How SEO can Drive Sales for Ecommerce Sites

Many businesses rely heavily on online sales to drive revenue. According to the ONS, internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales have been on an upward trend for the last decade. At its peak in 2021, online sales made up almost 38% of all retail sales. It’s not unusual for a brand to only advertise its products using digital shopfronts.

Even businesses with the best quality products, most competitive pricing, and the most visually appealing websites can fail simply because customers can’t find them. This is why Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) remains one of the most significant practices for driving online retail, and it could be argued that its importance is increasing as online spaces become more saturated. Worldwide retail ecommerce sales are expected to surpass £2.23 trillion in 2025, with figures predicted to increase towards 2030.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving a website’s organic (unpaid) rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). Effective SEO also signals the nature of your business’s products and services, helping to attract ideal customers when they’re actively making relevant searches. Modern SEO can include a combination of:

 

• On-page SEO – Everything that can be viewed by users and search engine bots. This content should be high-quality, helpful, and relevant to your audience. Google’s guidelines for optimising content centre around expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EEAT).
• Technical SEO – Elements which lead to improved functionality and a better user experience (UX). URL structure, loading speeds, internal linking, navigation, and mobile formatting all play a role. Technical SEO also includes processes that run in the background, such as site security, web hosting, and CMSs. Looking at a Core Web Vitals report is a straightforward way to get an overview of a website’s technical SEO.
• Off-page SEO – Content that exists outside of your website but contributes to SEO by boosting brand authority. This can include reviews, PR efforts, affiliate marketing, link building, and content marketing (research, guest blogging, podcast appearances, video content, etc).

Ultimately, SEO for ecommerce follows the same process as SEO for any brand – it’s concerned with increasing search visibility and relevance for an online shop. Ecommerce websites use SEO to attract more site visitors looking for their products, which, when combined with strong technical SEO and UX features, helps to increase conversions (sales).

The challenge businesses face in SEO is reaching the first page of Google SERPs, as many users will only look at these results to get the information they want. One study estimates that just 0.63% of users click on a search result that’s on the second Google SERP.

How businesses are selling online in 2026

When someone goes online looking for products or services, it’s because they have a specific problem, need, or goal in mind. Identifying these pain points is a great start for any digital marketing strategy, however, the real challenge is reaching the right people.

On top of this, it’s no longer just search engines that people use to do product research. A 2022 survey found that 48% of Gen Z consumers conduct brand and product research on social media, where 44% of those surveyed said they relied on search engines. This isn’t just a concern for B2C ecommerce sales either, as LinkedIn reports that 75% of B2B buyers also use social media when making purchasing decisions. The diversification of product research isn’t a bad thing for businesses, but it does require a diversified digital marketing strategy as a result.

Ecommerce businesses should consider the following:

• Social media - The likes of Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook now blur the lines between entertainment and shopping. Users can find products, in-depth reviews, and go through checkouts without leaving their chosen app. Social media platforms are also where brand partnerships and affiliate marketing can typically get the best results.
• Generative search - With the rise of ChatGPT and other free, publicly available large language models (LLMs), many users use these tools to research products and help them make value judgments. Many people prefer getting a generated answer to their queries as opposed to going through links in a SERP. Ecommerce sites can feature content in these results and AI overviews if it’s deemed to be relevant to the query and trustworthy. Although it’s important to note that AI algorithms have a different way of ranking content than Google’s algorithm.
• Video results - SERPs will frequently pull in YouTube videos in results, especially for informational ‘how-to’ queries. Ecommerce brands can capitalise here by producing product reviews or collaborating with influencers to showcase their products in action.
• Second-hand marketplaces - If you have a listing on another well-known ecommerce site, this can help spread brand awareness. Examples such as Ebay, Depop, and Vinted can feature on SERPs, and arguably create their own search microcosms due to the number of listings.
• Forum results - When it comes to consumer research, Google has demonstrated that it places a high relevance on discussions on Reddit and other industry-specific forums. This makes sense, as it encourages experienced professionals to contribute their opinions, theoretically without bias. While this isn’t necessarily the easiest avenue to pursue in promoting your products, it’s worth taking steps to ensure positive user experiences so people speak highly of your brand.

What’s clear is that selling successfully online now involves multi-channel visibility. For many businesses, their ideal customers switch between different avenues of product research. Ecommerce brands must therefore maintain consistent messaging across all their content to ensure that, wherever they’re discovered, users have a clear sense of what they sell.

What’s the difference between a content website and an ecommerce website

If you’re someone visiting an ecommerce website, you probably won’t notice anything glaringly different. However, there will be elements designed to emulate the typical shopper experience and improve it for online users. A great example is comparison tables that allow users to look at multiple products side-by-side to compare key features. Other key features that set ecommerce websites apart include:

 

• Product listings, carts, and checkout
• Structured data for rich search results
• Different platforms (WooCommerce, Shopify, etc)
• Ongoing inventory management and seasonal marketing shifts
• UX focused on conversion as well as engagement

 

The goals of regular and ecommerce websites are different. The former is designed primarily to inform, entertain, and/or educate, whereas the latter is mainly for driving sales and recording transactions. A successful ecommerce site will use strategies that are effective on both avenues.

Checkout and shopping cart functionality

Ecommerce websites need to provide a way for users to reserve products and for the site to take payments. Checkouts will almost always involve users submitting personal information (name, contact info, and address), which can then be used for personalised marketing, such as email marketing.

 

It’s common for ecommerce sites to take this a step further by encouraging users to create accounts that allow for more customisable shopping experiences. Marketers will link up the checkout with analytics software such as GA4 to help track conversions and visualise sales trends.

SEO strategies for ecommerce businesses

Businesses of all kinds can benefit from SEO services. The global market for SEO services continues to experience rapid growth, reaching £69.64 billion in 2025, with the forecast putting it at £130.58 billion by 2029 (17% CAGR).

Create for mobile users

In recent years, there has been a massive trend towards mobile shopping, with nearly 80% of all visits to ecommerce sites in mid-2025 being done through a smartphone. This is compounded by the fact that most social media use is done through smartphones, and a large percentage of social media users are researching products. As such, ecommerce brands must ensure their website and marketing content look and function as they should when viewed on a smartphone.

 

You can test this yourself by looking at designs and test emails on your own phone screen, shrinking the browser on your desktop device, or getting your web developer to test any new page designs before they’re put live. The main concern is to ensure good UX by ensuring designs remain intact, menus display correctly, and the content can be viewed without excessive scrolling. You should be able to see in the example below how information is condensed and reformatted to fit the smaller mobile screen.

Desktop view

Mobile view

Focus on intent for keyword targeting

Your ecommerce site should contain content that will appeal to potential customers at various stages of the buyer journey. For instance, one person might be researching which types of products are best to solve their problem, whereas someone else might be ready to buy at a certain price point. Each of these people will be making different search queries.

 

For example, one of our clients has a website that sells surveying equipment. Someone at the start of their buyer journey is probably thinking about the type of instrument they need to complete their work. Their searches might be looking at the pros and cons of a certain category of equipment, as well as maintenance and storage considerations. These users want to find informational content, which is perfect for the blog or resources section of an ecommerce site.

 

On the other hand, someone who already knows what they want will be more focused on specific performance characteristics and price point. These people might also have more experience with the technology, and so will appreciate information around the specific features that help set different options apart. Ecommerce category and product pages should provide this kind of commercial info, whilst also being visually appealing.

Product pages designed for conversion

SEO content for product pages should aim to persuade visitors to make a purchase. While it’s still necessary to provide detailed information, this should be combined with compelling content that adds trust signals. Great examples are buyer guides, comparison tables, FAQs, and user-generated content like reviews. See below for an example from our client selling hair extensions:

Product pages must also be clear and easy to use. Users will typically browse multiple ecommerce sites side-by-side, with the more inviting and straightforward option usually being the winner. If there are parameters associated with your product, such as size, colour, etc, these should be easily selectable without bringing the user off the page.

Strategic and straightforward site navigation

Optimised site navigation is a must for ecommerce sites, as it allows users to browse products more efficiently and discover other relevant content. Firstly, your main site navigation menu should contain the most important product categories/collections. Any other menus should have a logical architecture that supports the sitemap and different content clusters. Organising your navigation in this way is also essential for the creation of breadcrumbs. Featuring breadcrumbs on product pages is a must for ecommerce brands, as this allows users to backtrack and easily jump to other related pages.

 

Strong internal linking also helps demonstrate the relevance of certain pages to search engine bots, as related articles and knowledge resources are interlinked with product pages. However, poor internal linking can directly impact your site’s ranking by making it harder to navigate for search engine crawlers. Pagination for large lists of product pages is also useful for straightforward navigation.

Social proof for products

Oftentimes, consumer research goes further than simply reading about product specifications, features, and comparing price points. People want reassurance by seeing how a product performs in different contexts, whether that’s through product reviews, comparisons, or demonstrations. Including these elements on product pages helps reassure users without them having to visit multiple pages.

 

Nowadays, many consumers will look for this social proof elsewhere. According to a Facebook-commissioned study, 81% of Instagram users research new products and services when on the platform. This is both to discover new products or services, as well as to find new information about familiar ones.

Fundamentally, individuals are more likely to provide an unbiased view of a product or service. Ecommerce brands can see success by partnering with influencers to produce third-party reviews that take advantage of pre-made trust between the influencer and their audience. Data from Matter Communications found that 69% of consumers are more likely to trust recommendations made by influencers rather than brands.

Add personality to your content

One of the risks with online retail is that your shop ends up looking similar to all the other ecommerce sites in your niche. Unless you can undercut competitors on price or present a clear unique selling point (USP), customers will often go to the largest and most trusted retailer.

Adding some personal elements is also beneficial, as people like to buy from other people. If you can add team members as content authors and feature images throughout the site, this can help drive user engagement. This concept is taken further in YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content for financial or hospital SEO, but the principle remains: that people are more trusting when content is attributed to an expert.

Product page schema

Product structured data, also called product schema, highlights key information under your SERP listing to help it stand out. This can include pricing, availability, delivery, reviews (product snippets), as well as merchant listings. The latter is especially important, as product pages are the only ones eligible for merchant listings on Google.

Ecommerce brands need to include this schema on their product and category pages to provide more relevant information for users in the SERP to encourage them to click through to their site. Google has published a full list of developer guidance for product structured data.

Technical SEO general housekeeping

Many online shoppers want to find specific information quickly, while on the go. For instance, they could be standing in a physical shop using their phone to compare the products in front of them to those they can find online. If your site loads slowly or is unresponsive, users will simply go back to the SERP and try a different option.

 

Aside from contributing to poor UX, technical issues can also hurt the ranking of ecommerce sites. This is because when Google judges how useful a piece of content is for users, it takes the usability and context of that content into account.

Challenges in ecommerce SEO

SEO is a long-term strategy for online businesses which can deliver exceptional returns, but also significant challenges.

SEO vs paid media

It’s common for ecommerce brands to lean heavily on paid channels (Meta Ads, Google Shopping, etc) to increase visibility across multiple platforms and more accurately target users who are ready to buy. This can also be due to SEO results often taking a long time to manifest, whereas paid ads usually lead to short-term gains. While ads can be effective, it’s important that marketing teams share data between PPC and SEO to ensure budget is being spent effectively. If you’re going after the same (or similar) keyword in both SEO and PPC ads, one will largely be wasted effort.

 

It’s also important that SEO and PPC go after keywords that are better suited to each. For instance, a keyword that your site doesn’t rank for organically within the first 100 pages will be a prime target for an ads campaign. You could slowly build up rankings with minor SEO efforts, but your main SEO budget should be focused on high-relevance keywords where your brand ranks around position 5-10.

Thin or duplicate content

Typically, people want to find as much information as possible on product pages, especially if they’re looking to buy large-ticket items. A lack of clear or relevant information can lead to a high bounce rate as users leave to do research elsewhere. Ecommerce product content should contain:

 

• Key features
• Price or pricing info
• Uses
• Comparable products
• Recommended accessories

 

Large ecommerce websites have the problem where product pages can contain near-identical content due to similar features. While Google won’t outright penalise your site for having duplicate content, the pages in question will be unlikely to rank for specific terms. It can be an extremely time-consuming task to ensure unique and valuable content across hundreds of product pages, which is often why brands fall down in this area. However, it’s important to remember that each product page might be a user’s first or second interaction with your brand.

Competitiveness

With approximately 28 million active ecommerce sites as of 2025, it’s not surprising that certain niches are extremely competitive to sell in. Online marketplaces can be especially difficult to break into as a new brand trying to challenge established ecommerce shops with large customer bases.

 

The solution is to first focus on building up your site authority and brand awareness through on-page and technical optimisation, building out product pages, and adding features for better UX. Once you have decent visibility within your niche and for your main type of product, you can shift to creating supporting content to target specific key terms. Over time, you will be able to add social proof elements to further develop trust and authority.

Indexation and crawl budget

Search engines typically allocate limited resources to crawling large sites. As such, ecommerce sites with poor architecture, faceted filters, or unnecessary parameters can waste crawl budget and inadvertently prevent key pages from being indexed. You may also notice updates to pages take longer to translate to the SERP, which can compromise timely marketing campaigns. For instance, around Black Friday and Christmas.

This can be prevented by using an SEO agency that builds an effective site structure and a clear sitemap that’s easy to use for both consumers and search engines. High-priority pages should be indicated by internal linking and hierarchy within the overall site structure. Your site should also make it clear what kind of content sits on pages through keyword-rich titles and descriptions that provide real value to readers.

Search volatility and AI-generated results

Traditionally, there were 4-5 core updates to the Google algorithm per year. However, from 2021 onwards, this has largely doubled, along with other significant named updates. While these changes won’t impact your rankings every time, the effects should always be monitored so your ecommerce SEO strategy can be adjusted accordingly. It can be particularly difficult for ecommerce sites with large product catalogues to adapt to core updates and other changes.

Another significant development has been the rise of AI-generated results and the growth of LLMs in fulfilling a similar function to search engines. In particular, Google AI Overviews have led to significant changes in how users navigate SERPs.

Need professional ecommerce SEO services?

Without a dedicated SEO strategy and close management, ecommerce businesses can quickly find themselves dropping off consumers’ radars and their sales dipping.

 

When you’re equipped with a purpose-built ecommerce SEO strategy that focuses on product and category page content, mobile optimisations, technical SEO, strong site architecture, product schema, and any other aspect of your website.

 

Here at Mayfly, we have 17+ years of experience working with ecommerce businesses across various niches. Whether that’s surveying with SEP, swimming pools with Paramount Pools, or power supplies with Wall Industries, we can help you claim the keyword rankings to drive sales.

 

Our leading Liverpool digital marketing agency team is familiar with SEO strategies for all kinds of businesses, including ecommerce and service-based sites. We create content that positions your product offerings within the current industry climate to generate the most interest and boost rankings for key terms.

If you have an ecommerce website you feel isn’t generating the right quality of opportunities for your business, why not get in touch and arrange a free consultation? We’ll discuss the ecommerce SEO strategies we think will work best for you and how these can be executed in the coming months.

Ecommerce SEO Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)