SEO tips for your retail store

An excellent way for you, as a retail business, to reach more customers is to have built-in SEO tools in your point of sale system. However, if you don’t have that, you can follow these SEO tips we are giving in this article to boost your reach and sales. 

In this article, we will talk about the importance of SEO for retailers and a few tips to optimize your SEO. So, let’s jump right in! 

This content was created in partnership with whit Content Media.

The importance of built-in SEO tools in your point of sale system

Search engine optimization or SEO is the practice that makes a website or webpage rank higher in search engine results. There is much importance of SEO for retailers because we know from a few studies that almost 80% of shoppers do online research before buying, and almost 70% of consumers click on a link that is on the first page of SERPs. This means that when your website ranks well on the results page, you are more likely to reach consumers and boost your sales. 

SEO is often a long and hard process that involves optimizing elements on your site or webpage to boost its chances of ranking high in search engines. Your website may offer hundreds of products for sale, maybe with a dedicated page of their own. However, consumers don’t land on the pages but look for a particular product with a specific design, color, shape, etc. It is crucial that you optimize your products for these features in order to rank on search engines. Todays’ POS systems offer in-built SEO tools in your point of sale system taking much of the burden off your shoulders. Such POS systems are definitely worth the investment of a retailer.  

So, why do you really need SEO for your retail? Here, we discuss some benefits that you can get from an optimized website. 

You get more clicks

Did you know that the first five websites on the first page of the results pages get the majority of clicks? This is because viewers trust Google’s algorithm that ranks web pages and don’t want to scroll past the first few pages that may have the best content for their query. 

This is why you need to rank high in search engines so that your website gets the most clicks. 

You build credibility

In essence, when a search engine ranks a webpage on the first page, it is putting credibility on the webpage. As a result, viewers associate rankings with credibility. As your website starts ranking higher in search engines, it builds credibility and authority among your target audience.  

Low marketing costs

Following SEO practices that get you higher rankings organically is likely to get shoppers in less amount than a marketing campaign. It is also said that organic search results get you more revenue than paid search. Therefore, better SEO gets you more benefits than you can imagine. 

SEO tips for retailers

There are more than one billion sites in the world. To make sure your website ranks higher and reaches a diverse audience, you need to follow good SEO practices. Here are a few tips that you can follow to optimize your retail website. 

1. Make use of relevant keywords

Keywords are specific words that search engine users type when searching for a particular item. In regard to retail, there may be various keywords that your target audience may be searching for. By using these useful keywords in your content, you can reach these audiences and boost your sales. 

There are various ways you can find relevant keywords for your website. One way is to use a keyword tool, such as KeywordsFX, or Google Ad’s Keyword Tool. These will aid you in identifying keywords that your target audience uses to find the products you offer. 

You want to put relevant keywords in your pages’ URL, copy, product details, etc. to maximize your reach. 

2. Produce more pages

A website that has more web pages tends to rank higher than websites that have fewer pages. As a retailer, you have the advantage of putting more web pages in the form of various sections. Moreover, you can put up blogs, product descriptions, and testimonials from your customers to increase your webpages. Keeping a website with fresh content can do wonders for your SEO. 

However, it is important to note that you don’t just add pages just for the sake of adding more pages. Quality of web pages matters too in search engine rankings. Your web pages need to provide useful information to visitors that will make them stay for longer on your site and may even turn to valuable customers. 

3. Create shareable content

When you create engaging content that your viewers share across several platforms, you are essentially driving traffic to your website. For this reason, create your social media handles and put up interesting content that your target audience gets attracted to and shares across channels. You may even incorporate ‘share’ buttons on each of your webpages to prompt viewers to share. This allows more reach to your websites, products, and services. 

4. Optimize the images

Did you know that you can add little descriptions on the images you share and optimize your reach? 

Keywords can also be included in the alt text and file name of every product photo on your website, as well as non-product images. This enables search engines to determine what your photo is showing, evidently improving your search engine rankings. 

They know what’s there, wrapping up

SEO plays a very crucial role in getting more reach and credibility. For a retailer, optimizing your website can help you get more customers and build trust among your audience. In this article, we showcased the importance of SEO in retail and gave a few tips for boosting your SEO rankings. If you have in-built SEO tools in your point of sale system, you won’t need to worry about a thing. However, you can achieve a boost in SEO through using relevant keywords in your content, producing more pages on your website, creating content that gets shared across various channels, and optimizing the pictures you put up on your webpages.