Opening a store in a physical location was common before while creating an e-store has become very popular these days. This actually means that there is no need to rent premises and buy equipment for your shop as it could be organized solely online. Thanks to Shopify, e-stores have become a reality, so it has become easy to create your own small business online. However, to make more people aware of your online shop, you will have to use SEO either embedded directly in Shopify or developed by third parties in the form of web applications.
How to create a store on Shopify?
To make your dream come true and set up a store online, a Canadian company has created a dedicated platform called Shopify. It is specifically designed for entrepreneurs who want to establish a sales POP in the online environment. Along with the opportunity to create a store, Shopify provides an option to synchronize all your inventory in case you have offline points of sale as well. This platform also has embedded services that make it possible to sell your product or services on Instagram or other social media platforms.
Before creating your online store on Shopify, you should have a look at the plans available on the platform. They differ depending on the number of services such as creating international domains, for example.
Another thing to consider is to think over the structure of your online store and the categories of products or services. Organizing the online shop is crucially important for the purpose of search engine optimization and user experience.
Once all the preliminary steps are completed and you are ready to establish your online store, create an account and register with Shopify. You may also have a look at the introductory videos on Shopify to better understand how the system works. Then start building your online store following a step-by-step guide and recommendations provided on Shopify.
How to optimize your store on Shopify?
To make your online store appear higher in search results on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines, you should consider several principal factors. Note that the optimization of the online store is as important as that of the traditional website.
Domain power
The longer your website exists in the online environment, the stronger domain it usually has. If everything was done correctly and precisely over the years, then the age of the domain name can add multiple points to the overall website ranking. The same goes for the online store domain authority and its importance for ranking on SERP. That is why you should select the proper domain name on Shopify so that it definitely goes in line with your brand name.
The domain name is also one of the most important factors that gain customers’ trust and loyalty. When users see that your brand name corresponds to the domain name, they will develop more trustful relationships with your company. Otherwise, a slight mismatch may cause some uncertainties and would be less memorable.
Links associated with your online store
Link building is the most important aspect of search engine optimization as it appears very powerful when it comes to ranking and traffic boost. The more websites your online store is connected to, the better positions on search results pages it has.
There is a way to gain more incoming links by posting articles with the link to your online store on other blogs. Examine the variety of websites for posting blogs to find the one that matches your industry and sphere of operation. For example, a blog about a healthy lifestyle could be a great option if you have a store with organic products.
You might also consider creating your personal blog or a website with the blogging section. That way you will create articles and advertise your own product or services on Shopify by embedding a link to it. At the same time, you will get an amazing opportunity to earn money with a new blog by hosting guests posts on it.
When it comes to link building, it is not all about the external links leading to your website. Internal link building is of the same level of importance because it greatly helps search engine crawlers. When linking from one product page on Shopify to another, consider creating proper anchor text so it reflects the contents of the latter.
Proper keywords
Building an online store on Shopify also requires selecting appropriate keywords for each product page. Those should include your product or service, your brand name, and phrases that you can rank with. Such keywords could be chosen with the help of specific SEO tools available online.
Online store structure
If you have visited an online store at least once, you have probably noticed that proper structure is important. When products are organized into categories and subcategories, search filters are available, and short descriptions are provided, then it makes it much easier for users to navigate the website.
Sitemap
Similar to regular websites, the stores on the Shopify platform have a sitemap.xml file generated automatically. This file contains information about the entire structure of your website and the paths to each page on it. Once any changes are made in your online store, this file gets updated automatically.
In fact, a sitemap is a crucial component when it comes to website crawling. Google and other search engines use it to explore all the pages of your website or online store and index them.