The short version
- Category pages usually win the searches worth most to a shop. Give each one a clear target search, a good title tag and a short, useful introduction.
- Write your own product descriptions, and keep product pages live when stock runs out if it’s coming back.
- Filters, sort options and variants create duplicate URLs. Decide which versions Google should see and hide the rest.
- Product structured data and a Google Merchant Center feed help your products show with prices, and in the Shopping tab without paying for ads.
- Judge progress by revenue from organic search in GA4, page by page, compared year on year.
An online shop has a problem most websites don’t. It has hundreds or thousands of pages that look alike, change often and come and go with stock. SEO for ecommerce websites is mostly about deciding which of those pages should rank for which searches, making them better than the competition’s, and stopping the rest from getting in the way.
Keyword research for an online shop
Match each type of search to the type of page that should answer it. Most of the buying searches land on category pages, so that’s where most of your effort should go.
| Page type | Example search | What the searcher wants |
|---|---|---|
| Category | oak dining tables | To browse a range and compare |
| Subcategory | extending oak dining table | A narrower range that fits a need |
| Product | [brand] [model name] table | A specific item, usually ready to buy |
| Buying guide | what size dining table for 6 | Advice before choosing |
| Care or how-to guide | how to oil an oak table | Help after buying, often a repeat customer |
Good sources for these searches cost little or nothing. Search Console shows what you already appear for. Google’s Keyword Planner and the suggestions in Google’s search box show what people type. Your own site search data, customer emails, reviews and returns notes show the words customers use, which are often different from your trade terms. Paid tools such as Semrush or Ahrefs help with volumes and competitor research once you’re past the basics.
Give every important page one main search to target, and don’t let two pages target the same one. If “oak dining tables” and “solid oak dining tables” would show the same products, they belong on one page.
Site structure
Keep the structure shallow, so every product can be reached in a few clicks from the homepage, and name categories in the words customers search rather than internal jargon. Breadcrumbs (Home > Dining > Oak dining tables) help visitors and tell Google how pages relate.
Only create a category when there’s search demand or a clear browsing need for it. Lots of tiny categories with three products each spread your effort thin. For seasonal pages, such as Christmas gifts or a summer sale, use the same URL every year and update it, so it keeps the links and rankings it built last time.
Category pages
The title tag carries the most weight in search results. Lead with the search you’re targeting and add a reason to click, for example “Oak Dining Tables | Free UK Delivery | Yourshop”. Write a meta description that sells the range: what’s in it, price range, delivery or returns.
Add a short introduction above the products that helps someone choose, then fuller advice below them: sizes, materials, how to pick, and answers to common questions. Link to subcategories and to the buying guides that support the range. Skip the long block of keyword-stuffed text at the bottom of the page. It doesn’t help anyone choose, and it reads badly.
Product pages
If you sell products other retailers also stock, the manufacturer’s description is on dozens of other sites. Rewrite it, starting with your best sellers. Add what customers ask before buying: dimensions, materials, fit, what’s in the box, care, delivery times and returns.
Keep colour and size variants on one product page unless people search for them separately. When stock runs out, keep the page live if the product is coming back, show that it’s out of stock and offer a back-in-stock alert or alternatives. If it’s discontinued, redirect it to the closest replacement or its category; if there’s no sensible match, let it return a 404.
The page has to sell as well as rank. Our guide to website design for conversions covers layout, photos and calls to action.
Technical SEO for online shops
Most technical problems on shops come from the same few sources:
- Filters and sort options. Every combination of colour, size, price and sort order can create a new URL. Let Google index the filtered pages people search for (such as “black leather sofas”) and keep the rest out with canonical tags, noindex or robots.txt rules.
- Products in several categories. The same product reached through different paths should have one canonical URL. Most platforms handle this, but check.
- Pagination. Let Google crawl page 2, 3 and onwards of a category so it can find every product. Don’t point their canonical tags at page 1.
- Internal search results. Pages generated by your site search shouldn’t be in Google’s index.
- Speed. Large images, heavy themes and too many apps or plugins are the usual causes. Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report shows which page templates are slow.
Check Search Console’s Pages report every month. It shows which URLs Google has indexed and why others were left out, which is usually the quickest way to spot duplicates. Your platform decides how easily you can fix these things; our comparison of the best ecommerce platforms for SEO covers what each one allows.
Structured data and free product listings
Product structured data describes each product’s price, availability and reviews in a format Google reads directly. It makes your listings eligible to show those details in search results, which helps them stand out. Most modern ecommerce themes include it; test a few product pages with Google’s Rich Results Test to confirm.
Set up a product feed in Google Merchant Center too. Google shows products from Merchant Center in its Shopping tab free of charge, and the same feed powers Google Shopping ads if you decide to pay for more visibility. Keep prices and stock in the feed matching the site, or Google will flag the products.
Your own site search
The search box on your shop is easy to overlook. Visitors who use it have told you exactly what they want, so it pays to get right. When choosing between your platform’s built-in search and a specialist search app, think about the size of your catalogue, whether it copes with typos and different words for the same thing, whether results can be filtered, how much control you have over what shows first, and the monthly cost.
Then use the data. GA4 can record site search terms automatically through enhanced measurement. Searches that return no results show products you don’t stock, words you need to add as synonyms, and sometimes a category worth creating. Searches that recur often are good candidates for category pages and menu links. There’s more in our guide to ecommerce site search.
Content and links
Buying guides, comparisons and care guides answer what people search before and after they buy, and give other sites a reason to link to you. Link each guide to the categories and products it mentions.
Links from other relevant websites still help Google decide which shops to trust. For most retailers the realistic sources are:
- Brands and suppliers you stock, many of which list stockists on their sites
- Gift guides and round-ups in local and trade press
- Bloggers and creators who review your products (mark any paid or gifted link as sponsored)
- Trade associations, local business groups and events you sponsor
- Expert comment or your own data that journalists can quote
Don’t buy links in bulk. It risks a penalty and rarely sends buyers.
Image, voice and AI search
Visual search tools such as Google Lens match photos to products, and they rely on the same things as image search: clear, original photos from several angles, descriptive file names, alt text that says what’s in the picture, structured data and a product feed.
Voice searches and questions to AI assistants tend to be longer and phrased as questions. You don’t need a separate strategy for them. Plain answers on your category pages, product FAQs and buying guides cover both, and the pages AI tools cite tend to be the same clear, specific pages that rank well in Google.
Measuring what it brings in
Rankings are worth watching, but revenue is the measure. In GA4, check purchases and revenue from organic search by landing page, so you can see which categories and products earn their keep. In Search Console, filter the Performance report by your category URLs to see clicks and impressions for the pages that matter most. Compare with the same period last year, because seasonality makes month-on-month figures misleading for most shops.
Our guide to monitoring search engine rankings covers tracking in more detail, and how long SEO takes sets out realistic timescales. If you’d rather hand the work over, our ecommerce SEO service covers everything in this guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is ecommerce SEO?
Ecommerce SEO is the work of getting an online shop’s category and product pages to rank in Google for the searches buyers use. It covers keyword research, site structure, page content, technical fixes for duplicate pages and speed, structured data, and earning links from other sites.
How do I improve SEO on my ecommerce website?
Start with the pages that make money. Give each main category page a clear target search, a useful introduction and a good title tag. Rewrite manufacturer product descriptions, fix duplicate URLs from filters and variants, add product structured data and a Merchant Center feed, then build buying guides and earn links from suppliers, press and bloggers.
Should I use the manufacturer’s product descriptions?
Avoid it where you can. Every other retailer selling the same product has the same text, so Google has no reason to prefer your page. Rewrite descriptions for your best sellers first, adding the details customers ask about, such as sizing, materials, use and care.
What should I do with out-of-stock products?
If the product is coming back, keep the page live, mark it as out of stock and offer a back-in-stock alert or alternatives. If it’s gone for good, redirect the URL to the closest replacement or its category. If there’s no sensible match, let it return a 404 or 410.
How long does ecommerce SEO take?
Technical fixes and better title tags on existing pages can show results within weeks. New category content and links usually take several months. Competition, the age of your site and how much work goes in each month all change the timescale.
What is an ecommerce search engine?
The term is used for two things. One is the search box on your own shop, which helps visitors find products and tells you what they want. The other is a shopping search engine such as Google Shopping, which lists products from many retailers using a product feed. Both are worth getting right.
Founder of The Pursuit Agency in Swindon. He has worked in SEO for fifteen-odd years and leads the agency's SEO and Google Ads work for owner-led businesses across the UK.