E-commerce has exploded in popularity over the last decade, with online sales continuing to grow at a rapid pace. In 2021, global e-commerce sales topped $4.9 trillion, up 19% from 2020. With more and more consumers turning to online shopping, having an effective e-commerce keyword strategy is critical for driving traffic to your online store and boosting conversions.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about e-commerce keyword research, including:
- The importance of keyword research for e-commerce
- How to conduct keyword research for e-commerce sites
- Different types of e-commerce keywords to target
- Leveraging tools for e-commerce keyword research
- Key factors to consider when optimizing for e-commerce keywords
- Common mistakes to avoid with e-commerce keyword targeting
Why Keyword Research Matters for E-Commerce
Keyword research lays the foundation for the success of any e-commerce SEO strategy. It helps you:
- Identify high-value keywords and search queries that drive traffic to your site
- Understand buyer intent behind different keywords
- Discover new relevant keywords and opportunities you may be missing
- Learn how your site ranks for important keywords versus competitors
- Prioritize which keywords to target in your content and on-page optimization
Conducting thorough keyword research and analysis will guide your efforts in on-page optimization, content creation, link building, and PPC campaigns. You‘ll be able to focus your time on the terms and topics that matter most for your business.
How to Do Keyword Research for E-Commerce
Here are the key steps for conducting effective keyword research for e-commerce sites:
Brainstorm Broad Keywords
Start by making a list of relevant broad keywords for your products or services. These should be 1-3 word keywords that describe your overall offerings.
For example, a sporting goods e-commerce site may brainstorm terms like:
- sports equipment
- exercise gear
- fitness accessories
Use Keyword Research Tools
Next, leverage keyword research tools to expand your list and get keyword ideas. Google‘s Keyword Planner provides search volume data and is free to use. Other paid tools like Ahrefs, SemRush, and Moz offer more robust analysis.
Input your broad seed keywords and review the suggested keyword ideas. Look for high-volume keywords with low competition that relate to your products.
Analyze the SERPs
Search for your target keywords in Google and analyze the top-ranking results. What types of pages come up? What keywords appear in titles and meta descriptions? This will provide insight into how to properly optimize pages for each keyword.
Review Competitor Keywords
Use keyword research tools to see what keywords your competitors are ranking for. This reveals additional opportunities you may be missing but have a chance to target.
See what long-tail variations of your keywords they rank for as well. Long-tail keywords tend to convert better as they indicate more specific user intent.
Organize Keywords
Once your initial list is compiled, organize your keywords into groups or categories. For e-commerce, you may sort by:
- Product name/type
- Brand name
- Product features/attributes
- Customer persona or buyer keyword themes
This makes your list more manageable and helps identify higher priority keyword targets.
Types of E-Commerce Keywords to Target
When optimizing an e-commerce site, there are a few main types of keywords you should focus your efforts on:
Branded Product Names
Ranking for your specific branded product names is crucial, like "Acme Road Runner Roller Skates". Include all variants of product names in singular and plural forms.
Generic Product Names
Targeting more generic product name keywords casts a wider net for you, like "roller skates" and "inline skates". These bring in visitors who may not be looking for your specific brand yet.
Descriptive Attributes
Optimize for keywords that describe your products‘ features, components, or attributes. For example, "adjustable roller skates", "outdoor roller skates", "roller skates for kids".
Competitor Brand Names
Ranking for your competitors‘ brand names allows you to capture shoppers who may be more brand agnostic. For example, if you sell basketball sneakers, target keywords for "Nike basketball shoes" and "Adidas basketball shoes".
Shopping Themes
Leverage keyword themes around shopping behavior, like "cheap roller skates", "clearance roller skates", "roller skates on sale". This targets shoppers specifically looking for deals.
Key Factors for Optimizing E-Commerce Keywords
When targeting keywords for an e-commerce site, keep these key factors in mind:
Keyword Intent
Understand the searcher‘s intent behind a keyword. Is it navigational for your brand? Informational to learn about a product? Or transactional where they want to make a purchase? Optimize pages accordingly.
Search Volume
Prioritize keywords with higher monthly search volume for greater visibility and traffic potential. But also consider low competition keywords with decent volume.
Competition
Gauge how difficult it will be to rank for a keyword. Tools like SEMrush show competitor webpages ranking for that keyword. Avoid over-competitive keywords early on.
Conversion Potential
Certain keywords have higher likelihood of converting than others, like those using "buy" or "purchase". Consider conversion rate in addition to volume.
Page Relevance
Only target keywords that are highly relevant to that specific page‘s content. Otherwise, you risk diluting page focus from an SEO standpoint.
Location
Factor geographic location into your keywords. You can add cities or regions to keywords to optimize for local search demand.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
There are a few key mistakes companies make when optimizing e-commerce sites for keywords:
Not Using Enough Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail versions of keywords are more specific to user intent. In e-commerce, they often have higher conversion rates. Prioritize them over just broad short-tail words.
Stuffing Too Many Keywords on a Page
Avoid over-optimizing pages with excessive keywords aimed at search engines rather than human readers. This gets penalized.
Using Irrelevant Keywords
Only use keywords closely related to the actual content on the page. Unrelated keywords create a poor user experience.
Not Optimizing For Local/Geo Keywords
Most e-commerce search includes a location or region name. Not optimizing for local demand misses out on qualified traffic.
Ignoring Mobile Keywords
With most e-commerce traffic coming from mobile, ensure you optimize for keywords people search on their phones.
Wrapping Up
Conducting ongoing keyword research provides the insights you need to boost your e-commerce SEO and PPC results. Use the right tools to discover high-potential keywords, learn about searcher intent, analyze the competition, and identify gaps in your strategy.
Remember to organize your keywords for easy reference, choose targets aligned with each page‘s content, and optimize both for desktop and mobile. Avoid stuffing in irrelevant keywords or over-optimizing.
With a data-driven keyword strategy tailored to your e-commerce offerings and audience, you will be able to drive more qualified traffic to your online store and increase conversions.
