When working with fashion e-commerce websites, applying the standard SEO practices is a start. However, there are other important tactics for fashion sites as well.
Site Structure of Fashion E-Commerce
Site structure not only impacts your customer’s browsing experience, it impacts SEO. Basing categories on your collections as well as product types is always a good idea. Majestical’s website, which manages to fit a lot into its navigation without it looking too packed, is an example of this. This type of navigation helps to highlight keywords related to trends without neglecting the more generic categories.
E-Commerce Fashion Websites Internal Search Functionality
The search function incorporated into fashion websites must work accurately so that potential customers can narrow down results when looking for particular garment styles or accessories. It almost goes without saying that searches that return relevant results are more likely to lead to sales.
Automated XML Sitemap functionality is a must for CMS. Without an automated XML Sitemap, each time you add a product or a product is out of stock, you have to create a new XML sitemap. Always make sure URLs you don’t want indexed, like duplicate page URLs with products ordered differently, are not included.
Fashion E-Commerce Websites and Out of Stock Products
The quickest way to frustrate users is redirecting them to another page, especially if they landed there after clicking an external link while looking for a certain product.
When a product is out of stock, remove it from category pages and remove links to it. Change the product page, letting the customer know it is out of stock and when you are getting more in stock. Try suggesting similar products and add category page links to keep the user on the site.
Category Page Content
You’ve probably seen the lack of content on some well-known fashion e-commerce websites like Karen Millen’s. When you have a large authority brand, standard optimization signals for Google still work well, but this approach does not work for start-up or new fashion e-commerce sites. For your small business, category pages need 300 words of content or more.
Miss Selfridge’s is a great example of a site with content on category pages. The designers have also ensured the content is above the fold of the page, more important than ever following recent algorithm updates.
Fashion E-Commerce Keyword Research
Fashion e-commerce websites should use standard research principles. Many make the mistake, however, of trying to shoehorn or stuff their product pages with generic keywords (e.g. “Floral Print Blouse”). Typical visitors search by the product names they saw when browsing. They might also use search terms from online or print advertising. Either way, using generic keywords is not good SEO practice.
Always keep keyword targeting on your product pages simple by using the product name instead of generic keywords. Boohoo is an excellent example of a brand getting this right. As you can see on Boohoo’s site the Meta Title includes a product name and doesn’t use generic keywords:
Fashion Websites Product Page Meta
It’s a common idea for every site page to have unique Meta, but the product pages on many fashion e-commerce sites have repeat Meta. The CMS system automatically adding Meta may explain this. Unique Meta descriptions and titles ensure your products stand out in search results. The clicks you receive then carry more weight and, most importantly, lead to more sales.
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