your Competition
Look for leading Shopify stores selling similar wellness products. Use tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs to analyze their SEO strategies. Pay attention to keywords bringing the most traffic to their site.
While you don’t want to copy your competitors outright, this research can give you ideas for new keywords to target or help you identify gaps in your keyword strategy. For instance, if you notice that a competitor is ranking well for “skincare masks,” consider adding similar keyword ideas into your SEO strategy to capture some of that traffic.
9. Long-Tail Keywords For SEO Wins
Long-tail keywords are highly relevant to what users are looking for. This means they will attract more qualified traffic to your online store.
Also, they have less competition compared to shorter, more generic keywords. So it is easier to rank for them especially if you are just starting out.
For example, instead of targeting a broad term like “supplements,” if you focus on “organic plant-based supplements for immune support,” you can narrow down your competition and increase your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Because long-tail keywords are more specific, they attract users who are further along in the buying process and ready to purchase. This can give you higher conversion rates for your online store.
10. High Search & Low Competition: Strike Gold
Find a balance between search volume and competition. Target keywords with a decent search volume – meaning a good number of people are searching for them – but relatively low competition. SEO tools like Ahrefs or Ubersuggest will help you identify keywords with high search volume and assess their competition level.
For instance, for acne face masks, target keywords like “best face masks for acne scars” or “best face masks for acne prone skin” – phrases that have high search volume but aren’t overly competitive. This ensures that you are optimizing your content for terms that can bring significant traffic to your online store.
Create Quality Content & Product Descriptions
11. Be Clear
Use language that is easy to understand and resonates with your target audience. Be straightforward and descriptive in your product descriptions. Avoid overly technical terms that confuse potential customers.
Suppose you are selling a men’s leather wallet on your Shopify store. Instead of using complex language to describe its features, like “RFID-blocking technology,” simply state, “Protects your cards from unauthorized scanning.” This clear language helps customers understand the product benefits.
12. Shine Brighter Than The Rest
Make sure to highlight product features and benefits prominently. Use bullet points to clearly outline what sets your products apart from the competition and why customers should choose them. This makes it easier for visitors to scan and understand the benefits quickly.
For example, for leather jackets, highlight features like:
- Multiple pockets for storage
- Warm and comfortable for all-day wear
- Stylish design suitable for any occasion
- Genuine full-grain leather for lasting quality
13. Let Your Customers Tell Their Story
Customer reviews and testimonials build confidence in your brand. While they provide social proof, they also signal to search engines that your store is trustworthy and credible.
Collect testimonials from happy customers. Consider offering a compelling lead magnet, like a discount or freebie, in exchange for customers leaving a review. This can help incentivize more customers to provide feedback.
Feature these reviews prominently on your website. You can even add a testimonials section on your homepage. Implement structured data markup to display review stars in search engine results. This attracts more clicks from potential customers.
Don’t forget to include a mix of 3-star or 2-star reviews too. It might seem counterintuitive but it actually adds authenticity to your testimonials. Not every customer is going to have a perfect experience, and showing different opinions helps build trust with your audience.
14. Size Matters
Create comprehensive sizing guides for each product type you offer. If you are selling leather belts, include a sizing guide on the product page that explains how to measure your waist size and select the right belt size.
Give clear instructions and diagrams to make it easy for customers to understand. Also, include measurements for each size option available, like length and width.
This will improve your search engine rankings because it provides helpful content that matches what users are searching for about sizing.
Optimize Title Tags & Meta Descriptions
15. Description That Steals The Spotlight
Your title tag is what appears as the clickable headline in search engine results. Make sure it accurately shows the page content. For example, if you are selling a moisturizing cream, a descriptive title tag could be “Luxurious Hydrating Moisturizing Cream | YourCosmeticsStore.”
The meta description provides a summary of the page’s content beneath the title tag in search results. Use this space to entice users to click through to your website. For instance, a compelling meta description for the same moisturizing cream could be:
“Revitalize your skin with our luxurious hydrating moisturizing cream. Formulated with natural ingredients to nourish and replenish dry skin. Shop now!”
16. Short But Click-Worthy
Google has specific character limits for title tags and meta descriptions. If your tags and descriptions exceed these limits, they will be truncated in search results.
Target for around 50-60 characters to make sure that your entire title is displayed in search results. For meta descriptions, keep it around 150-160 characters (including spaces) so that your description is fully visible.
Experiment with different variations. Monitor click-through rates and adjust your tags and descriptions accordingly.
17. Tag Your Way To The Top
Product tags help search engines understand the context and relevance of your products. With these tags, you can also create cross-selling and upselling opportunities. For example, if a customer is browsing for lipstick, related products like lip liners or lip glosses can be tagged similarly.
To add product tags, simply go to the product detail page in your Shopify admin, find the “Tags” section, and start adding your desired tags.
Avoid Duplicate Content
18. Guide With 301
When you delete a page or change its URL, you risk losing its SEO value. But you can salvage that SEO juice by setting up 301 redirects. It tells search engines that the page has moved permanently.
Let’s say you had a blog post about “Top 10 Seasonal Makeup Trends” but it didn’t perform as expected. So you removed it and created a new blog post “Top 10 Fall Makeup Trends.” Now you set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. This way, anyone clicking on the old link or finding it in search results will automatically land on your updated content.
You can set up 301 redirects through the URL Redirects section in the Online Store > Navigation menu of your Shopify dashboard. Simply enter the old URL and the new destination URL and Shopify will handle the redirection automatically.
19. Apply Canonical Tags
Duplicate content can harm your SEO efforts. If you have similar pages with different URLs, search engines get confused about which one to rank. Canonical tags tell them which page version is the preferred one.
Let’s say your online cosmetics store has a page about lipsticks sorted by popularity, price, and color. While these URLs lead to the same content, you want search engines to prioritize the original page (e.g., sorted by popularity). You can apply the canonical tag to that URL to help search engines understand which version to index and rank.
Boost Site Speed
20. CDN For Speed
Content Delivery Network (CDN) stores copies of your website’s files on servers closer to your website visitors to reduce the time it takes for content to reach them. This provides faster load times and improves both user experience and SEO.
For this, you can use a third-party CDN service. Some popular CDN providers include Cloudflare, Akamai, and Amazon CloudFront. Then sign up for a CDN account and follow the provider’s instructions to configure your CDN settings.
21. Reduce The Size
Large image files can slow down your website’s loading speed which can hurt your SEO rankings. Compress images to reduce their file size without sacrificing too much quality.
You can use apps like Compressor.io to manually compress images, which works great. However, if you prefer automation, apps like “Crush.pics” will integrate with your Shopify store and compress images automatically.
22. Load Smart
With lazy loading, you can delay the loading of non-essential content. Images and other media elements below the fold will load once the user actually scrolls down to see them. Lazy loading helps improve your website’s initial loading time.
To implement lazy loading in Shopify, you need to modify your theme’s code. First, add a small piece of JavaScript code to your theme to enable lazy loading functionality. Then, update your image tags in your theme’s Liquid files to include a special class and a data attribute. This tells the browser to load the images only when they become visible in the user’s viewport.
Build High-Quality Backlinks
23. Find Collaboration Partners
Guest posting is the most popular strategy for building backlinks. But according to eCommerce gurus, it is the hardest one. In fact, 69% of them think that link building is the hardest aspect of SEO.
But with the right approach, it can be easy. Look for blogs, online magazines, or websites related to your niche. Reach out to the website owners or editors with pitches for topics that provide value to their audience.
Let’s say you are selling dog toys on your Shopify store. You can pitch an article about the benefits of interactive toys for canine mental stimulation. You can subtly include a link back to your product page for interactive dog toys.
24. Create Content That Begs To Be Linked
Linkable assets are high-quality, valuable content pieces that attract backlinks from other websites naturally. Identify topics or areas within your niche that haven’t been covered extensively yet. Make sure the content you create is well-researched and visually appealing.
Once it is live on your website, start promoting it to other websites in your niche. Reach out to bloggers, influencers, and industry publications and pitch your content as a valuable resource for their audience.
25. Recruit Allies
Reach out to the vendors and resellers whose products you carry in your Shopify store. Politely ask them if they would be willing to include a link to your Shopify store on their website. You can also offer to reciprocate by linking to their website from your Shopify store.
For example, if you sell dog collars from a particular brand, you could ask the brand to include a link to your store on their “Where to Buy” or “Retailers” page. This helps potential customers find your store more easily and also signals to search engines that your site is reputable and trustworthy.
26. Influence The Influencers
Influencer marketing has become a mainstay, with 49% of people trusting recommendations from influencers. It gives you exposure to a larger audience and also helps get valuable backlinks that can improve your store’s SEO.
Look for influencers within your industry who have an engaged and active following. This could include bloggers, Instagram influencers, or YouTube trends personalities who create content about your niche.
Reach out to them and propose a collaboration. Offer them free products from your store in exchange for featuring your products in their content and linking back to your Shopify store in their posts or videos. Monitor the performance of the influencer’s posts and track the traffic and engagement generated from the backlinks to your store.
There you have it. Now it is time you learn these Shopify hacks and start using them. But don’t forget the golden rule of Shopify SEO: quality over quantity. So focus on delivering exceptional value to your audience.
Conclusion
Constantly review and analyze your SEO performance. Use tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics to see what is working and what needs tweaking.
IEMLabs offers a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services to ensure your Shopify store stays safe. When you prioritize both SEO and security, you create a win-win situation. You will attract more customers with exceptional content and build trust by providing a safe shopping experience.
Contact IEMLabs today and let our expertise empower your Shopify SEO efforts.
Author Bio:
Burkhard Berger is the founder of Novum™. He helps innovative B2B companies implement modern SEO strategies to scale their organic traffic to 1,000,000+ visitors per month. Curious about what your true traffic potential is?
