Magento Ecommerce SEO: Tips for Boosting Your Online Store’s Visibility and Sales

By Livija Kasteckaitė Updated on July 16, 2024

What is Magento eCommerce SEO?

Magento eCommerce SEO is the process of ranking your store on search engines. This is a solid foundation for online store visibility. That’s particularly true for small to large-scale websites built on Magento.

The nature of search engine optimization (SEO) varies in goals. For a Magento store, the end goal is increased conversions. This was the priority when Magento was acquired by Adobe in 2018.

In 2020, Magento stores fully upgraded to the Magento 2. Doing SEO on the Magento 2 comes with challenges and opportunities. Take a look:

• Scalability vs Complexity: Magento 2 is easily scalable. However, this requires technical expertise on open-source software.
• Customization vs Responsiveness: You can place plug-ins and extensions on Magento 2. However, too many plugins could make your Magento store slower.

Don’t worry — we’ll discuss how to balance these elements. You’ll uncover the best SEO practices in ranking your online store higher.

Initial Setup for Magento SEO

Setting up your Magento store for SEO is fairly straightforward at the start. It involves free-to-use analytics tools and easy URL configuration.

These configurations compose the foundation of your Magento SEO journey. So, it’s highly essential to get them right.

Let’s start with setting up analytics tools on your Magento website. If we’re talking about free-to-use tools, there’s nothing better than Google Analytics and Search Console. Here’s how you can connect them to Magento 2.

Google Analytics:

• Google introduced the new Google Analytics 4 platform in 2023. New or old Magento 2 websites should transition to this new tool.
• Go to https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/#/. Click on the “Admin” option and choose “Create”. You’ll get access to your tracking code.
• Proceed to your Magento 2 admin panel. Navigate to Stores > Configuration > Sales > Google API. Enter your Google Analytics tracking code. Finally, click “Save”.

Google Search Console:

• Go to the Google Search Console website. Use your Google account to sign in.
• Click on the “Add Property” option. Provide your website URL. Select a verification method. You can choose between an HTML file upload or a tag. You can also connect your Google Analytics account.
• Produce a sitemap for your Magento website. You can use Magento’s built-in sitemap generator. Enter your sitemap URL on the Search Console’s “Sitemaps” option. You can create an XML or HTML sitemap.

Remember, these tools can’t work on its own. You still have to tick boxes in your Magento SEO checklist. Website URLs and responsiveness immediately come to mind.

Here’s why you should set up these two foundational SEO elements:

• SEO-friendly URLs: Search engines need URLs to crawl your pages. An SEO-friendly URL structure should be descriptive and concise. Magento 2 platforms allow you to customize URLs. You can discover this in the “Search Engine Optimization” tab.
• Responsiveness: This is key in search engine results pages. Don’t overload with too many plugins or multimedia elements. Choose a lightweight theme, especially for product pages. Use tools like PageSpeed Insights to optimize loading speed.

These are the fundamental components of a Magento SEO strategy.  This is just the start, though. In the next section, we’ll get to the more specific Magento SEO tips.

Key Magento eCommerce SEO Strategies

The success of your Magento SEO campaign depends on how you implement these proven strategies.

On-page SEO optimization

On-page optimization is a first-page priority in search engine rankings.

Search engine crawlers prioritize content and structure. That’s particularly true for e-commerce sites that have thousands of pages. Search engine robots need to understand your product category pages.

On-page search engine optimization involves many facets. We provided actionable tips for each component.

Keyword Research:

• Identify long-tail keywords for your product pages. These are relevant keywords that have less competition and search volume. Targeting these keywords increases your chance of higher search engine rankings.
• Integrate keywords on product titles and descriptions. Magento websites prioritize the optimization of product pages.
• Use tools like Google Keyword Planner. This gives you trending keywords for paid or organic traffic.

Meta Tags:

• Meta tags are the descriptions that people see on search engines. These include your meta titles and meta descriptions.
• Include keywords in your meta titles and meta descriptions. Primary keywords should be your priority.
• Your meta title and meta description need a strong call-to-action (CTA). This motivates readers to click on your link.

Internal Linking:

• Incorporate internal links towards related pages. Show relevant products that users might be interested in.
• Include links to your high-ranking pages. This distributes authority juice, giving your other pages more chances of ranking high.

Mobile Responsiveness: 

• Merge CSS files to improve loading speed. Doing so will lessen the load on your servers.
• Optimize images by compressing them. This reduces their file size. Use image compression tools like TinyPNG.
• Minimize ad display on product and category pages. Too many ads could negatively affect loading speed.
• Technical SEO

How can you ensure the visibility of your Magento website? One of the steps to take is through technical SEO.

Technical SEO enhances the performance and security of your website. It ensures that you avoid errors like duplicate pages and broken links. Moreover, it allows search engine crawlers to easily index your Magento store.

Your technical SEO strategy should include optimizing these aspects:

Site Speed:

• Your website loading speed should be under 3 seconds on a desktop. On mobile devices, it should be under 8 seconds. Aim for this average loading speed.
• Enable caching and minify CSS files. Toptal is a tool you can use to minify or compress CSS data.

Structured Data:

• Implement structured data markup for rich snippets. Include accurate information about your products, prices, and reviews.
• Go to Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper. This tool will generate a JSON-LD code for you. Add this code to your Magento 2 website.

XML Sitemap:

• An XML sitemap is an accurate listing of your website pages. You can generate an XML sitemap in Magento 2.
• There are also other external sources of XML sitemaps. Screaming Frog can generate an XML sitemap for you.
• Consider putting up an HTML sitemap. This is a list of important pages on your website.

Link Health:

• Ensure that your links are all accurate and online. Prioritize checking links on landing pages, product pages, and category pages.
• Regularly run broken link checks through audit tools. Ahrefs offers a free, limited version of their broken link checker.
• To be safe, you can put up a 404 page. This page appears when a user clicks on a broken link. Customize your 404 page by including links to important web pages.

SEO Audits:

• Run regular SEO audits to monitor website health. An eCommerce SEO audit can help improve visibility on search results.
• There are tools you can use to do audits. Google Search Console is always a reliable platform. For a more detailed audit, you can use SEO PowerSuite.

Content SEO

Successful Magento websites boost their SEO with content optimization. However, this content shouldn’t be constrained to mere product descriptions.

Instead, try to experiment with different content forms. Put up informative blog posts, customer reviews, and case studies. Helpful content increases brand reliability and authority.

Take a look at these proven tips for boosting content strategies:

Unique Descriptions:

• Create unique descriptions for each product or category page. Unique descriptions can help you avoid duplicate content.
• Ensure that your messaging is consistent with your branding. Create a reference guide on your brand’s aligned tone, diction, and buyer personas.
• Place keywords on your meta title and meta description. Do it naturally, though. Search engine bots can pinpoint keyword stuffing.

Search Intent:

• Don’t just create content around your products. A Magento eCommerce site should uncover user intent. This involves reasons why users search certain queries or keywords.
• For an eCommerce platform, prioritize “Transactional Intent”. This involves users who are purchasing or completing a transaction.
• Use keyword research tools or track user behavior. Hotjar is a tool that pinpoints your most engaging content.

Content Marketing:

• Content performance could depend on how you promote it. It’s best to have a multi-channel content marketing approach.
• Don’t just rely on Google and other search engines. Build a following on social media platforms. This way, you can share your content and attract more clicks.
• Maintain consistency in posting blog posts. Create a content calendar or schedule. Use tools like Adobe Express to schedule social media content.

Content Updates:

• Track your content’s multi-channel performance. Pinpoint low-performing product pages and keywords.
• Update your content when needed. Look out for seasonal trends and industry updates. These can affect the accuracy of your web pages.

Off-page SEO

Off-page strategies are essential in Magento SEO. These are aspects that you don’t directly see on your homepage and CMS pages.

Off-page SEO has a big influence on search results. It could lead to a better online reputation and engagement. Eventually, it could drive more traffic to your Magento platform.

Consider these elements when doing off-page optimizations:

Link-Building:

• Increase website reliability through link-building. You get “votes of trust” when you acquire backlinks.
• Quality links are important in eCommerce link-building strategies. Low-quality, irrelevant backlinks could have negative effects on Magento sites. Ensure that you target high-authority sites in your niche.
• Guest blogging can boost your Magento 2 store. Offer a valuable resource or unique article to another website. In turn, they will link back to your Magento site.

Local SEO:

• Typically, Magento store owners cater to a specific location. You can optimize your reach through local SEO. This allows you to engage users in a particular location.
• Go to Google My Business. Set up essential information like business location, store hours, products, and images.
• Visit local online directories. Claim your business on platforms like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Apple Maps.

Social Media:

• Social media is free word-of-mouth marketing. Build an audience base and constantly engage with them. This establishes your presence as a reliable brand.
• If you have the budget, consider influencer marketing. Find influencers who are directly related to your niche. This way, you can reach a common audience base.
• Create unique content forms for each platform. For example, you’d want to post high-quality images and reels on Instagram. For Twitter, go for short, witty captions.

Reputation Management: 

• Encourage customers to leave reviews on your products. You can give incentives like discounts or freebies for each positive review.
• Allow users to write reviews directly on your Magento 2 site. Alternatively, they can write reviews on social media or Google My Business.

Tools and Extensions for Magento SEO

Managing a Magento 2 store could be overwhelming. There are many moving parts, especially in the SEO section. Thankfully, there are tons of tools that you can use.

Magento 2 does offer built-in SEO functionalities. However, these may not be enough. Emerging and large-scale e-commerce platforms have unique needs.

To this point, you need to consider integrating tools and extensions. Here’s a list of Magento 2 tools that we recommend:

SEO tools that are compatible with Magento 2:

• Google platforms: Google Search Console and Analytics remain unbeatable. It’s not just that they are free to use. They also offer SEO functionalities that your Magento site needs.
• Ahrefs: Ahrefs offers a wide array of SEO tools. This includes platforms for link-building, keyword research, and competitor analysis. Most of these functionalities have free limited versions.
• Semrush: Like Ahrefs, Semrush is an all-in-one suite. It’s not just for SEO. Semrush also offers tools for content marketing and market research.
• Moz: Moz is great for link-building and SEO audits. It also provides free tools for competitive research and keyword exploring. You can also download a free Chrome extension called MozBar. This offers instant insights and metrics directly on your browser.

These third-party tools are proven in the SEO space. Also, it’s possible to integrate plugins into Magento 2. These plugins are convenient for optimizing Magento websites.

Recommended Magento SEO extensions:

• Mageplaza: Mageplaza offers a no-code extension to Magento 2. This extension can prevent duplicate content and implement Hreflang tags. Moreover, it can generate an XML sitemap in Magento 2.
• Mageworkx: Mageworkx is popular among e-commerce stores. This extension creates a canonical link meta tag to avoid duplicate content. It also provides alerts for critical SEO issues.
• Amasty: Amasty monitors SEO performance in real time. It offers cross-linking and URL key, which connects relevant CMS pages.
• Yoast: Yoast is not just a WordPress blog plugin. It now caters to an eCommerce store built on Magento 2. Yoast is best known for optimizing your meta title and meta description.
• Aheadworks: Aheadworks is another SEO suite for Magento 2. Like Mageworkx, you can use Aheadworks to implement a canonical link meta tag. You can also utilize it to create permanent redirect tags.

Remember, most of these tools and extensions are paid subscriptions. Integrate tools that you can align with your current SEO goals. This way, you reach your goals in a more cost-effective method.

Evaluating Magento SEO Performance: Key Metrics to Track

Your search engine optimization playbook evolves with time. What’s the reason for this concept?

Let’s not go any further. In the e-commerce space, you have seasonal products and services. The customers’ needs vary in tune to the market situation.

This is also true from a Magento SEO standpoint. For example, a high-performing primary keyword may regress after several months. This could affect your search engine results page rankings.

That’s why it’s crucial to evaluate your SEO performance. Take a look at these key metrics that you should prioritize:

• Organic traffic: How many visits do you acquire from search results? This says a lot about your SEO efforts. You might need to research more keywords and search queries.
• Bounce rate and duration: Do your visitors leave after just one page? How long do they stay on a particular category page? These metrics provide insights on content relevance and technical issues.
• Conversion rate: Conversions are the endgoal for an e-commerce site. Conversion rates provide insights on marketing effectiveness. You might need to optimize targeted ads and content promotions.
• SEO issues: Identify issues like broken links or slow loading speed. This way, you can implement canonical tags or web server rewrites.

Also, don’t forget to monitor on-page SEO elements. Check your title tags, meta description, and keyword placing. Your meta title and meta description should be within the standard word count.

Integrating Magento with Other Marketing Tools for Better SEO

Magento 2 is already a great marketing platform. However, there are specific optimizations you can do with other marketing tools.

An integrated marketing system offers unmatched benefits. First, you’re getting useful data-driven insights. Next, you can diversify and expand your reach.

We recommended the best marketing tools to integrate with Magento 2. Here’s the list:

• Content management: Content Management System (CMS) platforms let you create valuable content. Streamline content creation through tools like WordPress or Contentful.
• Customer relationship: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms provide customer engagement tools. The functionalities include user segmentation, rewards programs, and sales tracking. Salesforce and Zoho are excellent CRM platforms.
• Email marketing: Email campaigns are still relevant. It’s a great way to push targeted ads and recommended products. Mailchimp is a powerful email marketing tool.
• Social media: Most of your customers are present on social media. Use tools that are capable of social listening and engagement tracking. Buffer is a full-suite tool for your social media needs.
• Analytics: Marketing is also about measuring performance. Use tools like Google Analytics to evaluate performance on search engines.

Integrating these tools can improve User Experience (UX). In fact, this should be your priority. Look for tools that can streamline your UX.

Furthermore, leverage the automation features of these platforms. Automate repetitive workflows to save time and resources.

Other Valuable Practices for Magento SEO

Go beyond typical SEO practices. The Magento platform welcomes unique strategies to improve rankings.

It’s not just about link-building or content marketing. Try other search engine optimization techniques for good measure. Here are our suggestions:

• Site audits: SEO issues can result to crawl errors. This could decrease the visibility of your online store. Counter this through regular site audits. Run audits monthly or quarterly, depending on website size.
• Security updates: Online store owners should update their systems. For instance, Magento rolls out performance and security updates. Missing an update poses risks to your website. This will surely affect your ranking on search engines.
• Built-in features: Understand Magento’s features on a deeper level. Study how you can generate an XML sitemap or edit meta titles. Also, look at implementing canonical tags to avoid link issues.
• Performance analysis: Analyze your strong and weak points. Improve those weak points and readily adapt when needed. Immediate optimizations is vital for search engine optimization.

Common Magento SEO Challenges

There are certain SEO aspects that are easier today.

For instance, you don’t need search engine submission settings anymore. Search engines can now discover websites by themselves. You can just focus on creating valuable content.

However, there are SEO hurdles that many websites can’t overcome. These challenges are rampant among sites that rush their SEO process. Either they missed a step or didn’t run audits after.

Here are just some of the common Magento SEO issues:

• Duplicate content: This happens when you forget to implement a canonical tag. These canonical tags point to preferred versions of a page. A canonical tag is useful for ensuring link equity. You can also use a unique URL key for your pages.
• Ignoring technical SEO: Content isn’t enough to rank on search engines. You need to optimize technical aspects such as link health. You can use a category URL suffix on your links. This is useful in categorizing or differentiating content types.
• Poor keyword practices: Keyword stuffing is a thing of the past. That doesn’t work anymore. Instead, place keywords naturally and creatively.
• Neglecting mobile optimization: Don’t be too enamored on colorful themes. Instead, opt for a mobile-responsive Magento theme. Slow loading speed can lead to higher bounce rates.

SEO is never a smooth pavement for online stores. Issues prop up all the time, when you least expect them. This makes it difficult for store owners to monitor.

One solution is to outsource these SEO tasks. Working with digital marketing experts can be cost-effective.

Take for example eCommerce SEO experts like Fortis Media. They already have years of working in the eCommerce space. They know how to target the right audience and keywords.

Plus, these experts have inside information on search results updates. They can work around the evolving algorithms of search engines.

Still, be wise in choosing the best Magento SEO services. Always book a consultation call first to gauge their expertise.

Advanced Magento SEO Techniques

Further enhance your Magento store’s SEO with these advanced strategies.

Local SEO for Magento stores

Use local SEO to target a specific geographical location. This is particularly useful for Magento stores that have physical branches.

Here are steps in doing local SEO for Magento stores:

• Create your listing on Google My Business.
• Write landing pages that are optimized for local services. Translate these pages to the local language you’re aiming for.
• Explore high-ranking keywords in your local area. Use these keywords to boost ranking on local search results.

Voice search optimization

Voice search is one example of SEO advancement. More people are using voice search on search engines.

Here are several tips in optimizing for voice search:

• Be clear and conversational. Use words that are easier to understand.
• Focus on more long-tail keywords. Remember, voice search queries are often more specific.
• Create FAQs sections on your Magento site. Address common questions and customer issues.

AI and machine learning for SEO insights

Leverage the power of AI in your SEO playbook. This covers eCommerce businesses of all sizes. AI’s predictive capabilities cover small to large-scale websites.

Here’s how AI and Machine Learning (ML) can boost your SEO campaign:

• It can analyze large data volumes. This is helpful for enterprise-level websites.
• It can predict SEO trends and patterns. AI leverages user data and market trends to suggest SEO strategies.
• It can offer personalized UX and recommendations. You can fill category pages with AI-based product recommendations.

Advanced schema markup techniques

Bolster your Magento store with advanced schema markup. These are techniques that are directed towards eCommerce brands.

Check out these eCommerce-focused schema markup techniques:

• Promote brand events through event markup.
• Display product ratings and customer testimonials through review markup.
• Provide product demos through video object markup.
• Answer customer queries through FAQ page markup.

Key Takeaways

Magento is a great platform for SEO campaigns. You just have to push the right buttons.

However, it’s not an easy task. You need to keep up with market trends and algorithm changes. This takes constant monitoring and optimizations.

Search engine optimization is not a one-off effort. It’s a year-long project that needs constant adaptations.

But you don’t have to do it on your own. Work with SEO tools and marketing experts. Using your resources wisely can lead to sustainable growth.