SEO for Online Shops: The Complete Guide

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important traffic channels for online shops. Unlike paid advertising, SEO generates "free" traffic in the long term. In this comprehensive guide, we show how to optimize your shop for Google.

The Three Pillars of E-Commerce SEO

Technical SEO

Load time, crawlability, indexing

On-Page SEO

Content, structure, keywords

Off-Page SEO

Backlinks, authority

1. Technical SEO for Shops

Core Web Vitals

Google evaluates user experience based on Core Web Vitals:

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

Load time of largest element

Target: < 2.5s

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

Response time to user interaction

Target: < 200ms

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

Visual stability during loading

Target: < 0.1

Typical Problems with Shops

Large Images: Product photos not optimized. Solution: WebP, AVIF, lazy loading
JavaScript Bloat: Too many apps/plugins. Solution: Audit and remove
Server Response Time: Slow hosting. Solution: CDN, better hosting
Third-Party Scripts: Tracking, chat widgets. Solution: Load async

Crawlability & Indexing

XML Sitemap: All important pages included, regularly updated
Robots.txt: No important pages blocked
Canonical Tags: Avoid duplicate content for filter URLs
Hreflang: Essential for multilingual shops

2. On-Page SEO: Optimizing Product Pages

Title Tags

Bad example:

Product 12345 | ShopName

Good example:

Premium Collagen Powder 300g | Bioactive | ShopName

Formula: [Product] + [USP/Attribute] + [Brand] – maximum 60 characters.

Meta Descriptions

155-160 characters, including call-to-action
Place important keywords early
Unique for each page (no duplicates!)

Product Descriptions

Avoid

Copying manufacturer texts
Only bullet points
Thin content (< 100 words)
Keyword stuffing

Best Practice

Unique, detailed texts (300+ words)
Benefits & application tips
Natural keyword integration
Structured data / Schema.org

Image SEO

Alt texts: Descriptive, with keywords, not "image of..."
File names: "premium-collagen-powder-300g.webp" instead of "IMG_1234.jpg"
Compression: WebP/AVIF, maximum 200KB per image

3. Optimizing Category Pages

Category pages are often the most important SEO landing pages as they can rank for generic keywords:

Category Page Checklist

Introductory text (300-500 words) with keyword integration
H1 with main keyword
Filter URLs with canonical to main category
Internal linking to important products
FAQ section for long-tail keywords

4. Structured Data (Schema.org)

Rich snippets significantly increase click-through rates in search results. Important schema types for shops:

Product Schema

Display name, price, availability, ratings directly in Google.

Review Schema

Display star ratings in search results.

FAQ Schema

Questions & answers expandable directly in Google.

Breadcrumb Schema

Display clear navigation in search results.

5. Content Marketing for Shops

A blog or knowledge section can provide enormous SEO benefits:

Informational Keywords: "How do I choose the right collagen?"
Internal Linking: From guides to products
Backlink Magnets: High-quality content gets linked
Topical Authority: Google recognizes expertise in the topic

6. Off-Page SEO: Building Backlinks

Digital PR

Press releases, studies, infographics for media mentions.

Partnerships

Collaborations with influencers, bloggers, topic-relevant websites.

Guest Articles

High-quality contributions on relevant platforms with links.

Industry Directories

Listing in relevant, high-quality directories (not spam catalogs).

7. Tracking & Analysis

Google Search Console: Rankings, impressions, indexing issues
Google Analytics: Organic traffic, revenue from SEO
Ahrefs/Semrush: Backlinks, keyword rankings, competitor analysis
Screaming Frog: Technical audits, broken links

SEO Audit for Your Shop?

We analyze your shop and identify the most important SEO levers for more organic traffic.

Learn About E-Commerce Consulting →