1. Janet Plumpton
MISSGUIDED
How to use XPath with
e-commerce Websites
@PlumJans

2. make the
most from
website
code for
e-commerce
SEO
#brightonSEO@PlumJans https://www.slideshare.net/JanetPlumpton

3. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
XPath = XML
Path Language
the easy way to pluck data
contained in HTML pages

4. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
what does it look like?
//@href
//H2
//span[@itemprop=’ratingValue’]

5. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
a few
standard uses for XPath
extraction

6. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
extracting schema code
58 reviews

7. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
scraping product SKUs
Product number: A2502222
Product number: DE911161
Product number: R9335328
Product number: A2502826
Product number: DD910086

8. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
exporting specific page copy
CATEGORY
COPY
PRODUCT
COPY

9. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
backlink auditing

10. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
monitoring social activity

11. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
scraping dates from blog posts
BLOG POST VISITS YEAR
http://www.missguided.co.uk/blog/fashion/blog-six 267 2017
http://www.missguided.co.uk/blog/fashion/blog-two 146 2012
http://www.missguided.co.uk/blog/fashion/blog-four 682 2015
http://www.missguided.co.uk/blog/fashion/blog-three 214 2015
http://www.missguided.co.uk/blog/fashion/blog-five 16 2016
http://www.missguided.co.uk/blog/fashion/blog-one 86 2011

12. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
the very
useful
tool kit

13. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
SEO TOOLS
FOR EXCEL
the very
useful
tool kit

14. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
SEO TOOLS
FOR EXCEL
SCREAMING
FROG
the very
useful
tool kit

15. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
SEO TOOLS
FOR EXCEL
SCREAMING
FROG
INSPECT
ELEMENT
the very
useful
tool kit

16. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
SEO TOOLS
FOR EXCEL
SCREAMING
FROG
SCRAPER
EXTENSION
INSPECT
ELEMENT
the very
useful
tool kit

17. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
SEO TOOLS
FOR EXCEL
SCREAMING
FROG
SCRAPER
EXTENSION
INSPECT
ELEMENT
GOOGLE
SHEETS
the very
useful
tool kit

18. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
If you are new
to XPath…

19. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
…simply open a Google Sheet
Data XPath
Page
Title =ImportXML("URL","//title[1]")
Meta
Description =ImportXML("URL","//meta[@name='description']/@content")
H1
Heading =ImportXML("URL"; "//*[@name='h1'] ")

20. @PlumJans
4 scraping tips for
e-commerce websites
time is money
#brightonSEO

21. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
#1

22. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
It can be a shock
to discover valuable traffic
going to empty categories

23. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
products
per
category
mark-up

24. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
//span[@class='js-cascade-label-max']
GOOGLE SHEETS
=IMPORTXML("URL", "//span[@class='js-cascade-label-max']")
SEO TOOLS FOR EXCEL
=XPathOnURL("URL", "//span[@class='js-cascade-label-max']")

25. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
couple this data up
with traffic per URL

26. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
A B C D E F G H I J K
Traffic and Styles per Category
Organic Traffic Styles

27. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
#2

28. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
number of products in a site
search URL

29. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
recreate search URLs in Excel
Search Terms Site Search URL String + Search Terms
red bodysuit domain.co.uk/search?q= red+bodysuit
white blazer dress domain.co.uk/search?q= white+blazer+dress
khaki bomber jackets domain.co.uk/search?q= khaki+bomber+jackets
export site searches from GA

30. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
are you presenting fewer
products on landing pages?
yes or no?

31. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
#3

32. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
which on page elements
perform better?
compare metrics

33. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
do product pages convert
better with videos?

34. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
//*[@id="product-media"]/a[1]/text()
Address Videos
/premium-white-plunge-neck-zip-through-bodycon-dress play video
/silky-plunge-wrap-shift-dress-red play video
/black-floral-print-strappy-midi-dress play video
/peace-love-white-lace-high-neck-midi-dress play video
/sequin-snake-high-neck-bodycon-dress-animal play video

35. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
pick and choose
what you want to scrape
apply your metrics

36. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
#4

37. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
out of stock products
are they getting lots of traffic?

38. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
http://schema.org/OutOfStock
what code sets your
OOS pages apart?
“Product out of Stock”
find it

39. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
apply average conversion rate
(faint)
products coming back?
yes or no?

40. #brightonSEO@PlumJans
and that’s it

41. make your day to day
tasks easier
by understanding your
website code
@PlumJans #brightonSEOhttps://www.slideshare.net/JanetPlumpton