Shopify SEO in 2024: Tips to Stay Ahead of the Curve

Being a successful seller on Shopify in 2024 looks like it’s going to require a more in-depth approach. Even small brands are branching out and boosting their SEO on different platforms like TikTok, trying to one-up each other in the race to create compelling content. It’s understandable to feel a little lost if you’re just starting with a 2024 ecommerce strategy. 

Ecommerce SEO and You

Ecommerce SEO is all about driving more visitors to your store by increasing its rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs) with the ultimate goal of driving sales. While that can sound similar enough to your standard SEO jargon, ecommerce SEO requires a much finer touch. For instance, successful stores will often dive deeper with their keyword research, targeting specifics like colors, brands, and content phrases. 

Less than 1% of shoppers will click on the second page of search results when looking for a product, which makes it your mission to make it to the top of those results. Here’s how you can do that with Shopify SEO in 2024. 

Creating an Ecommerce SEO Strategy

Find The Right Keywords

Any effective ecommerce strategy will start with well-researched keywords. But, you need to know what your shoppers are searching for before you can start optimizing your store for them.

Keep in mind that keyword research for ecommerce is slightly different compared to traditional SEO. While non-ecommerce websites will often optimize for informational keywords that revolve around queries (“What kind of clippers should I get for my cat?”), ecommerce websites will generally target a mix of informational keywords for blog posts and commercial keywords for product and category pages (“buy cat clippers”). 

If you’re just starting out with your Shopify SEO strategy for 2024, you don’t have to pay for a keyword tool just yet. You can be creative and use Google/Amazon autocorrect to get a feel for what kind of terms shoppers in your niche might be using. 

Under-The-Hood SEO 

Technical SEO refers to the more subtle changes you can make to your website to help it rank better. It won’t be apparent to your customers, but it can have a massive impact on rankings for your Shopify store in 2024.

• Adjust your page speed to load faster.
• Minimize duplicate content.
• Develop keyword-optimized anchor texts to boost your internal linking strategy.
• Improve your site structure.
  • Is your store easy for shoppers to navigate? All the key pages should be accessible to visitors within a few clicks. 
• Build a sitemap for Google—this helps Google crawl your website and show your content to relevant searchers.

Content Marketing with Blogs

Blogs can help you corner the informational keywords you might have missed on your product pages in your Shopify SEO plan for 2024. These blogs won’t just help the right customers find your store, they’ll also help build your brand’s reputation and long-term organic visibility.

To make a mark with ecommerce in 2024, you’ll need to ensure your content isn’t just chock-full of keywords. Your blogs will only perform if they can bring value to readers and keep them engaged, particularly with features like Google Snippets that target quality content. 

On-Page SEO

Great on-page SEO for Shopify in 2024 will target the two sections that create the most value on your store: product and category pages. Shopify automatically takes care of things like robots.txt and social media linking, so we won’t have to worry about that.

• Keywords: Brands are increasing the number of keywords per page by about 20% every year; yours can’t fall behind. Does the alt-text for your product images include keywords? The meta description and title tag for your product/category pages should also include the keywords you’re optimizing for.
  
• Modifiers: Including attractive modifiers like “50% off!” and “Free Shipping” can help you entice shoppers to make a purchase.
  
• Descriptions: Don’t skimp out on the product descriptions for your Shopify SEO strategy in 2024. Brands that get lazy and copy-paste manufacturer descriptions can get penalized in search engine rankings due to duplicate content. Instead, take this opportunity to create unique, helpful content to show Google that your store is one to recommend. 

The Best Ecommerce SEO Tools for Beginners

Shopify Sidekick

Heading into 2024, Shopify Sidekick looks like a promising new addition for merchants. For example, you can use this tool to kickstart your content marketing by generating new ideas for blogs or beefing up that FAQ section with quick answers. You can even write ecommerce product descriptions and ask it to include keywords! 

Keep in mind that Sidekick isn’t going to be a cure-all for your Shopify SEO in 2024. This feature is still being rolled out and tested in phases, and the data it draws from ChatGPT’s dataset can still be flawed. Always verify and check for duplication, inaccurate facts, and not-so-helpful copy before posting any blogs or product descriptions.

Shopify Apps

Shopify Apps are fantastic tools that can do a ton of heavy lifting for your Shopify store in 2024, and a bunch of the best ones are even free. For example, you can use Smart SEO to quickly fix broken links across your store and automatically generate updated sitemaps for your store. Use this detailed guide to find the best Shopify Apps for your store. 

Google Analytics

Google Analytics (GA) is a priceless tool for your 2024 Shopify SEO plan. Analytics lets you find exactly where your shoppers are coming from and what they’re most interested in seeing. Knowing which pages are most effective at driving revenue and what kinds of CTAs, for example, are successful at pushing sales can help you determine how to optimize your store. People often think of SEO as a shot in the dark, but it doesn’t have to be—if you do it right.

Setting up Google Analytics on your Shopify store is easier than you might think. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to harness Google’s powerful real-time data to:

• Optimize pages through A/B testing.
• Check if your 2024 ecommerce strategy is working by monitoring traffic changes.
• Get a big-picture view of your Shopify performance with GA’s customized reporting. 

Ahrefs

Ahrefs has something for everyone with its suite of SEO tools. If your marketing budget is looking a little tight, you can use their free tools to generate keywords, scan for broken links (up to 10!), and rank your keywords for performance. 

On the paid side, you’ll be able to boost your 2024 Shopify SEO plan with useful tools for competitor and keyword gap analysis. We’d recommend the keyword gap feature in particular, as it can help you find a niche to capitalize on and drive traffic quickly. 

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is a fantastic tool for businesses looking to amp up their content marketing for the 2024 season. This SEO tool allows you to enter a keyword and receive a list of popular phrases/topics that can be used for content. This tool used to be free, but you can still use the 7-day trial to see if it’s a good fit.

Ecommerce SEO FAQs

What is ecommerce SEO?

Ecommerce SEO is the process of modifying your store pages to perform well on search engine results pages. This is done by finding out what your customers are searching for and modifying your website to reflect that. For example, an apparel brand can increase its sales on Shopify in 2024 through SEO by targeting long-tailed keywords with transactional intent like ‘women’s luxury clothes.’ 

Is Shopify SEO worth it?

As of 2024, Shopify already provides sellers with integrated SEO tools to help them create optimized text for products, images, and URLs along with the AI-powered features mentioned above. 

That said, having an expert create and execute a personalized 2024 ecommerce strategy for your Shopify store is a wonderful investment. An expert will be able to see the bigger picture and bring in more customers by targeting multiple channels (email, social media, PPC) and increasing your ROI with analytics.

How to keep up with Shopify SEO trends in 2024?

SEO has always been a highly dynamic area, and it’s no different for Shopify with its regular updates. As a brand, you can keep up with the latest in Shopify SEO by tracking expert blogs and keeping an eye on your store’s analytics to make sure a new update doesn’t require any content modifications. Shopify will also regularly post update round-ups to keep merchants in the loop. 

Make The Right SEO Moves On Shopify in 2024 With Coalition Technologies

Ecommerce never stops changing, and neither should your business. Keep up with the latest in SEO and dominate your Shopify store heading into the new year. All it takes sometimes is a few smart tweaks. If you’d like help creating your Shopify SEO game plan in 2024, reach out for a free strategy review today! You can also contact us for Shopify maintenance services if you just need assistance updating and keeping your website functional. We’ve helped thousands of Shopify stores drive millions in sales in as little as a year, and we’d love to do it for you.