Anyone can open up an online store based on Magento 2! But that alone isn\u2019t enough to boost an online business in the e-commerce marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll still need to optimize your online storefront for various search engines, like Google for example, if you want to maximize your reach for potential customers. But what are some of the best ways to do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, to help you out, I have shortlisted the most effective and widely proven methods that would optimize your Magento 2 store for search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short, Magento 2 is an open-source e-commerce platform. It was released in 2015 as a massive update to the already popular Magento 1 platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The platform hosts online stores as well as improves their speed and performance. It also has SEO services for providing full support and flexibility to any merchant for their online store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think of it as an alternative to other e-commerce hosting platforms like WordPress or Shopify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what sets Magento 2 apart from other platforms is that it is one of the most search engine-friendly e-commerce platforms out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not to mention, it is more business-friendly than other platforms since its features and extensions are geared towards fulfilling business needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although a Magento-based store is pretty SEO-friendly from the get-go, there are still many variables that can affect your ranking in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, you\u2019ll have to manually perform a few on-page SEO<\/a> based on what kind of business you have and which audience you\u2019re trying to reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s not all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll need to follow the most effective methods to further optimize your online store for the search engines, which I have discussed below in great detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it is due to having the same product in different categories or different variants of the same product, duplicate content is the most prominent issue in any e-commerce site. It not only makes your website look like an amateur job but also affects your search engine ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, it\u2019s quite simple actually, you just have to set up custom URLs that are also SEO-friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To do so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also further clear up the URL by removing the index.php from the site address. For that, select Stores <\/em>> Configuration <\/em>> General <\/em>> Web <\/em>> Search Engine Optimization<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, set the Use Web Server Rewrites<\/em> option to Yes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doing so will also improve the CTR(click-through rate) of your site as users will feel more confident to click on your content after seeing the descriptive URL. It will also help the search engine crawler to index your page for a better SEO ranking and authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Search engines aren\u2019t human brains, the only way they can interpret the page content is through the meta description and title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That way, a search engine like Google can present your page to a visitor who is searching for that specific content, hence increasing your CTR and visibility. Here\u2019s how to set the meta tags:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t forget to include the brand name and CTA(call to action) to increase product visibility and encourage click-through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These days, online security is everything. The more secure your website, the better. And for business-oriented online stores, having SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) encryption is the best option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It encrypts both inbound and outbound data from the server and the user, securing all sensitive information like credit card numbers or user addresses. Popular browsers like Chrome will show a big red warning when someone clicks on your content if your website is not SSL-certified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, search engines, such as Google, prefer HTTPS protocol<\/a> and the users feel more secured as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To enable HTTPS for your Magento store:<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s it. Now save the changes and load up your site to check if it loads with the HTTPS protocol or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a user looks for a specific product or a service, the search engine uses certain keywords from the query to show the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you identify and implement the keywords that your potential customers are using, the search engine will be able to match your product\u2019s page with the user\u2019s query and rank your page accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, you\u2019ll have more traffic and more chance of selling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many SEO tools like SEMRush<\/strong> or Ahrefs <\/strong>can help you analyze the current queries and give you the top keywords for your content. Try to use both long-tail and buyer-intent keywords like \u201cdiscount\u201d, \u201csale\u201d, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Proper search engine indexing depends on how well the crawler bot manages to go through your page. And the Robots.txt file of your Magento 2 site tells the crawler bot which page to inspect and which ones to avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to delist less optimized content, you can customize the said file so that the search engine bots can interpret the site\u2019s structure correctly. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy user, happy search engine. And nothing makes a user happier than a site that loads quickly. As a result, search engines<\/a> also prefer websites that are better optimized to load faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can use various methods to improve the loading time of your Magento 2 store. The quickest way to do so is by compressing the image files to reduce their size. It would reduce the required bandwidth drastically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way to speed up your website is to merge the JavaScript and CSS files. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Done! It is one of the best ways to do organic SEO and increase engagement rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since over 90% of the customer base is using their phone to browse and shop online, it is now really important for an online webstore to be properly optimized for smartphone devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From navigation to responsiveness, everything needs to feel as if the user is scrolling through a native app. And for that, you must choose a similarly responsive and adaptive theme, which Magento services have plenty to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, the content and elements displayed on the screen should also be optimized for cellphone displays as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another effective way to boost your website’s authority for search engines is to use browser caching. That way, you can store some necessary files on the user\u2019s browser so that your site loads up even faster when the user comes back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without a proper on-page SEO, you\u2019ll have very little chance of ranking as it directly impacts how the search engine correlates your content with the user\u2019s query.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Little things like adding primary keywords in the product description, using alt-text for the added images, or having proper product details go a long way toward making your page more SEO-friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, Google doesn\u2019t know what the images are in your product pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, to help the search engine read the image for relevant search queries, add product-relevant(short description that includes main search keyword) alt-text to the image before uploading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The user experience of your online store depends on how easily and effortlessly a user can navigate through your site. It not only encourages them to easily purchase their desired items\/services, but it also makes it easier for the crawler bot to scroll through your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is an underlying aspect that many online store owners ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully, Magento has built-in features to streamline the navigation. Here\u2019s what you need to do to use that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also design the menu in a simplistic manner with a focus on categories and main products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s hardly any point in using Magento if you\u2019re not gonna use its full potential to boost your online storefront. And you need to use these features if you want to increase your website\u2019s organic traffic and boost the online visibility of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not a choice, it\u2019s a necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for that, I hope this article has provided you with the best tips and methods to turn your Magento 2 store into an SEO-friendly hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you find above process challenging or want to ensure optimal results, consider seeking expert SEO services. You can get professional assistance from <\/a>FullMage’s SEO services<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Anyone can open up an online store based on Magento 2! But that alone isn\u2019t enough to boost an online business in the e-commerce marketplace. You\u2019ll still need to optimize your online storefront for various search engines, like Google for example, if you want to maximize your reach for potential customers. But what are some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46796,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46795\/revisions\/46796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>1. Set an SEO-Friendly URL<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>2. Setup Proper Meta Tags<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>3. Use HTTPS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>4. Analysis and Implement Buyer-Intent Keywords<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>5. Make Changes to the Robots.txt File<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>6. Improve Your Site Speed<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>7. Optimize for Mobile Devices<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>8. Utilize Browser Caching<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>9. Perform On-Page SEO<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>10. Streamline the Navigation throughout the Website<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n