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We offer a wide range of SEO services for small businesses with a concentration on improving our client's visibility online.
How to Choose an Ecommerce SEO Agency for Your Online Store
Running an ecommerce business is an exciting adventure. You’ve spent a lot of time fine tuning your product(s), building your website, and defining the experience and feeling you want your visitors and customers to have throughout the buying process.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is just as important for ecommerce businesses as it is for traditional brick and mortar businesses, if not more so because there is no physical location or road-side signage to help drive traffic and sales.
SEO for ecommerce business’ usually involves:
Content writing – witty, engaging, and action-oriented product descriptions
Image optimization – optimizing your images to show in Google search
Conversion rate optimization – tweaking page layouts, the checkout process, etc. to generate more sales
Social media marketing and advertising – driving traffic to your website through ads and promotions
While the list above is not exclusive, they are a few of the more important seo ecommerce tactics to drive sales.
Because ecommerce search engine optimization can be a little more extensive, it’s a good idea to partner with an ecommerce seo agency to help get your website off the ground. Even if your online store has been around for a while, seeking advice and guidance from an ecommerce expert can shed light on issues with your website or marketing.
So, how do you go about choosing an ecommerce seo expert or agency? Below we’re sharing what to look for, questions to ask, and things to keep in mind when researching and interviewing your next marketing partner.
How to Choose an Ecommerce SEO Agency
Choosing an seo service provider is a big decision. After all, they’re bringing the magic to get your ecommerce website in front of customers and generating revenue.
After you Google search and do some initial research on a few agencies and experts, it’s time to interview them and learn more about their skills. When talking to them, you want to learn more about their seo experience, if they offer conversion rate optimization, what shopping cart systems they know how to use, and their communication style.
Experience with Ecommerce SEO
Ecommerce seo is not like traditional seo. It’s actually more competitive because you’re only using digital tactics to get people to buy from your company. There is no option for them to drive by your store, walk-in, mosey around, and then buy a few items.
All your customers will come to your website because they found you online.
Because of this, it’s really important that you partner with an seo company that works with ecommerce businesses. You want a company that has a proven track record for driving traffic and converting visitors into paying customers.
When interviewing your possible ecommerce seo agencies, ask them questions like:
How long have you been working with ecommerce businesses?
How do you stay current on ecommerce SEO tactics and techniques?
Can we speak with any of your current ecommerce seo clients? Or have a list of references?
Do you have anycase studies we can review to get an idea of your results?
Experience with Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion Rate Optimization, also known as CRO, is probably more important than SEO with an e-commerce website since if no one converts into buying something on your website then your online businesses survival is at stake and sales will suffer. When you’re getting website traffic but your products aren’t selling, the problem is usually with the layout of the product page or the checkout process, but there are many other factors involved. To make changes and improve the sales from the page, you need conversion rate optimization!
Working with an agency that has experience with this tactic is really important because even a 0.5 or 1.0% increase in your conversion rate can yield significant sales and revenue.
When asking the agency about their CRO experience, ask them what tactics they use, how they go about deciding what to change or update on a page, and their favorite tactic to use.
Person/Team Working On Your Site
Ecommerce websites are complex. From the different products, schema markup, and conversion rate optimization, the tactics needed to boost your website traffic are not as simple as you might think,
This means that the person or team working on your website, needs to be advanced, technical, and creative. Ask the agencies you’re interviewing who would be executing your seo strategies and campaigns. If possible, see if you can meet them during this phase so you can get a feel for their communication style, creativity, and expertise.
You’re going to be working closely with this person/team (and company) over the next few months, possibly years, so you want to make sure you’ll get along and communicate efficiently.
Ask them things like:
Just looking at the website and analytics, what tactics would you suggest we implement to get results?
How often will we need to talk/meet about the website?
It might seem like you’re asking these questions twice, once of the company and then of the team, but you need to be confident in the abilities of whoever works on your business. After all, they’re going to be helping you achieve your revenue and marketing goals.
Experience with Your Shopping Cart System?
Online stores can be built on a variety of different website platforms. From Shopify to Magento to WooCommerce, the various platforms all have their own unique way of adding products, adding pages, and optimizing the site as a whole.
The agency you choose should be familiar with your website’s platform. The team you work with should understand the inner workings of the website, including the technical details of adding modules or updating plugins.
When you’re reviewing the case studies and portfolio of your possible website partners, look to see what shopping cart systems they’re familiar with. Then also ask them about the platforms when you talk with them in person. Some agencies specialize in certain ecommerce systems and some work on everything, so it’s good to know in advance what your agency may or may not be able to do.
Length of Time Performing Ecommerce SEO
Ecommerce SEO isn’t just something you can pick up one day and offer as a service the next. And if you happen to talk to a provider who has done this, it’s probably a good idea to cross them off your list.
Not only do you want to work with an agency who can get you results and share success stories, you want someone who has also been performing ecommerce SEO for a more than year.
To drive sales at your online store, you need experience – and that means an agency that has been providing technical ecommerce seo (reputably) for over a particular length of time. And here’s why:
Longevity of ecommerce SEO results – Hearing (or seeing) customers stay over several years with the same agency (and continue to see positive results) is a good thing!
Knowledge and expertise – SEOs who have been performing ecommerce SEO for a while are a wealth of knowledge and expertise. They are familiar with algorithm updates, older tactics that once worked and now don’t, experimental ideas, and more.
Ready to Drive Sales & Website Traffic with Ecommerce SEO?
Choosing ecommerce SEO services for your online store might seem a little overwhelming, but with the tips listed above, you’ll be able to find a provider that can boost your SEO and ecommerce website.
As you’re searching for a provider, one of the best things to do is request a free website analysis to get an idea of any potential issues or problems with your existing site. Whether you request one from SurgeStream or someone else, the more information you have about your SEO the better.
Fill out the form below to request a free e-commerce SEO analysis.
About SurgeStream
SurgeStream is a full service digital marketing and SEO company that works with small to medium sized businesses in order to help increase their website's online visibility.
We can dig deep into your website and can usually discover digital marketing "bottlenecks" where others can't. Contact one of the digital marketing professionals at SurgeStream to request a free evaluation.
”SurgeStream has helped transform our web presence and dramatically increase our search ranking through a strategic combination of SEO strategies. These strategies have included relaunching a new website with improved speed and user experience, optimizing keywords throughout our site, creating regular and fresh optimized content, and solving a host of minor problems along the way. At every step, SurgeStream has been knowledgeable, responsive, and effective in their work!”
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”SurgeStream has been providing great help with our website's operation/management and SEO. They are always actively involved in our e-commerce marketing projects by participating in meetings and sharing input, advice and feedback. Their communication with our team has been always up-to-date, clear and attentive. Also, they write weekly blog posts for our website which have compelling content in order to increase CTRs in organic search. Thank you!”
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”Doing something right the first time really is priceless and SurgeStream worked with us in each stage of development of our new site. We appreciated that he helped us think about content and the user experience in distinct, yet inter-related categories. With their guidance, our work processes were cleaner and we produced a good looking product that needed minimal changes.”
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Operations Manager and Senior Coordinator, GlobalGo
Running an ecommerce business is an exciting adventure. You’ve spent a lot of time fine tuning your product(s), building your website, and defining the experience and feeling you want your visitors and customers to have throughout the buying process.
