SEO Concerns when Owning a Retail Website (Part 1)
The thing about Google is that it does not completely divulge algorithm details. Personally, I don’t think that Google is being secretive, but I think is playing fair. With everyone not knowing every ranking factor, it is everyone’s game.
Every website has a chance of ranking well in Google. It’s up to you to experiment on what works and what doesn’t. At the end of the day, it’s just a matter of figuring out the best and fastest way to get to the top.
Sometimes, searches on Google is just research and finding ways to get new information. On other instances, it could lead to immediate conversion. Users will immediate buy a product without hesitating. That’s the great thing about SEO, you surely cannot predict what will happen next.
Google are not exactly transparent with algorithmic changes and ranking details.
All Google do is to give hints. Of course, it would not clearly point out that this is how you should do it! There is no clear formula on how much your website will earn or when you will exactly get your return of investment.
Paying for goods using mobile phone.
With that being said, it is best to focus on these details when you have an ecommerce or retail website on your hands.
The Crawl Budget
Google sets a specific allocation for every website. The Google bots will stick to this crawl budget. As it analyzes a particular website, the bot will follow its usual routine in crawling. If there’s still any amount left of the crawling budget, it will also try to look for new web pages.
It was revealed that the more relevant a website is, the more bandwidth allocation it will have. Sometimes, pages of a websites are not indexed properly because you did not submit them to Google. Therefore, Google has no knowledge about these pages. You can ask Google to recrawl your website.
It can also be that the Google bot takes too much bandwidth to inspect your website. So, you better speed up your website in order for Google not to waste the allocated bandwidth for your website. For tips in enhancing website read and Useful Pointers to Increase Website Speed (Part 1) and Useful Pointers to Increase Website Speed (Part 2).
Upon knowing such details, you can opt to update pages with little value or choose to delete them completely. As an ecommerce website, it is important to minimize the number of web pages to avoid duplicate content. Yes, it may take time especially if you have huge website. Manually identifying what to delete and what to retain will require effort, but it will surely accelerate the crawling process.
Your Website and its Contents
Let’s not forget the most important part of your website: the contents. You will know if your contents are relevant and useful because you will get links to your website. These links from other websites will serve as an endorsement.
This does not mean that you should go around and buy links. Link schemes such as link buying are strictly prohibited by the Webmaster Guidelines. Google is not after the quantity of links your website will get, but it values quality more. Read 7 Link Building Myths that You Should Disregard in 2019 to know more on what to avoid.
Sadly, most retail websites do not strategize their content well because they often focus on the products. For a physical store, there are employees ready to answer questions. Your website should do the same and provide helpful FAQ pages.