John karner
02-16-2011, 06:39 AM
Common SEO Problems of E-commerce Sites
Our strategy team recently embarked on a study of several non-client e-commerce Web sites, analyzing dozens of factors grouped into three main areas: technical infrastructure, content, and linking. Many experts consider these to be the three primary areas of focus for SEO. Of the three, it seems as though there are only two that Webmasters and marketing teams can have full control over: technical implementation and content creation.
Navigation choices and duplication of content onto different URLs often can have a diluting effect on the strength of inbound links, but the primary driver of many of those links is often the brand's strength and history. The creation of compelling, unique content to replace boilerplate product or brand descriptions can also effectively lure people to link to deeper pages of the site.
The typical assumption is that the majority of e-commerce domains are somewhat "top heavy," with most links pointed to the home page. However, that isn't always the case.
Let's look at some trends on the e-commerce platforms. The majority of these sites were from pretty large brands, so the sample should be considered enterprise level commerce platforms, using technologies such as IBM Websphere Commerce, Microsoft, ATG, and other leaders.
Our strategy team recently embarked on a study of several non-client e-commerce Web sites, analyzing dozens of factors grouped into three main areas: technical infrastructure, content, and linking. Many experts consider these to be the three primary areas of focus for SEO. Of the three, it seems as though there are only two that Webmasters and marketing teams can have full control over: technical implementation and content creation.
Navigation choices and duplication of content onto different URLs often can have a diluting effect on the strength of inbound links, but the primary driver of many of those links is often the brand's strength and history. The creation of compelling, unique content to replace boilerplate product or brand descriptions can also effectively lure people to link to deeper pages of the site.
The typical assumption is that the majority of e-commerce domains are somewhat "top heavy," with most links pointed to the home page. However, that isn't always the case.
Let's look at some trends on the e-commerce platforms. The majority of these sites were from pretty large brands, so the sample should be considered enterprise level commerce platforms, using technologies such as IBM Websphere Commerce, Microsoft, ATG, and other leaders.