However without proper planning and an understanding of the drivers of success of an e-commerce implementation, the project can be an unmitigated disaster draining money and management focus from the core business.
The following rules will help you avoid some major obstacles that with a little planning can be avoided.
#1 Engage an Independent Search Engine Optimisation Company before you start.
Most people will turn to their web developer or technology partner when looking to plan and implement an e-commerce website. When there is a requirement for the e-commerce website to integrate with existing inventory, accounting and merchant facilities a solid technology partner is critical to success.
However they are not the best people to rely on to give you independent advice on optimising your website to perform in the search results. Don't just take their word for it when they say that their content management system is seo friendly and they point to their case studies as proof.
I don't know how many times I have come across implementations that have only performed online when they have been worked on post implementation by an seo consultant brought in to make things work.
The reason is that many technology partners have only a superficial understanding of advanced search engine optimisation issues and their priorities lie in technical implementation and not search engine optimisation and conversion optimisation and sales.
This leads to many of them honestly promising things that their software and systems are incapable of delivering out of the box or without some modification.
A smart independent seo company can help you:
- Conduct detailed market research
- Conduct detailed competitor research
- Develop a market penetration strategy
- Help manage and advise technology partners
- Advise on a link attraction strategy.
Compared to the cost of a moderate e-commerce implementation the investment in an seo consultant is a small one, but is so critical to the success of the project.
#2 Have a detailed understanding of the online market before you start
This is simple market research 101. Going through a simple SWOT analysis at a minimum will make you aware of who the key players are, their technology platforms, their marketing strategies and whether you have the budget to compete effectively.
The online space is composed of a mix of traditional offline businesses taking their first steps online as well as some aggressive online only businesses. These online players are often very experienced and have a lead in market knowledge and link building that may be very difficult to match or overcome in the short to medium term.
You need to understand the top 10 websites and why they are ranking where they are. At a minimum you should review the following aspects of their websites.
- Domain age - A key measure of trust in the search engines
- Their back link profile - that is the number and quality of links pointing to their website
- Page Rank - Google's de facto measure of authority and a critical metric for rankings in competitive spaces
- Their link building strategy - That is how they or their seo companies are building links
- The number of keywords they are ranking for. Are they focused on a few high volume phrases or is their website ranking for a large number of low volume keyword phrases?
#3 Manage Management Expectations
If you are a new player in a competitive market then you need to manage management expectations when it comes to promising and delivering high search engine rankings and sales.
The reality is that you do not control the search engines and ultimately who Google ranks in #1 is not up to you. We can however quickly determine what it will take to get to Page 1 and then to rank for #1 and that will be an investment in money and time. As long as everyone is aware of this then no one will be disappointed when the climb to #1 rankings is slow and steady as it should be.
#4 Plan and budget for content development and copy writing
E-commerce websites typically are structured in three levels. The home page, the product category pages and then the product pages themselves. As you go deeper down the levels the keyword phrases that each page targets become more focused and specific. In online terms, they become "long tail" keyword phrases. That is, longer keyword phrases with lower search volume but typically with higher commercial intent. Think "best price Nikon Coolpix 5100" versus "Digital Cameras".
The outcome of having many categories and products within them is the creation of many thousands of pages, each of which has the opportunity to rank for a specific keyword phrase.
The challenge is making sure that each page has sufficient unique content filled with descriptive keywords that will allow that page to be sufficiently unique from the next page and to rank for a target keyword phrase.
In the case of product pages this means well written descriptions for each product including short and long descriptions as well as meta descriptions which are displayed in the search results.
Some businesses have many thousands of SKU's (Stock Keeping Units) and it is no simple task to write descriptions for each of them. Fortunately sometimes this job may have been done for you by the manufacturer.
However don't simply cut and paste the product descriptions given to you by the manufacturer. Other online retailers may very well be doing the same thing and if your "Yoda Bobble Head Figurine" page has the same description as a hundred other websites, then it may not be ranked as it is duplicate content.
A good copywriter or content resource can easy rewrite these descriptions to make them more unique and you need to budget for this work.
If you manufacture your own products then you will need to draft these product descriptions yourself. Remember the descriptions are not simply for the search engines. Well written product descriptions are critical to conversions, that is converting visitors to customers.
#5 Consider Conversion Optimisation Up Front
Securing high rankings and getting web traffic seems to be the primary focus of many e-commerce implementations but what that traffic does at your website and making it easy for them to buy your products is extremely critical. Conversion optimisation is about getting more sales from your existing traffic.
In the race to get an e-commerce website live web designers or technology partners sometimes implement features on your site that can have a negative impact on sales and therefore conversions.
Simple errors that can get implemented on a site because no one is thinking about conversions include:
- Multi Page convoluted check out pages and processes
- Missing navigational elements like bread-crumbs which show visitors where they are in the site
- Missing or non functional product search boxes
- Home page layouts that give no consideration to how people look at and interact with a page
Being aware of the importance of these conversion elements up front and implementing them in the primary site build will save you thousands of dollars in having to re do them at a later date.
Hopefully these 5 rules will find their way into your e-commerce planning process and ensure the highest probability of success with your project and make you look like a superstar.
This article was posted by Edmund Pelgen. Edmund is Director of Search Optimisation at Traffika. You can follow Ed on Twitter @edmundpelgen.
