ANTHROPOLOGIE.COM - SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION AUDIT

Link Juice (LJ) Consulting
Anyarat Priyawat, Kenny Astrianti, Nan Wang, Putri Arinda

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION AUDIT ANTHROPOLOGIE.COM

Instructor:
Prof. Gracey Newman

SEO Audit for Anthropologie.com

TABLE OF CONTENT
Executive Summary

3

Top Five Most Pressing & Valuable Changes

4

302 Redirect

4

Page URL

4

Site Hierarchy

4

Keywords

5

Images

5

SEO Keywords Recommendations

6

Keywords Recommendation

6

Keyword Targeting Strategy

7

Competitor Analysis
SWOT Analysis

9
10

Technical On-Page/ On-site Recommendations

12

URL

12

Title Tag

12

Meta Description

13

Meta Keywords

14

Server Response Code

14

Site Canonicalization

15

Sitemaps

16

Duplicate Content Issues

16

Links

16

Inbound Links

16

Nofollow
Header Tags

16
16

Content Analysis and User Experience

18

Homepage

18

Fast Loading

18

Browser Compatibility

18

Multiplatform

18

Navigation

19

Site Search

19

Shopping Process

19

Checkout Process

21

Social Media

23

Conclusion

24

Source

25

Link Juice Consulting

2


Executive Summary
Anthropologie is a lifestyle brand specializing in women‟s clothing, accessories, home décor and gifts that
reflect strong personal styles and passions. Anthropologie.com isAnthropologie‟s e-commerce website that
offers a comprehensive product catalog with reviews from other customers. Anthropologie.com gives
customers the option to shop online and have their purchased products delivered within a certain time limit.
Optimizing the search engine performance of Anthropologie.com is crucial to increase the position of the
website on the search engines result that eventually impact the overall sales of Anthropologie.
Anthropologie is a brand that really knows their customer. They have one customer and they know exactly who
she is. Anthropologie targets women 30 to 45 years old, college or post-graduate education, married with kids
or in a committed relationship, professional or ex-professional, with annual household income of $150,000 to
$200,000. She reads and travels a lot. She is very aware and urban minded. She is into cooking, gardening, and
wine. She has a natural curiosity about the world. She is relatively fit. She likes the convenience of shopping
online.
Anthropologie.com is constantly updating its product catalog, offering various shipping options (standard,
express, and overnight) with most in-stock products. The website also offers online exclusive products and
seasonal online promotion to improve website‟s sales contribution.However, as competition level is becoming
increasingly high andconsumers are becomingmore tech-savvy, Anthropologie.com needs to find ways to
boost their online presence, better online shopping experience, and improve website usability. Online presence
and user experience are two critical factors for e-commerce website, because they will directly affect brand
awareness, sales performance and the consumers‟ perception about the brand.
Implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy will help Anthropologie.com achieve a higher page
rank on Search Engine ResultsPages (SERPs), which will improve Anthropologie.com‟s online traffic and website
credibility. This will give Anthropologie.com an advantage to compete with other e-commerce websites with
similar product offers.The following report contains the current situation of Anthropologie‟s SEO performance
and recommendations for improvements.


3


TOP FIVEMOST PRESSING AND VALUABLE CHANGES
Below are the most important essential improvements to optimize Anthropologie.com for search engines.
Executing these changes will lead to better search rankings.
302 Redirect

Anthropologie.com 302 redirect – Screen Captured1

Currently, http://www.anthropologie.com302 redirects to http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp. This
is an unintended waste of Link Juice (ranking power) because each link that is redirected through a 302
generally will not pass rankings and search engine value because it is temporary redirect. Since more links are
directing at http://www.anthropologie.com (396994 2 ) than http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp
(1716943), LJ Consulting advises that Anthropologie.com implement direct link or 301 redirect to recapture link
value.
Page URL
URL structure is important for both search engine and users. Complex, non-user friendly URLs will have negative
impact on a company‟s website. Nevertheless, Anthropologie.com has a long and complex page URLs as
shown below.

Anthropologie.com URL – Shoes – New Arrivals Section

This website generated URL that is not easy to understand for users or search engines because it uses URL
parameters. LJ Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com to reviseits page URLs to semantic URL structures
(www.anthropologie.com/shoes/new-arrivals) over Anthropologie.com current URL parameters as shown in the
above example to increase Anthropologie.com‟s pagerank and provide a better user experience for
itscustomers.
Site Hierarchy
Site Hierarchy affects how search engine reads and index the website.A logical hierarchy with clear categories
and subcategories that are separated by using header tags (such as H1, H2, and H3) is a critical factor for a
website to be indexed by the search engines. Currently, Anthropologie.com site structure needs to be
1http://www.internetofficer.com/seo-tool/redirect-check/
2
3

http://www.backlinkwatch.com/index.php
http://www.backlinkwatch.com/index.php


4


improved asmain categories are on the same level withsubcategories. LJ Consulting recommends
Anthropologie.com to amend its site hierarchy (as shown on the chart below) so that the category hierarchy of
the given website is reflected in the URLs to improve its search engine rankings.

Anthropologie.com Current Site Hierarchy

Recommended Site Hierarchy for Anthropologie.com

Keywords
Keyword targeting is one of the key factors for SEO because it affects how people find Anthropologie.com
through search engines. When keywords that people type into search engines to find information about
Anthropologie.com are used throughout the content of a website, the chance for Anthropologie.com to rank
higher on SERPs increases. LJ Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com to target five keywords in order to
improve their rank in organic search results. These keywords include “vintage clothing”, “petite dresses”,
“womens clothing”, “anthropologie”, and “anthropology”. This will be elaborated on the “SEO Keyword
Recommendation” section.
Images

5


Visual display is an important part of Anthropologie brand because they are recognized for their visual designs
and elegant display. Anthropologie.com content is full of images because it needs proper display to sell its
products. However, search engines cannot crawl images unless it is properly tagged and named. LJ Consulting
found1,209 images 4 on Anthropologie.com that are missing alt text. Moreover, all of the images are not
properly named and images‟ URLs are not optimized for SEO.Anthropologie.com also prevented search
engines to crawl those images with the use of “no follow” attributes, whichcan be a detrimentfor SEO.Therefore,
LJ Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com to modify each image with a keyword-enriched name, clean
URL, and let all the images to be followed by the search engines for higher page rank.

Anthropologie.com rel=”nofollow” Image Page Source – Screen Captured

4

According to Raven Tools


6


SEO KEYWORD RECOMMENDATION
Keywords Recommendation
Keywords are words that people type into search engines to find information. The resulting page created by a
search engine, or SERP, contains the links to the top-ranking site. Using keywords that users use to find
Anthropologie.com on the search engines throughout the content of the website increases Anthropologie.com
chance to rank higher on SERPs. Higher rank can drive more traffic to Anthropologie.com.
Anthropologie has high brand awareness among the target audience and currently appears first in the SERPs
when searched by its name, “anthropologie” and “anthropology”. However, the brand ranks lower for other
strategic keywords that makes it harder for prospects to find Anthropologie.com among its competitors.
Anthropologie.com cannot depend solely on its brand name to generate more traffic.
These following keywords that are mentioned in the Executive Summary should be incorporated in the website
to ensure that users who search for women‟s vintage-inspired clothing find and choose Anthropologie.com
before its competitor websites. LJ Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com to use the following keywords
throughout the website:
Keyword

Competition

Local Monthly Searches (U.S.)

Global Monthly Searches

“vintage clothing”

High

74,000

165,000

“petite dresses”

High

18,100

33,100

“women‟s

High

60,500

110,000

“anthropology”

Low

201,000

301,000

“anthropologie”

Low

1,220,000

clothing”

Keyword Recommendations Table for

1,500,000
Anthropologie.com5

1. “vintage clothing”
LJ Consulting suggests Anthropologie.com to use „vintage clothing‟ as one of the targeted keywords. Although
the competition is high, Anthropologie is famous for its vintage-inspired clothing that using this keyword will flow
naturally in the website and will increase Anthropologie.com‟s rank in SERP.
2. “petite dresses”
Anthropologie.com has a dedicated page for petites that offers more than 400 petite style clothes.
Anthropologie.com should promote this page because most of the competitors do not sell clothes targeted to
petite women. We chose “dresses” over “clothes” because it is more specific and more people search for it. LJ
Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com to target this keyword to promote their petite line.

3. “women's clothing”

5Figures

are based on Google Keyword Planner


7


Anthropologie.com is currently targeting this keyword. The websiteappears on second page of Google‟s
search result page when searching for this keyword.Considering the competitive level and search volume,
Anthropologie.com has the potential to get higher ranking on SERP for this keyword. Therefore, LJ Consulting
recommends Anthropologie.com to maximize its potential by using this keyword more effectively.
4. “anthropologie”
LJ Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com to continue targeting this keyword.
5. “anthropology”
LJ Consulting found that many Anthropologie.com users are searching for „Anthropology‟ instead of
„Anthropologie‟. Currently, Anhtropologie.com ranks the 2nd on Google‟s search result for this keyword (just
below Anthropology Wikipedia page). LJ Consultingrecommends Anthropologie.com to optimize this keyword
usage by combine it with Paid Search Advertisements.
Keyword Targeting Strategy
In order to increase Anthropologie.com page rank in the SERPs using the recommended keywords, there are
several strategies to optimize keyword targeting without disturbing the usability, user experience, or the natural
flow of the site content. Therefore, LJ Consulting recommends the following strategies:
1.Page Title
Anthropologie.com should use keywords such as “petite dresses” as the page’s title. Page titles are search engines key to
determine website’s relevance with certain keywords. Higher relevancy will result in a better page rank and higher traffic.
2. Headline or H1 Tag
Although the title does not have to be the same with the headline, LJ Consulting recommends that they should not be too different
with each other. Relevant page title and H1 are associated with higher ranking on SERPs.
3.Body text
Anthropologie.com is an image-heavy website, which is suitable for an e-commerce website. Although Anthropologie.com did put
description on each page on the site, they should incorporate the recommended keywords to make the content more relevant for
search engines. However, overusing the keywords will have negative impact on rankings. All the body text should be written to
provide useful information for users. For better user experience, LJ Consulting recommends repositioning the description to the top
of the page.


8


“Read More About Dresses” on Anthropologie.com

4. URL
LJ Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com to incorporate the keywords the given page is trying to target
in the URL in order to directly increase search engine relevancy metrics.
5. Images and image alt attributes
Since Anthropologie.com is an image-heavy website, these images have opportunities to show up in an image
search result,therefore, incorporating keywords on image‟s title, filename, surrounding text, and alt will gave a
positive impact on ranking power and website‟s traffic.
6. Meta description
Although meta description (inside the red box below) does not directly affect search engine ranking
algorithms, it entice users to click on Anthropologie.com. Additionally, if the keywords appear in the meta
description, they also get bolded, which can increase visibility and leave stronger impressions.

Anthropologie.com on SERP for “maxi dresses”

7. Meta keywords
Currently, Anthropologie.com is including theirkeywords in every page source. However, showing keywords in
the page source will not be helpful in terms of pagerank and competitor can see what keywords that
Anthropologie.com is targeting. LJ consulting suggests removing the keywords in the page source.

Meta Keywords – Dresses Section – Screen Captured

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

9


Forever21.com, Modcloth.com and Macys.com are the three main competitors for Anthropologie.com search
ranking

because

each

of

them

shares

some

similaritiesinkeywords

bidding

with

Anthropologie.com. Nevertheless, their overall performance on search engine ranking is better than
Anthropologie.com due to some aspects of their search marketing strategies. For example, Forever21.com has
the fastest loading time, which contributes to its superior SEO performance compared to Anthropologie.com.
Despite its young domain age, Modcloth.com overall search ranking score is the same as that of
Anthropologie.com. Reasons contributing to Modcloth.com‟s good performance include its search engine
friendly site hierarchy and properly tagged images. Lastly, Macys.com has the perfect quality score and they
rank very high in almost all categories.
Anthropologie.com can observe its competitors‟ SEO practice to develop a better SEO strategy to become
more competitive in the industry.
Anthropologie

Forever 21

ModCloth

Macys

http://www.anthropolo

http://www.forever21.co

http://www.modcloth.c

http://www.macys.c

gie.com/anthro/index.j

m/Product/Main.aspx?br

om

om

sp

=f21

Quality Analyzer

89

100

89

100

mozTrust

6.3

6.2

6.3

6.8

mozRank

6.23

6.11

6.14

6.65

Page Authority

86

83

85

90

Domain Authority

85

84

81

88

Domain Creation

1996

1998

2002

1994

Domain Exp. Date

2015

2023

2014

2021

Alexa Rank

5,079

2,121

3,652

696

Load Time

315 milliseconds

122 milliseconds

362 milliseconds

262 milliseconds

URL

Date

Table 1: Competitors Comparison Table6

SWOT Analysis
The SWOT Analysis shows the areas where Anthropologie.com can improve on to leverage its competitive
advantages among the search competitors.

6Source:

Raven Tools


10


Strengths

Weaknesses

Anthropologie‟s brand image and personality is

Anthropologie.com

does

not

have

clean

URL

well translated to Anthropologie.com‟s website

structures, which affects the website rank on SERPs,

design.

website usability, and accessibility.
Anthropologie.com uses Javascript to enhance the
user experience but with the cost of search engine
optimization opportunity.
Anthropologie.com does not offer free shipping and
return,

which

unfavorable

places

position

Anthropologie.com
when

compared

to

in

an

other

competitors.
Anthropologie.com has a user-friendly website

For aesthetic reason, Anthropologie.com uses visually

navigation.

attractive font, but is not perfectly readable for users.

Interactive product display with moving images

Anthropologie.com

showing all the angles of the product.

application.

does

not

have

a

mobile

Anthropologie.com uses high quality pictures of
each product with clear description, size, design
availability, and customers‟ reviews and rankings.
Anthropologie.comsite

search

is

working

effectively.
Anthropologie.comhas various payment options
that appeal to a wider customer base.
Current promotions are strategically located in the
homepage.
Anthropologie.com have a fast loading time.
Opportunities


Threats

11


Create more external linksthrough marketing effort

All Anthropologie.com competitors offer free shipping

to improve rank in SERP, drive more traffic to the

and return services to their customers whereas

website and increase brand awareness

Anthropologie.com still charge shipping fees.

Collaborate with bloggers to increase the number

A partnership between a brand and bloggers is an

of inbound links to Anthropologie.com.

emerging trend. For example, Mod Cloth‟s blog has a

Improve social media performance.Forever 21

section called Blogger of the Moment to show their

have over 8 million likes on Facebook, whereas

support to the blogging community. By building a

Anthropologiehas approximately 800,000 likes.

rapport with bloggers, brands can build closer

Increasing number of fans across all social media

relationship with the blogs‟ readers as well.

platform and having people talk about

All

Anthropologie will not only increase the

applications that make the shopping experience

engagement between brand and customers, it will

more

also help improve page rank.

engagement between the users and the brands.

Anthropologie.com
pleasant

for

competitors
the

user

have

and

mobile

encourage

Allowing search engines to crawl images with
keyword-enriched name and alt text will improve
page rank.Showcasing Anthropologie.com‟s
products using video content as according to
Internet Retailer, visitors who view product videos
are 85% more likely to buy than visitors who do not.


12


TECHNICAL ON-PAGE/ ON-SITE RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are SEO audits for five of Anthropologie.com‟s subsections (Homepage, Skirt page, Jewelry page,
and Heels and Wedges page). The recommendations below aim on the technical on-page factors that is
important to search engines ranking power.
Item

Audit

Recommendations

URL

These URLs are website generated URLs that

LJ Consulting suggests Anthropologie.com to

are not easy to understand for users or

alter the structure of its website URLswith

search

semantic URL structures.

engines

because

they

arelong,

comprised of parameters, and they do not
show the website‟s category structure.
Homepage:

Homepage:

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp

http://www.anthropologie.com/

Skirt:

Skirt:

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/category

http://www.anthropologie.com/clothing/skirts

/skirts/clothes-skirts.jsp?cm_sp=TOPNAV-_CLOTHES-_-CLOTHES-SKIRTS&cm_re=TOPNAV-_CLOTHES-_-CLOTHES-SKIRTS

Jewelry:

Jewelry:


http://www.anthropologie.com/accessories/jewelry

/jewelry/accessories-jewelry.jsp?cm_sp=TOPNAV_-JEWELRYACCESSORIES-_-ACCESSORIES-JEWELRY

Heels and Wedges:

Heels and Wedges:


http://www.anthropologie.com/shoes/heels

/heels+/shoes-heels.jsp?cm_sp=TOPNAV-_-SHOES_-SHOES-HEELS
Title Tag

Anthropologie.com‟s title tags lengths are

Anthropologie.com should customize the title

appropriate

tag based on the content of the page. Best

However,

(less

than

70

Anthropologie.com

characters).
does

not

practice for SEO: Primary Keyword - Secondary

incorporate keywords in the title tags.

Keyword | Brand Name.

Homepage:

Homepage:

<title>Welcome to Anthropologie -

Women‟s Clothes, Shoes, Accessories, Home &

Anthropologie.com</title>

Decor | Anthropologie

Skirt:

Skirt:

<title>Skirts for Women - In Prints, Patterns &

Women‟s Skirt - Maxi, Midi, Mini & Vintage

Solids | Anthropologie</title>

Skirts| Anthropologie

Jewelry:

Jewelry:


13


<title>Women's Jewelry - Designer & Fashion

The title tag is quite clear in explaining the

Jewelry for Women | Anthropologie</title>

content of the page. It is well optimized for
both

search

engines

and

humans.

No

improvements necessary at this time.
Heels and Wedges:

Heels and Wedges:

<title>Heels - Heels & Wedges –

Women‟s Heels – Heels & Wedges Shoes|

anthropologie.com</title>

Anthropologie

Meta Description:

Homepage:

Homepage and Skirt:

Although meta

<meta name="description" content='An

The current meta description is clear enough

inspiring place to shop for women's

for human to read, have the right length (less

clothing, accessories and home decor.

than 160 characters) and it summarizes the

Explore our collection of dresses, blouses,

content of the homepage.

description
does not
directly affects
the search
engines ranking
power, enticing
meta

sweaters, shoes and more.'/>
Skirt:
<meta

name="description"

content=:It's

description can

always skirt season at Anthropologie. Browse

improve

our latest selection of maxi, midi, mini, pencil,

Anthropologie.c
om click-

a-line & full skirts for women''/>
Jewelry:

Jewelry:

<meta name="Description" content="Shop all

Even though the meta description is quite

Jewelry at Anthropologie.com.

good, it still can be improved by making it

Anthropologie offers a wide variety of

more

Jewelry in the Accessories section of the site.

Crimson, Found in Paris, Outfits: Paris Street

View all of the Necklaces, Earrings, Bracelets

Style, etc.” is not relevant with the content of

& Watches, Rings, Pins &

the page and it is too long for a meta

Keychains, Featured Artists, Wear To Work,

description.

Shimmer & Shine, Color Us: Crimson,

through-rate.

recommends that these be removed.

Found in Paris, Outfits: Paris Street Style, etc."
/>

interesting.

Therefore,

Recommended
unique

and

Additionally,

meta

vintage

LJ

“Color

Us:

Consulting

description:

“Shop

women‟s jewelry at

Anthropologie.com. Find new jewelry and
other one-of-a-kind accessories from our Paris
Street Style collection!”
Heels and Wedges:

Heels and Wedges:

<meta name="Description" content="Shop all

Even though the meta description is quite

Heels & Wedges at Anthropologie.com.

good, it still can be improved by making it

Anthropologie offers a wide variety of Heels

more


interesting.

Additionally,

“Wardrobe
14


& Wedges in the Shoes section of the

Essentials: Fall, Outfits: Paris Street Style, etc." is

site. View all of the Wedges, Heels, Wear To

not relevant with the content of the page.

Work, Wardrobe Essentials: Fall, Outfits: Paris

Therefore, LJ Consulting recommends that

Street Style, etc." />

these be removed.
Recommended meta description: “Shop a
wide

variety

of

Heels

and

Wedges

at

Anthropologie.com. Find new shoes and other
one-of-a-kind heels from our Paris Street Style
collection!”
Meta Keywords:

Homepage:

Currently, most

There

search
enginesdo not

are

Homepage:
no

meta

keywords

on

the

homepage.

Anthropologie.com is doing a good job by
eliminating

meta

keywords

tag

on

the

homepage. No improvements needed.

use meta
keywords tag as
a ranking

Skirt:

Skirt, Jewelry and Heels and Wedges:

<meta name="Keywords"

LJ Consulting recommends that the meta

content="Skirts,womens Clothing,colorful

keywords be removed because it does not

womens Skirts,womens

give any benefit in terms of SEO and it might

Skirts,Clothing,anthropologie Skirts,vintage

assist Anthropologie.com competitors‟ to do

Skirts,colorful midi & maxi" />

metric.

keyword research.

Jewelry:
content="Jewelry,womens
Accessories,colorful womens
Jewelry,womens
Jewelry,Accessories,anthropologie
Jewelry,vintage Jewelry,colorful Necklaces"
/>
Heels and Wedges:
content="Heels,womens Heels &
Wedges,colorful womens Heels,womens
Heels,Heels & Wedges,anthropologie
Heels,vintage Heels" />
Server Response

Homepage:


Currently, there is a server response code issue
15

Code

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index

on Anthropologie.com homepage.

.jsp

http://www.anthropologie.com/ temporarily

Type of link: direct link

redirects to http://www.

http://www.anthropologie.com/

anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp. 302 redirect

Type of redirect: 302 Moved Temporarily

does not pass any ranking power and search

Skirt:
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/categor
y/skirts/clothes-skirts.jsp?cm_sp=TOPNAV-_CLOTHES-_-CLOTHES-SKIRTS&cm_re=TOPNAV-_CLOTHES-_-CLOTHES-SKIRTS


engine value like a 301 redirect will.LJ
Consulting advises that Anthropologie.com
resolve this issue by implement direct link or
change the redirection to 301 redirect to
recapture link value.

Jewelry:
y/jewelry/accessoriesjewelry.jsp?cm_sp=TOPNAV-_JEWELRYACCESSORIES-_-ACCESSORIES-JEWELRY

Heels and Wedges:
y/heels%20&%20wedges/shoes-heelslady.jsp?cm_sp=LEFTNAV-_-SUB_CATEGORY-_HEELS

Site

LJ Consulting foundat least one page7 with 302

No link rel="canonical”.

temporary

Skirt:

changing this to a 301 redirect or using

<link rel="canonical"

canonical attribute that are search engine

href="http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/cat

Canonicalization

Homepage:

friendly.

redirect

and

we

recommend

egory/skirts/clothes-skirts.jsp"/>

Jewelry:

This should be monitored to make sure there is
no duplication in the future.

egory/jewelry/accessories-jewelry.jsp"/>

Heels and Wedges:
egory/heels/shoes-heels-lady.jsp"/>

7

According to http://www.ragepank.com/redirect-check/


16

Sitemaps

Anthropologie.com has HTML sitemaps that is


beneficial for humans and search engines

develop the content of XML sitemaps to help

and XML sitemaps to help search engines

create a short-term boost in the number of

crawl the site. However, the XML version

pages indexed by the search engines.

does not contain any information of the site.

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/sitema
p.xml
Duplicate

Anthropologie.com homepage has URL

LJ

parameters because it is a database

rel=canonical tag or set up a 301 redirect from

powered website. URL parameters can also

the “duplicate” hompage to the original

be use to track clicks for analytics use.

homepage to resolve the duplicate content

However, URL parameters cause duplicate

Content Issues

Consulting

recommends

the

use

of

issues.

content issues. LJ Consulting found at least
one page with duplicate content, which
makes it difficult for search engines to
decide which version is more relevant to be
included in the SERPs. Duplicate content also
reduces ranking power and the number of
traffic for a website.
Links

The internal links should be under 100 to

7 external links.8

optimize the search engine crawl.

Homepage:

Anthropologie.com

200 inbound links.

number of inbound links by tying it up with

Skirt:

marketing efforts, such as collaboration with

37 inbound links.

fashion

Jewelry:

audience. The benefits of higher number of

33 inbound links.

inbound links are it directly increases the rank

Heels and Wedges:

Inbound links

109 internal links.

on SERP and it increases website‟s credibility.

bloggers

should

with

the

increase

same

the

target

8http://www.seoconsult.com/seo-tools/internal-link-checker.html


17


26 inbound links.
Nofollow

Anthropologie.com

does

not

put

the


nofollow on the link to their social media

consider putting nofollow attribute to social

websites such as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube,

media links.

Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Google +.
Header tags

Homepage:

LJ Consulting recommends Anthropologie.com

No header tags.

to use the recommended keywords at the first

Skirt, Jewelry and Heels and Wedges:

hundred words of content in H1, H2, H3, H4,

For all sub-categories, Anthropologie.com

bold and in image alt tag on all pages. This will

uses H1, H3, and H4 tags but they are not

make the page more targeted towards the

optimized for search engines.

phrase and will increase its rank for applicable

For example in Heels and Wedges:

queries in the major search engines.

<a href="/anthro/category/heels/shoes-heelslady.jsp"><h1>Heels</h1></a></li>
h3 class="topLevelCategory"><a
id="FH_ATG_Category_Facet_Heels_&_Wedges"
href="/anthro/category/heels & wedges/shoesheels.jsp">Heels & Wedges</a></h3>
<h3 class="topLevelCategory featuredheader">Features</h3>
<h3 id="h3-priceSlider">Price</h3>
<h3 id="h3-facet_3">Size</h3>


18


CONTENT ANALYSIS AND USER EXPERIENCE
Homepage
The homepage epitomizes the brand identity of Anthropologie perfectly. It is visually appealing, user-friendly
and encourages visitors to click on the image. The images on the homepage interpret the products that
Anthropologie.com sells. It gives visitors a clear view of what to expect from this site. The navigation bar on top
is also eye catching even though it could be made bigger to increase visibility and enhance browsing
experience. There is also a banner for discount information that we think is very interesting but should be made
more attractive to increaseawareness.
A major opportunity that can be tapped is the utilization of strategic keywords. By further incorporating
keywords into all pages of the site, Anthropologie.com will be able to increase their chances to rank on top of
SERP when people search for those keywords. However, this should be done carefully as Anthropologie.com is
an e-commerce and not an informational website.
We also encourage Anthropologie.com to make improvements based on user feedback and testing website
variations.
Fast Loading
Fast page load is essential for an e-commerce website because users tend to be very sensitive to page load
wait time. Users are more likely to leave the page if it takes too long to load. Anthropologie.com does not have
a page load problem. This factor is important for both pagerank and user experience.
Browser Compatibility
Anthropologie.com displays perfectly on most popular web browsers, such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and
Internet Explorer without any issues.
Multiplatform

PC, Tablet, and Mobile Responsive Website Design
Above are the snapshots of Anthropologie.com‟s jewelry section on PC, tablet and mobile devices. As we can
see, Anthropologie.com has a responsive design. Website design and layout are consistent across all platforms.

19


LJ Consulting suggests Anthropologie.com to undergo a user experience test to make sure that everything in
the website is optimized.
Navigation
Having a good navigation is very important for Anthropologie.com because if the users cannot find what they
are looking for they are more likely to leave the website.The labels on Anthropologie.com‟s navigation bar are
very clear. The navigation design is simple, relevant with the content, and consistent throughout different
pages on Anthropologie.com.
Site Search
Anthropologie.com has site search feature onevery page, which allow users to search for specific item or
categorywith ease.However, the search bar is quite hard to be found among all the categories on the pages.
LJ Consulting suggests Anthropologie.com to increase the visibility of its site search by adding a search bar next
to the magnifying lens.

Anthropologie.com Navigation Bar with Site Search
After a user type in the first letter, the search barsuggests popular search terms. The feature helps users to find
things they are looking for with ease.

Anthropologie.com – Site Search – Popular Searches
Shopping Process
Anthropologie.com displays the number of items in the basket on the navigation bar at all times. The users can
also create and nickname up to five different wish lists and share them with others. They can also find others‟
wish lists and shop for them. Wish list feature help users to remind what item they want to buy in the future and it
will increase the chance of users to return to Anthropologie.com.
Anthropologie.com has a well-constructed shopping process. However, LJ Consulting recommends the
following changes to be made:
1. Live chat feature

20


Anthropologie.com provides customer service phone number during the checkout process that can increase
the users comfort level when shopping online. This feature can be improved by adding a live chat feature so
that users can instantly get assistance without having to leave the screen.
2. Image view options
When the users browse through images of Anthropologie.com products, Anthropologie.com provides two
viewing options, Gallery (different image size) and Grid (all images are the same size).

Anthropologie.com - Grid View
LJ Consulting recommends increasing the size of the viewing options button so the user can easily choose their
preferred way to explore the products on Anthropologie.com
3. Checkout button
LJ Consulting recommends adding a checkout button on the top right of the page to make it easier for users
who want to directly make a payment after adding an item to their shopping basket.

Recommended Checkout Button
4. “Add to wishlist” button
Anthropologie.com has “add to wishlist” feature that help users to keep track on things that they like. It is a very
good feature because it let the users to consider before purchasing. LJ Consulting suggests putting“add to
wishlist” button on each “quick view” image to improve the user experience of the feature.


21


Quick View – Recommended “Add to Wishlist” Button
5. Customer service
Anthropologie.com has a customer service button on the page, however,it is positioned at the bottom of the
page and thus it is hard to find.LJ Consulting suggests putting the link to the Customer Service on the top of the
page near the link to Blog.
Checkout Process
The overall checkout process is user friendly, fast and clear.Firstly, the site has a linear checkout steps that
benefits the overall experience.The checkout bar highlights users‟ position on the checkout process stage. This
prevents confusion for the user during the transaction. Moreover,the users can be assured that they have
completed every step without error.

Anthropologie.com - Checkout Bar
Secondly, the site usesa clear error indication. This is very beneficial for the site since a lot of users have
problems finding or understanding error messages on the website as they are not obvious. It will also decrease
the likelihood that userswill abandon the purchase.


22


Error Indication on Anthropologie.com
Nevertheless,

there

are

some

changes

LJ

Consulting

suggests

to

improve

the

checkout

process.Anthropologie.com should add descriptions to form field labels to give unfamiliar usersbetter
understanding. For example, in the payment information page, we suggest the site to put explanation for each
form field label as follows:

Recommendation for Payment Information Page
Anthropologie.com can increase user confidence in purchasing the product onlineby visually reinforcing
securityon all sensitive fields on the payment page. Some users might hesitate if credit card fields do not
appear secure (regardless of actual security). For example, below is an illustration how the site can visually
secure the credit card form fields (version B). Notice the addition of background color, padlock image and
placement of the GeoTrust seal. By adding visual cues (such as borders, background color, and security icons
and badges) around the form fields for credit cards, the site can easily increase the site perceived security.


23


Suggested Credit Card Form Fields (Version B)
Social Media
Firstly, we notice that the social media channels button is currently being placed atthe bottom right of the
page.

Position of Social Media Buttons
It is beneficial for the brand to position the social media icons at the place where it is noticeable for the user.
This will give Anthropologiean opportunity to increase its social media sites traffic, allowing the brand to engage
its user, build a stronger social media presence and increase users‟ social sharing that is beneficial for SEO.
LJ Consulting recommends that the best spot for the brand to place its social media button is atthe top left
header as that is the best place for them to be noticed.
Secondly, Anthropologie.com utilizes all the trending social media channels for fashion brands. However, we
notice the website does not allow the users to share the product photos throughGoogle Plus. LJ Consulting
recommends the site to have Google Plus for consumer photo sharing as this can improvea presence of the
brand within the Google Plus community.

24


Social Media Buttons on Beside Product Image on Anthropologie.com
The social media buttons are not noticeable as it blends in with the background and other nearby text. LJ
Consulting recommends the buttons to be more attractive with colors so that it stands out from the
background and the user will be more familiar with them.

Recommended buttons (left)


25


CONCLUSION
After conducting a thorough examination of Anthropologie.com, LJ Consulting recommends some
improvements in the following aspects: Amend Page URLs to SEO friendly version; Modify Site Hierarchy to show
logical structure of the website; revise images‟ name, URLs and alt texts and let them to be crawled by search
engine; develop a more strategic keyword strategies and improve user experience. LJ Consulting believes that
these changes can help Anthropologie.com to rank higher on SERPs, increase more traffic to the site, improve
the usability and shopping experience that eventually will increase the sales on Anthropologie.com.


26


SOURCE
1. Anthropologie‟s Website
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp
2. Google AdWords
https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home?__c=2414006620&__u=6542670220&__o=cu
es
3. Raven SEO Tools
https://raven-seo-tools.com/tools/z/#rc/sematic
4. Redirect Checker
http://www.internetofficer.com/seo-tool/redirect-check/
5. Open Site Explorer- The Search Engine for Links
http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/
6. Domain Age Check
http://www.seologs.com/dns/domain-check.html
7. Internal Link Checker
http://www.seoconsult.com/seo-tools/internal-link-checker.html
8. Ragepank On-Page SEO Blog
http://www.ragepank.com/redirect-check/
9. Smashing Magazine- Fundamental Guidelines of E-Commerce Checkout Design
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011/04/06/fundamental-guidelines-of-e-commercecheckout-design/


27

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