website-logo-dark website-logo-light
  • Services
    menu-item-icon
    SEO Services
    Become unmissable in search results.
    menu-item-icon
    Local SEO Services
    Start dominating your local market.
    menu-item-icon
    Ecommerce SEO Services
    Sell more products with SEO.
    menu-item-icon
    Website Design Services
    Make your website a memorable experience.
    menu-item-icon
    Link Building Services
    Build authority with high-quality backlinks.
    menu-item-icon
    Franchise SEO Services
    Grow and protect your franchise brand .
    menu-item-icon
    PPC Management Services
    Reach consumers when they’re ready to buy.
    menu-item-icon
    Facebook Ads
    Target your ideal audience on Facebook.
    menu-item-icon
    Google Ads
    Dominate with targeted search and display.
    • menu-item-icon
      SEO Services
      Become unmissable in search results.
    • menu-item-icon
      Local SEO Services
      Start dominating your local market.
    • menu-item-icon
      Ecommerce SEO Services
      Sell more products with SEO.
    • menu-item-icon
      Website Design Services
      Make your website a memorable experience.
    • menu-item-icon
      Link Building Services
      Build authority with high-quality backlinks.
    • menu-item-icon
      Franchise SEO Services
      Grow and protect your franchise brand .
    • menu-item-icon
      PPC Management Services
      Reach consumers when they’re ready to buy.
    • menu-item-icon
      Facebook Ads
      Target your ideal audience on Facebook.
    • menu-item-icon
      Google Ads
      Dominate with targeted search and display.
  • About
    menu-item-icon
    About Us
    Learn what HigherVisibility is all about.
    menu-item-icon
    Management Team
    Leadership helping to drive our clients success.
    menu-item-icon
    Contact Us
    Need to get in touch with us?
    Client Reviews
    See what our clients are saying!
    • menu-item-icon
      About Us
      Learn what HigherVisibility is all about.
    • menu-item-icon
      Management Team
      Leadership helping to drive our clients success.
    • menu-item-icon
      Contact Us
      Need to get in touch with us?
  • Learn
    menu-item-icon
    Blog
    Learn tips, industry news, and research insights.
    menu-item-icon
    Free SEO Tools
    Access our public facing tools for better SEO.
    menu-item-icon
    SERP Snippet Optimizer
    See how your webpage looks in Google SERPs.
    menu-item-icon
    SEO CTR Grader
    Write Title Tags that increase your CTR.
    menu-item-icon
    Bulk Keyword Generator
    Automatically generate localized keywords.
    menu-item-icon
    Keyworddit
    The only Reddit keyword research tool.
    What is SEO?
    The Beginner's Guide to Search Engine Optimization
    • menu-item-icon
      Blog
      Learn tips, industry news, and research insights.
    • menu-item-icon
      Free SEO Tools
      Access our public facing tools for better SEO.
    • menu-item-icon
      SERP Snippet Optimizer
      See how your webpage looks in Google SERPs.
    • menu-item-icon
      SEO CTR Grader
      Write Title Tags that increase your CTR.
    • menu-item-icon
      Bulk Keyword Generator
      Automatically generate localized keywords.
    • menu-item-icon
      Keyworddit
      The only Reddit keyword research tool.
  • Who We Help
    menu-item-icon
    Franchise Brands
    We produce results for your brands!
    menu-item-icon
    Lawyers
    Get more clients for your law practice!
    menu-item-icon
    Ecommerce Businesses
    We can grow your Ecommerce sales!
    menu-item-icon
    Automotive Companies
    We drive new customers and revenue!
    menu-item-icon
    Financial Services
    Banking, Personal Finance, or Fin Tech!
    menu-item-icon
    Home Builders
    Sell more homes with our digital solutions!
    Other Businesses
    A sustainable future for your website.
    • menu-item-icon
      Franchise Brands
      We produce results for your brands!
    • menu-item-icon
      Lawyers
      Get more clients for your law practice!
    • menu-item-icon
      Ecommerce Businesses
      We can grow your Ecommerce sales!
    • menu-item-icon
      Automotive Companies
      We drive new customers and revenue!
    • menu-item-icon
      Financial Services
      Banking, Personal Finance, or Fin Tech!
    • menu-item-icon
      Home Builders
      Sell more homes with our digital solutions!
phone-icon
888.598.4449
Get a Free Quote
  • Home
  • BigCommerce SEO Best Practices: 7 Traffic Boosting Tips That Work
  • Insite Blog

BigCommerce SEO Best Practices: 7 Traffic Boosting Tips That Work

Adam Heitzman
Adam Heitzman
October 1, 2018
cart

SEO for ecommerce is do-or-die.

If you don’t get traffic to your site, you won’t win customers. No customers, no business.

And since building an ecommerce store can be an intimidating task all by itself, adding that extra layer just isn’t fun.

But thankfully, platforms like BigCommerce exist to try to make both of those burdens a little easier on you.

In this article, I want to examine the capabilities of BigCommerce and share some tips that will help you get traffic if you decide to use it for your store.

First off, let’s look at why you should consider this platform in the first place.

Why Use BigCommerce?

There are quite a few items in the plus column for BigCommerce, so I’ll try to cover them briefly before moving on to specific e-commerce SEO capabilities.

BigCommerce is an online store builder that allows you to customize and design a presence that can sell products through your site, Amazon, eBay, and even Facebook. So if you’re looking for a multi-channel selling platform, BigCommerce should be on your list.

According to self-reported statistics on their website, the brands that use BigCommerce report an average of 28% annual growth. That’s about twice the industry average, so you know that they’re doing something right.

Image Source

As for more generalized benefits, you’ll be able to choose from a wide variety of themes when you build your store. You’ll also have access to a broad spectrum of payment options like Stripe, Square, or Paypal, as well as some rather robust marketing tools.

And of course, BigCommerce offers some fairly intuitive product management capabilities, as well as solid online support if you encounter issues.

As for pricing, it’s hard to imagine a more affordable system that delivers on the promises BigCommerce offers. Out of the box, a new business will only be on the hook for $30/month.

Image Source

Of course, if you want better conversion optimization (and SEO), you’ll need to shell out $80/month. For some smaller businesses, that may still seem like a steep price tag.

And on top of that, BigCommerce does enforce certain sales thresholds for each of their pricing plans. While you probably won’t have to worry too much about your price if you’re hitting these thresholds, it’s always good to know that they may upgrade your plan for you.

Image Source

But all things considered, BigCommerce isn’t a bad choice when considering an ecommerce platform for your business. You can create a simple, clean, and intuitive store from a centralized system that lets you focus on running your business.

Here’s a look at Toyota’s store that they built with BigCommerce:

Image Source

So from a broad view, BigCommerce looks like a great option. But now let’s look at it solely from an SEO standpoint.

Is BigCommerce a Good Ecommerce Platform for SEO?

Out of the box, BigCommerce’s SEO capabilities aren’t bad. Much like Magento, they built this platform with best practices in mind, so you can be reliably sure you aren’t setting yourself back by choosing this option.

But SEO will always require more tools and customization, and BigCommerce is aware of that. To help your SEO efforts, they offer a range of tools to help you optimize your site.

They also provide you with a mobile-optimized site that works with Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), which means your site will be well suited to your mobile audience. With Google’s recent mobile-first indexing, that’s a huge plus to your SEO.

And of course, like other ecommerce platforms, you have a well-stocked app store that can help you expand both your store’s reach and your SEO capabilities.

Image Source

So all things considered, the SEO for BigCommerce is very capable. You’ll need to find ways to help it along if you want to beat your competition, but you’ll have plenty of tools at your disposal for that task.

But that being said, there are still certain SEO blind spots that you’ll need to cover to fully optimize a BigCommerce store. For the rest of this article, we’ll look at some tips that will let you do just that.

Tip #1: Prioritize Keyword Research

For BigCommerce, and for anyone trying to rank on a search engine results page, SEO starts with good keyword research.

Keywords are the basic building block for your SEO. If you’re able to optimize a page for words that potential customers search for, then you raise the chances that they’ll find your site.

One of the best starting places is the free Adwords Keyword Planner from Google. By inserting keywords that are relevant to your product or brand, you can find high-volume keyword suggestions that are more likely to bring in traffic.

Image Source

Use this tool to find as many keywords as you can to help optimize your site. Of course, it’s always a good idea to use more than one tool to fully flesh out your keyword research.

Some tools offer different data points and suggestions, so it pays to check out multiple different keyword tools.

This will inform and direct your SEO for content, product pages, and everything else on your site. Just keep in mind that some keywords will be harder to rank for, so create good content and fine-tune your approach over time.

Tip #2: Perfect Your On-Page SEO

Some of the biggest points in BigCommerce’s favor are the native tools on their platform that help you fine-tune your on-page SEO. Many platforms force you to maneuver around baked-in settings that you can’t change, but that isn’t the case with BigCommerce.

So when it comes time to work on your SEO, there are four major elements of on-page optimization that you need to look for:

Image Source

And thankfully, BigCommerce makes this simple with dedicated SEO fields that allow you to fill in your metadata for each page. Instead of having to edit HTML, all you have to do is add a meta description, keywords, and title (all on-page SEO elements).

Image Source

Aside from creating quality content, this is a one-stop solution that will help you cover the basics of your on-page SEO. You’ll need to do this for each page on your site, but the effort will be worth the payoff in traffic and revenue.

Tip #3: Optimize Your Site for Mobile

As I mentioned in the assessment of BigCommerce’s SEO capabilities, Google has transitioned to a mobile-first indexing. What that means is that your mobile site is going to have a bigger impact on your SEO than the desktop version.

So you can see how essential it is to optimize the design of your site for mobile use.

The best way to do this for BigCommerce is to use a theme that automatically makes your site responsive to mobile devices. That means instead of zoomed-out, hard to use pages, you have a scrollable and tappable page.

Image Source

One option for this is to use BigCommerce’s default mobile theme, which will automatically make a responsive version of your site. However, if your desktop theme isn’t responsive, there could be issues when BigCommerce makes the transition for you.

A better option would be to use a theme that supports mobile responsiveness from the start. The Stencil Theme Platform comes highly recommended for this, and even has some features that will help with other SEO elements for your store. You can also check out the theme store to find other options that may suit your overall branding better.

Tip #4: Optimize Site Speed

In July of 2018, Google announced that page speed was now one of the top factors in mobile search results. While SEOs had known site speed was important for years, this was the final, official “nail in the coffin.”

That means that from now on, how fast your site loads is a vital aspect of your technical SEO. If you want to win organic traffic, you need a fast site.

To test your speed, you can use one of the various tools available on the Internet.

One solid choice would be PageSpeed Insights from Google. This free tool allows you to input a specific page on your website, test its speed, and get valuable tips for improvement.

Image Source

For example, one site we tested came back with a long list optimizations that covered everything from hosting to optimizing images:

Image Source

Following this advice will allow you to speed up your site and improve your site’s overall SEO.

Another potential tool you can use is GTMetrix, which works very similarly to PageSpeed Insights.

Image Source

This tool aggregates your PageSpeed score and your YSlow score provides exact performance details, and then offers direction on how you can start improving your speed.

Image Source

Once you discover how your site performs, your next goal is to find ways to improve the speed. No matter what you’re selling or where you rank, this is always a good idea to improve performance even more.

There are plenty of ways to improve site speed, such as:

  • Use better, faster hosting
  • Switch to a faster DNS provider
  • Use only a few plugins and scripts
  • Make sure you use small images
  • Use website compression
  • Minimalize your site’s code

By lowering load times and improving the overall speed of your site, you’ll be able to see a drastic improvement in your SEO and the organic traffic to your site. Without this step, your product pages may stay at the bottom of the search engine results page.

Tip #5: Use an App to Fill in the Gaps

As previously mentioned, to fill out your SEO you’ll likely want to integrate an app to your store. With any ecommerce platform, this is just a good move, as it gives you a system to fall back on to double check your SEO efforts.

One such app is FavSEO, a well-reviewed and robust SEO platform that audits and scores your overall SEO efforts.

Image Source

It also takes care of essential elements like your sitemap and keyword performance, so you can focus on trying to sell your products.

Whatever app you choose from the Bigcommerce app store, make sure that it helps you optimize essential elements like product descriptions and page titles. With the right pieces in place, your traffic will start to increase over time.

Tip #6: Optimize Your Category and Product Pages

When you’re building your site, site navigation is one of the key elements you need to consider for a solid SEO strategy. You want your site to be easy to use no matter where someone enters.

That includes your product and category pages.

The best way to achieve this type of optimization is to first create “silos” for the different types of products you offer. In the image below, you can see how this creates avenues on your site that follow a common logical theme:

Image Source

This method has been proven to allow low-authority sites to rank higher than competitors with tons of backlinks. In one case, a site with a domain rating score of 32 was able to beat one of its largest competitors using siloed pages.

Image Source

This method starts with solid, optimized category pages. Then, in each silo content should be internally linked up to the category page. This signals to Google that these pages are some of the most important pieces of your site, which boosts their overall SEO.

But that isn’t all you should do. You need to ensure that these category pages and the product pages beneath them are completely optimized. That includes headings, solid content, a good user experience, and keyword targeting.

When all of these elements come together, it’s a powerful SEO strategy.

Let’s look at an example of how this works in real life. Here’s an optimized category page from the Mrs. Meyers Clean Day website:

Image Source

When you click one of this category page from the homepage, related products are laid out, and when you click on one it will take you to a product page.

And here’s an example of one of their product pages, which includes a healthy amount of copy, solid imagery, and a variety of options that customers can select.

Image Source

Each of these pages display adherence to the on-page SEO guidelines we saw above, and then go the extra mile by optimizing images, copy, and other technical elements behind the scenes.

And since they’re in a single silo, each of these product pages help boost the SEO of the overarching category page.

Once again, every category and product page on your site should get the same level of optimization. It increases the overall SEO of your brand, and improves the possibility that you’ll rank for your targeted keyword.

Tip #7: Strategize Your Internal Linking

I briefly mentioned in the last tip that internal linking helps your SEO when you silo your category and product pages. Let’s dig deeper into how you can approach this strategically in each silo.

Years ago, when Google PageRank scores were still visible to brands, SEO experts discovered that you could shuttle value between pages using internal links. This concept became referred to as link value.

While we can’t see those PageRank scores anymore, it’s still clear that internal linking can be used strategically to boost the SEO of high-value pages on your site.

And when paired with a silo architecture, your internal links can become much more powerful.

The ultimate application of this is to link to best-selling or other relevant products in the copy of your product pages, blog posts, and landing pages.

With proper internal linking, you can pinpoint which pages need the most emphasis for SEO, and thus improve their position on a search engine results page. Here’s an example of how you can execute this from Rocky Mountain Soap:

Image Source

As you can see, the page provides internal links that attempt to upsell or cross-sell products. It also acts as a signal to Google that other pages may be more important to the brand than this particular product.

The takeaway is to use internal links carefully and deliberately to enhance your SEO for important products and pages. Your SEO will have more direction, which is much better in the long-term.

Conclusion

Ecommerce may be do-or-die, but platforms like BigCommerce make it easier to stay ahead of the competition.

With plenty of customization, benefits, and growth potential, BigCommerce is a good choice for any business looking to sell online. And with solid SEO potential, it’s easy to see why many businesses are using them.

But as with any platform, you still need to put in some effort to get to the top.

Start by performing some basic keyword research to help inform and direct your overall SEO strategy.

Then, use those keywords and BigCommerce’s dedicated SEO fields to optimize every page on your site.

It’s also in your best interest to design your site for mobile-first indexing, as that will be the biggest signal Google looks for moving forward.

You should also take steps to optimize your site’s speed, as that will directly impact how users interact with your site.

Also, be sure to supplement your SEO with a solid app from the BigCommerce app store. This will help ensure that nothing falls through the cracks, and will start generating traffic over time.

Take the time to work on the SEO of your category and product pages. They need the same effort that your homepage gets.

Finally, build a strategy for your internal linking and stick to it. You’ll be able to direct your SEO and see results over time.

And with that extra traffic, you’ll be much closer to the growth and success that all ecommerce businesses hope for.

Table of Contents
  • Why Use BigCommerce?
  • Is BigCommerce a Good Ecommerce Platform for SEO?
  • Conclusion
chart-bar
Want a Free Digital Marketing Strategy Customized to Your Business?

Enter your email to get strategic insights, a plan of action, and pricing options.

Please provide a valid email address.

From Our Insite Blog

We believe that SEO requires an all-encompassing approach to ensure a sustainable future for your site and achieve your goal…. conversions.

flag
YouTube
Adam Heitzman
8 Steps to Planning Your YouTube Strategy for the Next 6 Months
target
Link Building
Adam Heitzman
How SEOs can Generate Traffic and Backlinks with Pinterest
magnify
SEO
Adam Heitzman
SEO Packages: Why You Should Avoid Pre-Bundled SEO
magnify
SEO
Adam Heitzman
Gym SEO: 6 Proven Tips to Drive New Memberships
headphones
Conversion Optimization
Adam Heitzman
30+ SEO and Website Conversion Stats: Why SEO Leads to More Sales on Your Site
microscope
Research
Adam Heitzman
The Platform Creating the Biggest Full-Time Creators
avatar

Our company has benefited greatly by using HigherVisibility. Most noticeably, is the amount of leads we now receive. A great group of people to work with.

Brent Simmons, President
Get My Free Quote

Want a Free Digital Marketing Strategy Customized to Your Business?

Enter your email to get strategic insights, a plan of action, and pricing options.
Please provide a valid email address.
Send My Custom Strategy
check-yellow
Talking with other Digital Marketing Agencies? Contact us to learn what makes us the best!
facebook twitter LinkedIn youtube
website-logo-dark
HigherVisibility’s focus is to drive conversions through laser-focused targeting combined with an optimal post-click experience.
Get a Free Quote
Services
  • SEO Services
  • PPC Management
  • Website Design
  • Local SEO
  • Link Building
  • Ecommerce SEO
Services
  • Franchise SEO
  • Facebook Ads
  • Google Ads
  • SEO Auditing
  • Conversion Optimization
  • Reseller Program
  • Website Maintenance
Company
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Blog
  • Free SEO Tools
  • Memphis Location
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us
Who We Help
  • Franchises
  • Lawyers
  • Ecommerce
  • Automotive
  • Financial Services
  • Home Builders
  • Other Businesses
Call Us Toll Free : 888.212.4458
Email Us : info@highervisibility.com
6070 Poplar Avenue, Suite 760, Memphis, TN 38119
© 2023 HigherVisibility · A leading digital marketing agency.

phone-icon Prefer to call?

888.212.4458

Feel confident in the process and proud of the results. See why 100’s of businesses have trusted HigherVisibility since 2009. Our digital consultants are ready to discuss your needs.

You’re Custom Strategy is
One Step Away

Complete the form and get strategic insights, our plan of action, and pricing options.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy