How to Increase Your Website Traffic Without SEO

SEO can be a brilliant strategy to increase your website traffic but it isn’t always enough. 

Imagine you rely on SEO for all your traffic. What happens when the Google algorithm changes? You risk losing potential customers! 

That’s why diversifying your methods of increasing web traffic can offer better results. If you have multiple traffic sources, changing algorithms won’t completely halt your business. You will have a toolkit full of optimization strategies to keep your business running. Diversifying your web traffic can also be helpful in cases where there’s little scope for search engine optimization (for example, podcasts). 

In this post, we’re going to look at effective strategies to grow your website traffic without SEO so you’re never left stranded by algorithm changes again. We’ll also look at practical tips you can start using right now, so you can get back in the game if your traffic has been low for a while. 

Why Should You Try to Grow Traffic Without SEO?

You can generate substantial traffic from SEO alone, but not all traffic is equal.  High-quality traffic (that includes users more likely to convert) offers better ROI, so you need to prioritize it. 

Plus, if you aren’t an SEO expert, you may want to focus on other strategies to grow your website traffic efficiently. 

This doesn’t mean you completely ignore SEO. All websites, irrespective of their niche, must follow the best SEO practices to avoid being penalized by Google and to ensure the site gets indexed. 

The strategies we’ll discuss below can be a helpful addition to a pre-existing SEO plan. 

Top Strategies to Increase Website Traffic Without SEO 

1. Content Marketing

If you have been reading about digital marketing for a while, you must have heard the term “content marketing.” In simple words, it’s a way to organically advertise your brand through high-quality content.

Content marketing strategies often include blog posts, podcast episodes, infographics, YouTube videos, downloadable PDFs, etc. 

For instance, Toggl, a time tracking software company frequently uploads informative blog posts and research data about productivity, work-life, and career. 

This attracts users interested in time management, productivity, and wellbeing in the workplace. When they read Toggl’s blog, they eventually discover Toggl’s time tracking app, among its other productivity tools. Some of these users convert, helping Toggl increase their website traffic and ROI. 

Content marketing isn’t limited to blog posts. If you connect better through audio, you can try launching a podcast or host a webinar. 

Nowadays, most social media apps let you post a variety of content formats including photos, audio clips, long-form text, and videos. You can experiment with one or more of these formats to see what works best for your audience. 

2. Paid Ads

Content marketing is beneficial but it can take a lot of money, especially if you’re paying established writers to create original, well-researched posts for you. 

Most of these projects also take weeks or months to show results, which isn’t a practical timeline for many businesses. 

If you want quicker results with a budget you can control, why not try paid ads?

Seven in ten Americans use social media today. That’s more than two-thirds of the population. Think about the possibilities! 

Paid ads can instantly generate hundreds, if not thousands, of clicks to your website. Plus, with new advertising and social media platforms appearing and innovating regularly, getting your ads in front of the right people is becoming easier than ever.

For example, Facebook offers detailed customer personas and multiple targeting options so you can put your business in front of your target customers without wasting a lot of money on mass advertising. 

However, you don’t have to stick to the largest platforms for effective advertising. In fact, advertising on lesser-known platforms whose audience aligns with your products can be more effective in the long run. 

For example, if your ideal customer includes teens who enjoy memes and weird stories, you’d have much better results by advertising on Reddit, rather than Facebook or YouTube. 

Another option is dating apps. If your brand is focused on relationships or if you’re targeting young singles, advertising on dating apps like Tinder can help you find your target customers faster. 

If you’re worried paid ads will take a lot of money, remember, you don’t need to spend $1,000 on your first day. 

Test the waters with $5-$10 a day and see what happens. Do that for a week, just to learn how different media platforms work.

3. Social Media Strategies

One of the best ways to increase your website traffic is to meet your customers where they like to hang out. Like we discussed earlier, almost everyone is using social media today. Ramping up your social media marketing efforts can help you reach new users, develop brand awareness and increase website traffic. 

How to gain website traffic through social media?

When it comes to social media, you can’t just barge into “conversations” and ask people to buy something from you or to visit your website. 

Think about how you’d present your brand in real life when you meet an individual for the first time. Would you immediately talk sales in their face? How about providing details about your product/service without introducing yourself first?

Remember, users visit their preferred social media platforms for entertainment, not for being sold to. 

To make sure your efforts are well-received, you need to provide value first and develop positive relationships with your potential “followers.”

You can do this by sharing informative posts like How-Tos, or posting fun photos of your employees, like this post from Casper.

I wrote a detailed guide to increasing social media followers and boosting engagement. Here’s a summary of the top options to help you grow your website traffic. 

• join relevant Facebook groups
• share helpful articles/videos in these groups
• post updates about your company’s latest products 
• host contests and giveaways 
• Leave thoughtful comments on user-generated content 

4. Link Building Strategies

When marketing teams talk about SEO, link building frequently comes to mind. When reputable websites link to your content, the algorithm favors your website and increases its rank on the search page.

Sounds helpful, but that’s not all. 

Did you know link building can help you increase web traffic without relying on SEO?

Link building for brand awareness is a process where you focus your strategies on expanding your reach, putting your content in front of new users, and generating conversations around your brand. 

This is more than just a casual backlink in a blog post. Link building for brand awareness takes more planning and resources, but the investment is worth the high-quality leads you’ll get. 

Here are some tips for developing effective link building strategies to increase website traffic:

• Engage with your audience: Create interesting, shareable posts and encourage your followers to respond and share your content. 
• Work with PRs: Recruit efficient PRs to help generate brand awareness and distribute your story to your desired audience. 
• Guest blog intentionally: Choose unique publications that align with your readers’ key interests and post guest blogs on their page. 

5. Interact With Other Blogs

Guest blogging is an effective traffic-driving strategy aimed at leveraging somebody else’s audience to widen your brand’s reach. 

Think about it: Somebody in your niche has a large, engaged following. Imagine if you could put your content in front of them. How much traffic could you drive to your website! 

Why would someone publish your work?

Probably because you’re good at what you do. 

Everyone is looking for high-quality content. If you can provide a well-researched, helpful post for free, people are often open to publishing it on their website. After all, it’s benefiting their audience at zero cost. 

Why would you give precious content away for free?

It’ll help you gain access to hundreds, if not thousands of new users, many of whom could become long-term customers. 

It’s a win-win situation, but you have to be careful how you approach it. 

Start by searching for blogs and media publications that publish content relevant to your business. For example, if you run a recruiting company, publish content on business blogs read by people interested in the latest recruiting practices. 

If you want to find blogs in your industry that are accepting guest posts, use the following search queries to see more specific results:

• name of your niche + “write for us”
• name of your niche + “submit guest post”
• name of your niche + “sites that accept guest posts”
• write guest article + ‘name of your niche” + blog

Solvid provides a comprehensive list of places accepting guest blogs:

In addition, research online biographies of specific companies and bloggers. More often than not, their web profiles contain a handy list of sites where they’ve been invited to guest post. That’s a plethora of most fitting guest blog opportunities presented to you on a silver platter.

Then, send a request. Most websites will have publication guidelines you can follow. Follow these instructions carefully to increase your chances of publication. 

There’s also the option of using blog comments as a way to generate traffic to your site.

In the past, I have managed to generate $25,000 as a result of 249 comments.

How exactly do you go about using comments to generate traffic?

When leaving a comment, make sure you are adding something worthwhile to the discussion.

There is no use in leaving comments like “Awesome post!” or “Nice website!”

If someone posts a question, make sure you take the time to answer thoughtfully.

This showcases your expertise in the given niche and will encourage someone reading to click on your name and be taken through to your site.

If you read an article on a subject you don’t know very well, it would be imprudent to voice your own thoughts as fact. In this situation, you should simply ask questions. Then the website owner would be able to elaborate more on complex topics or complicated sections.

If you’re knowledgeable about a subject, feel free to contribute (e.g., suggest something, recommend a solution, answer a question). If you’re a novice, it’s best to ask questions. Powerful questions can bring you website traffic by encouraging blog readers to check you out.

Avoid embedding links in your comments. It comes off as a wretched attempt to plant your flag on someone’s lawn.

It’s okay to use your website’s link in the URL field when entering your name and email address, but your comment needs to add to the conversation or challenge an idea without lazy attempts at driving traffic to your blog.

Refrain from using the name of your business as your “commenting name.”  Use your actual full name instead.

Using a random or fake name is a missed opportunity to build strong branding because your brand actually starts with your name. In fact, failing to use your full name will reduce your chances of the website owner approving your comment.

6. Email Marketing

If you read a few posts on digital marketing, email marketing would be mentioned in most of them. That’s because it’s still one of the most efficient ways to increase website traffic. 

One study suggests email generates $36 for every $1 spent, offering a shocking 3,600 percent ROI. What more could you ask for?

Email marketing lets you reach potential customers directly. It’s an ideal platform for building long-term relationships for improved customer loyalty. You can post questions, ask for feedback, introduce soft sales, and persuade customers for the “big buy.” 

Here are some tips for effective email marketing to increase website traffic:

• Be real: Share stories, post behind-the-scenes content, and solicit original user-generated content. 
• Offer value: Just like content marketing needs a high value to convert readers, emails and newsletters must provide value before they make an ask. 
• Include all your links:  Make it easy to read and share your post.  Include links to your social media profiles, latest blog posts, and sales page in every email you send. 

7. Provide Excellent Customer Service and Ask Customers to Review Your Brand

Ramping up your social media marketing efforts to increase website traffic is useless if you offer poor customer service. 

According to a survey, 42 percent of customers said they bought more after pleasant customer service experiences.

Think about it: Users complain on social media, you offer a prompt and polite response. What happens? The person starts respecting your brand. 

Even when users complain privately via email, it’s important to offer the best possible service so they come back for more. 

How can you offer great customer service?

• reply promptly
• offer as many suggestions for customer problems as possible 
• apologize when you make a mistake and offer coupons/refunds 

If you consistently provide great customer service, you can request users to review your brand. 

Platforms like Trustpilot and Yelp can be great for building positive reviews. Many users consult these websites before making a purchase decision, so having a solid profile can help improve your reputation. 

Increase Website Traffic Without SEO Frequently Asked Questions

Is it possible to increase website traffic without SEO?

Yes. You can use a combination of social media marketing strategies and content marketing techniques to increase website traffic without SEO. 

Are there ways to increase website traffic for free?

Guest blogging, posting on social media, and requesting user-generated content are some of the most effective ways to increase website traffic for free. 

Can I increase website traffic through marketing without an agency?

You can use techniques like guest blogging and content marketing to engage audiences without relying on any agency.

What's the best strategy to increase website traffic quickly?

Working on improving your social media strategies can help you connect with new users, develop brand awareness and drive organic traffic relatively fast. 

Increase Website Traffic Without SEO Conclusion

You shouldn’t only rely on search engines to increase website traffic. Algorithm changes and SEO techniques become outdated quickly. 

The strategies we discussed today can help you create a comprehensive digital marketing plan to increase website traffic effectively. 

Whether you use one of these tactics in isolation, or you use all of them together, they can transform the way you attract customers.

Which traffic-driving strategy will you try today?

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Sprout Social’s 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report

Since we first embarked on our journey with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), our efforts have led to a team who not only understands the importance of DEI, but who see it as an essential aspect of who we are as a company.

Fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment is only possible when every team member is on board. And over the past year, we took a deeper look at the way our team experiences DEI at Sprout. What we found was a need to accelerate our efforts and refine our strategy so it can scale alongside us as we continue to grow. In this year’s DEI report, we share the current state of our demographic makeup along with key learnings and our goals for the future. 

Our mission is to build upon our foundation and scale our efforts so that everyone at Sprout is empowered to make DEI a part of their daily lives. By sharing our data, reflections and future plans, we recommit ourselves to championing this important work while driving further accountability and ownership of DEI across the entire organization.

We look forward to what’s ahead and want to thank our team for their unwavering dedication. To learn more, read the report and our goals for evolving DEI at Sprout in the years ahead.

Read the Report

The post Sprout Social’s 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report appeared first on Sprout Social.

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10 TikTok accounts to follow if you love to cook

The world of cooking on TikTok (CookTok?) is as big and varied as an all-you-can-eat Las Vegas buffet. Some of it looks scrumptious, some of it is questionable, and some of it might make you downright sick. But don't worry, we've done the prep work of choosing the creme de la creme for your cooking pleasure.

There are lots of amazing cooking accounts on TikTok, so this is by no means comprehensive. But the ones to make this list were chosen for their genuine usefulness, diversity of cuisines, and unique voice. Bon appétit!

@iamtabithabrown

Come for the vegan recipes, stay for the iconic catchphrases. Tabitha Brown, an actress who you might also recognize from works like The Chi, cooks up vegan food with infectious enthusiasm. In one video, she makes a recipe using leftover pasta, and in another she uses liquid smoke to make air fried carrots taste like bacon. What makes her worth following though is her warmth and relatability and off the cuff remarks like "don't let that greedy spirit burn your tongue," before blowing on a hot bite of pasta.

Tabitha Brown makes vegan food with delightful commentary Credit: @iamtabithabrown / Tiktok

@cookingwithshereen

Shereen Pavlides is a chef and recipe developer who brings her no-nonsense, anyone-can-cook attitude to every recipe; she often says "there's no rules in cooking." Each video is filled with tips and hacks along the way thanks to her knowledge and experience. Whether Pavlides is making simple dishes like burgers and potato salad, or something more complicated like Beef Wellington, it's easy to follow even for beginner cooks.

No-nonsense cooking with confidence and ease Credit: @cookingwithshereen / tiktok

@eitan

Eitan Bernath is 19 years old, but wise beyond his years. Bernath made his public debut on Chopped at the age of 12 and has been gaining fans ever since. Bernath's videos are very high energy and often incorporate viral food trends, or tackling the homemade version of a famous product (like McDonald's Hash Browns.) But don't be fooled. Behind every junk food recipe is some serious technical skill.

@the_pastaqueen

Nadia Caterina Munno, aka The Pasta Queen is Italian and makes pasta. What more could you want in a TikTok account? Each video is a culinary journey, transporting you from the origin of the pasta, through the recipe itself and often a characteristic hair flip. Sure, there are plenty of pasta videos on TikTok, but the Pasta Queen's sensual voice and cultural credentials take it to the next level.

Enjoy la doce vita with mouthwatering pasta recipes Credit: @the_pastaqueen / tiktok

@jennymartinezzz

For fans of Mexican food, look no further. Jenny Martinez will win you over with her enthusiasm and family recipes. Martinez often makes traditional Mexican dishes like chicken mole or nopales, but isn't afraid to explore fusion with dishes like al pastor pizza or jalapeño burgers. Often family or friends join her in the videos, which makes it feel like one is hanging out in her kitchen.

Traditional Mexican food that makes you feel at home Credit: @jennymartinezzz / tiktok

@jeremyscheck

Like Bernath, at just 21, Jeremy Scheck is something of a culinary prodigy. Scheck shares recipes and thoughtful insights with equal amounts of confidence and conviction. He calls out pie crust standards, and backs it up by making his own which looks buttery and flaky. Like his video that breaks down how restaurants make pasta dishes, he always delves into the how and why of technique.

@poppycooks

Poppy O'Toole is a Michelin-trained chef, but is as down-to-earth as they come. In her videos, O'Toole breaks down even the most advanced recipes with humor and warmth. In addition to tips and hacks that can only come from someone as experienced as she is, O'Toole sometimes does duets with her fans and hilariously reacts to them cooking her recipes.

@myhealthydish

Simply put, My Nguyen of @myhealthydish makes healthy food that doesn't compromise flavor and depth. The basis of her recipes shows how using the right flavors and techniques can make any ingredient delicious — especially for children who are picky eaters. Nguyen often makes dishes that are influenced by Vietnamese cuisine, but isn't afraid to buck tradition, saying it doesn't matter how a spring roll is rolled.

It's hard to go wrong with healthy and delicious Credit: @myhealthydish / tiktok

@flakeysalt

Joshua Weissman, the professional chef behind @flakeyseasalt is quirky, adventurous, and brimming with a passion for cooking. Many of his videos consist of some kind of challenge — recreating McDonalds sauces, or competing with his girlfriend in a mushroom cutting contest. Inevitably, the result is an entertaining, and often knowledgeable video by an eccentric guy who loves food.

Weissman's passion for cooking shines through every video Credit: @flakeysalt / tiktok

@rootedinspice

Many of Chaheti Bansal's dishes on TikTok are Indian, but she often experiments with fusion. No matter what, Bansal's knowledge of flavor and spices is vast. Her recipes, which are mostly vegan or vegetarian use a huge variety of produce and often in creative or unconventional ways and often about more than just food. In one video, what we see is a recipe using cooked watermelon rinds. But between the lines is a story about not wasting anything.

Home-cooked Indian food that packs a punch Credit: @rootedinspice / tiktok

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How to Use Twitter Trending Topics in Marketing

Trends come and go. Bell bottom jeans, Rubix cubes, flannel. How are you supposed to keep up with it all?

This is even more of a puzzle in a digital world. Trends don’t stick around for a decade or a year. Sometimes things change overnight.

Harnessing what’s trending could be a powerful fuel for your digital marketing strategy, for the content you are creating, and for reaching your target market with a message that resonates.

Luckily, Twitter trending topics are an up-to-the-minute resource for staying on top of what’s hot. You’ll learn what people are talking about, how they’re feeling, what they’re wondering about, and what’s the general buzz. From that, you can build campaigns and content around topics that matter.

What Are Twitter Trending Topics and How Do They Work?

Have you seen Twitter trending topics as you scroll the news or check out the latest updates from your favorite content creators?

Twitter trending topics are based mainly on Twitter’s algorithm. Twitter figures out what many people are talking about to determine what is popular and shares it.

Under Twitter trending topics in the “What’s Happening” section, you’ll see not only popular tweets that are being reshared and commented on over and over again but also a synopsis of the stories and headlines associated with those tweets to give you some context.

Twitter uses data based on your interactions and what you’ve liked and followed to share tweets and topics that Twitter thinks you’ll be most interested in. This is especially helpful because what’s trending in your networks and with your friends may not be what’s trending on the other side of the country or world, or even what different demographics are talking about.

To find your trending topics, click on the “For You” link on the website or magnifying glass icon on the Twitter app. Then you can use the tabs to explore certain trending topics and figure out which bandwagons you can hop on, which conversations you can contribute to, and where you can focus your marketing efforts.

8 Ways to Use Twitter Trending Topics

You can use Twitter trending topics to give you insights into what’s going on in the world and help you understand your target market’s interests so that when you reach out, you speak directly to what’s important to them.

1. See What’s Popular in Your Niche

By default, Twitter is going to show trending topics tailored to your interests. This will be even more specific when you are active on Twitter. If you’re already active in following and interacting with content related to your niche, you’re going to start seeing trending topics that reflect those interests.

This can also be a gut check for you as you try to figure out what people are talking about and what’s important to them right now. You may feel like you know what the big topics of the day are: TV shows, products, music, and more are, but you need validation.

This is especially useful if you aren’t personally in the same demographic or interest group as your target market. You may not already know what the hottest trends are.

2. View Related Tweets to See Users’ Opinions on the Topic

Once you start getting an idea of what’s trending, you can dive deeper to find out how people are reacting and feeling about a topic.

Oftentimes, trending topics reflect news stories or happenings around the world. In addition to seeing those headlines, you can explore real-world tweets from users.

The big picture here is that every topic is nuanced and primed for a variety of emotions. Those real tweets can serve as an unbiased focus group, where you can hear from your target market about the trending topic.

3. Check the Trending Topics Frequently to See What’s Consistently Trending

In addition to seeing what’s new and happening in the world, Twitter trending topics can help you see what’s consistently trending. By checking in regularly, you’ll start to get a feel for what is remaining popular, rather than just being a flash in the pan.

Some trends come and go in a blink of an eye, while others start to frame our conversations and drive our narratives. They start to really become part of who we are and what’s happening in our lives.

You can get a handle on those more foundational trends by checking on Twitter trending topics regularly. When you start to see the same (or related topics) coming up frequently, you can use those topics for pillar content.

4. Identify and Avoid Downward Trending Topics

On a similar note, you can use Twitter trending topics to help you see what’s losing momentum. As we get busy with our marketing agenda, we can lose touch with what’s going on in the day-to-day lives of our target market.

As we sit down to create a marketing campaign, it’s easy to look backward and think about what’s been working for others or what’s been discussed over the past few weeks or months.

However, by the time your content or ads roll out, is that still going to be the hot topic? Short of a crystal ball, it can be difficult to know if a topic will still be trending in the next week or month. Twitter trending topics can be the place to forecast trends.

Are the tweets growing in emotion, passion, and frequency? Is the conversation growing or waning? Is the conversation dying down? Are fewer people tweeting about it as time goes on? Is that topic not regularly making the Twitter trending topics list?

Steer clear of declining topics in your upcoming content and lead generation to avoid being out of date or yelling into the wind. (You can also cross-reference with Google Trends to see if topic searches have increased or decreased as well.)

5. Find Local Trends in Your City and State

It’s great to know what everyone in the world is talking about, but if you have a locally-based or locally-driven brand, you need to know how people are feeling in your particular area.

There’s a lot of major news and topics that roll through every day. Are people in your area talking about it? How do they feel about it? How is it impacting them?

You will be able to see local Twitter trending topics by interacting with local events and allowing Twitter to access your location on the desktop or app. Twitter can then use your location to share area-specific trending topics.

You can also get specific by typing your topic or hashtag into the search function. You can use the “advanced search” settings to look for tweets sent from a geographical area.

This is great to engage with and even lead the conversations regarding those topics. Be involved.

6. Identify Connected Keywords and Hashtags

Growing your awareness of Twitter trending topics can not only give you general feelings about the latest things going on in the world, but it can also give you specific insights into keywords and hashtags that people are using surrounding those topics.

Which words and phrases are people using in regards to those topics? What are they specifically not using? You can learn a lot from researching top tweets.

If you are creating pay-per-click ads or keyword-driven ads, knowing those natural keywords and phrases can help you lean into those.

If you are creating a social media campaign, knowing those hashtags can help you reach that same audience.

7. Content Ideation

When you’re not sure what to write about, turn to Twitter trending topics for some inspiration. Here you can pick up tips about what people are talking about.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to write about the specific topics that come up in those trending tweets but may serve as inspiration. What are the general concepts that your target audience seems to be talking about a lot?

For instance, maybe every four years, it’s the Olympics that are drawing everyone’s attention. You don’t have to mirror the same stories that everyone is sharing, but now you know that those anecdotes of inspiration and perseverance are popular with your audience.

8. Take a Stand

Sharing a broader vision can bring authenticity and humanity to your brand. As you are seeing certain news stories dominate the Twitter conversation day after day, don’t be afraid to share some of those words of justice, hope, and change.

You don’t have to reshare or retell the stories to jump into the conversations. Speaking to the issues that your target market is truly passionate about can help you feel relatable—and can work for the greater good by sharing resources or education.

Bringing new value and insightful thought to a conversation can help you generate notice, helping increase your brand awareness and following. Just tread lightly here and don’t try to appear to fit in, when it’s obvious it’s not OK for brands to chime in.

Why Are Trends Important in Marketing?

If only you could guess what your target market was going to want in the coming days, weeks, months.

To create campaigns that speak natively to your target audience, you’re going to have to be aware of what’s trending. What are they thinking about? What are they likely to be thinking about in the future?

It’s impossible to read your audience’s minds, but careful research can help you stay aware of the topics that matter the most to them.

On the other hand, one of the worst ways to waste time, money, and energy in your marketing is to create an amazing campaign or piece of content that falls flat by not connecting with your audience in authentic ways that matter to them.

Being timely and relevant are two of the most important ingredients in any digital marketing effort. Use Twitter trending topics to help you stay abreast of what’s happening, and capitalize on topics that work!

Twitter Trending Topics Frequently Asked Questions

What is trending now on Twitter?

You can find out what’s trending on Twitter by going to the “Explore” section on the desktop or mobile versions. For the app, you can click the magnifying glass icon to access what’s currently trending.

How do you find local Twitter trending topics?

Twitter will show you local trending topics if you have your location turned on in the privacy settings. You can also search for tweets coming from specific geographic locations using advanced search settings.

How can I use Twitter trending topics in marketing?

Twitter trending topics give you specific insights into what real people are talking about and thinking about. You can find out what’s growing and declining in popularity and use these topics to inform your SEO, content, ad, lead generation, and social media strategies.

How are trending topics related to keywords?

Twitter trending topics reveal the stories and concepts that people are talking about, as well as real-world tweets about those topics. These tell you the words and phrases people are using to speak and search about those topics.

Conclusion of Twitter Trending Topics

Twitter is more than just a place to check the latest news or updates. You can dive deeper and find out what your target audience is interested in. That’s a powerful insight that can drive your content marketing and social media marketing strategies.

Make sure that as you are following Twitter trending topics, you remain engaged with your niche so that the Twitter algorithm can continue to show you more about that area of interest. Dive into geographical areas to learn more about local audiences and opinions.

Let this research drive what and how you talk about key issues in your content, website, social media, and more. You may even learn something new!

What trending topics have you recently discovered?

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The Ultimate Guide to SEO for E-commerce Websites

If you’re retailing products and want to reach the widest audience possible, having a well-optimized e-commerce website is an absolute must.

Why? Well, there are several benefits.

A great e-commerce website helps you understand the basics about your customers, for example, demographics like their locations, age groups, and how they found you.

By using tracking, you can then use your visitor’s information for behavior analysis to get to know them even better.

An e-commerce website does more than this, though. It can also help you understand where things are going wrong. For example, which traffic sources don’t work, which offers don’t appeal, and cart abandonment issues and their potential causes.

Of course, the more obvious reason you would want to have your site fully optimized: the growth of e-commerce worldwide. Year on year, e-commerce keeps growing, and this pattern looks like it will continue.

If you’re already online, that’s great. However, you risk remaining invisible to fresh prospects and new leads if you don’t take proactive steps to increase visibility.

How do you do that? It’s simple enough: with SEO for e-commerce.

What Is SEO for E-Commerce?

SEO for e-commerce is a strategy that helps web retailers rank higher in search engine results. A well-designed and optimized website with high-quality content will rank better in search engines such as Google, increasing your store’s visibility and driving traffic.

In other words, SEO for e-commerce concentrates on optimizing your site, which makes it easier to get leads and conversions.

However, unlike SEO for content-focused websites, SEO for e-commerce is more than just adding keywords, writing blog posts, and gaining links. You need to understand how search engines work and what they reward.

That means having a working knowledge of SEO for e-commerce, considering Google’s guidelines, analyzing buyer intent, and implementing it strategically.

E-Commerce SEO Best Practices

E-commerce for SEO is a complex field, and with millions of online retail sites in existence, it’s not always easy to make your site stand out.

While it might seem like a huge challenge to build your SEO rankings, you can make a positive start by applying some best practices. In time, this increases your chances of visibility and gaining more organic leads and customers.

For the unfamiliar, what do best practices for SEO for e-commerce look like? Well, you could start by addressing fundamentals like:

• navigation
• internal links
• avoiding clutter
• creating unique content
• including alt text for images

However, there’s far more you can do. Below, explore our list of SEO for e-commerce best practices you can implement today.

1. Perform Keyword Research the Right Way

There are many different ways to optimize your e-commerce site, and not every approach is suitable for every site or product. However, some guidelines apply to every online retailer, and one of them is performing keyword research correctly.

Yes, you want the most relevant and popular keywords in your industry, but you must also understand buyer intent.

Keyword intent is the intention behind a search query. You can identify it by looking at the specific phrases and terms people use when looking for an item online.

There are two main types of keyword intent you see most often.

Informational Keyword Intent

Informational keyword intent is used in SEO to describe the type of information the searcher is looking for.

These types of searches usually consist of:

• How tos: These are searches that contain questions such as “how do I?”
• Direct purchase: These involve searches with keywords like “buy this.”
• Factual queries: These use words such as “fact” and “information” when a searcher wants more details about a subject.

Commercial Keyword Intent

Commercial keyword intent is when people are looking for information to help them make a purchase. This means that they want to find what they need and buy it as fast as possible.

Consumers typically use commercial keyword intents when they know what they want but don’t know where to find it yet. You see this when you’re typing specific terms into Google like “buy digital camera” or “find new laptop deals.”

Commercial keyword users typically have more intent to purchase and are less likely to search for information about the product or service than just researching where to find it.

Determining Keyword Intent

Deciding consumers’ keyword intent seems challenging, but you can make it easier on yourself. For example, AgencyAnalytics breaks it down into stages.

1. Analyzing SERPs: Pay special attention to paid ads, knowledge graph results, and organic listings.
2. Look at Google ads for commercial intent: Seeing bid prices for keywords gives an idea of how competitive keywords are.
3. Review your analytics: Look for content with high bounce rates as it may mean it doesn’t match with searcher intent.

You could also use keyword tools like Google’s keyword planner. Others you can try include:

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a free online tool that can find long-tail and related words to any topic or keyword, or you can opt for the paid version.

This tool is great for content writers, bloggers, copywriters, and marketers who want to generate new content ideas or find out what users are searching for about a given topic.

Features include:

• backlink data
• rank tracking
• site audit reports

Backlink Data

To see what backlinks you are getting from other sites, go to the backlink analyzer under SEO Explorer. This can help you see who is already a fan and what related sites you can target for more linkbuilding.

Rank Tracking

See how you rank in organic SERPs for your target keywords with Ubersuggest rank tracking. That way, you can see how you have improved over time. This is under Dashboard on the left side.

Site Audit

Run a site audit to track what issues need to be fixed on your site that could be affecting user experience and organic traffic. Think of the audit as a starting point, then review it regularly to make sure you’re fixing other issues. This is under the SEO Analyzer section. One the audit has run, it will tell you your top SEO issues and how to fix them.

It also has a free chrome extension to do keyword research while you’re conducting Google or YouTube searches.

Answer the Public

Answer the Public is a great tool. It lets you uncover what people all over the world are curious about and going through.

Answer the Public is intuitive, too. Just enter your keyword on the homepage to understand precisely what people are asking. It can also help you find which topics are most popular at any given time, which might be helpful as another tool for keyword research. However, if you want further guidance, there’s a set of tutorials available.

It’s free to use, but you can upgrade to pro for more features. The following example uses “multivitamins.”

The results give a detailed picture of the kind of questions people are asking and give a better idea of intent.

2. Optimize Product Pages to Improve Ranking

If you want to attract and acquire new customers, look at your on-page user optimization. It matters because it gets your site a higher rank, meaning fresh streams of organic traffic and more conversions.

Not every area of your e-commerce site needs optimizing, so in this section, let’s focus on the ones that matter most to online retailers: product descriptions, images, and reviews.

Optimize Your Product Descriptions

A product page is interesting because it has a lot of different features that all need attention. You also want a few things to stand out from the page to gain visitors’ engagement and get them to click through.

To begin optimizing your e-commerce product pages, you need to keep in mind three key aspects:

1. What are the most crucial things on the page?
2. How can you maximize visibility and impact with these elements?
3. How can you use this information to improve your product description’s effectiveness?

Now, start looking at what you can do to maximize the impact of your product descriptions. This could be things like.

• adding multiple, high-quality, unique images
• including keywords
• including detailed, keyword-rich descriptions
• adding calls to action (CTAs)
• including testimonials

Optimize Your Images

A sometimes neglected area of SEO for e-commerce is images. Photos are an excellent way to communicate a message and draw in an audience. However, they can also distract people from the message you are trying to convey, so be careful not to use too many images and crowd your descriptions.

Although quality images are vital to show your goods at their best, there’s more to it than that. Optimizing your images for SEO will give you higher search engine rankings and more traffic from potential customers and may gain you traffic from social media channels.

Here are some pointers for optimizing your images:

• Choose suitable images for your platform. Your host usually specifies optimal image sizes and other image guidelines.
• Provide captions with alt tags for pictures.
• Use the right keywords in file names.

Feature Reviews

Reviews provide a snippet of information that helps shoppers weigh whether to go with a particular product or store.

Reviews are vital for success in e-commerce as so many people rely on them. Additionally, they help you build trust with your potential customers and improve conversion rates.

You can encourage customers to leave reviews by sending automated messages whenever they purchase. You can also set up email campaigns to send out reminders or offers once they have left a review on your site.

Before moving on, here are more optimization tips:

• Use canonical tags to link duplicate product pages and similar group products together.

• Create a well-written page that includes the necessary information about the product, an image of the product, and a video of it in action.
• Include at least one CTA on your product page. For example, “Add To Cart” or “Check Availability.”
• Make sure you include shipping details and policies upfront so customers know what they’re paying from the start.

3. Make Sure Your Site Is User Friendly

UX stands for user experience. You can enhance UX by good design, making the aesthetics more visually appealing.

However, it’s not just about making a website look good; it’s about making it work well. UX includes everything from navigation, ease of use, and the overall “feel” of the website.

UX is also about making sure people can find what they are looking for, keeping them engaged while browsing, and giving visitors the best experience possible.

You may not think that UX affects SEO, but the interaction between the two began some years ago, and UX is also imperative for discoverability.

Additionally, recent changes mean that UX is soon to be a Google ranking factor. According to Search Engine Land, that means if Google thinks your website offers visitors a bad experience, it may rank lower. Google measures the new ranking with “Core Web Vitals” and has set out its guidelines online.

Many things can influence UX, but a few key factors are apparent:

• Ads shouldn’t interfere with the user’s view of content.

• Your site should load quickly and be mobile-friendly.
• Any website should be clutter-free and easy to navigate.
• You should include CTAs, so customers know what to do next.

Finally, use consistent styling throughout, and make it accessible.

4. Don’t Forget Long-Tail Keywords

You usually see long-tail keywords on the right side of a search engine results page (SERP).

A long-tail keyword is a term that typically has low search volume but still meets the criteria for relevancy to your business. They also tend to convert well because they’re a better match for what the searcher is looking for, and they typically give higher traffic.

For those reasons, you shouldn’t be afraid to rank for long-tail keywords because they’re a valuable source of traffic.

Long-tail keywords are great for:

• competitive niches
• increased conversion rates
• ranking new sites more easily

You can find long-tail keywords by using Google’s “People also ask” or use a free keyword tool like Ubersuggest. There are plenty of other tools available too.

The following example uses Wordtracker, where the search for “dumbells” delivered this:

As you can see, they give you a firm idea of what your customer is looking for and of their intentions.

5. Use a Simple URL Structure

There are more detailed guides on URL structures, but this section gives you the basics.

A simple URL structure not only enhances the user experience but also improves your SEO e-commerce efforts to some extent.

Additionally, when your e-commerce site has a simple URL structure, it’s easier to share products on social media and other websites, and it can improve SEO for e-commerce as it provides more relevant data for search engines.

For the best results, URLs should be as readable and understandable as possible.

For instance, here’s an example of what NOT to do: https://ift.tt/3zwHiWq

It would be much better to use this URL structure: https://ift.tt/3gNJjGp

Google also has some advice on improving URL structure.

Additionally, you can:

Use Keywords

Search engines scan the URL and use the keywords in the URL to determine where that page should rank in the SERPs. The keywords in the URL are called “metatags” and help tell search engines what the content or topic of that page is.

That’s why you must spend some time thinking about your keywords before deciding on a URL structure.

When people search for your business online, they often type in the precise words they’re looking for. As an example, a person may type in “online shoe store” into a search engine.

Therefore, when someone types in “online shoe store,” it’s crucial those words are somewhere in your URL structure.

Use Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are a navigational tool. They allow website visitors to retrace previous steps and return to where they started. Breadcrumbs are not just a usability technique but also provide additional SEO benefits.

For example, if you visit a blog post from your main homepage, the breadcrumb for that post would be “Home > Blog > This Post.”

You find breadcrumbs in many web design tools, and you can add them by using markup tags or via JavaScript.

Avoid Stop Words

Common stop words are “the,” “and,” “of,” and “a.”

Stop words can decrease your content’s readability and may lower your SEO rankings.

In addition, stop words are less likely to hold a reader’s interest. By removing these words from your website, you can use those spaces for more creative and relevant copy.

6. Use Schema Markups to Help Google and Users Understand Content

Schema markups are HTML tags that provide additional information about the content on web pages. By using these markups, it can improve your SEO for e-commerce efforts.

When you use schema markup, it produces rich snippets. These are a way for search engines to show more information about specific items in the search results.

They also help people find what they are looking for faster and easier by showing different types of information.

There are many different types of rich snippets, such as:

• product markup snippets
• music snippets
• review snippets

The kinds of e-commerce schema are:

• Product schema: This is an extension for products, services, and organizations. It enables discovering new products and services in web search queries by providing rich product information such as images, price, and availability. Product schema also allows the display of product ads on the SERPs.
• Review schema: This enables online reviews. The author and title filters allow you to find specific people who have written reviews on your website or blog post and for searchers to find product reviews.
• Product availability schema: The product availability schema is a list of products that are available to purchase. It can be a single page, or it can be within an online store. Such lists typically detail the product name, description, price, images, and variants.
• Video schema: Video schema is a type of metadata used to describe the content and format. For example, video schema may include the audio language, video resolution, or age rating of the video.
• Price schema: Price schema is a technique for the pricing of products or a price range.

7. Avoid Duplicate Pages and Content

Have you ever visited a website and got the feeling you’ve read it all somewhere before? That’s all too common with production descriptions and category descriptions when online retailers use duplicate product catalogs and images.

It’s understandable why e-commerce sellers just republish the same descriptions. Usually, it’s simply because they don’t have the resources to produce fresh content themselves.

However, even if you don’t have time to rewrite everything, you can still significantly reduce the amount of duplication on your site in product descriptions and other areas.

For instance, by

• using a CMS with site-wide 301 redirects or adding canonical tags on every page that you know might have duplicates (pages with similar titles, pages that share an identical URL, etc.)
• adding a suffix to the URL
• using different product images
• adding unique keywords on other pages

8. Don’t Let Page Speed Kill Your Ranking

Website page speed loading time is the measurement of how long it takes for an internet user to open a web page. You can measure it by adding up the time to download all the non-hidden assets, such as images, scripts, and stylesheets.

Page speed is a ranking factor, and survey after survey shows consumers aren’t willing to wait around while a site loads.

Web-users say their ideal site speed is just two seconds, but the faster, the better. If you’re not sure about your current speeds, you can test it at Cloudflare or try Google’s tool.

What should you do if your site is too slow? First, you need to find the reason. It could be:

• Your site simply has too much content for your server to handle.
• Too many scripts are slowing down load times.
• Images take an excessive amount of time to load.
• There’s a problem with your web host.

While not all e-commerce site owners can guarantee a perfect 100 percent on Google’s PageSpeed Insights, you can try and fasten load times by:

• having fewer images on the pages

• compressing files
• using fewer social media widgets
• optimizing your images
• avoiding clutter and using plenty of white space
• limiting redirects and HTTP requests
• fastening your server response time

Additionally, you might want to think about changing web hosts or upgrading your hosting package to accommodate your needs better.

9. Content Does Matter for E-Commerce

E-commerce isn’t just about images and keywords. Written content should also be part of your SEO for e-commerce strategy.

Posting regular content not only attracts organic traffic. It can gain your customers’ trust, boost your website rankings, and solidify your reputation as an expert in your niche too.

There are many types of content you can focus on:

• sharing how-to pieces and answering FAQs
• new product launches and anything newsworthy
• a glossary page
• including user-generated content (UGC)
• testimonials and launches
• video demonstrations and Q and As
• webinars

For more ideas, take it a step further and get to know your audience so you understand their main concerns and problems. This allows you to write content that addresses their everyday worries and offer products that solve these.

Now you’ve got some ideas for content. However, content isn’t worthwhile without a strategy behind it. Let’s break it down:

1. Get to know your customers better with buyer personas.
2. Understand their preferred content. If you’re tracking your content data, you should see which content types get the most views. Additionally, you can ask customers and prospects through surveys or groups.
3. Establish a content calendar and create the content.
4. Publish the appropriate content for the various stages of the buying cycle.
5. Use A/B testing in key areas like titles.
6. Measure the results and tweak.

10. Link Building for E-Commerce

Link building is a ranking factor for SEO. Quality links tell Google that your site has credibility. Backlinks also influence how your website ranks for keywords.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? But just how do you go about creating these all-important backlinks?

A few ways to do this are:

• creating internal backlinks
• writing guest posts
• using social media ads
• sharing content on social media
• issuing press releases
• writing blog comments and sharing on forums (if allowed)
• creating infographics and sharing them online
• issuing whitepapers and case studies

These are all legitimate ways to build quality links. Although they can take time, you shouldn’t take shortcuts by buying links. Some paid links violate Google’s guidelines, and if you’re buying cheap links, the quality is usually questionable. Poor quality links lead to lower SERP rankings and reduced traffic, as well as a potential negative impact on your site’s reputation.

11. Add a Sitemap

A sitemap is a visual representation of your website or digital product. It provides visitors with a bird’s eye view of the website and explores different pages.

Your sitemap should detail all of the pages on your site, from category pages to product pages. It should also include all the subcategories, products, and other content within those sections.

You can develop a sitemap manually or use an automated tool such as Google’s Webmaster Tools to generate one. Sitemaps use both XML and HTML, although HTML sitemaps are more helpful to visitors.

Other tools for creating a sitemap are:

Lucid Sitemap Generator

The Lucid chart sitemap generator is a user-friendly tool that makes creating a sitemap for your website easy. It has many features, like adding categories and subcategories.

Powermapper

Powermapper is an easy-to-use tool for creating and updating sitemaps and allows you to generate one-click checkouts.

It’s a web-based tool with no coding expertise required. However, there is a fee.

12. Make Social Sharing Easy

Google’s Matt Cutts once said that social sharing doesn’t impact SEO, but many would disagree.

While social media sharing may not directly affect your SEO, sharing your content on social media increases brand exposure and gets people more familiar with your business.

Further, the more mentions you get on social media, the more influence this can have on your SEO by:

• driving organic traffic and increasing visibility
• improving local SEO
• expanding your content reach and enhancing brand recognition
• increasing backlinks

If you want an easy way to increase your shares on social media, consider getting a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite to automatically post content from your site across all of your social media accounts at scheduled intervals.

Frequently Asked Questions About SEO for E-Commerce

How do I Find the Right Keywords For my E-commerce Store?

There are several free resources that you can use to find keyword ideas, such as Google AdWords, Ubersuggest, and Google’s Keyword Tool. You should also look at what your competitors are using to find the best keywords for their audience.

Finally, avoid using broad keywords that generate many clicks but don’t provide much conversion value. Use long-tail keywords where you can.

How Much Does SEO for E-Commerce Cost?

The cost of SEO depends on many factors, including the number of keywords targeted, competitive landscape, and how much effort you need to optimize each page for ranking.

It’s not easy to put a price tag on SEO because it depends on how many resources you allocate and what you want to achieve. To help you budget, Search Engine Journal provides an SEO budget calculator.

What Is SEO for E-Commerce?

SEO for e-commerce is the process of optimizing a website so that it can rank more highly in search engines. Several factors affect how well a website ranks on the SERPs, such as the quality and relevance of the content, the use of appropriate keywords to optimize the site, and the site’s load speed.

How Is SEO for E-Commerce Different?

When it comes to SEO for e-commerce, there are different areas you need to focus on, such as optimizing:

• product pages and descriptions
• diversifying product content and information
• images on your website
• your homepage

SEO for E-Commerce Conclusion

SEO for e-commerce helps boost your website visibility, brings new queries and customers, and helps build your loyal audience.

It may seem like there’s a lot to think about. However, by concentrating on the main SEO best practices and optimizing the critical areas of your website, it doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sounds.

The most important thing to remember is SEO for e-commerce doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, it’s an ongoing strategy that requires updating as you go to get the optimum results.

What is your experience of SEO for e-commerce? Tell us below.

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