In order to run a successful ecommerce business, you will need your website to rank well in relevant search engine results. Part of this will involve finding an SEO friendly platform to host it on. The platform that we would recommend using is Magento but just how SEO friendly is it? Let’s take a closer look…
Magento allows all store owners to customise their site’s URLs and meta data.
Image source: https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8019/7460436728_58fca00e43.jpg
Customisable URLs
Magento allows users to customise the URLs for their store web pages. This means you can re-write the URLs to specify the products featured on a particular page. By customising your URLs you will make it easier for search engines to crawl and rank them, as they will have an idea of what content to expect on each page.
To re-write your Magento store’s URLs go to System -> Configuration and then click on ‘Web’ in the menu on the left hand side. Once the page has loaded, expand the search engine optimization tab, click on ‘Use Web Server Rewrites’ and select ‘Yes.’
Edit page titles and meta descriptions
Using Magento, store owners can also edit their page titles and meta descriptions. Having unique titles and meta descriptions for each webpage can help to improve your Magento site’s search engine ranking. When creating titles for your Magento store pages, make sure you include keywords relating to the products or services being advertised on that page. For example if you are offering WordPress web design services, your title should be something like ‘WordPress web design’ and then your company name.
It is important to write unique meta descriptions for each of your pages as these will appear on search results pages, underneath the URL. The idea of a meta description is to entice users to click on your link. You only have 160 characters, so make sure you choose your words wisely and include relevant keywords.
Google Sitemaps
All Magento stores come with Google sitemaps, which can help them to get indexed faster. The quicker Google indexes them, the sooner they can rank in relevant searches. Sitemaps provide an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about the pages on their ecommerce website that are suitable for crawling.
Analytics reports
Magento provides store owners with a lot of useful information regarding how users browse their sites. For example, there is a feature that allows them to see what the most popular products in their store are. Using this information, they can then go onto optimise these particular pages in order to increase traffic levels.
Magento has a content management system where users can upload text, image and video based content to engage with visitors.
Image source: https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8161/7460433282_a4bfb72040_o.jpg
Content management system
The Magento platform has a fully functional content management system that store owners can use to upload informative content for users to engage with. Some store owners use the content management system to create a blog or news page which they can frequently update with news regarding their business and industry. Producing fresh, unique and engaging content is a great way to boost your search engine rankings.
SEO plugins
There are a number of different plugins (also known as modules) that you can integrate with your Magento store to improve its SEO. Many of these SEO plugins are free to download. To see the various SEO plugins for Magento available, visit the Magento Extension Marketplace. If you are unsure how to use an SEO plugin, you may benefit from working with an experienced Magento developer.
Conclusion
After examining just a few of Magento’s features, it is fair to say that it is most definitely an SEO friendly ecommerce platform. Not only does it allow you to customise parts of your Magento store, like your URLS, titles and meta descriptions, but you can also further enhance your site with various different SEO plugins. If you are looking for an SEO friendly ecommerce platform that offers high functionality and customisation options, look no further than Magento.
Image credits: SEOPlanter & SEOPlanter
