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The e-commerce industry has experienced massive growth since its early days way back in the mid-1990s. The first-ever online sale was made on an American online store called the NetMarket, when – on August 11, 1994 – a CD of Sting’s Ten Summoners Tales album was sold and paid for online. And the rest, as they say, is history.

So, what exactly is e-commerce?

Ecommerce is the abbreviated term for electronic commerce. As the name suggests, it’s an electronic way of buying and selling goods and services over the internet. It also involves the transfer of money and data to perform those transactions.

Many e-commerce sites have been built but sadly many have failed. Why? Because so many of them didn’t have any form of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). The Ecommerce industry obviously depends on the internet, and there is extremely stiff competition in the online world. If you want to stay on top of the e-commerce game, SEQ is the most important weapon in your online arsenal.

Here are the top 5 outstanding reasons why every e-commerce site needs SEO.

1. SEO drives visibility and organic traffic

1. Word-of-the-mouth visitors are great but in the e-commerce world, SEO is super-important because your target market is online – which means you should be too. When you build an online business, your first goal is to have its presence felt, and the only way to do that is to have an SEO strategy. By using the right SEO tools and techniques, all of your site’s content will become easily visible to a global online audience.

Once your site becomes visible online, it will automatically drive organic traffic. That’s the natural traffic you get because your site is easily found in searches – unlike visitors from paid ads. The objective is for your target audience to find your site displayed on the first page of their search. The higher up on the first page you are, the more likely your audience will click on your link – driving visitors to your site and improving your all-important conversion rate. In a nutshell, SEO brings a positive chain of events to your e-commerce website.

2. SEO gives you an edge over your competitors

Having a solid SEO strategy means considering many factors, and those are the essentials that will give you an edge over your competitors.

For example, your website’s speed can affect your mobile SEO ranking. If your potential customer clicks a link that doesn’t load within 3 seconds, you’ll likely end up with a high abandonment rate. That could have been a sale if your page had loaded quickly.

Your site’s ease of use is also a significant factor in SEO that will keep your customers coming back to browse for products, add to cart, and check out. If it’s hard to navigate, you can expect that your potential customers will leave your site pretty quickly to buy from a site that’s a bit more user-friendly.

These and many other factors are all part of SEO that will enable you to compete with more established e-commerce businesses and gain market share.

3. SEO builds your brand’s reputation

If you have a new online store, obviously your potential new customers don’t know that it exists. So, how will you build an excellent online reputation with SEO? Start by creating relevant and high-quality content. Keep in mind that customers use specific words or phrases to search for products and services online. It makes perfect sense to add accurate keywords to your content that are relevant to your online business.

Once people discover that your site’s content is beneficial to them, they will start sharing it on various platforms, such as social media and other websites. Eventually, it will be known as a source of high-quality content, thus building your brand’s reputation.

4. SEO is cost-efficient

Operating a store that’s based on clicks rather than bricks is definitely the most cost-effective option. The overhead expenses of an e-commerce site are much lower than actually having a physical store because there’s no rent or merchandising costs.

Thankfully, SEO is also cost-efficient. In fact, it’s almost free if you are able to do it yourself. And it’s one of the most effective digital marketing strategies you can invest your time in. As long as you have it in place and do it right, your e-commerce site will be the go-to store that will act as your low-cost salesperson, who’s available for your customers to access 24/7.

5. SEO for e-commerce has long-term effects

SEO delivers results that that don’t last for only a week or a month. Unlike paid advertisements where traffic stops the second you stop paying, SEO will keep working for you day and night, as long as you use the right strategies to ensure your site always appears in search results. It’s a solid foundation for marketing your e-commerce site that keeps building upon itself over time.

You can even take a break from it to focus on other aspects of your business and return to find out that it still working the way you left it. Just remember to watch out for the SEO trends as they keep changing.

Your e-commerce site needs SEO now

There is no better time to implement SEO on your e-commerce site than the present!. Your competition keeps growing every single day, and you definitely don’t want to be left behind. Don’t have the time or the inclination to develop and implement a rock star SEO strategy? Don’t worry – our team of SEO experts is here to help. Just check out some of our works here or contact us for a chat about how we can help you improve your e-commerce site’s visitors.