Shopify SEO Checklist: How to Rank Your Store

While you’re revising your Search Engine listing, make sure to optimize the additional meta tags that appear in your SERP results: SEO is the most cost-effective and impactful digital marketing method for bringing targeted traffic to your Shopify store.

In 2022, 82% of marketers claimed that SEO improved their marketing performance and goals.

The following are the top trends to incorporate into your Shopify 2024 SEO strategy:

• The growing significance of voice search.
• Determining the role AI is supposed to have in your SEO workflows.
• The extension of search options beyond Google.

The checklist below is divided into optimization levels, but it can also be completed “in order.”

Some of these processes are one-time optimizations, but the bulk must be done anytime new products or pages are added to your online store.

o let’s get started!

Shopify SEO Checklist

1: Set meta title and description for each product and page

While you’re revising your Search Engine listing, optimize the additional meta tags that appear in your SERP results: the title tag and the meta description.

Related: SEO Product Descriptions Guidelines for Ecommerce Websites

You’ll need to adhere to best practices regarding including keywords and according to SEO best standards, especially length (no more than 60 characters for your title tag and no more than 160 for your meta description).

For example,

This meta description from Gousto, which ranks for the keyword “recipe box subscription,” begins with the business’s USP (answering the question “Why us?”) and then expands on what the brand delivers with its subscription boxes, culminating in a call-to-action.

All this in just 147 characters. Remember that your headlines and descriptions form your initial impression. Make them count!

2: Set a custom URL handle (slug) for each product and page

Improve your store’s organic traffic by using new URL configuration solutions for search engine optimization (SEO). Create URL slugs for each Product and Category page to replace record IDs with meaningful and human-readable data in URLs.

• Maintain a brief and concise format.
• Include your targeted keyword.
• Avoid using unneeded words like and/or/the/etc.

How to construct a unique, SEO-friendly URL using slug

First, create a product slug. Now that the product’s slug has been adjusted, you must verify the unique URL of the product’s page. To do so, build a new page using the product content type.

It will retrieve entries from the database using the product associated with the current page.

The URL of this page will now reflect the product’s slug, giving you a unique and SEO-friendly URL.

3: Structure your content and use headings correctly

Structured content has transformed SEO and the way search results are presented. To see it in action on Google, search for a product, and you will see reviews and a description snippet.

Also, ensure that your product page contains only one H1 element, which is often the product name. You may verify this by visiting your product page and checking the element in your browser.

You must change the theme code if any of your pages do not have an H1 element.

Google search results provide one example of structured material.

Other headers should be hierarchical – H1 > H2 > H3, etc. – although this is becoming less necessary. Just make sure you only use headings to accentuate essential points or to separate content parts. Don’t use them to make a typeface bigger or smaller.

4: Avoid duplicate content and meta tags

All of the information on your website should be original and tailored specifically to your site.

If you run an e-commerce shop, for example, avoid using manufacturer-supplied product descriptions. Writing your descriptions minimizes duplicate information and allows you to better promote your products’ features and benefits.

ome Shopify SEO applications will assist you in identifying duplicate content/tags in your store. You can also scan your store on demand using an external tool such as Siteliner or SEO Analyzer.

5:  Use internal linking

Internal linking is a critical strategy in SEO marketing. It entails connecting two pages on your own website. You can boost your search engine results if you do things correctly.

Here’s an example of how its code appears on a website’s backend:

Internal links are an important aspect of SEO for three major reasons:

• They assist search engines in understanding the structure of your site.
• They give authority.
• They assist users with navigating your website.

For example:

An excellent example of internal linking is below. The product description contains many links to the “shorts” category/collection and the brand category/collection.

6:  Add ALT text to all your images

To add alternative text to Shopify product photos, follow these steps:

• Log in to your Shopify store
• Navigate to Products > All products
• Choose the product that you want to change.
• On the product information page, click a product media item
• You’ll see the Preview media page
• Click Add ALT text
• Enter your ALT text, and then select Save ALT text.
• To exit the preview page, click the X button.

For example

Image of a florist product. Alt tags

The flourish retailer merely uses the product’s name. The ALT wording for a wooden-handled bench scraper is the same. This is good, but there is room for improvement. “Gnocchi + Garganelli Board Set” is an excellent illustration of an issue. There are better examples than the plus sign; ALT text should be limited to letters and digits.

7: Use descriptive names for image files

Using descriptive titles for your picture files is beneficial for SEO and other practical advantages. File names such as “main.jpg” or “1.jpg” provide little information about the desired outcome to you (or Google). Use titles like “Adidas-backpack-front.jpg” to help clarify what’s on the image. It’s also a great opportunity to insert your keywords.

8: Compress and optimize image size

Shopify provides WebP and manages thumbnails. While this is a good place to start, you should constantly strive to compress your photos more and increase the speed with which your Shopify store loads.

Aiming for 70KB or fewer file sizes is a fair overall objective, though this may vary depending on the image quality required.

For example, the original image below was more than 300 KB. It contains approximately 60 KB after optimization (compression). That’s a significant difference, and the picture still looks beautiful.

You should only consider two picture alternatives for your Shopify store :.jpg and.png.

• JPEG provides the optimum balance of quality and file size.
• PNG images provide high-quality and transparent elements, but the files are large. Furthermore, if they are overly compressed, the image quality suffers.

9: Keep sold-out products active, but push them to the bottom of your collections

Occasionally, your store items may become inaccessible.

When a product runs out of stock, the shop manager will “deactivate” it by setting it to draft or unpublishing it from the online shop channel.

It simply makes no sense to display sold-out items to customers. However, deactivating the product also deactivates its URL, resulting in a 404 not found error, which Google does not appreciate.

There is undoubtedly a better way to approach it. Read the below points:

• Add sold-out items to the end of your collections.
• Use a “sold out” badge.
• Allow pre-orders and back-in-stock alerts.
• Do not hide the products by unpublishing them.
• Offer in-stock alternatives.

These are a few ways you can manage your sold-out products.

10: Have enough unique content on product pages

Providing unique content is one of the most effective strategies to distinguish your website. You stand out when the information on your website is entirely original to you. You have something that no one else possesses.

You should strive for approximately 300 words of text on your product pages. Writing a custom product description of this length may be tough, but you may include user reviews, FAQs, and technical information to ensure sufficient content.

Check out the illustration below.

If A represents duplicated content on two pages and B through Q represents pages that link to that content, the duplication results in a split in the link value being passed.

Consider if pages B-Q were only linked to page A. Instead of splitting the value provided by each link, the entire value would be directed to a single URL, increasing the content’s chances of ranking in search results.

Below are some other tips to consider for the Shopify SEO Checklist:

1. Maintain a blog (content site)
2. Create landing pages with relevant content
3. Engage with your visitors
4. submit an XML sitemap
5. Create a robots.txt file
6. Add JSON-LD markup
7. Detect and fix technical errors and make recommendations
8. Page performance (speed) is the new king
9. Use a mobile-first Shopify theme

Conclusion

SEO for a Shopify store is a continual, never-ending process. It necessitates a significant investment of resources and has long-term consequences. But, when done correctly, it may substantially contribute to your online company’s success.

We hope this advice helped you better understand what on-page SEO is all about and helped you identify some missing areas. This guide will be updated periodically in the future.

Are you struggling to boost your Shopify store’s visibility on Google? Look no further! Our expert team of eCommerce SEO consultants specializes in providing ecommerce SEO services and implementing the latest strategies outlined in the Shopify SEO checklist to elevate your store to the number one spot in search engine rankings. Our comprehensive approach ensures that your store is fully optimized with targeted keywords, compelling meta descriptions, and high-quality content that resonates with your audience.

Read more: What’s holding brands back from investing in eCommerce?

FAQ

How do you do SEO on Shopify?

Keyword research, title and description optimization, backlink building, quick site speed, mobile friendliness, use of Shopify SEO tools, blogs with focused content, internal linking, claim and submit sitemaps, and social media engagement.

Is Shopify good with SEO?

Shopify is known for being SEO-friendly, with built-in capabilities such as meta title and description updating mobile-responsive themes and sitemap production. It’s easy to use, so even beginners can do basic SEO. However, it has significant limitations, such as no native product review feature and some restricted URL patterns. Overall, it’s a fine place to start, but for more complex SEO, you may need to use extra tools or consider other platforms.

How do I check my Shopify SEO score?

While Shopify does not include a built-in SEO score, there are several tools and ways to assess your store’s SEO health:

Free tools like Google Search Console. Several free SEO tools are available in the Shopify App Store, including SEO Optimizer and SEO Doctor, which assess content, broken links, and site speed.

Paid resources like SEMrush and Ahrefs are also available.

How do I rank in SEO on Shopify?

Ranking in Shopify SEO requires improving both on-page and off-page elements. Here are several important steps.

• Submit a sitemap via the Google Search Console.
• Set up Google Analytics.
• Create high-quality content.
• Create internal linkages.
• Secure external links.
• Use informative alt text to optimize your photographs.