How to get your Shopify Store Rank in Search Engines (SEO Checklist 2021)

You don’t need SEO experience to have your online store rank high in search engines. In this video, we will give tips to optimize your store for better SEO.

Whether you’re launching a new product, building a web presence for your retail location, or starting a dropshipping business, when you’re trying to sell online you have an important problem to solve: how do you get customers to find your store?

People who find your online store in a search engine are probably looking for products like yours, so they are more likely to buy something. You can use search engine optimization (SEO) to improve the page ranking for your store and help customers find your products.

To rank first in a Google search result, your store’s content needs to match a potential visitor’s intent. Optimizing your Shopify SEO can feel intimidating and tedious, but really it’s all about understanding how search engines work and how searchers use them and implementing that insight into your pages copy, then methodically running through some completely accessible backend tinkering.

Here is what we’ll cover in this video:
00:00 Introduction
03:55 3 Simple Steps to Improve Your SEO
04:04 Keywords
12:19 Link Building
14:16 Foundational Links
14:55 Pitch Gift Guides
15:38 PR Campaigns
16:44 Site Speed
17:58 Quality Content

Transcript

0:00
Is it not every e-commerce business owner’s dream to
0:03
show up number one on Google.
0:05
Ranking first in search engines can get you up to 30% more daily
0:08
traffic, so that would mean more people coming to your online
0:11
store and making purchases, and the best part is, is that you
0:15
could rank number one for free.
0:17
So in today’s video, we’re going to teach you how to
0:20
harness the power of SEO.
0:22
This is going to be your golden ticket to improving your Shopify
0:26
store rank on search engines so that you can make more sales.
0:40
What’s going on, guys.
0:41
My name is Michelle.
0:42
I’m a creative strategist and I am also your host for today’s video.
0:46
Now, if you’ve just stumbled upon this channel, Learn with
0:49
shopify is a channel that is dedicated to helping you start,
0:53
run and grow your online business.
0:55
Now I know as entrepreneurs, it can definitely be tough to
0:58
find answers to your questions, especially if you are working
1:01
alone, so we’re constantly making videos that are going to give
1:05
you the answers that you need to grow your e-commerce store.
1:08
So if you do have a topic that you need help with,
1:11
make sure that you’re leaving it in the comment section.
1:13
Um, for example, we recently had someone ask how to
1:16
reach out to influencers.
1:17
So we just made an entire video just on that, just
1:20
answering that question.
1:21
So we definitely listened to you guys and we want to make
1:24
sure that you are getting the most value possible.
1:27
Um, so leave your topic suggestions down below and
1:31
if you like our content, make sure that you were hitting
1:33
subscribe and you are liking this video, but without further
1:36
ado, let’s get into the video.
1:37
So there’s this joke in the SEO world.
1:40
It goes, if you want it to hide a dead body, you’d put it
1:43
on the second page of Google.
1:44
That’s because the first page gets the most clicks and no one
1:47
really goes to the second page, let alone the third or the fourth.
1:50
Now, no matter what you’re selling, where you are in the world, or
1:54
how new you are to selling online, getting your store ranked number
1:58
one on Google is possible, it just takes time and persistence.
2:02
To rank first in a Google search result, your store’s
2:05
content needs to match a potential visitor’s intent.
2:09
Search engine optimization are the steps that you would take
2:13
to prove to Google that your content is relevant and that
2:17
your site is worth visiting.
2:19
So there are three types of SEO.
2:21
There is technical SEO, on page SEO and off page SEO.
2:26
Getting all three of these aspects to move in harmony is the
2:30
key to ranking your e-commerce store in search engines.
2:33
So if we take a look at what technical SEO is, technical
2:37
SEO ensures that your website is optimized for search engine
2:41
crawlers, mobile devices, and has good page speed.
2:46
It also optimizes your site for humans by making sure that it’s
2:50
structure, navigation and internal links allow for easy brousing.
2:55
So on page SEO is the primary method of directly telling
2:59
readers and search engines, what your page is all about.
3:03
So this is going to include keywords, topic relevance,
3:07
meta information, the slug in the page URL and your images.
3:13
So with off page SEO, essentially it boils down
3:16
to building backlinks.
3:18
So these are links that point to your site.
3:21
So the more high-quality relevant backlinks that you have, the
3:25
better your pages will rank.
3:27
So what happens when you take steps to improve your SEO?
3:30
The result is that you improve the quality and the quantity
3:34
of people coming to your store.
3:36
So once Google sees that your online store is a good
3:39
experience for shoppers, they will bump you up higher and
3:42
closer to that number one page.
3:44
So this takes a little bit of time and a little bit of
3:46
effort on your part, but SEO is a marketing channel that
3:50
can produce the highest traffic and revenue for your business.
3:55
So I’m going to introduce you to some simple steps that you can take
3:58
right now, today, in order to get you closer to that number one spot.
4:04
Keywords.
4:05
So you might’ve heard of keywords before, but what are they actually.
4:09
The best way to think of keywords are the queries that people use
4:13
and type into search engines.
4:15
Keywords are literally the words that you put onto your site, so
4:18
that when someone is searching for something in Google, they find you
4:22
because you have included keywords that relate to their search.
4:26
So you can build keywords into your page content, meta description,
4:31
title tags, URL, and more.
4:34
Now, one thing to remember is that SEO has come a long way since
4:39
the days of keyword stuffing.
4:41
So when optimizing pages to rank for keywords, The first step
4:45
is to try and understand the topic behind it, and then you do
4:49
your best to cover that topic.
4:50
So for example, when I searched for silk sleep mask in Google,
4:55
this e-commerce store shows up because they have used the
4:58
keywords silk and sleep mask in their product descriptions.
5:03
The trick though is to find the right keywords.
5:05
The right keywords are going to have a lot of people
5:08
searching for them, but not a lot of other websites that
5:11
are using these keywords.
5:12
So in short, we want high volume, low competition.
5:16
To go ahead and find those keywords you’re going to need to use a tool
5:19
called Google keyword planner.
5:21
So if you haven’t set that up yet, I will just leave a link for
5:24
you guys in the description box on how you can get that set up.
5:27
So now I’m in Google keyword planner, and I’m going
5:30
to be looking for words for my hot sauce brand.
5:33
Specifically, I’m going to be looking for transactional keywords,
5:37
which are searches that indicate an intent to complete a purchase.
5:41
This entails, typing a product name directly into the search
5:44
bar and these types of keywords go into your product pages.
5:48
So I will click discover new keywords and I’m going to
5:51
start typing in some keywords that I think people are going
5:54
to be searching on Google.
5:56
And I’m going to really think about the words that people might use if
5:59
they are ready to make a purchase.
6:01
So here I have hot sauce Canada.
6:03
I have hot sauce subscription box, and I will also use vegan
6:07
hot sauce, which is actually quite ridiculous because I think most hot
6:11
sauces are vegan, but that’s fine.
6:14
So you can put in up to 10 keywords, but right now we’re
6:17
just going to hit get results.
6:19
Okay.
6:19
So, here we have hot sauce Canada, and as you can
6:23
see, it has a thousand to 10,000 monthly searches.
6:26
So that’s pretty amazing, but my only thing here is that the
6:30
competition is looking pretty high.
6:32
That means we’re probably not going to rank for this search term.
6:35
So you want to look for a high average monthly searches
6:39
with a low competition.
6:42
That is a sweet spot.
6:44
And if we scroll down, Google is going to give us
6:46
some other keywords as well.
6:48
And these are going to be keywords that are related to our initial
6:51
search, and that’s just going to help us give us some more ideas.
6:55
So as you’re doing your research, here are some rules of thumb.
6:59
Number one, go for keywords with more than a
7:02
thousand monthly searches.
7:04
Number two, if your search term has too high
7:07
competition think of synonyms.
7:09
So instead of Hot Sauce, maybe we could do
7:11
something like chili sauce.
7:14
And number three, try to go for something that’s
7:15
called long tail keywords.
7:18
Long tail keyword phrases will be easier to rank for.
7:22
So instead of just like hot sauce, for example,
7:24
you could use gluten-free hot sauce for sandwiches.
7:28
And number four, include many keyword phrases, not just one.
7:32
Okay.
7:33
So let’s say you found your keywords.
7:34
What you’re going to want to do is you’ll put them on a notepad
7:37
in your computer and then you’ll actually want to put these keywords
7:40
that you’ve found onto your site.
7:43
So here we are on my left hand side, I have my
7:46
keywords I want to use.
7:47
And on my right-hand side, I’m editing my product here in Shopify.
7:52
So make sure that you’re using your keywords in your product titles,
7:55
as well as your descriptions.
7:57
I’m going to make sure that all of these keywords are weaved
8:00
in, in a way that makes sense.
8:03
We want to avoid keyword stuffing.
8:05
So if you haven’t heard of keyword stuffing, this is basically
8:08
when you’re just, you know, randomly plopping in keywords and
8:11
when you read it out loud, the paragraph just doesn’t make sense.
8:15
We want to avoid keyword stuffing because Google actually
8:18
picks up on this, and they will penalize your website.
8:21
So make sure that your paragraph is readable and that
8:24
it’s providing value as well.
8:26
Another place to add your keywords is in your image alt text.
8:30
So if you want your actual images to show up, when someone
8:33
is doing a Google image search, your image alt texts is how
8:37
you’re going to get found.
8:38
So I’ll just add that here and I will click save alt text.
8:43
All right.
8:43
So let’s scroll down a little bit, so this is a little preview of how
8:47
our product page looks to other people when they find us on Google.
8:52
So this is looking super messy, so let’s just clean this up and
8:56
we’ll also take this opportunity to add in our keywords.
9:00
You also want to make sure that you’re using copy that will
9:03
entice people to click through once they actually find you
9:07
on Google, and really short and sweet here is perfect.
9:11
I’m going to also include our keywords in our URL because Google
9:15
also takes this into account.
9:17
One other type of keyword that I briefly want to mention
9:19
is informational queries.
9:22
So these types of keywords normally begin with how to,
9:25
what, why, best, et cetera.
9:29
So you can use these types of keywords to create blog
9:33
content that genuinely provides helpful information that is also
9:37
relevant to your target audience.
9:40
So when it comes to the customer journey in search engines, it’s
9:43
important to understand how people move from not knowing
9:47
what they want to purchase or what they’re looking for to
9:50
constantly making the choice to purchase your product.
9:53
Users look for information before they make a transaction.
9:57
If you were looking to buy a new smartphone, for example,
10:00
you would probably start your search by typing in a
10:03
query like best smartphone.
10:06
And then you might be scrolling through an article that
10:08
lists the top 10 smartphones.
10:10
From there, you would probably want to compare it two of the
10:13
products that you saw on that list to learn how they might compare
10:16
in features or reliability.
10:19
Okay, so from there you might type in something like apple
10:21
iPhone versus Samsung galaxy.
10:24
And then after reading this, you would have a clear idea of what
10:28
smartphone is right for you.
10:30
And then you would type in a transactional
10:32
keyword, like buy iPhone.
10:34
And that way you could find the best deal and
10:37
complete your purchase.
10:38
Okay.
10:38
So now that we understand how a customer might move from
10:41
consideration all the way to purchase, as they’re using a
10:45
search engine, you’re going to want to replicate this.
10:48
So to do this, you’re going to want to create a list of
10:51
informational keywords related to your niche or your product.
10:55
You’ll want to brainstorm customer questions as well.
10:58
Consider what questions customers are asking when they’re aware
11:01
of your product, but maybe they still need more clarification.
11:04
So for example, we could create an article that helps customers
11:07
understand how to pair certain hot sauces with certain foods, going
11:11
back to our hot sauce example.
11:13
So I would recommend that you start typing into Google, see what
11:16
suggestions come up and that’s going to give you an idea of
11:20
common questions people are having.
11:22
So after that, you’re gonna want to hit enter on one of the queries and
11:25
scroll all the way to the bottom this has a bit of life hack, and
11:28
this will give you related queries.
11:30
These will give you article ideas that are validated because you
11:33
know people are searching for them.
11:35
All right.
11:35
So once you have your keywords, the next step is to create thoughtful
11:39
and value packed blog articles with original photos that help
11:43
drive visitors from awareness to consideration to transaction.
11:48
Remember that funnel that we were talking about, we want to move
11:51
them through that with our content.
11:54
So for this consider making step-by-step tutorials.
11:57
You can also try top 10 lists.
12:00
You can do how to articles.
12:01
You can make long form content and how to videos.
12:06
If you want to rank higher in search results, and maybe you’re
12:08
looking for a checklist that you can easily reference, then
12:11
I will leave a link for you guys in the description box,
12:14
and that will give you access to download a free checklist
12:17
on search engine optimization.
12:20
Link building.
12:21
So you’re also going to want to think about a
12:23
link building strategy.
12:24
So link building refers to the process of acquiring
12:27
hyperlinks from other websites, to point to your own website.
12:32
So if Google sees that other websites are pointing to
12:35
your store, other people are talking about you.
12:38
Google is going to start to see your site as trusted and reputable.
12:41
Google takes into account the number of links that are
12:44
out there about your store.
12:46
It also considers the quality as well, so if time magazine
12:50
drops your URL in their article, that would definitely
12:53
be considered a reputable and high quality reference.
12:57
Relevancy is also another key factor.
13:00
If you do want to get started on building links, the best
13:02
way to approach this is to focus on partnerships.
13:05
So whether that’s publishers or other sites in your
13:08
industry, you’re going to want to determine who can
13:11
provide and share value with.
13:14
So if you know someone who reviews hot sauces, and you
13:17
want to promote your hot sauce products, I really simple email
13:21
introduction can be the start of a mutually beneficial relationship.
13:25
When you’re reaching out here are a couple of things that you’re
13:28
gonna want to keep in mind.
13:29
So in your pitch email, start by explaining what’s in it for them.
13:33
Let’s say they have a blog post, and they have links to
13:35
products that are out of date or products that no longer
13:39
exist, or maybe they’re missing something vital in their posts.
13:42
You’re going to want to give them a reason to consider your
13:45
request, to consider featuring your products in their content.
13:50
Secondly, make sure that you’re not requesting links from
13:53
people who are your competitors.
13:54
Okay.
13:55
This might sound obvious, but it’s sometimes it’s not so obvious.
13:59
So for example, let’s say you’re, you’re selling hot sauces.
14:03
Make sure that you’re looking at who is writing the actual article
14:07
of, you know, top 10 hot sauces, make sure that those people are not
14:11
also selling their own hot sauces.
14:13
That’s just something to keep in mind so that you’re
14:15
not wasting your time.
14:17
Number one, foundational links.
14:19
So foundational links are from social media profiles, business
14:23
directories and niche directories.
14:25
So, if you haven’t already signed up for social media accounts, like
14:28
Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, et cetera, then you’re definitely
14:31
going to want to do that now.
14:33
And it’s also recommended that you create a profile
14:35
for Google my business.
14:37
Even if you don’t have a physical retail store, this is
14:40
still going to help you improve your local SEO, which can help
14:43
you get more local customers.
14:46
The SEO benefits here are on the smaller side, on the
14:49
foundational links, but this is easy to set up and it’s going to
14:53
increase your discoverability.
14:55
Number two, pitch gift guides.
14:58
So gift guides are a list of recommended products, typically
15:01
surrounding a holiday like Christmas, for example, um,
15:04
if you’ve ever Googled gift ideas, Then you’ve likely come
15:07
across one of these articles.
15:09
So getting your products in the right gift guides can increase
15:12
your sales, they can increase your traffic to your website as well.
15:16
But inclusion in these does not happen randomly.
15:19
It is going to require some effort on your part.
15:22
You’ll need to contact gift guide publishers and asked
15:25
to have your product listed.
15:27
Now, of course, when it comes to this, there is no guarantee,
15:30
but if your product is the right fit, you can be included
15:34
and that can help you introduce your brand and your products
15:36
to an entirely new audience.
15:39
Number three PR campaigns.
15:41
So press publications have a really good chance at getting
15:44
you website, visitors, and also establishing clout.
15:48
This is all good things coming from an SEO perspective.
15:51
So when we think about a press release, we’re generally thinking
15:55
about it in a very traditional sense where you would submit
15:58
a release to the media to get featured in local national or
16:01
industry press, but instead of hiring a PR company, because that
16:06
can be pretty costly, try taking a shot at doing your own publicity.
16:11
So if you have a great story or if you have super interesting product
16:14
that people are going to want to write about, just put it out there.
16:17
Get in touch with bloggers and journalists who cover
16:20
businesses like yours and tell them what you’re up to.
16:24
It’s definitely true that most writers are drowning in requests,
16:27
but they are still always on the lookout for a good story.
16:29
So make sure that you’re targeting the right publications and that
16:32
you’re sharing your brand story, especially if it is, you know,
16:35
compelling, touching, shocking or inspiring telling a narrative
16:40
will improve your success rate with this tactic site speed.
16:45
Having a fast site is not only important to keep customers
16:48
from getting frustrated and leaving your site.
16:51
But it’s also important because Google sees this as favorable.
16:55
Google will reward you with increased exposure and get you
16:58
closer to that number one ranking, if you do have good site speed.
17:03
One of the most common offenders are apps on your Shopify store.
17:07
So start by going to your apps, start by, you know, just cleaning
17:10
up the ones that you don’t use.
17:12
And just by doing this small step, you’re going to see a huge
17:15
difference in your site speed.
17:16
Video is so important in keeping your customers engaged
17:20
and on your site for longer.
17:22
Long sessions will increase your site’s SEO performance.
17:25
But ironically, having a heavy video is going to slow down your
17:29
site speed, and that’s going to negatively affect your SEO ranking.
17:33
So to solve this little conundrum instead of using I-frame, which is
17:37
YouTube standard embed code, use something called light embeds.
17:41
This is going to help with load times and it’s going to
17:43
make your site load faster.
17:45
So for personalized recommendations on how you
17:48
can increase your site speed.
17:49
Shopify actually has a tool that’s right inside the admin
17:53
called the store speed report, so you can check that out.
17:58
Quality content.
17:59
So Google tracks, how people are interacting with your site.
18:02
So if people land on your site, maybe they don’t find what they
18:05
want, or maybe your sites look an amateur, they’re probably
18:08
going to press the back button.
18:10
If Google sees that people are leaving right away, they
18:13
will move you down in ranks.
18:15
So instead create content that is keeping people engaged and
18:19
Google is going to up rank you for this when it comes to your
18:22
homepage, keep it short and snappy.
18:25
So instead of opening with two long paragraphs that explain
18:28
why your brand is the best, open with a product image, open with a
18:32
short line of copy and open with a button, like shop now to entice
18:37
people, to browse and stay awhile.
18:39
So on our hot sauce store, we have beautiful photography, some
18:43
teaser texts and a shop now button.
18:46
This is a very standard way to set up your homepage.
18:49
On your product pages, make sure that you have high res images
18:52
and also include a specific information that a customer
18:55
would need to know before they actually make a purchase.
18:58
So for example, here we have ingredients and spice level.
19:02
Quality product pages are not only going to help with SEO,
19:05
but they’re also going to help with conversions as well.
19:08
So make sure that you are paying close attention
19:10
to your product pages.
19:12
We actually have an entire video of me just going over
19:14
Shopify stores that I think are doing an amazing job.
19:17
So you can check that out right here for when you’re
19:19
done watching this video.
19:20
So these are all the steps that you can take today if you wanted
19:23
to, and that will help you improve your presence on Google, but when
19:27
you implement these steps, You’re going to want to use a tool like
19:31
Google search console, Google search console is going to help
19:34
you track how well you’re doing.
19:36
So if you don’t know how to use Google search console,
19:38
and maybe you want an entire video just on how to use it,
19:41
let me know and I will do that if there is enough interest.
19:44
If you’re already watching this and you’re wanting to
19:47
improve your store, then you are 10 steps ahead of the game.
19:50
The most common traits of successful entrepreneurs are people
19:53
who are passionate, persistent, and keeps their eye on the goal.
19:57
So good shop for being out there and taking yet another step in
20:00
pushing your business and getting closer to financial freedom.
20:03
If you’re not on Shopify already, and you are serious
20:06
about ranking your online store, then Shopify is really going to
20:09
have everything that you need.
20:11
It has powerful features and free apps.
20:14
That’s going to simplify your marketing and up
20:16
your game with SEO.
20:18
So you can get started with a free 14 day trial.
20:21
No credit card required.
20:23
I will leave a link for you guys in the description box
20:25
so that you can get started on your business journey.
20:28
If you thought that this video is helpful, and maybe you gained
20:30
a couple of gems and make sure that you’re giving it a thumbs up,
20:33
that’s going to help this video do well, give it some more exposure.
20:37
It’s going to help our channel grow and it’s going to overall
20:40
help our community grow and it makes sure that you are living your
20:43
questions in the comment section.
20:44
We will do our best to get back to each and every single one of you.
20:48
And of course, if you like this type of content, if you are an
20:51
entrepreneur and you’re looking to up your game, make sure
20:55
that you’re hitting subscribe because we are constantly
20:57
dropping content, just like this.
21:00
Thank you guys so much for watching.

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