Local SEO for Ecommerce: Top 6 Tips to Improve Your Ranking
02 Sep 2020

The success secret of online businesses is to get visitors consistently. Search engine optimization is one of the most effective ways to reach the targeted audience over the internet. However, it is not enough when you are running a business locally as you have to target the geo-location specific visitors. For this purpose, you need to focus on defining a strategy to get rankings in the local search engine before going global.

If you are running a business online and want to target geo-location specific audience, ecommerce website SEO should revolve around local search optimization. It is the most critical factor for success, as it will help you generate higher business ROI. Consider reading the article to get a comprehensive guide – before that, let’s start with the conceptualization!

What is Ecommerce Local SEO?

Ecommerce local SEO or local SEO for ecommerce is the practice of optimizing your web pages for local search engine optimization to reach more local customers. Its goal is to rank pages higher in search engine results, ensuring visibility among the targeted audience and driving business growth.

Why is Local SEO Important for Ecommerce?

Local SEO is crucial for the success of ecommerce for various reasons. Nowadays, people tend to rely on search engine results when making online purchases due to their growing technological awareness. They use search engines to research, compare products, and complete transactions. Prioritizing local SEO can help ecommerce businesses achieve higher rankings in local search engine results, resulting in increased visibility, website traffic, and a greater chance of attracting clicks from potential buyers. This ultimately leads to improved success for online businesses.

Top 6 Ecommerce Local SEO Tips for Ranking Your Website

The primary objective of deploying the local SEO for ecommerce is to get targeted traffic organically. In other words, online businesses need to sell their products in a specified geographical location. So, they need to focus on attracting and engaging online visitors locally for turning them into confirmed buyers.

Let’s consider some easy-peasy tips to optimize the online shopping website for higher visibility into local searches.

1. Perform Comprehensive Keyword Research:

First thing first, you have to identify the keywords for which the website will be optimized. It is the primary step for link building and content optimization. For this, you can select the high volume and middle or low competition keywords while focusing on geo-specific words.

For example, if you are selling networking cables online to UAE-based organizations, you can pick the keyword “networking cabling companies in Dubai.” If you are unaware of keyword search, consider the tips:

  • Use Google AdWords Keyword Tool for searching primary and related keywords with volume and competition ratios.

  • Use different combinations of the searched queries for making long-tail keywords for targeted the local users comprehensively.

  • Type your intended queries in Google to get keyword ideas by looking at the end of search engine result pages (SERP).

  • Consider identifying competitors and explore their website to get some ideas about keyword research.

  • Use SEMrush for getting keyword suggestions based on industry-specific searches and competitor analysis.

There is no denying that keyword research is the decisive factor for optimizing the ecommerce website for higher rankings in Google. So, to hire professional SEO services in Dubai, you will be able to save your time and effort to get consistent organic traffic for trusted conversions.

2. Optimize Web Pages for Local Search:

Once you have done with the most crucial task of keyword finding, the next task is to optimize the ecommerce website for local visitors. It enables the search engine to comprehend for which location you are trying to get ranked. So, it would help if you focused on optimizing every page of your online shopping site for targeted geo-locations.

Imperatively, optimization of website pages is related to the on-page SEO as it comprises of comprehensive practices to uplift websites for targeted results. Consider the tips below:

  • Define title tags, headings aligned with local keywords to help the search engines crawl and fetch your eCommerce site to show in top listings.

  • Write compelling Meta descriptions to include geo-specific phrases to help the users prefer clicking on your website while seeing the web page snippets.

  • Include the heading, including H1 – H6, for setting a content priority. Your primary keyword must be written in H1 and H2.

3. Use the Local Contact Information:

The use of local information for the contact address is another strategy to get highlighted in the local search engines. You need to mention the local phone number street address and related information in the web pages’ footer area. It will help you, allure customers, locally. You can also make the address and phone numbers clickable to improve usability. Here are some tips:

  • Use Google Maps for indicating the address of your store physically available in that particular location and create links for location icons.

  • Add the address of your business store into Google My Business for the clarification and trust-building.

  • Create a geo-specific sitemap and upload it in the root folder of the website. It will help you get known by Google.

  • Also, get listed in Google places for letting the people get contact information of your eCommerce store with precise location information.

4. Getting Reviews from Local Clients:

When you are trying to establish credibility in the local search directories, you must consider getting reviews for your products from the local customers. It will significantly help the new visitors to learn about your business, which leads to an increased click rate on the ecommerce website. In this way, you can ace local SEO successfully.

Besides this, the positive rating and reviews help the business owners to establish a strong reputation for quality products at the online stores. Consider the given below tips:

  • Add a review button on the product pages for getting ratings at every product directly from the customers.

  • Encourage reviews from local users on your business directories including Google My Business, and Yelp

  • Get subscriptions and reviews from the clients by conducting an online survey via email or phone numbers. It will help you improve the product quality along with Google rankings.

  • Respond to poor ratings and bad reviews amicably for eliminating the mistrust to make everyone happy.

5. Build Backlink Using Local Keywords:

So, you have done with the tasks and activities mentioned above, be ready to start building backlinks for your eCommerce website. It is one of the most critical practice as you have to establish do-follow links from other high domain authority websites.  

It is suggested to use Moz Link Explorer for analyzing competitors’ created links. It will help you get a better backlinking idea. You may get backlinks in many ways, including:

  • Consider the related websites of local businesses which are not your competitors. Get your website recommended for top-quality products online. It is a tactic of referral marketing as you can do the same for them.

  • Search local reviewers and bloggers intended to provide feedback about online stores and asked them to promote your business over their blogs and social media. It can be paid or for privileges. You can send them your most wanted products for reviews.

  • Submit guest posts related to the current issues and possible solutions for getting links from trusted websites. It will help you boost eCommerce SEO comprehensively.

However, Google has a strict policy for over-optimization. It may be hard to overcome the impact of penalties if you make such a mistake. Therefore, you should rely on SEO experts for a balanced approach, building links for eCommerce websites.

6. Optimize Social Media Accounts for Local SEO:

With more than eight million active users, the social media platforms offer plenty of opportunities to market your eCommerce business locally. You have to optimize Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and all other social media accounts wisely for this purpose. Consider the tips:

  • Define the social media accounts of your online store as a local business having all essential information, including portfolio bio-data and contact information.

  • Connect with local people by targeting the audience over Facebook through the creation of geo-specific content.

  • Invite people from online businesses to review your services using social media pages for boosting a positive impression in the industry.

  • Ensure to like other local businesses and become a fan of local brands for building an association with the local people.

  • Use located specific statuses and posts to improve readability based on language and common customs.

  • Follow or retweet local issues and discussion for an improved presence on behalf of your eCommerce business to ensure local marketing.

Optimize your Online Store to Generate Higher Business!

Hopefully, you have got a fair idea of optimizing the ecommerce website for local SEO. If you follow the steps mentioned in this post, you will surely observe an increase in the website traffic steadily. It is because organic search engine optimization takes time while ecommerce website owners should keep working until they get the output.

Remember, ecommerce search engine optimization is a daunting task; you must trust the SEO experts for getting visibility into local searched. It will bring success to your online business!

If you're interested in improving your ecommerce website, feel free to get in touch with us.