In a previous article on Volusion SEO we covered using Google Analytics reporting as a starting point for optimizing a Volusion store, plus anchor text and on-page basics. This follow-up goes deeper into exactly what Volusion's dashboard lets you do to maximize your store for search — presented in the order you should actually tackle it, because doing these steps out of sequence is how stores accidentally lose rankings they already had.
Step 1: Turn on search-engine-friendly URLs (carefully)
By default, Volusion product pages can look like www.ecommercestore.com/product_details.asp?ID=cnss881. Query-string URLs are harder for shoppers and crawlers to interpret and almost never contain keywords. A clean URL such as www.ecommercestore.com/Mens-Black-Leather-Gloves-p/cnss881.htm communicates the page topic before a crawler reads a single word of body content, and it is far more clickable when it appears in a search result or is pasted into a chat. Go to Marketing → SEO and enable the Search Engine Friendly URLs option if it is not already checked.
The critical caveat almost every old guide omits: if your store is established and pages were already indexed under the old query-string URLs, flipping this on changes every URL at once. Without redirects you orphan every ranking and backlink those pages earned. Before you change anything, export your current top URLs from Google Search Console, map each old path to its new friendly path, and put a 301 redirect in place for every one. Changing URLs without redirects is the single most common way Volusion stores self-inflict a traffic drop, and it is entirely avoidable.
Step 2: Fill in meta information deliberately
Under Marketing → SEO → Meta Info you assign meta titles and descriptions for your store's pages. Treat the title tag as the highest-leverage on-page element you control: keep it roughly 50–60 characters so it does not truncate in results, lead with the primary keyword, include the brand at the end, and make every template-level title genuinely unique. Duplicate or boilerplate titles across hundreds of products are a classic Volusion problem that flattens rankings across the whole catalog.
Meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor, but they are advertising copy for the search result. A specific, benefit-led description of around 150–160 characters that names the product, a differentiator, and a reason to click will out-perform a keyword list every time, and higher click-through on the queries you already rank for compounds. Use the Default Values section to set a sensible site-wide pattern so blank pages are not left with empty or duplicated metadata, then deliberately override the defaults on your highest-value category and product pages with hand-written copy.
Step 3: Optimize individual products by priority
Go to Inventory → Products, open a product by its Product Code, and under Advanced Info → Search Engine Optimization you can edit the Product URL Text, Photo Alt Text, Meta Tag Title and Meta Tag Description. Two fields punch far above their weight. First, photo alt text: without it, product images are invisible to crawlers and you forfeit image-search traffic, which is meaningful in visually driven categories like apparel, furniture, and jewelry. Write alt text that describes the product the way a person would — "men's black leather driving gloves" — not a comma-separated keyword dump that reads as spam. Second, product URL text: set it once, before the page is indexed, and treat it as effectively permanent — changing it later without a redirect throws away the page's history.
You will not get through a large catalog all at once, so sequence the work by revenue, not alphabetically. Pull your best sellers and highest-margin products and optimize those first; their improved rankings fund the time to do the long tail. A handful of well-optimized high-traffic pages beats a thousand half-finished ones.
Step 4: Strengthen the content shoppers actually read
Volusion's structured fields get a page indexed correctly, but rankings now depend heavily on the content a person reads on the page. Replace thin, manufacturer-supplied product copy — which is duplicated across every other retailer selling the same item — with original descriptions that answer real buying questions: sizing and fit, materials, compatibility, use cases, care, and what makes this item different from the next one. Give category pages a unique, substantive introduction so they can rank for broad head terms instead of competing only on long-tail product queries. This is also where modern search has moved decisively: Google and AI-driven answer engines reward pages that genuinely and completely resolve the searcher's question, so specificity and depth matter far more than keyword density ever did.
Step 5: Measure with tools that reflect reality
Older Volusion guides told you to check a third-party "site grade" percentage as a progress signal. Treat any single grade number with deep skepticism — it is not how any search engine ranks pages, and chasing it optimizes for the tool, not for traffic. Measure progress with Google Search Console (impressions, average position, and click-through rate for the queries that matter to revenue) and Google Analytics 4 (organic sessions and the conversions and revenue those sessions actually drive). These are the only metrics that tie SEO effort back to money, which is the point of doing it.
Frequently asked questions
Will switching to SEO-friendly URLs hurt my existing rankings? Only if you skip redirects. Map every old query-string URL to its new friendly URL with a 301 before you flip the setting, and rankings transfer with minimal disruption.
Do meta keywords still matter? No. Google has not used the meta keywords tag as a ranking signal for well over a decade. Spend that time on titles, descriptions, and on-page content instead.
How long until I see results? Technical fixes like URLs and metadata are usually reflected within a few weeks of recrawl. Content-driven ranking gains typically take a few months of sustained, consistent work — SEO is cumulative, not instant.
Should I do all five steps myself? The dashboard work is doable in-house; the URL migration and ongoing content strategy are where most stores benefit from experienced help.
Volusion gives you every lever you need, but pulling them in the right order — and writing content that genuinely earns rankings — is where most stores stall. If you want measurable progress instead of guesswork, our ecommerce SEO services and dedicated Volusion SEO team do exactly this work every day.