By using a few simple techniques, you can get more eyes on your pages, make your products look more appealing, and streamline the buying experience for your customers.<\/p>\n
In this guide, we\u2019re going to explore four ways that you can optimize your WooCommerce store right now. Let\u2019s start by talking about WooCommerce SEO!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
1. Help customers find your products through WooCommerce SEO<\/h2>\n
When people talk about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/a>, they often do so in the context of blogs and other content-heavy sites. However, WooCommerce SEO is equally important, as a large percentage of your potential customers will start their journeys on Google.<\/p>\n The foundation for your WooCommerce SEO strategy will be product-related keywords. We\u2019ve discussed the importance of keywords<\/a> in past posts, as well as how to locate them<\/a>. Rather than retreading those areas, let\u2019s talk about how to use keywords in WooCommerce specifically.<\/p>\n Instead of trying to focus on general site-wide keywords, you\u2019ll want to take a more nuanced approach. This involves considering each individual product and choosing one or more strong keywords related to its type, function, and\/or niche.<\/p>\n Think about what a potential customer is likely to search for when they\u2019re looking for this type of product. Then, use a free tool like KWFinder<\/a> to hone in on the most common terms.<\/p>\n Once you’ve found some terms, you\u2019ll want to use those keywords strategically throughout the item\u2019s product page<\/a>. This includes (but is not limited to):<\/p>\n Of course, you don\u2019t want to go overboard here. You\u2019ve probably seen product descriptions and titles that have been over-optimized:<\/p>\n This looks messy to human visitors and is likely to appear spammy to the search engines themselves.<\/p>\n When it comes to WooCommerce SEO, the same rules apply<\/a> as they do for blogs and other sites. Work your keywords in naturally, and use them a handful of times throughout the product page without stuffing them into every other sentence:<\/p>\n This balance can take a bit of practice to achieve. However, after optimizing a few product pages this way, you\u2019ll soon find yourself a WooCommerce SEO master.<\/p>\n Your store’s WordPress theme is another important consideration for WooCommerce SEO, as well as just generally building an optimized store.<\/p>\n While you can technically<\/em> use any WordPress theme for your store, you\u2019re often best off looking for one designed with WooCommerce in mind. The benefits of doing this include:<\/p>\n While there are basic considerations for choosing any WordPress theme<\/a>, there are also some specific features that you’ll want to look for in a WooCommerce theme<\/a> in addition<\/em> to the basics like reading reviews and checking responsive design.<\/p>\n Paying attention to the little details on your store’s theme can pay dividends when it comes to boosting your store’s sales.<\/p>\n Consider functionality like:<\/p>\n As for where to find WooCommerce themes, we’ve curated some of the best free WooCommerce themes<\/a> and the best paid WooCommerce themes<\/a>. You can also find a bevy of options at WordPress.org<\/a> and ThemeForest<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you only sell a couple of items, it won\u2019t be hard for your customers to find what they need. On the other hand, once your inventory swells to dozens or even hundreds of products, you’ll need to put some serious thought into how it\u2019s all organized.<\/p>\n This may seem like a simple step to take, but it\u2019s surprisingly easy to overlook. You<\/em> may already know everything in your store and how it all relates, but brand-new customers won\u2019t. It\u2019s vital to make it easy for them to understand what you offer and locate what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n To do this, you\u2019ll want to use WordPress\u2019 built-in categories and tags features<\/a> to organize your products:<\/p>\n Setting this up is a two-step process:<\/p>\n First, set up a handful of broad categories dividing your store’s products into general groupings. Then, include subcategories to refine them further.<\/p>\n If you sell pet supplies, for example, you might have overall product categories such as \u201cfood\u201d and \u201ctoys\u201d. A category like food can then be broken up into \u201cdog food\u201d, \u201ccat food\u201d, and so on.<\/p>\n Next, use tags to indicate defining qualities, characteristics, and other key points about your products. These are important details that are nonetheless too specific to merit an entire subcategory.<\/p>\n On a fishtank\u2019s product page, for example, you might include tags related to its capacity, brand, and shape. Don’t forget to incorporate your WooCommerce SEO keyword research here as well.<\/p>\n Once you’re done, customers should have an easier time finding your products when they search for them.<\/p>\n Before you move on, you\u2019ll also want to put some thought into how your categories and subcategories are displayed. You\u2019ll almost certainly want to include them in your main navigation<\/a>, of course. However, placing them in your sidebar and\/or footer<\/a> is a smart way to give them extra visibility:<\/p>\n Even if your WooCommerce store is still small, it\u2019s worth putting some thought into these organizational concerns now. This way, you\u2019ll be able to grow it over time with a minimum of effort.<\/p>\n Along with practical concerns like WooCommerce SEO, we\u2019ve touched on style a bit when it comes to your site\u2019s theme. However, looks matter at the product level just as they do for your site as a whole.<\/p>\n When creating products in WooCommerce, you\u2019ve no doubt noticed the Product image<\/em> section:<\/p>\n Including at least one image of each product is absolutely vital. Few people will buy something they\u2019ve never seen, after all. Still, this is the bare minimum you\u2019ll want to do when it comes to product images.<\/p>\n First, it\u2019s almost always best to include multiple photos of each item. This helps customers get a more complete picture of what you\u2019re offering. You\u2019ll want to show the product from various angles, and possibly even in various use cases. It\u2019s also important to show off all its main variations, such as colors or materials.<\/p>\n In WooCommerce, you can do this by adding all the images you want to use to the Product gallery<\/em> section<\/a> of your product page. This will feature all the photos in an interactive gallery on the front end:<\/p>\nUse keywords strategically…<\/h3>\n
\n
…but don’t go overboard with keyword stuffing<\/h3>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/amazon-product-description.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/product-description.png\")
<\/p>\n2. Pay attention to your theme’s little details<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"Your](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/shopping_cart_icon.png\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n\n
3. Organize your products with categories and tags<\/h2>\n
![\"Product](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/woocommerce-product-categories.png\")
<\/p>\nHow to set up your store’s categories and tags<\/h3>\n
![\"Product](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/woocommerce-clothing-category.png\")
<\/p>\n4. Add plenty of high-quality product images<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/woocommerce-product-image.png\")
<\/p>\n