Technical SEO: How to Optimize an eCommerce Website

Digital marketers tend to throw around a lot of jargon, buzzwords, and insider terminology. For our part, eCommerce SEO experts are particularly guilty of this transgression against common sense. 

But we’re here to break down the barriers to understanding. Becoming an SEO expert is not easy, but this isn’t rocket science, after all, and with a basic explanation anyone can understand how it works. 

So, with that said, let’s take on one of these terms: technical SEO. What is it, and how can you optimize an eCommerce website for technical ranking factors? 

What Is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO is an important step in the process of achieving search engine optimization (SEO) success. It is the process of optimizing your website for maximum visibility and improved performance in search engine results. Technical SEO is the foundation for all other SEO activities and should be completed before any other SEO strategies are implemented.

Technical SEO is a comprehensive approach to improving a website’s performance in search engine results pages (SERPs). It involves making sure the website is properly indexed and ranked by search engine algorithms, and making sure the website is optimized to give visitors the best experience possible. By focusing on technical SEO, you can ensure that your website is visible to search engines and that it runs quickly and efficiently.

One of the most important aspects of technical SEO is ensuring that the website is properly indexed by search engine algorithms. This means that the search engine can find the website and understand the content on the website and its relevance to the user’s search query. This is done by creating an XML sitemap and submitting it to the search engine, as well as adding meta tags and titles to the pages on the website.

Another important aspect of technical SEO is optimizing the website for speed and performance. This involves making sure that the website loads quickly, that it is responsive to different devices, and that it runs efficiently. This can be done by optimizing images and other media, minifying code, and ensuring that the website is hosted on a reliable server.

Technical SEO also involves optimizing the website for user experience. This means making sure that the website is easy to navigate and that it provides visitors with the information they are looking for in a clear and concise way. This can be done by ensuring that the website is mobile-friendly, that it is well-structured, and that it has a clear call to action.

Finally, technical SEO also involves optimizing the website for search engine ranking. This means making sure that the website is properly optimized for keywords and that it has the right content and structure to rank highly in search engine results. This can be done by optimizing content, creating backlinks, and ensuring that the website is properly indexed by search engine algorithms.

How to Optimize for Technical SEO?

Technical SEO is a critical component of any successful eCommerce website. It’s the process of optimizing your website to ensure it’s easy for search engines to crawl and index your pages and content. When done correctly, it can bring your website more visibility and higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take to optimize your eCommerce website for technical SEO. Let’s take a closer look.

1. Use a Responsive Web Design

One of the most important steps you can take to optimize your eCommerce website for technical SEO is to use a responsive web design. This means that your website should adjust its layout and design to fit any device or screen size. This helps ensure that your website is easy to navigate and use on any device, which is important for both your users and search engines.

2. Make Sure Your Site is Fast

Another key factor in technical SEO is page speed. Search engines take page speed into consideration when ranking websites, so you need to make sure your website is loading quickly and efficiently. You can use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to get an idea of how fast your website is loading and what you can do to improve it.

3. Optimize Your Site’s Structure

Your website’s structure is also important for technical SEO. You want to make sure your website’s pages are properly organized and easily accessible. This means you should use breadcrumbs, a sitemap, and internal links to help search engines accurately crawl and index your pages.

4. Use Structured Data

Structured data is a way of marking up your website’s content to help search engines better understand it. This includes things like product descriptions, reviews, prices, and more. By using structured data, you can help search engines accurately index your content and improve your visibility in SERPs.

5. Monitor Your Website

Finally, you should also make sure to monitor your website on a regular basis. This means checking for broken links, duplicate content, and other issues that could hurt your SEO. You can use tools like Google’s Search Console to monitor your website and make sure it’s optimized for technical SEO.

Optimizing your eCommerce website for technical SEO can be a daunting task, but it’s essential for any business that wants to succeed online. By following the tips outlined above, you can ensure that your website is optimized for search engine success.

Let the eCommerce SEO Experts Do It

Basically, technical SEO optimization is what sets the foundation for the other three pillars of SEO (content, on and off-page SEO) to work their magic. You need a fast, secure, logically arranged website before they can pull their weight. 

If you suspect your website’s architecture, link structure, speed, security, or some other technical factor is to blame for sluggish performance or slipping rankings, don’t let guesswork carry the day. 

Get in touch with our eCommerce SEO experts for a free technical SEO audit to find out where, precisely, the issues lie, so you can start on a plan to correcting the issues.