You may wonder: what is a good SEO score for online sellers? 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, and the same goes for online shopping.
From Amazon to Google Shopping, there are so many ways users can shop for products. But most start with a search engine. That’s why e-commerce companies need to invest in their SEO visibility score.
But how do you measure SEO success? While you can track different metrics, such as website traffic and conversions, many sellers can also look at their SEO score.
What is an SEO Score?
First things first – what is an “SEO score”? SEO score is a metric that shows your website’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page) performance. While this number varies among SEO tools (we’ll cover this more later), the score is usually a number between 1 and 100.
Remember that “SEO score” may have different names across different tools. For example, some tools may call this your “site health.”
Many factors contribute to a healthy SEO score, as we will cover later. However, many sellers confuse SEO vs SEM and think advertising may affect your score.
Search engine optimization (SEO) centers around the organic tactics that increase SERP performance. In contrast, search engine marketing (SEM) is an all-around strategy that includes advertising.
It’s important to highlight this difference since SEM and advertising efforts don’t contribute to your SEO score as much as other technical and organic tactics.
What Is a Good SEO Score?
As stated previously, most SEO tools grade your score on a scale of 1-100. While 100 is the highest rating, your SEO visibility score doesn’t have to reach 100.
A score of 80 is usually positive. Anything below that means you need to make changes to your website.
Depending on the SEO tool, some may recommend changes – even if your SEO score is in the 80- to 100 range. It’s up to you to make these changes (though we highly recommend implementing them).
Other SEO tools may compare your website to competitors. Competitor SEO research is worth it since there’s a chance your potential customers may buy from another store before they consider yours.
Two Options to Check Your SEO Score
Now that you know the basics of the SEO score, how do you check it? There are two main ways:
- Use a dedicated SEO service
- Enlist an e-commerce marketing agency
SEO Tools
Many e-commerce businesses use SEO tools to check their scores. SEO tools offer data on several aspects of your website performance. At the same time, they can alert you of website issues and SEO results that have been declined.
E-commerce businesses can also use SEO tools to find ranking keywords. Some popular SEO tools include:
All these tools have pros and cons, and some may be a better option for specific businesses.
For example, SEMrush and Ahrefs are advanced tools . They are both better options for stores that already have SEO knowledge and want to handle their own campaign.
Other tools, such as Website Grader, are free and simple. Such services are perfect if you’re new to SEO and only need to know the basics.
E-Commerce Marketing Agencies
As an e-commerce store owner, you have a lot on your plate already. You may not have time for SEO or any marketing efforts. These are all reasons you’ll have more success hiring an e-commerce marketing agency.
When you hire the right agency, you get numerous benefits. They will keep tabs on your SEO score and correct any website issues. E-commerce marketing agencies also have the skills to:
- Increase your SEO score
- Enhance your domain authority
- Increase your SERP performance across all e-commerce platforms
- Boost website traffic.
They do this by creating high-quality content, identifying any backlinking opportunities, and fixing any technical website issues. All of these efforts will bring more customers to your online store.
What Affects Your SEO Score?
Let’s say you checked your SEO score, and realized you need to improve it. Or maybe you have a positive SEO score, and you want to know how to maintain it. Regardless, all e-commerce store owners should know what affects their SEO score and overall website health.
Site Architecture
Website architecture is the structure of your website pages. If your website structure is organized well, search engine bots can crawl your website, identifying key data that will rank your website.
Site architecture not only benefits bots but also improves user experience (we will look into this next). When you have excellent site architecture, your customers can easily find the products and information they need.
There are many ways you can improve your website architecture. For example:
- Organize the navigational aspect of your website, specifically with a menu and categories.
- Structure this hierarchy in the URL internal link whenever necessary.
User Experience
User experience encompasses all the aspects that improve usability. We mentioned website navigation as a key factor in user experience, but that’s not the only factor to consider. For example, a slow page loading time can make potential customers bounce off your page.
To create a positive user experience, ensure the following:
- Fast page loading time
- Excellent and user-friendly web design,
- A navigational interface.
Your content should also be helpful and offer all the information your customers need to aid in their purchasing decision.
Security
Lack of website security can affect your SEO in many ways. For instance:
- Search engine bots can identify if your website has an HTTPS protocol.
- Customers won’t shop on your website if you don’t have some form of security.
82% of respondents said they would leave a website that isn’t secure. So, how can you ensure that your website is protected?
- Use HTTPS protocols
- Use safe checkout options
- Keep your software updated
- Only store necessary customer data.
Technical SEO
This part of SEO consists of all the technical aspects of your website and how it ranks on Google.
All the factors we mentioned are part of technical SEO, but search engines will use more aspects of your website to rank your pages.
For example, if you have any broken links or 404 errors, Google bots will have problems crawling your website and won’t rank your store as well on SERPs.
These problems tend to go unnoticed. That’s why it’s essential to run regular website audits.
On-Page SEO
As the name suggests, on-page SEO consists of your tactics on each page to boost SEO results. On-page tactics include:
- Writing
- Media (images and video)
- Keywords
On-page SEO can apply to any page on your website. For your product pages, you can write keyword-rich titles and descriptions for each item. And to take things further, optimize your listings with high-quality images and video.
You can also write a blog that ranks your website with high-performing keywords.
Website Authority
Website authority is a score that differs from your SEO site health. Your authority measures your performance on SERPs based on data such as organic traffic and backlinks. SEO site score is a more all-encompassing score that includes technical SEO aspects.
Like SEO site score, different tools base your authority score on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the best. Like an SEO site score, you should compare your authority to your competitors to ensure you dominate the SERPs.
Responsiveness
One in three Americans now shop on their mobile phone. Therefore, e-commerce stores must have a website that performs well on all devices.
This is called responsive web design. It means that your online store has an aesthetically-pleasing appearance, loads fast, and has excellent navigation that’s compatible with touchscreens.
This is also a factor that Google considers when raking your website. With mobile-first indexing, Google crawls the mobile version of your website to ensure you have a responsive design.
Do You Need to Improve Your SEO Score?
Are you using these tactics and realizing you still have a low SEO score? Or maybe you don’t have time to handle your store’s SEO efforts.
These are all reasons to call an e-commerce marketing professional. AMZ Advisers offers full-service content solutions to improve your rankings across all e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon.
Schedule a call with us today.
Author
Stephanie Jensen has been writing e-commerce content for seven years, and her copy has helped numerous stores rank on Amazon. Follow her on LinkedIn for more insight into freelance writing and creating high-quality content.
