My presentation on eCommerce SEO from State of Search 2013 in Dallas, TX.

1. eCommerce SEO
Shopping Spree
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

2. What’s up
State of Search?!
Mike Arnesen
SEO Team Manager, SwellPath
Google.com/search?q=mike+arnesen
Sweet Hashtags:
#StateOfSearch #eComSEO

3. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

4. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

5. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

6. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

7. This is going to be
rapid fire…
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

8. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

9. Use a Flat Site Architecture
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen#StateOfSearch #eComSEO

10. Avoid meaningless URLs.
Do this…
…not that.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
•
•
•
Directories represent site architecture
Describe from broad to narrow
@mike_arnesen
Human readable
#StateOfSearch #eComSEO

11. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
• Don’t sacrifice accessibility
for flashiness.
• Usable without JS?
• Meaningful anchor text?
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearchfocus.
• Limit choices; #eComSEO

12. • For users and bots
• Make each item clickable
• Use breadcrumb markup (schema.org)
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

13. Let’s talk about
in 2014
• Not the place to stuff links
…or your page content.
• Highlight a few important pages.
• I still use nofollow,
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

14. Provide additional:
• Context
• Crawl paths
• Shopping ideas
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

15. Provide additional:
• Context
• Crawl paths
• Shopping ideas
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

16. Don’t confuse
RoboPuppy
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

17. Always use content
on category
gridwalls
• What am I looking at?
• What’s unique here?
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

18. Always use content
on category
gridwalls
• Effective at increasing ranking.
• Important for avoiding thin content.
• It’s also a branding opportunity!
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

19. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

20. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
Content Integration
Make sure to frame supplemental content
as a fallback for basic browsers.

21. 1. Do your research
2. Outsource initial copywriting
3. Polish the result & push live
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

22. Protect yourself
from the P n a
Don’t put up #PandaBait
…unless you have nothing
on your plate for the
next few months.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

23. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

24. Duplicate content
can be really
annoying.
•
•
•
•
•
Invest in unique product descriptions
Use proper pagination
Have a canonical strategy in place
Noindex when appropriate
Use clean URL handling
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

25. Use pagination and/or canonicalization
on category gridwalls
• Rel prev & next are your
friends!
• Make “view all” the canonical.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

26. Specify canonical products
Near-identical products can cause issues
•
Canonize the best seller
•
Create unique descriptions
•
Consolidate pages
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

27. NoIndex is your friend
Stop!
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

28. WWW, Trailing Slash, & Index Resolution
Practice good housekeeping to avoid
being overrun with duplicate content!
•
Non-WWW URLs to WWW (or vice versa)
•
Non-trailing slash to trailing slash
•
index.php (and similar) to trailing slash
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

29. Leverage multiple XML sitemaps to
monitor indexation by page type.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

30. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

31. This stuff is the future.
Don’t be the last one
to the party!
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

32. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

33. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

34. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

35. Review & Rating Markup
Simple semantic markup
for PDPs, with proven ROI.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

36. Twitter Cards
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
OpenGraph
Rich Pins
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

37. Use this template
in your <head>
to enable all three.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

38. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
http://www.swellpath.com/2013/04/google-plus-interactive-posts/

39. Do you own your brand name image SERPs?
Calvin Klein doesn’t
have any ranked images
for this branded search!
How about alt text,
image sitemaps,
& friendly filenames?
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

40. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

41. Site speed is a factor for
competitive queries!
Focus on Time to First Byte.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

42. These guys want you
to be responsive!
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

43. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

44. Google+ Brand Page Integration
Leverage rel=publisher
for superior
branded SERPs.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

45. Organization & Logo Markup
Suggest which logo should be
used in the Knowledge Graph.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

46. Organization & Logo Markup
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

47. @mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

48. Use Google Analytics eCommerce tagging
Make sure
you’re ready to
prove your ROI.
http://cutroni.com/blog/google-analytics-for-ecommerce/
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

49. Understand & Predict Seasonality
Use historical analytics,
Google Insights, and
stakeholder experience
to map out seasonality.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

50. Get your updates out early
and be prepared.
Give holiday campaign pages time
to index & rank.
Start building links ahead of time.
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO

51. Resources, tutorials, and more
in this link bundle:
bit.ly/sos_ecom
Mike Arnesen
SEO Team Manager at SwellPath
@mike_arnesen | +MikeArnesen
www.mikearnesen.com
@mike_arnesen #StateOfSearch #eComSEO