Enhancing Search Engine Optimization on BigCommerce Shops: Top Strategies for Superior Rankings
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In the ever-evolving world of ecommerce, having a platform that caters to both business growth and search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial. BigCommerce, a robust and versatile platform first built in 2009, stands out as a top choice for merchants seeking to maximise their organic traffic and product discoverability.
BigCommerce's SEO benefits are rooted in its comprehensive built-in capabilities, performance optimisation, scalability, security features, and integrations with essential marketing tools.
Built-in SEO Tools
Out of the box, BigCommerce offers native SEO functionalities without the need for third-party apps. This includes customizable URLs, meta titles and descriptions, image alt text, and support for schema markup. These features enhance search engine visibility and improve how product pages appear in search results.
Advanced SEO Features
The platform supports important SEO elements like 301 redirects, canonical tags, and integrates with tools such as Google Shopping and Google Analytics. These features help maintain SEO health and track performance effectively.
Optimized Site Performance
BigCommerce boasts a modern, clean code structure and fast page load speeds, ensuring good Core Web Vitals performance—a critical Google ranking factor. This boosts user experience and search rankings.
Scalability without SEO Compromise
BigCommerce supports both small and large stores and scales well as a store grows, maintaining SEO integrity through growth phases. This means stores can expand without sacrificing search rankings.
Responsive Themes and SSL Encryption
BigCommerce offers mobile-friendly, responsive design templates essential for SEO given Google's mobile-first indexing. Additionally, entire stores can be SSL encrypted with sitewide HTTPS, improving user security and SEO rankings.
Integration with Google Tools
BigCommerce integrates smoothly with Google Analytics and Google Shopping, enabling effective SEO and marketing analysis and product listing enhancements in search results.
Website Personalization and Efficient Product Management
BigCommerce offers website personalization, efficient product management, multiple payment options, marketing and SEO tools, mobile optimization, customer groups and segmentation, and multi-channel selling.
Optimizing Site Speed
Factors affecting page load speed include large images, server response times, and third-party extensions. BigCommerce provides its own hosting and uses a CDN to help improve site speed.
Keyword Targeting and Structured Data
BigCommerce allows for optimizable URLs, meta tags, and header tags for targeting relevant keywords. The platform also automatically includes structured data for product pages.
Content Strategy and User Experience
Effective ecommerce content should align with each stage of the buyer's journey. Examples of effective content include how-to guides, product demonstrations, comparison guides, customer success stories, user-generated content, seasonal or trending content, and listicles. Proper use of headers improves SEO by making pages easier to crawl and enhances user experience by allowing visitors to quickly scan and find relevant information.
Robots.txt and Analytics
BigCommerce provides simplified access to the robots.txt file for controlling which pages search engines can crawl and index. The platform also includes robust reporting and analytics tools for tracking visitor behaviour, order trends, and marketing performance.
Navigability and Category Hierarchy
A well-structured category hierarchy helps search engines understand a site's layout and makes it easier for visitors to navigate. BigCommerce integrates easily with popular SEO tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Buyer Intent Keywords and Meta Descriptions
Buyer intent keywords are search terms potential customers use when they are close to making a purchase decision. While not a direct ranking factor, meta descriptions can significantly impact click-through rates.
Community and Support
BigCommerce has a community of developers and store owners for sharing experiences and insights. This community can be a valuable resource for merchants seeking to optimise their BigCommerce stores for SEO success.
Conclusion
BigCommerce improves online store visibility on search engines with its built-in SEO tools, ensuring a strong foundation for SEO success. By understanding and leveraging these SEO benefits, ecommerce merchants can position their stores for growth and success in the competitive online marketplace. However, hiring an SEO agency with specific expertise in BigCommerce SEO can help improve a site's ranking potential and deliver a better overall user experience.
- With its built-in SEO tools, optimized site performance, and integration with Google Analytics and Google Shopping, BigCommerce enhances content marketing performance by improving SEO health, tracking conversion rates, and optimizing site speed.
- By integrating well-structured category hierarchies, optimizable URLs, meta tags, and header tags, BigCommerce supports effective content marketing strategies, targeting relevant keywords for better visibility and improved user experience, ultimately driving conversion and boosting ecommerce sales.
