SEO Best Practices Part 2

In this part 2 of SEO Best Practices, we will discuss a few more important stuff pertaining to SEO for the year 2016.

1) Headings

Proper utilization of the headings tags allow search engines to know what your e-commerce site is all about. Be sure to include at least one H1 tag and one H2 related to your products, blogs (if you have a blog for your e-commerce site), and pages. You may also use the other heading styles (H3, H4, and H5) if it makes sense to do so.

2) Images

Try to include at least one image in your content (product/blog/page) and ensure to use your keyword or its variation as the "alt tag". It can also be beneficial to name the file of your image as your keyword or phrase before uploading. So, what actually is "alt tags" ? Well, "alt tags" are the short-form of alternative tags and it is actually a text alternative to images when a browser can't properly render them. Even when the image is rendered to the browser, if you hover over it with your mouse pointer, you can see that the "alt tag" text created for that image (depending on your browser settings). As a matter of fact, the "alt" attribute also adds a little SEO value to your website. Adding appropriate alt tags to the images on your website can help your website achieve better rankings in the search engines by associating keywords with images. In fact, using "alt tags" is probably the best way for your e-commerce products to show up in Google's search result (including images search results). Tips :

• Do not keyword stuff your "alt tags" (for example: alt="pink baby shoes, baby items for sale, buy now, cheap, best price, on sale, pink shoes, baby shoes"). Remember alt tags is not for entering keywords.
• Describe your images in plain English, just like you do for image file names. Avoid numbers and symbols.
• Avoid using "alt tags" for decorative images. (Decorative images are borders, patterns, background images, et cetera). Using alt tags for decorative images is not recommended as search engines may penalize you for over-optimization.

In fact, using engaging images like infographics and diagrams helps to reduce bounce rate and increased visitor browsing time. * Read more about which image format to use and tools to optimize your image at GIF vs JPEG vs PNG Although images aren’t as big of a referral source in search engine nowadays, having unique images on your site is important and valuable. This is because, the same old image can show up in hundreds of places on the Internet, but having unique content around those images is what makes it stand out. I’m not opposed to using stock images to illustrate a point, but any time you can create something that’s custom or use unique photography, that will pay off more in the long run.”

3) Content

For products, try to aim for content over 250 words under short description whereas for longer description, ideally closer to the 1000-word range. However, if you can say what you need to say in less than 500 words, then stick with that. Don’t force your content and fill it with fluff. Remember : quality is always better than quantity. Try to utilize media in your content. You may use images, videos, and links. Use internal links in your e-commerce site to send visitors to other relevant products/contents on your website. Outbound links to related sites/pages is a relevancy signal that helps Google figure out your page's topic. In fact, a recent study found that pages with outbound links outrank pages without outbound links. Also, ensure not to repeat the same keyword over and over in your content. Be sure to sprinkle synonyms and variations throughout your content to give search engines a better idea of what your content is all about. This will also help you from being penalized by Google for over-optimization.

4) Responsive Design

This is probably old news but, did you know that Google and other search engines like Bing, Yandex, Duck Duck Go have been penalizing mobile unfriendly sites starting from 2015. If you want to rank well, ensure that your sites are mobile friendly (responsive design). VPCart Version 8 is fully responsive and mobile friendly.

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