Effective SEO Tactics For Ecommerce Sites

Core Web Vitals should matter to not just SEO experts, but anyone interested in scaling D2C Often your product is great, and your ads are getting people to your site, but good chunk of them bounce before even seeing the second image Or worse, your D2C site ranks below third-rate aggregators on Google despite having a better brand, better product, and better reviews on keywords you should own One big reason could be that your site experience sucks. And that’s exactly what Core Web Vitals is trying to measure. These aren’t vanity metrics. They’re Google’s way of telling you that your user experience is frustrating. And we won’t reward it with visibility Here’s what Core Web Vitals actually mean (without jargon): •LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) = How long your main visual/image takes to load. If it’s >2.5s, it’s a problem •CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) = Does the screen jump around while loading? If buttons shift while the user tries to click, it’s hurting conversions •INP (Interaction to Next Paint) = How fast your site reacts to taps/clicks. If there’s a delay when they hit “Add to Cart”-bad news. Think of it this way: •LCP = First impression •CLS = Does the page feel stable? •INP = Is it snappy? Why should founders/CMOs care? Because these metrics directly affect 3 things: 1. Organic traffic (SEO): Google demotes slow and clunky sites. Doesn’t matter how good your content or backlinks are 2. Conversion rate: People bounce when images load late, or buttons move as they click 3. Ad ROAS: Your performance marketing team is paying to drive traffic to a broken experience. You lose money before the user even evaluates the product How to check your Core Web Vitals: Free Tools: •PageSpeed Insights •Lighthouse Ideal Benchmarks in my opinion: •LCP < 2.5s •CLS < 0.1 •INP < 200ms If you are doing everything else right- good products, good marketing, good creatives etc, don’t let slow LCP and messy CLS undo your good work

I found a way to triple eCommerce revenue without writing hundreds of articles. Instead, by focusing on these big needle-movers (which most brands skip)... We grew a client’s monthly traffic by 115%... and monthly revenue 198% in just 9 months. Here's how: (full eCommerce SEO crash course)👇 #1: Personalize and Streamline the Shopping Experience • Add product recommendations based on user behavior • Show “complete the look” bundles • Enable cart-saving and wishlists • Simplify checkout with guest options, pre-filled forms, one-click purchase, and collapsible stages #2: Leverage Seasonal Search Trends Ask ChatGPT: “Suggest seasonal keywords for [your niche].” Validate demand in Google Trends. Build content 2 months before interest spikes. This allows you to pre-position for surges in buyer intent. #3 Micro-Moments Strategy There are 4 key decision-making moments in the buyer’s journey. "I want to know" content (researching): • Blog posts answering product questions • FAQ pages about product care/maintenance • Explainer videos showing product features "I want to go" content (for physical stores): • About page with clear location info • Contact page with embedded map • Updated Google Business Profile with photos and reviews "I want to do" content (learning how to use): • How-to guides for using your products • Assembly instructions with clear visuals • Video tutorials showing product in action • Downloadable user manuals "I want to buy" content (ready for purchase): • Product descriptions that highlight benefits • Category pages that compare similar products • Customer reviews and testimonials • Clear pricing and availability info #4 Faceted Navigation Strategy Faceted nav lets users filter by size, color, price, etc. But done wrong, it’ll bloat your index with duplicate URLs. Here’s how to implement it properly: • Use buttons or <input>—not <a href> • Add canonical tags on filtered pages → point to main category page • For high-potential filtered URLs (e.g. “blue running shoes”), create internal links to them • Use AJAX so filters don’t generate new URLs • Remove noindex/nofollow/robots.txt blocks for URLs you want indexed WordPress? Use WP Grid Builder. WooCommerce? Follow the official SEO filtering guide. Shopify? Enable Storefront Filtering. #5 Schema Markup Strategy Schema helps Google understand your content and display rich results. When your listing takes up more real estate and draws the eye, users are more likely to click. Use these two schema types: • Product Schema: includes ratings, reviews, price, availability • BreadcrumbList Schema: helps Google understand your site structure Use ChatGPT to generate your schema fast, then validate it on validator(.)schema(.)org before uploading. Our client’s result after implementing this strategy? • Organic traffic: +115% (12.8K to 27.6K sessions) • Monthly revenue: +198% ($10.2K to $30.6K) • Keywords in top 10: +36% (2,005 to 2,737)

Product SEO Tip: Google and LLMs want answered product-related questions on your site to increase visibility in AI-powered search: I’ve tested this by adding Q&A sections to product pages, building compatibility hubs, and tracking what shows up in Google snippets and AI summaries. Here’s what I found: (For Shopify product page SEO) - Pages with real Q&A display more in “People Also Ask” - Specific questions drove more buyer clicks - Digestible answers got pulled in AI search answers - Hidden or generic FAQs don’t perform Bottom line: Google and AI reward unique answers (scraped content should be unique). How do you make this work? 1. Answer what only you know: (Can you offer fresh & recent data?) - Share test results or real use cases - Add insights from support tickets - Include product-specific advice buyers trust 2. Make it readable: (and rankable) - Keep answers visible on-page - Use clear subheadings and anchor links - Add FAQ schema if it fits 3. Find real buyer questions: (Check emails, speak to your sales team) - Pull from your own GSC - Use Amazon Q&A and on-site search - Group questions by what shoppers need to know There's lots of ways to find customer barriers. But this is a great way to get started! ----- Most stores hand off these answers to Google, Reddit, or AI tools. The smart ones answer them on their own site, so you win the traffic, trust, and conversions. There's a big opportunity. Are you building an answer engine eCom store?

I've audited 100s of websites. The biggest issue? Poor SEO. Why? Because good SEO is hard. This is what I find in most website audits. The good thing is, there's a way to fix this. It starts with an in-depth Website Quality Audit. We pull insights from 5 key tools: - GA - GSC - Ahrefs - Hotjar/Clarity - Screaming Frog Then focus on: 1/ Technical Issues - Pinpointing errors, speed issues, and UX problems. 2/ On-Page SEO for Key Pages: - Analysing meta tags, headings, content quality, and link use. 3/ Internal Link Structure: - Ensuring SEO value spreads effectively across the site. 4/ Content Strategy Review: - Implementing a "Hub and Spoke" model for blogs and resources. 5/ Backlinks and Relevance: - Assessing how you stack up against competitors in DR and backlinks. Identifying problems allows us to strategise their elimination. This is what we do for clients. 1/ Low-hanging fruit Categorise and prioritise pages for improvement based on: - Performance - Current metrics - Potential for improvement i.e., keywords ranking between 4-20. We then focus on achieving some “quick wins”. This increases traffic to important pages with the highest opportunity for growth. 2/ Internal Linking Having high page authority is important. One way to leverage this is through internal linking. It sends strong signals to Googlebot about the relative importance of a page. Strategy is important here. We take advantage of pages with high authority. This spreads some of that page’s authority to other pages. And makes it more likely to rank for its keywords. 3/ Content Strategy Often, a few pieces of content generate most of the traffic. Improving the quality and relevance of existing content can increase ranking and traffic. We refresh or rewrite content with high potential for traffic and leads. And for future content: - Topical targeting - New keyword research - Content calendar (regular and timely publishing) We create detailed outlines for writers so they can write high-value content for the website. 4/ Targeted link acquisition External backlinks tell search engines that your website is popular and authoritative. (But only if the websites are relevant) We work on acquiring contextual links. → an organic mention within the body of an article on a relevant, authoritative website. This is part of the process to improve SEO in our Website Growth Plans. Each plan is tailored based on the existing website and goals. Want to improve your ranking and increase traffic? DM me “SEO” to learn more.

Links are the secret weapon most SEO professionals are getting WRONG. Link building in 2025 is not about chasing meaningless numbers and metrics (DA/DR) - it's about value and strategy. After building 1000+ links last year, here's what I think truly matters when it comes to link building: ↳ Do NOT just focus on DA/DR metrics. These can easily be manipulated. Instead, aim for sites/pages that are highly topically relevant, even if they have low DA/DR. ↳ Build links from sites with traffic - not just from search but also from other sources. This is a clear signal that these websites are not built to link out (and make money from it) but are legit, credible websites. ↳ Don't use guest posts JUST for links. Use them as an asset to rank for keywords, generate traffic, and drive leads to you. This can work beautifully, especially for high-ticket clients.  ↳ Aim for credible links - even if they are nofollow. Heck, even if they just mention your brand name, that's fine. Link building and brand building should go hand in hand. In fact, moving forward, I would say link building IS brand building. ↳ Build tools, calculators, templates, etc., and host them on your website. These can be amazing link magnets, and you can also use them in your link-building campaign. It's super easy to create these today, so what's your excuse? ↳ Create data stories around insights from data (public or proprietary). People love to link to these. Figure out what statistics/insights people are linking to in your industry, create one, and host it on your website. ↳ Excuse the cliche, but quality over quantity any day. You rather have 10 solid links than 100 shitty links from shitty websites that link out to any website under the sun. These links do more harm than good. Avoid. ↳ Target for mentions on social media sites/UGC like Reddit. Super helpful in influencing LLMs. It's okay if you don't get a link from these sites, just mentions are enough. Look, links will probably be far more crucial going into 2025 than ever before. But you can't build links like you did in 2015 and expect it to work. Think beyond just made-up metrics. Think like a marketer and not just an SEO specialist. Focus on building genuine relationships and value. The future of link-building is about quality, relevance, and strategic thinking. Is there anything else you would like to add to this list?

If your site is slow, you’re leaving traffic and revenue on the table. Core Web Vitals are no longer optional. Google has made them a ranking factor, meaning publishers that ignore them risk losing visibility, traffic, and user trust. For those of us working in SEO and digital publishing, the message is clear: speed, stability, and responsiveness directly affect performance. Core Web Vitals focus on three measurable aspects of user experience: → Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How quickly the main content loads. Target: under 2.5 seconds. → First Input Delay (FID) / Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How quickly the page responds when a user interacts. Target: under 200 milliseconds. → Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How visually stable a page is. Target: less than 0.1. These metrics are designed to capture the “real” experience of a visitor, not just what a developer or SEO sees on their end. Why publishers can't ignore CWV in 2025 1. SEO & Trust: Only ~47% of sites pass CWV assessments, presenting a competitive edge for publishers who optimize now. 2. Page performance pays off: A 1-second improvement can boost conversions by ~7% and reduce bounce rates—benefits seen across industries 3. User expectations have tightened: In 2025, anything slower than 3 seconds feels “slow” to most users—under 1 s is becoming the new gold standard, especially on mobile devices. 4. Real-world wins: a. Economic Times cut LCP by 80%, CLS by 250%, and slashed bounce rates by 43%. b. Agrofy improved LCP by 70%, and load abandonment fell from 3.8% to 0.9%. c. Yahoo! JAPAN saw session durations rise 13% and bounce rates drop after CLS fixes. Practical steps for improvement • Measure regularly: Use lab and field data to monitor Core Web Vitals across templates and devices. • Prioritize technical quick wins: Image compression, proper caching, and removing render-blocking scripts can deliver immediate improvements. • Stabilize layouts: Define media dimensions and manage ad slots to reduce layout shifts. • Invest in long-term fixes: Optimizing server response times and modernizing templates can help sustain improvements. Here are the key takeaways ✅ Core Web Vitals are measurable, actionable, and tied directly to SEO performance. ✅ Faster, more stable sites not only rank better but also improve engagement, ad revenue, and subscriptions. ✅ Publishers that treat Core Web Vitals as ongoing maintenance, not one-time fixes will see compounding benefits over time. Have you optimized your site for Core Web Vitals? Share your results and tips in the comments, your insights may help other publishers make meaningful improvements. #SEO #DigitalPublishing #CoreWebVitals #PageSpeed #UserExperience #SearchRanking

SEO isn’t about traffic anymore. More clicks ≠ more sales. One client saw +60% traffic YoY… but revenue dropped 20%. Why? They tracked the wrong metrics. The shift is clear: • Clicks → Customers • Bounces → Engagement • Rankings → Revenue Focus on: User Engagement, Revenue per Page, Conversion Rate, CLV. Traffic is vanity. Revenue is reality. Ready to measure what matters?

AI Search audits are all the buzz now, at least in my inbox. Here is how the three-leg approach and tools I use look like. Prerequisite (what you need before you start): • top priority queries, key topics, and industry-relevant use cases; • personas - 2-3 tops; • up to 5 competitors • access to GA4, Search Console, Bing Webmasters, and the tools you are going to use (see below) 1. AI Platform Visibility Analysis Peec AI, Mangools, Ahrefs, Semrush, Brand24, Screaming Frog • Current AI chatbot rankings - I do ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Grok 2, and Gemini; if you need to cut down, go with ChatGPT only (the highest market share); • Content inventory analysis - a regular content audit, just focused on the technical docs, blog posts, case studies, FAQs, etc (or the lack thereof); • External citation analysis - do citation analysis for the top digital watercoolers in your niche (in my case these are G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, StackOverflow, Reddit, Github, etc.); + add competitor citation gap to it, if you want to expand; 2. Technical SEO for AI Readiness Screaming Frog, Lumar (formerly Deepcrawl) • Semantic markup audit - audit your current schema implementation, again - focus on the technical docs, blog posts, case studies, FAQs, use cases; review meta descriptions and title optimization, OG tags and Twitter cards. Tools • AI training accessibility - review the XML sitemaps, robots.txt configuration + allowance of the AI crawlers; • Site architecture analysis - check content accessibility depth (usually not a impactful for the B2B websites, but just to be on the safe side). 3. Content analysis Ahrefs, Semrush, Bing Webmasters • Conversational content mapping - map the existing content to funnel stages; make a quick cross-check with existing content of competitors to identify gaps and opportunities • SERP analysis for key topics - analyze top 20 results for the primary topics; consider citations from 1.; pay attention to the competing content types - these are golden for hints what is considered top content for this query • Bing-specific analysis (for ChatGPT) - dust off the Bing Webmasters, take the technical status and backlinks for big fall outs; the content assessment from above is applicable for Bing too. Recommendations: • Content strategy recommendations - priority content creation list based on the gap analysis; might consider UGC strategy and/or launching a new content type (like product-specific Glossary) • Technical optimization plan - list the recommendations you have from all tech findings - schema improvements, robots.txt and schema updates, internal linking etc. • External presence enhancement - acquisition plan for all citation opportunities, build/update your community engagement strategy; The cherry on top is the ability to give the client a final AI Search readiness score, simple enough to help them understand their position. There are tools out there like Mangools that provides just that.

80% of the B2B IT and SaaS websites I audit don't have an SEO problem. They have a new Google features compliance problem. Over the past 1.5 years, Google released a series of updates and new features that changed the B2B SEO game forever. Now, simply ranking #1 won't move your organic traffic needle anymore. Gone are the days of blog-led SEO. Say hello to SERP-features-driven world, where Google has: - AI overviews - A Featured snippet - People Also Ask block - Images and video grids ....all ranking WAY ABOVE #1 organic spot. The good news? It's not that hard to play by these new rules. So put away your old rankings reports. Get a bit real, and review: - Keywords already on page 1 - Pages ranking on av. position < 5.0 - SERP results (which features do they have?) And optimize by Modern SEO rules. These are the features to drive your SEO, your content, and your rankings in 2025. Have questions about SERP Features? 🤔 Share in the comments, I'll do my best to answer them! 🫡 ==== Have your rankings slowed down after the storm of 2024 Google Updates? I'm happy to see how I can help 🤝. Comment AUDIT and I will personally look into your case 🚀!

You don’t write meta descriptions for Google. You write them for the person scanning 10 blue links at 2 am looking for a solution. After 9 years of working with content and SEO managers, here’s what I’ve seen: Meta descriptions are either… ❌ keyword-stuffed and robotic ❌ copied from the first paragraph ❌ left to auto-generate (ouch) But here’s the truth: Your meta description is a 60–160 character pitch for your blog. It’s not for ranking. It’s for clicking. Here’s what I’ve learned works: ✅ Start with clarity, not cleverness – Tell them exactly what they’ll learn ✅ Mirror the search intent – If the query is “best invoicing tools for freelancers,” your description better mention freelancers ✅ Create tension or curiosity – Make them feel like not clicking means missing out ✅ Don’t repeat the title – Use this space to expand on the “why” 📌 Bonus tip: If your blog is TOFU, your meta should teach. If it’s BOFU, your meta should sell. You have one line to earn that click. Make it honest, helpful, and human. I’ve written over 500 SEO articles—if your team’s meta descriptions aren’t pulling weight, let’s fix that. 📩 DM me—I’ll review a few for free.