Electronic commerce has become a huge business. People are using the Internet to purchase products and services at the touch of a button. In fact, according to Statista, e-commerce sales are expected to reach $2 trillion by 2021. For businesses, this represents a tremendous opportunity to sell products directly to customers without having to go through intermediaries such as wholesalers or distributors. However, it also means that there is a lot more competition from other e-commerce sites that want your customers and will do anything to get them. For smaller businesses, which may not have much experience with SEO or paid advertising on search engines like Google, it is easy to make mistakes in optimizing their websites for search engines like Google and Bing. If you are thinking of starting an e-commerce business or expanding your current one online, here are some of the most common SEO mistakes you need to avoid if you want people to find your site and buy from you rather than your competitors:

Confusing “search engine marketing” and “search engine optimization”
Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are two different things. SEO refers to the process of optimizing your website’s content, structure and backlinks so that search engines such as Google and Bing can easily scan, understand and rank your website for relevant keywords. SEM is the process of gaining visibility for your website through paid advertising (e.g., pay-per-click, paid search, and paid placement).

The goal of SEO is to bring free organic traffic to your website through high search engine rankings. The goal of SEM is to bring paid visitors to your website through high search engine rankings. Both SEO and SEM are important in bringing traffic to your website. However, the two activities are different and should be handled by two different departments within your organization. Doing SEO without SEM, or vice versa, is like trying to build a car without an engine.

Lack of adequate keyword research
Keyword research is the foundation of any effective SEO, yet many companies do not conduct adequate keyword research before starting their SEO campaign. The world’s top e-commerce companies spend millions of dollars each year on paid search advertising because they understand the power of driving traffic through your website’s front door. The only way to maximize ROI through paid search is to make sure your search engine campaigns focus on high-volume, low-competition keywords. Whether you choose to use PPC advertising or SEO to drive traffic to your website, you need to make sure your site is optimized for the right keywords. For example, if you sell golf clubs and want to generate as much traffic to your website as possible, you should focus your SEO efforts on keywords such as “buy golf clubs,” “golf clubs for seniors,” and “golf clubs for kids.”

Google ADS YES, SEO NO
E-commerce companies entering the world of paid advertising often make the mistake of not doing an adequate amount of organic SEO. Remember that paid search is only one part of the puzzle when it comes to bringing traffic to your website. You will spend a significant amount of money on paid search, and you need to make sure you spend enough on organic SEO as well. Organic SEO is a long-term strategy and the results will be seen after several months. If you do not have enough content on your website, you will not have enough backlinks to rank well in search engines. You should have at least 1,000 high-quality, unique and informative articles on your website before you consider starting paid search campaigns.

Focusing on the wrong metrics
Focusing on the wrong metrics is one of the most common mistakes e-commerce companies make when measuring the success of their SEO campaigns. You need to make sure you are tracking and measuring the right metrics when conducting your SEO campaigns. Most companies measure their success by click-through rate (CTR). This is a metric that indicates how many times a specific piece of content was clicked on compared to the total number of times it appeared in search results. However, CTR is a misleading metric that does not accurately reflect the success of your SEO efforts. A better metric is conversion tracking.

A conversion occurs when a visitor to your website makes a purchase or takes another action that directly benefits your company.

Conclusion
The e-commerce industry is growing at a tremendous rate, and with this rapid growth comes an increased need for SEO services. SEO is a significant investment that can improve your visibility and bring you more traffic and revenue from organic sources. If you want your ecommerce website to be successful, you need to make sure that your SEO strategy is adequate by asking for an ecommerce seo consultation. Or avoid these mistakes and you will be well on your way to generating more traffic, leads and sales.