#SEO & e-Commerce
Operate an online shop successfully
What good is the best online shop if potential buyers can’t find it? This is particularly important, as over 90% of all online purchasing activities start with a web search. Basically, the organic traffic is generated via the search engines, the paid visitor traffic via pay-per-click advertising on Facebook or advertising on Google and classic social media – besides Facebook also Instagram or Pinterest. In order to attract as many visitors as possible to your website, all the rules of SEO should be observed.
The technical SEO goes far beyond the search for suitable keywords and the integration of backlinks of the classic SEO. It could also be called SEO 2.0. It is used so that visitors can access the web content at any time. The contents of the website must be accessible and structured in such a way that the page is quickly built up and well structured. Short loading times are relevant in order to increase the conversion rate – i.e. to increase the number of sales. A study carried out in 2015 showed that the conversion rate for fast pages increases by more than 20%.
Increase the ranking with technical SEO
Ever since the purchase of goods on the Internet began to develop further in the late 1980s, but the competition also increased, many online shops wanted to see their own website at number 1 of the search engine. Studies have shown, however, that it does not even have to be necessary to stand on place 1, places 2 to 5 are much more effective. This is mainly due to the fact that the eye is first directed to the middle of the screen.
The technical SEO also plays an important role in this context, because the ever more complex structure of a website makes it necessary that the technical basics become more and more sophisticated. Those who can place themselves at the top of search results no longer only rely on the integration of the right keywords and high-quality texts, but also on the structural basis through the technical SEO structure. Anyone who wants their website to rank better should be a little familiar with the common programming languages.
In summary, the technical SEO ensures that the users who visit a website find their way around well and feel comfortable. This includes all measures for the on-page optimization of the website – apart from the content. It’s all about making the site searchable by the crawlers of the search engine, accelerating the page structure and improving the performance of the website. The aim is to optimize the URL and the page structure, which in turn improves the usability of the page. The speed of a website is even considered a ranking factor by Google. This applies to the adapted display on mobile devices, so that the website is also displayed perfectly on devices with small screens.
Improve ranking through technical SEO
The goal is to bring your own website to the top of search engines like Google or Bing. For the site owner this means more success, more visibility and more visitors on the site, which leads to a better ranking and in the medium term also to more success.
In this small list the most important points of the technical SEO are described, which should be considered with an improvement of the Rankings:
| OPTIMIZE URL | GUARANTEE SECURITY |
|---|---|
| The URL should contain a main keyword. The text must contain descriptions of the keyword. At the same time, subheadings must be inserted between H1 – H6 in order to structure the text in a meaningful way. | From “http” should become “https” – it signals that the page is safe. At the same time it is a good solution to encrypt the data. Encryption is now also considered a ranking factor, so that we also have a positive influence on the ranking. |
| ADJUSTED SOURCE CODE | KEEPING THE LINK STRUCTURE CLEAN |
|---|---|
| It is absolutely necessary that the source code of the page is designed slim. You should also make sure that there are no bugs in the code that could cause the page to display incorrectly. | In order to create a meaningful link structure, the various subpages of a page must be linked to each other using an anchor text. The aim is to guide the visitors cleverly through the content. |
| BOTS CONTROL | SHORTENING THE LOAD TIME |
|---|---|
| The robots – bots for short – are automatically running programs that guarantee the accessibility of a website. This requires that the crawling is error-free. At the same time, it must be ensured that important sources remain free. | In addition to improving the user-friendliness of the site, shortening the loading time plays a key role, which is evaluated as a ranking factor. When loading times exceed two seconds, the bounce rate of the visitors increases. |
| PRESENTATION ON MOBILE DEVICES | RICH SNIPPETS FORM |
|---|---|
| Nowadays, it is standard that content is retrieved from pages on mobile devices such as the smartphone or tablet. Meaningful measures must be taken to ensure that websites provide a high level of convenience for Internet users. | The SEO title, URL and Metadescription are the elements that are displayed in the search engine. They must be optimally designed and must be forwarded to the corresponding website by clicking on it. The snippets should therefore be formulated in such a way that they encourage visitors to click. |
The list in the table is only a list of factors that can be assigned to technical SEO as on-page optimization. However, even the best technical SEO only produces the desired effects if the classic factors of SEO are also incorporated. The creation of high-quality, informative content, which Google and other search engines still regard as particularly important, should be mentioned here.
2019 – Developments in technical SEO
Meanwhile the times of a simple SEO are over. If you still want to find your company’s website at the top of search results, you need to develop a multi-layered strategy that combines technical SEO with the regular creation of high-quality content that incorporates relevant keywords.
Here you will find the most important changes and adaptations that will help to highlight the most important developments in technical SEO 2019:
| MOBILE DEVICES | RECOGNIZE INTENTION TO SEARCH | SEARCH BY TALKING TO US |
|---|---|---|
| For years, the use of the Internet via digital devices has been increasing more and more, a trend that will continue. Google has noticed this and reacted with the fact that since 2016 the mobile site has received more attention than the stationary one and is being adapted accordingly. | Google uses a variety of artificial intelligence software products that make the search engine increasingly aware of what users are looking for. For businesses, this means they need to better understand users’ search intent in order to succeed through their online presence. | Google continues to give its visitors the opportunity to carry out their search orally rather than in writing. Several studies have shown that users are more likely to formulate what a new search form is orally in question form. |
Melanie Garmanzky is a former founder and shareholder of Garmanzky WEBconsulting GmbH, a subsidiary of Engel & Zimmermann AG. After her withdrawal from the “agency life” she is on the road as a freelancer in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with a permanent freelancer and development nearshore team in the area of online communication. She advises and develops for many years with her team for enterprises and marks such as Roche Germany, Sana hospitals, Haufe group, Coppenrath & meadow, Oettinger brewery or BHS tabletop in all questions approximately around Social Media activities, IT-Projektmanagement, on-line marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well as with the planning and execution of the entire on-line communication.