Essential SEO Features While Selecting Your Ecommerce Platform [infographics]

When choosing any eCommerce platform, one of the things you must consider is how friendly it is to the SEO. Mostly eCommerce platforms claim to be search engine friendly but in real sense they are not. This is because they are lacking some of the basic yet important features that search engine friendly eCommerce platforms should have. In this article, we are going to look at the most important SEO features (in 3 infographics) that you need to consider when choosing an eCommerce platform and how they benefit the user.

First take a look at Design trends among 200 top eCommerce websites:

Secondly see How to Find the Perfect E-Commerce Platform for Your Business

How to Find the Right E-Commerce Platform for Your Business [Infographic] by: ecommercerules

And See the third infographic covering 16 SEO tips for E-Commerce websites

infographic covering 16 SEO tips for E-Commerce websites by perceptionsystem

Some of the essential SEO features you that should not lack in any eCommerce platform are;

* A well organized navigation structure that is search friendly

Both the search engine and the visitor need a platform that is easy to navigate around. The navigation structure that meets all SEO criteria is the best to use. Platforms with this navigation structure are definitely SEO friendly. A navigation structure that meets the SEO criteria has the following properties;

• Allows a site to be easily navigated without necessarily having JavaScript or flash
• The primary navigations links should be texts and not images
• Has minimum duplicate links
• Should allow navigation menus to be edited at the individual link level

* Simple 301 redirects and a well optimized URL structure

Failure of ecommerce platforms to automatically regenerate URLs that are not easily comprehended by the search engine is a common problem. This problem is more serious especially when the product pages are dynamically generated. However, with these entire major set backs, URLs are still the most important components for every page especially for SEO purposes. This is because it tells the search engine what to do and also directs it to the path it needs to follow so as to get the page. Therefore, a SEO friendly ecommerce platform is the one that allows easy editing and re-arranging of the URL strings so that the search engine can perform its tasks in a friendlier environment. Even better, an ecommerce with easy 301 redirects is much convenient to use.

* Should have a powerful-internal search feature

Most ecommerce platforms offer the visitors an option of conducting an internal search. Here, the users search for items that were not available on the online store. However, many internal search engines have turned out to become disappointments to the visitors in that they fail to function accordingly. Often, they leave users with poor and inaccurate results that will not help them while conducting their searches. A good SEO friendly ecommerce platform should be able to offer the user accurate and reliable results no matter the type of item he/she is looking for.

* Each internal research page should be properly index

As far as SEO is concerned in ecommerce platforms, it is very important that the platform allows you to control how the pages appear on those search engines. This means that you should be able to edit individual internal search results e.g. editing their content and adjusting their title description. Since the internal search engines are very powerful, it is recommended that you do not index all of them since they provide thin duplicate content.

* Should be backed by a good technical and customer support team

Since the implementation of the eCommerce strategies are very difficult, it is important for an ecommerce platform to have a good reliable support team. This is an assurance that online stores comply with the important SEO recommendations. Before interacting with any ecommerce platform, ensure that you have clear discussion of what is expected from each party. The worst punishment you can face through such ignorance is having an online store that is not visible in the search engines or the inability of your technical team to reconcile the problem.

* Easy creation of landing pages

An SEO friendly ecommerce platform is the one that allows you to create custom landing pages. This allows you to target more keywords and to custom tailor the pages so as to reach specific customers.

* Blog

Google recommends content marketing as one of the ways for building back-links. With this said, a blog is an essential tool in SEO arsenal. When choosing an ecommerce platform, look for a platform that has a full-featured blog. The one that is complete with social sharing, anti spam, commenting and the RSS feed features.

* High speed

As recommended by various users, platforms that are very fast are better for SEO, better for users and can lead to high conversion rates. Choose a platform that is high speed.

* Search should be Analytic Enabled

The platform should allow the user to search for products on the mother website. In many cases, returning the results to the users in not convenient enough. An SEO friendly platform should integrate the use of Google Analytics Site search reporting feature.

* Pages that are content rich

Many platforms neglect this category. However, SEO friendly platforms should allow you to add texts and embed media elements such as images and videos. This extra content has a lot of benefit to the user and the search engines.

* Controls that have a Granular meta description

Also, this does not influence ranking but they influence SERP click through rates. Look for the platform that allows you to edit the meta description in each page.

* Sitemaps that are XLM Automated

XML sitemaps make the website more crawlable. Even though it does not increase the ranking of you platform, it helps search engines to locate pages more quickly. An ecommerce with XLM site maps makes creating and editing of site maps easy.

* Alt Tag controls

Look for platforms that allow you to edit the alt control image tags.

* URLs that are SEO friendly

Look for platforms that are SEO friendly. The friendlier URLs allow the platform to work more efficiently and the search engines to perform their tasks easier. They allow for quick accurate searches and guarantee the user quality results. Always look for the type of URL used by each platform.

* Mobile customization

It should have a well developed structure that allows the users to use the latest technology (the mobile) to access the page.

These are the key features you should look out for when choosing an ecommerce platform that is SEO friendly. Always be keen to look for these features as there are a lot of platforms that claim to be SEO friendly but lack these key features.

About author:

Articles is contributed by Jason Smith, he is an online consultant for Amish Furniture Store. He also loves blogging about online strategies, search engine optimization, Content and Lead generation.

image by: contegix