Magento is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the world. No wonder. Availability in several versions, a wide range of functionalities and ease of use make it possible to create even large stores on Magento. However, it is worth remembering that just preparing the store is not enough. Its later positioning is equally important. How is the positioning of Magento online stores effective?
SEO of Magento stores – why is it worth it?
Are you using the Magento platform? It’s a good choice. The system currently developed by Adobe is available in many languages, and its rich functionality makes it very easy to manage the sales process. The many advantages include adapting this portal to SEO needs. Indeed, positioning of stores on Magento gives you a wide range of possibilities. Here, however, nothing happens by itself.
In order for your store to be displayed high in Google search results and its offer to effectively reach interested customers, you should take care of it through positioning. It is a series of activities thanks to which Google recognizes your e-store as valuable in terms of SEO for people entering certain key phrases into the website. For this to happen, the search engine algorithms, after reviewing your store on Magento, must recognize that:
– it is easy to use,
– quickly provides information consistent with the search intention for a given keyword,
– it is credible.
How to “convince” Google algorithms to each other? This is a process that requires, first of all, refining the store itself – in terms of its code, security, hosting parameters, but also the content posted. That’s not all, of course, because additionally there is also the issue of linking and other related issues.
Seems like a lot of work? Yes. In order to position a store on Magento, you need to have the appropriate knowledge, experience, tools and time. However, the effort and budget invested in this process pay off many times over. Well-planned and performed SEO activities will allow you to:
– get high positions in Google search results for phrases related to your business,
– attract the interest of recipients who belong to your target groups,
– increase the number of visits to the website, and thus maximize the chance that the visitor will make a purchase,
– strengthen the brand awareness of your store,
– compete more effectively with other e-stores in your market niche.
Our experience shows that a well-carried out positioning of Magento stores means a significant decrease in the cost of acquiring customers, especially when compared to the cost of running intensive Ads campaigns. In addition, the effects of SEO activities are long-term and you will benefit from them for many months or even years.
How to SEO stores on Magento?
The Magento platform itself is well suited to conducting activities related to positioning. The tools available to users include such functionalities as automatic creation of a site map and robots.txt file or grouping of metadata for individual categories and subcategories. This can make your work much easier and help increase the visibility of the site for Google. However, the question is whether such actions will be enough.
It is worth realizing that the positioning of stores on Magento is carried out by an increasing group of their owners. This means ever-increasing competition and ever higher efficiency requirements. Therefore, in many cases, independent actions, even based on quite extensive SEO options of this platform, may not be successful. When positioning a store on Magento, even the slightest mistake or omission may decide about the failure of the entire investment.
For this reason, the answer to the question of how to position stores on Magento is: using the help of experts. However, before you start working with a digital agency, be sure to find out what elements should be taken care of by specialists so that their work translates into measurable results.
SEO of Magento stores – what elements do you need to remember?
At the beginning, the most important thing: how your store will be positioned depends largely on the specifics of its operation or industry. The fact that it is created using Magento also matters as you may find it necessary to correct the script code. Nevertheless, the basic principles according to which SEO activities should be carried out remain consistent with those used when positioning websites on a different basis. Here is a list of the elements that will ensure the success of all actions taken.
SEO audit – the basis for effective Magento store positioning
In theory, it may seem that positioning your store is a simple task. After all, it is all about selecting keywords and their skilful use in the resources of the website. However, this is a very big simplification of the whole process, which in fact is much more complicated. It must be remembered that the Google algorithms themselves change even several hundred (!) Times a year. The rules followed by the search engine are very extensive and cover not only content-related aspects.
That is why, before you start positioning your store on Magento, you should carefully look at the current situation. Experts have to assess how the store looks in terms of SEO and what needs to be changed to be visible in the first places in SERPs. Therefore, they assess, among others:
– technical aspects of the e-shop – incl. its code, page loading speed, its security, as well as the number of errors,
– content posted on the website – their quantity, quality are important, but also keyword saturation and uniqueness,
– page meta data and linking.
But this is not the end. You still need to look at the specifics of the company’s business processes, target group, and how competition is promoted. This information can be very important when choosing keywords for which positioning will be carried out.
Remember: keywords should not be selected “by eye”, but based on in-depth analysis and precise statistics. It is important, among others how much competition there is in positioning for specific phrases, as well as what potential they bring. Contrary to appearances, sometimes it is more profitable to choose less popular keywords, but it is much easier to get higher. When making your decision, follow the tips of SEO experts. Thanks to this, the positioning of the Magento store will be more efficient.
E-shop code optimization
Once the audit is done and experts provide concrete information on what needs to be done to get results from SEO, you can move on to action. Experts usually first look at the website of the e-shop itself and check whether it works properly.
There are many important issues in this aspect, but the most important ones are:
– page loading speed and smooth operation – may depend, among others, on from the “heaviness” of the e-store (the higher it is, the more data the user has to download to open it), as well as the hosting server parameters,
– correct operation of the website, i.e. whether it opens well on various devices and does not generate various types of errors,
– security – is extremely important, because the customer leaves his data in the store, so it must be transferred without the risk of passing through third parties. The basis is a valid and up-to-date SSL certificate.
These are all “programming” and technical tasks that SEO specialists must perform. It’s good for them to know about Magento store positioning, because the script of this platform is specific and needs to be skillfully optimized.
Verification of the site map and its layout
A site map is a record of its layout and “organizational chart”, i.e. how individual categories and subcategories branch out. It should be as logical, precise and orderly as possible. Why? Because the lack of a clear breakdown is problematic for both the user and Google’s algorithms. It should be remembered that it is unacceptable that all products are thrown into one bag, which can be seen not only in the structure of the website itself, but also in URLs. This leads to improper indexing of the e-store in Google, and thus preventing effective positioning.
SEO specialists carefully look at the layout of products in the store and, if necessary, propose a new, logical and more nested level. Remember: the more articles you sell, the more “densely” you should go into them. Thanks to this, finding individual elements will be easier for the customer clicking on categories, and positioning the Magento store – easier.
After making changes, of course, you need to generate a new sitemap and a robots.txt file. On Magento, this can be done automatically.
Meta tag optimization
Meta tags are additional content that does not appear directly on the store’s page, but is important information for search engines. The most important and visible tags are title and description, i.e. the title and description of the page. They are visible in the Google results list. That is why it is worth taking a closer look at them and making sure that they are:
– unique – repeating the same meta tags reduces their value in the eyes of Google, which consequently weakens the positioning of stores on Magento,
– saturated with keywords – it is worth including those that dominate in a given tab,
– attractive in terms of marketing – they should encourage visitors to the site, so it is worth including a CTA in them, i.e. a slogan prompting you to do so.
In addition to these basic meta tags, it is also worth taking a look at the ALT descriptions of images placed on e-shop pages. Adding them can also help from a positioning point of view. This is another place that you can saturate with keywords related to a given tab.
Remember: although Magento offers automatic adding of meta tags, it is worth at least to verify them when generated and edit them if necessary. Thanks to this, you will avoid problems that will weaken the effects of SEO activities.
Store content on Magento – SEO depends largely on them
The texts for the e-shop website are important not only from the marketing point of view, although it must be admitted that this aspect is also important. However, the SEO perspective is just as important. The content must be adapted to the rules governing the positioning of Magento stores. Otherwise, you may have trouble achieving high SERP scores.
The question, however, is: what do SEO-adjusted content mean? There are several elements that must absolutely be taken care of.
First, the uniqueness of the texts. And it is understood in two ways. First of all, don’t duplicate content found on other sites. You may be entitled to use promotional material from the manufacturer of the items you sell. However, filling individual subpages with such texts will reduce the SEO value of your Magento store. Why? Because Google will consider the content repetitive, and thus – little needed by the user. It is also important not to copy the same content on multiple pages of the website. Perhaps you sell goods in twin similar subcategories, so you thought about changing a few words in the text describing one of them and copying it to the other. The resulting duplicate content will also be misinterpreted by algorithms. So avoid such mistakes.
Second, the right amount of texts. Quantity can also be considered in several different ways. On the one hand, it is about the number of characters on individual subpages. On the other hand – how many tabs will be filled with content. We advise: more is better. However, text resources should be expanded gradually – also due to the budget that must be allocated for it. Remember that texts that are too short will translate into little space for key phrases.
And where and what content should be placed in the Magento store for positioning? They’ll be useful:
– content for the home page and subpage about the store – should contain the most general phrases related to your distribution activities,
– descriptions of the main categories followed by sub-categories and products. The process of preparing these texts should be spread over time, step by step extending the range of positioning,
– articles for a shop blog – they can be useful both for SEO reasons (including long tail positioning) and for image purposes. They will also help you reach your customers at different stages of the buying funnel. Therefore, it is definitely worth investing in them later.
Third, the quality of the texts – with the positioning of Magento stores in mind, it is worth remembering that the amount of content should go hand in hand with their substantive and persuasive value. The times of the so-called “pretzels” or texts, which were the proverbial “pouring water”, are long over. Today, not only the customer, but also Google pay attention to the information value of the content. This is important for their credibility.
Fourth, the clarity and layout of the texts – with SEO in mind, texts should be written with appropriate headings (H1, H2, H3), as well as bullets, as well as bold and underlines. They make the content easier for the user to read and are an additional hint for Google robots.
It is worth considering that the content should be prepared by a professional copywriter in consultation with an SEO specialist. This will ensure that they meet the requirements of Magento store positioning.
Linking matters
Another important element for positioning Magento stores is the proper use of linking. You should check if the links already used in the content are correct and expand their base. It is important to both increase the number of internal links (but so that they do not cross each other) and external links. These can be obtained, among others on blogs, social networks or by publishing sponsored articles with links to the store.
How long does it take to position stores on Magento and can they be accelerated?
The process of positioning the store on Magento will take several months until the first clear results are achieved. How much exactly? It depends, among others on the condition of the website before starting SEO activities or how competitive the industry in which you operate is. The budget you can spend on positioning is also important. Most often, however, results can be expected after about 3-6 months. They last much longer.
Is it possible to somehow speed up the positioning? It is difficult, especially if you expect really good results. However, if you need a much faster increase in website visits and support in stimulating sales, you can be tempted to advertise a Magento store with the help of Ads systems, e.g. offered by Google. The combination of activities in these two fields: paid advertising and SEO, will bring satisfactory results in the short and long term.
