What is online shop positioning?

Online shopping is a solution that we cannot imagine functioning without in recent times. In the wake of the pandemic and recommendations to avoid large concentrations of people, some people have completely abandoned shopping in stationary shops in favour of online shopping. This is not only a safe, but also a convenient option, which is why it is increasingly being chosen not only by the young, but also by slightly older shopping enthusiasts. For many entrepreneurs, moving their business from premises to online is the only way to stay in business. However, they must remember that setting up an e-shop is only the beginning. To be able to fully exploit the potential of e-commerce, it is necessary to positioning online shop. Do you run your own business? Do you want to open up to new opportunities? Or do you already have an online shop, but would like to optimise it and reach more potential customers? Read our article and find out what online shop positioning specifically entails.

The statistics speak for themselves - online shopping is the future of commerce

According to data from the report "E-commerce in Poland". prepared by Gemius on behalf of the Chamber of Electronic Commerce, that year as much as 73% internet users declared that they shop online. It is not difficult to predict that this percentage will only increase in the years to come. The 2020 result is 11 percentage points better than the time of the previous survey. Of course, it is not insignificant that last year was a period of the first restrictions in economic and social life - a period of the beginning of the pandemic. It was precisely because of security that some people chose to shop online.

The statistics on devices used for online shopping are also very interesting. Laptops are the most popular (80% indications), followed by phones and smartphones (69%) and desktop computers (50%). However, it is worth mentioning how the percentage distribution differs dramatically among respondents aged 15-24 years. Until 92% of them do their online shopping on their phone! 

Why is online shop positioning important?

The above-mentioned statistics speak for themselves - an online shop is now a must if an entrepreneur wants to reach customers. But how do you make yourself felt when the web is bursting at the seams with competitive offers? The answer to this question is good visibilityThis, in turn, can be achieved through effective online shop positioning. What does it involve? Where do you start? What are the effects of shop positioning? Find out by reading our article.

What is it and how do you start positioning your shops?

The task of SEO for an online shop is to bring the website to high positions in the search results for phrases relevant to the business. This increases the likelihood that a user searching for a particular product will come to our site, (in the most optimistic scenario) make a conversion and become a customer.

"Standard" positioning is usually not enough if we want to position a shop. E-commerce is a specific field that at the same time requires an individualised and holistic view. Success depends on many factors. Where do you start? If you are just moving online, you should first and foremost start by selecting a the right platform for the shop. Unfortunately, this is not an easy task, as each of the available platforms has its own advantages and disadvantages. You will not find a perfect solution, but try to find the one that best suits your needs. Study the functionalities of the many platforms well to save yourself problems in the future. Some of the most popular include Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, PrestaShop and Wix. Some of them are really easy to use - they have drag-and-drop element generators, for example.

When choosing a platform, it is also important to make sure it has capabilities such as, for example, modifying meta tags (title and description), entering descriptions (categories and subcategories), starting a blog, adding a product feedback module. This is important from the point of view of shop page optimisation. Equally important is the choice of server - it should be stable and fast. Some platforms (e.g. Magento) use dedicated servers.

Positioning and optimisation of an online shop - what's next?

You already have an e-commerce platform selected, what's next? Successful shop positioning is largely the result of on-page optimisation, which consists of key phrase selection activities, content marketing or internal linking within the shop.

Selection of keywords is the most important stage that determines the effectiveness of the positioning. More often than not, product categories or specific products (most specific to the shop) are chosen as phrases. When selecting keywords, it is worth using tools, which may be SenutoGoogle Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or the free AnswerThePublic tool. For shop positioning, it is very important to review keywords and change them due to emerging trends and changing shop offerings.

Another key aspect is structured category structure, subcategories and product pages. The so-called information architecture should be thought through and planned before any products are added to the site. The structure should be clear and take the form of growing branches of a tree. This will be appreciated not only by users, but also by Google's robots.

The shop's online visibility is also influenced by content marketing, i.e. content on category pages, subcategories and product pages. The most common mistakes are the lack of any content or the duplication of descriptions from manufacturers. Care should be taken to ensure unique content and optimise it appropriately, both in terms of key phrase placement and formatting. Each description should have an H2 header and mid-headers (H2 to H6).

Positioning The e-shop should be strengthened by internal and external links. Internal linking involves referring users to, for example, other sub-pages, categories. Links can be found in the menu, footer, but also in blog articles. Links on external sites are also an important element of the activities of SEO. However, care should be taken to ensure that they appear on trusted sites with strong performance.

Do you know how to position an online shop - or can you do it yourself?

Positioning an online shop seems like an arduous and difficult task, and indeed it is if you are not experienced in SEO. Therefore, sometimes it is not worth doing it on your own - already wrongly chosen keywords at the beginning of the process will prevent you from increasing sales. In such a situation, it is best to opt for cooperation with specialists such as SEOSki. With our help, you will not only increase the number of customers, but also strengthen the position of your brand on the market and become recognisable among web users.