An SEO eCommerce expert should have a comprehensive understanding of both SEO and eCommerce industry, as the intersection of these two fields is where their expertise lies.
Below these 14 items I explain the expectations you should have when it comes to the SEO marketer’s knowledge about your products and services.
Skills Your Ecommerce SEO Expert Needs
- Keyword Research: They should be proficient in conducting keyword research and utilizing relevant tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMRush, or Ahrefs. They need to know how to identify high-volume, relevant keywords, and long-tail keywords related to products and services.
- On-Page SEO: This includes optimizing meta tags, heading tags, and URL structures, ensuring keyword usage in content, and creating SEO-friendly descriptions for products. They should also understand the importance of internal linking and how to effectively use it.
- Technical SEO: This includes knowledge of site speed optimization, mobile-friendliness, XML sitemaps, robots.txt, structured data, and canonicalization. Understanding how these factors impact SEO is crucial. They should also be familiar with Google Search Console for diagnosing website issues.
- Off-Page SEO: A solid understanding of link building strategies, social media marketing, influencer marketing, and how to build the authority of a website.
- Local SEO: If the business has physical locations, an understanding of local SEO is essential. This includes managing Google My Business profiles and encouraging and responding to customer reviews.
- SEO Tools: Proficiency in using various SEO tools for analysis, tracking, and reporting such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Moz, Ahrefs, SEMRush, and more.
- User Experience (UX): A good understanding of UX and how it impacts SEO is also important. This includes knowledge of design principles and site navigation, as well as tactics to improve page speed (which impact conversion).
- Content Strategy: Understanding how to develop an effective content strategy to attract and retain users, including blogging and utilizing other forms of content like videos, infographics, etc.
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): An understanding of how to improve site conversions through testing and optimization. This includes A/B testing, site layout, and design improvements, and understanding customer journey mapping.
- eCommerce Platforms: Familiarity with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and how to optimize these platforms for SEO.
- Competitor Analysis: Knowing how to analyze competitors’ SEO strategies and using this information to improve their own strategy.
- Algorithm Updates: Stay updated with Google’s algorithm changes as it can drastically affect rankings. They should know how to adapt to these changes and adjust the SEO strategy accordingly.
- Privacy Laws and Regulations: Understand various regional and international laws related to user privacy, data collection, and cookies, such as GDPR, CCPA, etc.
- Data Analysis and Reporting: Analyzing data to gauge the effectiveness of the SEO strategy, identifying trends, generating insights, and creating reports.
Remember that SEO is a constantly evolving field, and an expert should always be learning and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices.
How Much Should Your SEO Specialist Know About Your Business?
When you’re hiring someone new, they won’t have expert knowledge of your product or services right away. But there are some reasonable expectations:
- Product Understanding: They should understand what the product is, how it works, its features, benefits, and why customers would want or need it. This will enable them to target the right keywords and craft content that speaks to these factors.
- Target Audience: They need to understand who the product is intended for – their needs, desires, and pain points. This will help in tailoring the content and SEO strategy to attract and engage this audience.
- Competitive Landscape: They should know who the major competitors are in the marketplace and what they’re offering. They should be able to analyze competitor’s SEO strategies to understand what is working for them and what isn’t.
- Industry Trends and Terminology: The marketer needs to be familiar with the latest trends and common terminology in the industry. This will not only aid in keyword research but will also ensure that the content they produce is relevant and resonates with the target audience.
- Regulations: If your industry has particular regulations or compliance requirements, your SEO marketer should be aware of these to ensure all content and strategies are compliant.
- Sales Cycle: The length and complexity of your sales cycle can impact your SEO strategy. For industries with a longer sales cycle, content marketing and lead nurturing might be particularly important.
- Seasonality: If your business has periods of high and low demand, your SEO marketer needs to be aware of this and plan their strategies accordingly.
In essence, SEO is not just about understanding search engine algorithms, it’s about understanding your business. A good SEO marketer will take the time to understand your industry, products, and target audience in order to develop a strategy that drives traffic and conversions.
If you’d like to discuss ways your eCommerce website can rank higher, contact me at cort@bayareaseosolutions.com. Thanks for reading.