Undoubtedly, in the digital era, having a solid online presence is not a luxury but a need for eCommerce companies. Millions of consumers use search engines to find products they need. This drives the importance of being on high ranks to be noticed and get the right people to your business site. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) is of great importance within your digital marketing strategy.
By optimizing your website and content for popular search engines like Google and Bing, you can substantially grow your visibility, establish trust from prospective customers, and achieve long-term progress. In this article, let’s discuss the four main reasons why is SEO important for eCommerce success.
Enhanced Visibility and Traffic
Think of the first page of a search engine results page (SERP) as a worthwhile asset for every e-commerce enterprise to seek. It is prime real estate that can substantially influence the profitability of your internet shop. Research has demonstrated that 99% of all the clicks that are made on SERPs (search engine result pages) go to the first page. For this reason, any business that wants to generate online traffic and sales should aim to occupy this space.
This is the primary reason why you may want to invest in SEO services for your eCommerce store. It is one of the most effective ways to occupy prime real estate and boost your site’s visibility. By using keywords relevant to your online business and placing quality and informative content that contains those keywords, you can draw organic traffic and increase the probability of converting visitors to customers.
There are many real-life instances where SEO strategies have been executed successfully. For example, Airmed Scrubs—the primary medical clothing seller—got four times more organic traffic within three months through strategic SEO efforts. This not only established their online presence but also increased the number of actual sales and confirmed that they were already a prominent player in the industry.
Building Credibility and Trust
In the current digital age, customers prefer to stay loyal and interact with the brands that feature at the top of search engine results. By having a higher ranking, your online store can be an excellent and authoritative source for your products. Nonetheless, it should be emphasized that SEO is not about positioning based on the rating of the search engine results pages. It also requires putting users first and providing them with a pleasant user experience (UX) on your website.
In order to earn the respect and loyalty of your customers, you have to provide them with a well-structured and easy-to-navigate platform containing concise product descriptions and secure payment channels. A user-friendly website builds trust and confidence in your brand, which can, in the end, improve your sales and reach.
As a report by SSRN Electronics Journal outlines, there is a strong connection between the perception of a brand and the SEO techniques employed. Users saw sites that implement strong SEO practices as credible and trustworthy.
Cost-Effectiveness and Sustainable Growth
One of the most critical benefits of SEO for eCommerce businesses is its long-term efficacy. While paid advertising can temporarily boost the site’s traffic, SEO is often more sustainable in terms of organic website traffic that stays for a longer period. Even though you may have a significant up-front investment in designing and developing an SEO eCommerce strategy, your company stands to see long-term growth based on the benefits of the initiatives.
According to research conducted by First Page Sage, the ROI of SEO can be as much as 13 times that of the actual investment. In other words, for every dollar spent on SEO, the potential return may be as much as $13, which can be more rewarding than many other marketing strategies.
The cost-effectiveness of SEO as a marketing strategy makes it a good investment for the long-term benefit of your eCommerce business. Among other things, SEO can help amplify your target audience’s interest in you, improve your website ranking, and eventually convert your visitors into loyal customers for your brand.
Mobile Optimization and User Experience
The mobile commerce trend is growing tremendously in this digital age, and a mobile-friendly website isn’t longer a mere choice but a necessity for every business seeking success.
Major search engines such as Google and Bing rank mobile-friendly websites higher in their search results. Hence, you must ensure your website is up to date to meet the needs of mobile users.
You must adopt a responsive design and have mobile-friendly web pages to improve search rankings and establish a good user experience. This is a critical expectation because a statistics shows that mobile commerce sales will contribute around 66% of all e-Commerce sales in 2022. As such, you must ensure you have the best mobile optimization techniques to give yourself a better chance of success, particularly if you are operating in very competitive industries.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
As of right now, you may already understand why is SEO important for eCommerce. However, it is just one of the means. After all, the sole purpose of every company is to transform incoming website traffic into paying customers. This is where CRO—or Conversion Rate Optimization—comes into the picture. It means optimizing the website to maximize the percentage of visitors who end up with your most-wanted action, i.e., buying from your website.
Both SEO and CRO strategies must be in sync to achieve the highest results. Although the SEO implementation that drives traffic to your website is good, it is the CRO strategies that thoughtfully optimize your product pages and the checkout process to a seamless user experience that leads to those visitors making a purchase. For example, your conversion rate can be dramatically improved by putting relevant keywords on your product descriptions and making the call to action clear.
Conclusion
Why is SEO important for your eCommerce business? In short, proper SEO can bring many advantages to your online store. It enables better visibility and improves brand credibility, which consequently leads to sustainable growth and better conversions, making it a vital tool for achieving digital success.
At Tech-One, we understand the specific challenges and opportunities of the eCommerce scene. Because of this, we have a squad of SEO individuals who can create tailored strategies for your online store. Our objective is to support you in building impactful websites that propel you to the top of search results. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your eCommerce business stay afloat in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
