Shoper is a popular e-commerce platform that can power your online store. Many businesses use this solution, in part because of its convenient SaaS model. However, it's important to remember that simply setting up a store isn't enough to start attracting customers. If you want your Shoper store to be visible in Google search results, you still need to optimize its SEO. How do you do this? Is Shoper SEO for your store? Learn more!
Shoper store positioning
Why even rank an online store on Shoper? Remember that your website is one of hundreds, even thousands, in your niche market. Therefore, acquiring a customer is a significant challenge. To buy the products they're interested in, they must be aware of your offerings and be convinced that they're the most advantageous.
To increase the visibility and reach of your Shoper store, as well as conversion rates (i.e., the number of orders), you can utilize various advertising and promotional tools. However, in the long term, the cheapest and most effective way to maximize sales is SEO.
What characterizes positioning on Shoper?
SEO is nothing more than a series of activities aimed at ensuring your online store achieves the highest possible ranking in Google search results . This is important because most customers begin their product searches using the search engine and... stop at the first few links they find on the first page of search results, or SERPs. If you're not there, even if your products are more attractively priced, your chances of attracting customers are slim.
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But what can you do to rank among the top? In short, the best rankings are achieved by stores on Shoper that are deemed by Google algorithms to best match the user's search intent. However, this task seems simple only in theory. In practice, especially with intense competition, reaching the top requires a tremendous amount of work and highly skilled SEO specialists. Otherwise, it will simply be a waste of resources and will not yield the expected quick results.
Is it worth positioning a store based on Shoper?
If you run a store through Shoper, you've probably noticed that the platform itself offers access to paid SEO packages as part of a monthly subscription. This is one option you can take advantage of, but… you should be aware that it offers rather limited options for personalized actions. It's also important to remember that Shoper bases the cost of SEO cooperation on the duration of the contract – the longer you commit, the lower your monthly SEO costs on Shoper.
It's also worth remembering that while Shoper provides comprehensive support to store owners, SEO activities are essentially a "sideline." Therefore, before you decide to partner with them, learn about the SEO capabilities offered by agencies specializing in this area . Sometimes, a slightly higher initial outlay for support will result in a significant reduction in customer acquisition costs for years to come. After all, well-tuned SEO is the foundation of effective inbound marketing, which is a self-propelling machine.
Shoper – how to position effectively?
Choosing an experienced SEO agency to manage your Shoper store's SEO is crucial. In theory, you could handle many of the tasks associated with improving your SERP rankings yourself. But will you do it well? Mistakes can be made at every stage – from keyword selection (or skipping this step) to link optimization and acquiring external links.
Regardless of whether you work alone or in cooperation with an SEO agency, here are the key aspects of positioning your store on Shoper that you need to take care of to see the results of your actions.
Selecting the right keywords
Keywords and phrases are content that users type (or say using Google Assistant) when searching for specific products or services. It's crucial that your Shoper store ranks well for phrases related to your industry . For example, if you've opened an online store selling smartphone accessories, these might include keywords like "smartphone accessories" or "cases for [phone model]." Keywords can't be chosen "by chance"—for example, based on a list of product categories you offer . While they reflect your business, the problem is that a large group of competitors may be positioning for similar phrases. Therefore, keywords should be selected based on their:
- tailored to the specifics of your offer,
- SEO potential – remember that the more “difficult” (and therefore more popular) phrases you choose, the longer it will take to achieve a high position in the results and the higher the cost will be.
How to do it? Specialists preparing for Shoper store SEO, as well as for other forms of store advertising on Shoper, use advanced analytical tools. These tools show both the search potential of individual phrases and a list of related phrases. You can also take a closer look at how your closest competitors are positioning. Based on this, a keyword list can be created, offering real opportunities to increase your store's visibility. This list can be expanded over time – after all, SEO is a long-term, multi-stage process. However, developing a keyword list is the foundation for future actions. It's also important to remember that keywords and phrases can generate worthless traffic – which is why it's so important to position for phrases that actually convert – so that people who enter them and click through to your website become customers.
A well-thought-out site map
Google's algorithms index websites, memorizing what information they contain, more or less. Creating a clear structure of product categories and subcategories is very helpful in increasing your store's visibility on Shoper. This is especially important if you sell a wide range of diverse products – in such a situation, it's worth nesting categories in a logical and orderly manner. Organizational chaos can lead to serious problems with website SEO.
Valuable content
The content on each subpage of your Shoper store significantly impacts SEO. But if you're already planning to overload it with the keywords you selected in the previous step... pause for a moment. Although keywords are crucial, you can't overdo it. Furthermore, texts should be, above all, USER-FRIENDLY . Google algorithms also pay attention to this. After all, it's not just about getting customers to your website, but also about staying and making a purchase. Therefore, texts should:
- be found both on the e-shop's main page and on the category and subcategory pages,
- contain well-divided keywords – so that they do not “cannibalize” each other,
- describe individual issues accurately and substantively.
And most importantly, the content must be unique . This means you can't copy it, for example, from materials you received from the manufacturer of the items you sell—even if you received permission to do so. Why? Because Google will quickly detect that it's a copy and therefore deem the information of little value.
Appropriate content arrangement
The substantive content of the texts and their saturation with relevant keywords are not everything. Equally important are the readability of the content and its SEO friendliness. Important factors include:
- adding H2, H3 and even H4 headings,
- using bullet points,
- using content highlighters – e.g. bold, italics or underlining, of course in reasonable quantities, because too many of them will cause chaos.
Optimizing metadata
Shoper store positioning must also include proper editing of the website's metadata, which includes additional information about the website that is displayed in search results, among other things. The platform provides this option. The most important issues include setting the correct parameters for the meta title and meta description tags , as well as tags related to the images used.
Other meta parameters, such as product_name, category_name, and product_code, are also important. Correctly entering them helps Google robots index your website correctly, and therefore, improve its SEO.
Optimizing images in your Shoper store
Regardless of what your Shoper store sells, SEO should include image optimization. Product photos are essential to visualize the items on offer for customers. However, excessive photos, and especially file size, can cause delays in loading product pages. Reducing the image size or changing their format to a "lighter" format will prevent overloading. This is worth doing, even at the cost of a slight decrease in image quality. It's also worth adding alt tags (alternative text) to each image, which are also useful when a visually impaired user visits your Shoper store and needs to read the page content.
Ensuring correct linking
Linking involves placing hyperlinks to your store's subpages in other places. This includes both internal linking, meaning within other tabs of the Shoper online store itself, and external linking, such as in sponsored articles, social media, or blogs. Such valuable links enhance your store's SEO on Shoper by increasing its credibility in the eyes of Google.
However, it's important to know how to implement such linking—selecting the right subpages, phrases, and link placement methods. Therefore, any such actions must be preceded by a thorough audit.
How long does it take to position a Shoper store?
SEO is inherently a lengthy process, but it delivers lasting results that last for months or even years. Therefore, you must be prepared for the fact that working to achieve high SERP rankings, and consequently, a positive impact on website visits and, ultimately, placed orders, will take a considerable amount of time. The average time to see the first visible and measurable results is approximately 3-6 months. This is, of course, an approximate value, as everything depends on:
- how many changes will need to be made to the store structure to start positioning,
- what is your budget for SEO activities,
- how competitive the industry you operate in is,
- how simple or difficult phrases you want to position yourself for.
Why does it take so long to see SEO results for the Shoper store? This is due to two factors: the number of hours and days of work that go into preparing the website, and the waiting period for the changes to be properly indexed and for Google's algorithms to get going.
It is good to remember that in order to position your Shoper store, SEO specialists must:
- perform an in-depth SEO audit that will allow you to identify areas that require improvement, select appropriate keywords, plan actions to be taken and estimate their budget,
- reorganize the structure of your Shoper store – e.g., re-divide products into categories and subcategories to create a clear and readable layout for Google,
- Prepare content for individual sections of the online store – the more content there is, the longer it will take to create. This process is usually done in stages: starting with a description of key categories, then moving down to lower levels: subcategories, and then the products themselves. A blog can also be planned to strengthen long-tail SEO, meaning the "long tail" of phrases related to the most important ones.
- optimize meta tags,
- implement analytical tools that will allow you to track the results of the activities carried out,
- monitor and continuously optimize content.
Therefore, the initial stages of working with an SEO agency can be a test of patience. However, the results are worth the wait, because when they do arrive, they will significantly boost your sales potential on Shoper and allow you to gradually increase the number of customers and orders.
It's also important to remember that while the initial phase of the process is usually the most demanding, it should be sustained in the following months—for example, by adding content to subsequent product tabs and describing further, deeper subcategories, or by preparing related thematic blogs and external articles containing valuable links. It's also essential to constantly monitor the results of the solutions used and introduce any necessary modifications, including those related to market trends.
How else can you advertise your store on Shoper?
SEO for Shoper stores can be compared to a marathon—it's a long-term endeavor. But what if you need sales results "yesterday"? In that case, you can use other SEM tools. This could include a well-thought-out Google Ads campaign, which allows you to display ads above the organic results on search results and external sites. Remarketing, for example, presents banner ads to people who have already visited your online store and viewed specific products, yields excellent results.
Remember, however, that paid advertising for your store on Shoper is a short-term activity – it allows you to quickly but temporarily increase your reach and strengthens the customer's progress through the sales funnel towards conversion. However, its effects end when the paid messages end. Meanwhile, well-executed SEO means improved long-term visibility. That's why you'll most likely need to combine activities in both areas within a coherent and well-thought-out strategy.
Choose the SEO of your Shoper store with Verseo experts
Need help ranking high in search results and reaching customers genuinely interested in your offerings? If so, we're happy to help. We handle both SEO and paid advertising. Step by step, we'll plan a campaign for you that will optimize your marketing budget and allow you to expand your market niche.
Want to learn more? Have questions? Schedule a free consultation now!
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- The specificity of website positioning on the Shoper platform
- Benefits of website positioning on the Shoper platform
