As a Shopify store owner, you can spend a long time perfecting your website. However, no matter how long you have spent perfecting your website or how much money the theme cost, this will all be wasted without some SEO keyword research.
Keyword research is one of the key aspects of search engine optimization and is done to ensure people looking for what you offer can find your brand.
As each possible search offers thousands of results, you need to ensure your site is noticed, and this is done through keyword research for Shopify.
As SEO experts, we offer a range of services for Shopify store owners to help them get the attention they deserve. We can help you perform keyword research and optimize your website through content strategy so it ranks higher on search engines, bringing in more traffic and customers.
Contact our team today for a free no obligation quote.
What is keyword research?
Keyword research is one of the most important aspects of search engine optimization for all websites, especially an ecommerce site.
This is the process of identifying the terms people search for when looking for what you offer. It is a way of finding what people are looking for when they want to find products, goods, and services and how this applies to your online store.
As we have mentioned, there are thousands of search results for any keyword, and this can make it difficult for you to get noticed online. Even when focusing on specific keywords related to your industry or niche, there is still going to be other online stores that offer the same thing.
This is why keyword research is such a vital tool for online businesses and allows you to find not only the related keywords required to get you noticed but also how to use them.
The aim of finding relevant keywords is to ensure your website comes up in an organic search and is used by your desired customer base. Keywords are used by search engines to determine how relevant a website is for the search intent and, therefore, where it should rank in search results.
Using a particular term and main keywords in specific areas of your content is a great way to ensure your website is being recommended to your target market based on what they search. To increase organic traffic, you need to increase on-page SEO, which is done using keywords and relevant keyword data.
There is a lot of work that goes into identifying all the keywords you could use for your website’s SEO, and as a business owner, you may not have the time available.
This is why working with experts like us is the best way to go, and we use the best keyword research tools to get results. Contact us today to learn more or to request a free no obligation quote.
How to do keyword research for Shopify
The keyword research process for Shopify works essentially the same as with any other ecommerce site. This is because no matter what platform you use, SEO keyword research aims to find the search terms used by your customers so your website can be found by them
To help customers find your website, you need to start the search for potential keywords which can be used across your site. Keyword research should always begin with what is known as the bottom of the funnel existing pages.
The bottom of the funnel refers to the pages on your website or on competitor sites that directly drive sales. There will be existing pages on your website which already have this purpose, like product pages and category pages, and your work should begin here.
The whole purpose of any SEO tool is to drive traffic to your site, where people can be introduced to the sales funnel and become part of your business revenue, so it makes sense to start the process of keyword research in the places where money is going to be made.
You can narrow it down to the most valuable content based on the average monthly number of visitors they already get or other important data, as found through Google Search Console Impressions.
Existing Bottom of Funnel Pages
Once you have identified the category pages that you are going to be working with, you can begin active keyword research.
- Gather a list of all collections, product pages, and landing pages that have the highest GSC impressions
- For each page, determine the primary or best keyword that you can work with. You can find the best search terms by comparing your page with competitor analysis and seeing how they both rank based on this term. You should focus on businesses of a similar size to yours as this can determine whether this is a target keyword for your industry, audience base, and budget
- Repeat the above process for all the keywords that apply to these pages
In most cases, you will not end up with one specific keyword for each page but rather a list of keywords that relate to the same topic.
This process is done to find the primary keyword for each page, but this is not the only way to attract potential customers. Once you have identified the primary keyword on these pages, you should begin working on the secondary keywords, which are the search terms that may be used to find the product category and are more general.
To ensure you get noticed in all relevant search engine results, you need to focus not only on your main target keyword but other relevant terms which match the search intent.
Once you have worked on the bottom of the funnel pages, it is time to move on to other areas of the website, known as the middle of the funnel and non-existing pages.
Keyword Gap Analysis
The keyword gap analysis is a way of finding the middle of the funnel pages or non-existing pages. SEMRush is a keyword research tool that can be used for this part of the process and can provide basic information within seconds.
With this kind of keyword tool, you simply have to enter your website address along with a few competitors to get a list of keywords that are helping your competitors rank highly but are not yet used by you.
This is a very simple tool and one that can give you a good list of valuable keywords for you to consider using.
For a more in-depth analysis of keywords on the top-ranking pages, you will require a better keyword research tool which is something we can provide.
With our years of experience working in SEO keyword research, we can help identify the best terms used by search engines to determine relevancy and authority to give your website an edge over the competition.
When it comes to Shopify keyword research, we can help you find the right keywords for potential customers as well as identify the new keywords required to draw in traffic.
To rank higher in search results, contact our team today and request a free no obligation quote for our services.
Where Does The Keyword Go?
It is very likely your website is more than just product descriptions, despite its main purpose being an online store. There is a lot of content that goes into making a complete online store, and all of these are relevant in the keyword universe.
To provide a complete SEO strategy, we need to consider all content on your website. This is why when you research keywords, you need to consider not only what these words are but also their intent.
In Google searches for a specific keyword, you are most likely going to see many different kinds of results, whether this is a category page or a blog post related to the topic.
As you will find through your Shopify keyword research, the more specific the keyword is, the more likely it will land you on a category page or one with commercial intent, as people are most likely looking for a product when they search something like ‘chocolate protein powder’, for example, which are long tail keywords.
A more general search term, for example, protein powder which has low keyword difficulty in comparison, is going to offer more results. Not only will you get pages that have commercial intent, like product pages, but also informational pages, which can help when choosing which product to buy.
The kind of keywords you use across your website matter when it comes to search engine ranking and where you place them to determine what content is recommended at the right time, as well as the keyword difficulty.
How To Make Content That Search Engines Love
Now you understand how to find a certain keyword that ranks highly in product descriptions and on product pages; this is not the only place you need to use this kind of SEO.
As we have mentioned, other pages of your website also contribute to your ranking in search engines, but instead of having a commercial intent like with product descriptions, have an informational intent, such as blogs.
While the same keywords may be used across the website, and a single keyword may be repeated on all kinds of pages due to the niche of your brand, the intent behind the main keyword also comes into play. This is something you need to pay attention to when creating content and determining the search volume for each page.
If you want to make content that ranks well, then you need to consider the following:
Imitate the Search Engine Results Page (SERP features)
The easiest way to determine the keywords and search volume for each page is to look at the current search engine results page or the SERP features. This will show you what search engines look for and the organic keywords that can lead back to your online store.
Before you can make use of the SEO tools out there and optimise your content with keywords, you first need to see whether there is a search demand for these terms and what results they can bring.
You can do this by making a search for any specific keyword and seeing what is favoured by the search engine. The results for these keywords will help you determine where the term needs to be used on your website, such as on the blog or product pages, based on what people want.
Tell Google What Your Page Is About
As we have mentioned, keyword difficulty is an important thing to consider as part of your SEO strategy because it not only refers to the kind of content being promoted but also the relevancy of your website.
Using long tail keywords is a great way to be recommended in specific searches, such as for chocolate protein powder, but they are not an automatic fix. Even if you use the long tail keywords that have a high search volume across your website, it is not always guaranteed that Google knows what your website is offering.
Search engines may be able to see that your site is relevant based on the keywords used, but they also rank results based on authority too. The keyword difficulty you use can contribute to your authority on the subject and the more specific you can be with long tail keywords, the better.
As Google crawls your site for keywords, it is looking for relevant terms and the search volume to determine whether you should be recommended.
These should be kept in your keyword list and used throughout your content as you write for your online store. The kind of keyword you use will determine where it should go and the kind of content it applies to, such as landing pages, product pages, or even blog pages.
There are some tools out there you can use to determine the best organic keywords to use across your content, including both high and low keyword difficulty for greater authority.
As a leading SEO agency, we have the best tools out there for Shopify keyword research and can help you get noticed across your sector.
Contact us today for a free, no obligation quote.
Creating a link structure
Now that you have identified the keywords or even the single keyword that you need to use on your website to reach your desired audience, it is time to implement them.
This can be done by taking a look at your current link structure, which should break down keywords into specific collections or products, which makes it easier to navigate. Each page within this, whether that is a blog post or product description, can rely on keywords to reach the right audience.
Each branch coming from the landing pages of your website will be dedicated to a different topic, and you will need to find the relevant keywords for each one. This should be done for all existing pages of your website before you can move on to more.
Creating more collection pages
Once you have added the relevant keywords to your existing pages based on search volume, it is time to create new ones to expand.
Expanding your website by creating more collection pages not only makes it easier for your customers to find what they specifically need but can also contribute to greater SEO overall.
As we have mentioned, long tail keywords are required for specific pages, and you can increase the search volume for your site in general with more collection pages. This allows you to separate content and make use of specific keywords to appeal to a wide range of people within the same group.
For example, if you are an online bicycle store, then there will be some terms that have a high search volume, like ‘bike’. This is a way to draw people to your site, but you want to make sure you can appeal to all potential buyers, which is where being specific comes in.
Using keyword research based on your competitors and the search volume for each brand, product, or other specification will help you create these collection pages. The terms with a high search volume should be used first before you go on to the more specific terms.
Keyword research for collection pages
A large portion of your Shopify keyword research should focus on the collection pages because of how important these are to your online store.
Collection pages allow for broader terms, as we have explained, and can help all kinds of people find your content where they can then go off into more specific areas. When researching keywords, you will find that most search terms are related to the wider collection anyway, and this is a good place to start.
Some terms to use on your collection pages include:
- Brand names
- Product Features
- Product Colours
- Product Materials
Keyword research for product pages
This is where you can get more specific with your keywords, such as including ingredients, sizes, and other specific terms.
Due to how specific product pages are, this is your chance to use the long tail keywords and other niche terms that may not be used elsewhere on your site but are still relevant to the main topic.
Keyword research for the homepage
Whereas other pages of your website will have multiple keywords to focus on, your homepage will usually only have one.
This big broad keyword is designed to draw in as many people as possible, whereas the other pages help them tailor to what they need and are interested in. When it comes to your homepage, you want to be as general as possible while still using the keywords your audience is looking for.
This is the page that most likely has only one main keyword, but it will certainly have one topic.
Common keyword research mistakes
Keyword Cannibalisation
This occurs when multiple pages target a single keyword which can add more results to compete with. With multiple pages using the same keywords, none of them will likely get noticed as you desire.
One Page vs Multiple
Only having one page per topic is another way to prevent your website from performing well in most cases. However, based on your sector and the keywords used, having multiple ages dedicated to the same thing can also cause issues.
It is important to strike the right balance for content and ensure that there is a good use of keywords across the site as a whole.
Intent
As we have mentioned, there is an intent behind every search term, and this can be used to determine which keywords are used on specific pages of the website.
Failure to use this intent can cause issues when it comes to the ranking of your website and how much traffic it draws in.
Final Thoughts
As a leading SEO agency, we help websites identify the best keywords to get them noticed and rank higher in search engines.
Keywords are a great way of showing customers what you offer as well as presenting your site as a relevant source. There is a careful balance that needs to be met when using keywords on an online store, which is why working with us is a great way to go.
Contact our team today for your free no obligation quote.
