Is there an SEO for PrestaShop? Absolutely. Even e-commerce websites created with PrestaShop require SEO to reach a good ranking on Google. As we all know, PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that allows you to build efficient and perfect e-commerce websites. Someone simply defined it as WordPress for e-commerce, since the platform resembles in many ways the well-known CMS as regards the realization of websites and blogs, but it is specialized for the creation of online sales websites. It is also a very popular platform, with nearly 300,000 online stores written in PHP language.
Why an SEO for PrestaShop?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is an essential activity for the purpose of ranking of a website on search engines. If optimizing a valuable website is essential, the more this applies to an e-commerce website, such as those created with PrestaShop which must quickly achieve interesting sales results. A good ranking on Google is in fact directly proportional to the number of conversions that you will get.
SEO for PrestaShop: where to begin
From SEO analysis, of course. Every SEO project starts up on the web with an audit which includes the analysis of the digital context, keywords and all that has been implemented by competitors in terms of advertising channels, potential affiliation and backlink analysis. The SEO audit will collect all data that can bring value to the new e-commerce project on PrestaShop.
Keyword analysis for PrestaShop
Keyword analysis can be carried out using the most popular tools and techniques. Among the possibilities, besides paid platforms, we can also use Google Autocomplete and Google Trends. An accurate keyword analysis, with attention to the Search Intent, allows you to program content of value, editing the denomination and the description of the products, page titles, meta tags and everything that can contribute to the ranking of the website.
Editing a website well-organized design
SEO must give priority to the customer experience also on PrestaShop. The website and the user interface must prioritize the research experience, so that users and Google crawlers can surf more pleasantly and rapidly find what they are looking for. Starting with the home page, the content should be wide, by providing visitors with a number of categories to choose from, and then become more detailed, with sub-categories, pages and product listings.
Creating optimized content, such as guides, reviews and articles
Even an SEO project for PrestaShop cannot be separated from content curation. Content is essential for attracting “hits” of potential customers of the e-commerce website. By Making use of SEO analysis carried out on the website, on those of competitors and on the data provided by Google, it is possible to create content of value for users that therefore meets their needs and search intent. A self-respecting e-commerce website has in general articles on products and on how to choose them according to the needs of the individual customer through a blog or specific columns. Video reviews and images are useful for ranking, too. They have to be well optimized to be easily found through search engines.
How to optimize PrestaShop product listing
The e-commerce website SEO also concerns the product listing that has to be optimized in order to be appreciated by Google and offer content that tempts you to make purchases. Here some elements to give special attention to:
The URL must be clear and indicative of the product
The listing URL must recall the product and contain a keyword considered to be interesting for Google. Generally, it is good to prevent the listing URL from being related to categories following a traditional hierarchical structure, because if a product were inserted in several categories, it would have a large number of URLs that recall it and it would be penalized in ranking because it would be a duplicate content. It is good to pay particular attention to the Tag Title of the listing that is a helpful element for the purpose of ranking.
The product listing content must be useful and compelling
SEO optimization of product listing is fundamental to ranking and conversions. When a user reads a product listing, he or she needs to find useful and complete details. It has happened to everyone not to find on an e-commerce website, for example, the size, weight or other fundamental data required to complete the purchase. Product listing is a key element of the sales funnel, and that is why the text must include technical information, but also marketing-related details (discounts, powerful wording, bundled offers, CTAs etc.) in order to stimulate an impulse purchase. So basically, the user must be convinced that that product meets his or her needs, perhaps unexpressed needs, by inviting him to convert.
SEO for PrestaShop is also Digital PR
Nowadays an SEO strategy necessarily includes on-page and off-page actions. E-commerce websites can improve ranking and Conversion Rate not only with Technical SEO, but also through Digital PR activities. For example, it is good to plan the content creation hosted on blogs and influential websites of the sector or create strategic partnerships. It is a matter of creating, for example, content in collaboration with well-known people, with a high number of followers on Social Networks, carrying out link building efforts but most importantly maintaining relationships of networking with websites not in direct competition, which increase the possibility to obtain natural links to your website and improve its prestige, strengthening the brand.
PrestaShop Modules and SEO
At last, PrestaShop CMS offers the possibility of using a great number of Addons, often made by external developers, which allow you to better manage the texts and images of the product listings, FAQ pages and even automated tools for SEO optimization. It is obvious that a sort of plugin is not enough to carry out SEO activity, which requires a strategy resulting from an audit on digital presence of the sector, of the individual products, of the keywords and of the needs expressed by users, but it allows technical optimization that simplify the activity for the less experienced.
An e-commerce website, whose success is linked to sales results, cannot ignore SEO actions carried out by professionals, according to a process that ByTek performs at its best, thanks to proprietary tools and strong skills which have led to operate on well-known brand websites both domestically and internationally.
