SEO is quite important for e-commerce as most of the customers start their journey with a search query. Most of the e-commerce platforms provide basic SEO features. But SEO involves a lot of factors like UX, loading speed, tags, etc. The e-commerce platform which you choose must perform well in all these factors. This post lists the best e-commerce platforms for SEO and the factors to keep in mind when choosing those platforms.
Search Engine Optimization can be divided into three elements: Technical SEO, On-page SEO and Off-page SEO. Without proper technical optimization, On-page and Off-page SEO can be rendered useless. But, the technical aspect of SEO is usually heavily dependent on the e-commerce platform that you use. That’s why, again it’s crucial to select the right platform to be able to generate sales.
Selecting E-commerce Platforms: Factors to Keep in Mind
- Editable Content: Most basic thing is that the e-commerce platform must allow you to edit content. You should be able to modify headings, file names, URLs, titles, meta descriptions etc. These play a huge role in whether the visitors buy a product or not. So, it is important that you can easily edit all elements that are necessary for SEO.
- Speed: The speed at which a webpage loads is taken into consideration by search engines while ranking it. Poor hosting or inefficient codes can hinder the loading speed. And, the best ecommerce platforms provide fast and efficient web pages. Once you opt for a good platform, you can use these 5 ADVANCED TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE PAGE SPEED.
- Canonical Tags: Duplicate content is a huge problem and can cause a negative impact on SEO. When website visitors sort products or apply filters, it essentially leads to duplicate content. It can be one of the reasons of your sudden website traffic loss too. Canonical tags can be used to solve this, but many ecommerce platforms do not enable you to effectively tackle such problems.
- HTTPS: Most of the websites on the first page of SERPs have a SSL certificate. When selecting e-commerce platforms, ensure if the websites are launched as HTTPS. Read the blog on HTTP STATUS CODE FOR SEO: A GUIDE that describes everything in detail.
- Mobile Friendliness: Mobiles are being used by people majorly to buy products. How well a website is rendered on mobile devices affects how well it performs. When selecting ecommerce platforms for SEO, it is important to select those which will allow you to give visitors the best user experience. This blog goes over the basics of ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MOBILE FIRST INDEXING SEO and its impact on businesses.
Best E-commerce Platforms
- Magento: It is one of the best e-commerce platforms for SEO. It is an open source software with a multitude of features. It allows complete control over the design and functionality of the website. There’s a paid version if you want to upgrade. You also get to customise the website according to your requirements.
- Shopify: Shopify has always kept pace with the ever-evolving trends and technologies. All entrepreneurs can benefit from this. It is one of the best e-commerce platforms and is easy to use. You can choose a package based on your requirements, goals and budget and it will help you to launch your website. Packages start from $29.
- WooCommerce: This is a WordPress plugin and it turns a WP website into an online store. It is free to install, connects to major payment gateways, all you have to do is to add content, and many other useful features are available. The downside is that integrating it with the system requires payment. It is not a good option if you have a high volume of visitors as it starts slowing down.
- BigCommerce: BigCommerce is counted as one of the best e-commerce platforms. Businesses of all sizes use it to launch online stores. It is a great option for those who want to get a store without technical hurdles like coding and plugin installations. Furthermore, there are 6 TOP TECHNICAL SEO ONLINE TOOLS FOR PROFESSIONALS which help you to see how exactly search engines see your website.
Hopefully, this list of e-commerce platforms for SEO will help you to make a calculated decision on which platform to choose. If you want to know about the best e-commerce platforms for doing business, then read the article on WHAT’S THE BEST E-COMMERCE PLATFORM FOR YOUR BUSINESS. E-commerce platforms are usually built for different kinds of business requirements. Business models and the volume of sales mostly determines the kind of e-commerce plan you will use. For further reading, check out our next blog on ECOMMERCE PLATFORM MIGRATION: HOW TO AVOID SEO ISSUES.
