Magento is a SEO friendly ecommerce platform that services 220,000 merchants. Its features include URL rewriting…
Magento is a SEO friendly ecommerce platform that services 220,000 merchants. Its features include URL rewriting, open-source programming and other various SEO functions which make it an ideal operating platform for online entrepreneurs.
Here are some essential Magento SEO tips to help improve rankings and targeted traffic to your site.
1. Install The Latest Version Of Magento
If you want to optimise your website and obtain maximum Magento SEO results it is important to install the latest version of Magento. This is due to every new version having security updates, bug fixes and SEO improvements that help sites achieve better visibility in search rankings.
2. Simplify Your URLs
Magento SEO best practice states that website URLs need to be clear of any codes. To clean the URLs, go to System>Configuration>Web>Search Engine Optimisation. On the left side click URL Options—then set Add Store Code to URLS to No. This will eliminate any product/category codes to be added in to your URL – making them friendly for prospects and search engines.
3. Rewrite Server URLs
When you are back on the Search Engine Optimisation menu, click Server URL Rewrites and set it to Yes. This will remove index.php from your URLs making them even more search engine friendly.
4. Add Custom Meta Tags
To make your Magento site more search-engine and user friendly, add custom Meta tags for each page. Get rid of the default Magento commerce title and default description. To do this, go to System>Configuration>Design>HTML Heads. Choose a custom title that best describes your store. Keep in mind to keep important keywords in the beginning of your title as search engines put a greater emphasis on them.
5. Optimise Categories
Magento provides powerful functionality that permits optimisation of category pages for each grouped product. To avoid duplicate content issues within category pages, go to System>Configuration>Catalog>Search Engine Optimisation and set Use Categories for product URL’s to No. Now, let’s do the same for the categories. Go to Catalog>Manage categories. Optimise Meta Description, Page Title, and URL Key for each category separately. Magento SEO best practices states that meta description should have a keyword-rich and unique description that would be similar to those found on a search engine results page. Keep the URLs keyword-rich and to-the-point by eliminating words like “the”, “and” etc.
6. Avoid Duplicate Content
When you want to show the same product in several categories, it is ideal to configure Magento accordingly as to avoid duplicate content penalties. To do this, head over to System>Configuration>Catalog>Search Engine Optimisation and set Canonical Link Meta Tags for Products and Categories to Yes.
7. Optimise Magento Store For Speed
To improve the page loading time head over to System>Cache Management and enable all caching features. You can also reduce page loading time by minimising the amount of external files people can download from your server. This low speed optimisation feature is important because it can have a large impact on your site rankings.
8. Optimise Product Images
Often product images are a neglected component of Magento SEO optimisation. Having a descriptive keyword-rich product image alt tag will provide better chances of visibility. To do this, select Default Values in Choose Store Value>Images and optimise each image with relevant keywords.
9. Generate a Google XML Sitemap
Creating a site map allows search engines to easily index your site. To do this, head over to System>Configuration>Google Sitemap. Under Generation Settings box, change the frequency of sitemap generation as per your schedule of updating your site.
These 8 tips can help you optimise your site for better organic traffic, increase site rankings and search engine visibility. For more tips and advice on how our Magento SEO Services can help improve your SEO on your Magento or other ecommerce platform contact Digital Animals on 1300 905 820 or email us here.