Does Shopify Have Good SEO Tools - Shopify SEO Review

Shopify has become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms for businesses all over the globe. This platform helps small businesses create online stores and sell their products or services on social media sites, online marketplaces, pop-up shops, and brick-and-mortar locations. But does Shopify have good SEO tools? That's what you're about to find out.

This ultimate Shopify SEO review will explore what Shopify offers its users regarding SEO and how it can help improve your search engine rankings. We will also discuss some of the most common SEO issues Shopify merchants encounter.

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is a cloud-based e-commerce platform that allows individuals to build and manage online stores. With over 2 million active users, Shopify has become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the world. Many factors stand behind its global success, including its user-friendly interface, robust features, customisable themes, and the Shopify app store.

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When you create a Shopify store, you can connect it to your existing sales channels, which may include the following:

• Social media channels
• Online marketplaces
• Your website
• Your blog
• Pop-up shops
• Retail shops and physical locations
• Wholesale channels (only available to Shopify Plus accounts)

By connecting all your sales channels to Shopify, you can keep track of all your orders, products, and customers in one place.

You can use various tools and features for your online store, including payment processing, customisable website templates, secure shopping carts, inventory management, and shipping and tax calculation tools. Merchants can use additional functionalities when setting up their Shopify sites through the wide range of third-party apps and services that Shopify integrates with.

Once you select a pricing plan that works best for you, you can start setting up your online store. This process includes choosing a website template, customising your site's design and layout, and adding products and other types of content. You can manage inventory, process orders, and track sales and customer data through Shopify's easy-to-use interface.

How Does Shopify Work?

Setting up a Shopify store is a straightforward process, and it should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. Once you sign up for an account, the next step is to select a pricing plan.

There are three main Shopify pricing plans and two alternative solutions for businesses:

1. The Basic Plan (39 USD a month) for basic shipping and payment processing features
2. The Shopify Plan (105 USD a month) for established businesses looking to increase visibility
3. The Advanced Plan (399 USD a month) for enterprises with custom reporting requirements
4. The Starter Plan (5 USD a month) for selling products or services on social media apps only
5. The Shopify Plus Plan (2,000 USD a month) for high-volume businesses

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No matter what plan you choose, you only pay 1 USD per month for the first three months, and you can try all of them for free. All three plans include a Shopify online store, multiple sales channels, point of sale (POS) systems, and 24/7 support.

Once you have chosen a pricing plan, this is what you should do next:

1. Connect your Shopify store to your existing sales channels.
2. Add the products you are selling and enter the necessary details for each product.
3. Set up the available payment methods.
4. Choose the shopping options and the tax rate.
5. Pick from a selection of Shopify themes and customise the design.
6. Install one of multiple Shopify apps to improve your store.
7. Launch your Shopify store!

Is Shopify Good for SEO?

While this e-commerce platform offers excellent marketing tools for small businesses, is Shopify good for SEO?

The short answer is yes, but it depends on how you use it. If you optimise your shop for search engines, Shopify can be quite effective in helping you drive more organic traffic to your store.

Shopify offers various built-in features designed for SEO, such as the automatic generation of meta tags and alt text, automated sitemaps, and integration with Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools. Numerous third-party apps offer advanced SEO features that can further improve rankings and online visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).

In terms of Google search engine rankings, Shopify has proven itself as a reliable platform for driving organic search results. That's because Shopify considers all aspects of SEO, from keyword research to link building, enabling users to achieve better Google search results.

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Although the platform doesn't guarantee high rankings on search engines, Shopify's SEO capabilities make it easier for small business owners to optimise their websites without extensive knowledge about SEO practices. Shopify's user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simple for anyone to utilise these features. Shopify supports popular plugins like Yoast SEO and All-in-One SEO, providing merchants with various customisation options.

Given its comprehensive range of SEO features, it's no wonder many businesses choose Shopify for their online store needs. By helping optimise website pages for maximum visibility in organic search results, customers can find what they're looking for quickly and easily.

Shopify SEO Tools

Now that we've covered the question "Is Shopify good for SEO?" let's review some essential Shopify SEO tools that can drive organic traffic to Shopify sites.

You can use the following SEO tools to improve the search rankings of your online store:

• Shopify site structure: Shopify's website architecture is optimised for search engines and designed for ease of use.
• Meta descriptions and meta title tags: You'll increase your online visibility by including and optimising a meta description and meta tag for each web page.
• Custom URLs: Shopify allows users to customise a page URL's structure, making it easier to optimise for search engines.
• Image SEO: Optimise images of your products with alt tags to help Google understand their subject matter.
• Site speed: Shopify is optimised for speed and performance, which improves user experience and optimises your website for search engine results pages (SERPs).
• Mobile compatibility: Shopify offers a great mobile browsing experience, which is an important Google ranking factor.
• Google Analytics: This web analytics tool can track traffic, user behaviour, and other metrics on Shopify stores.
• Google Search Console: This free tool provides information on a store's positioning in search results.

The best Shopify SEO tools will depend on the specific needs and goals of Shopify stores. Exploring multiple Shopify SEO tools is a good idea to determine which ones provide the most value for the store's unique situation.

What SEO Apps Does Shopify Offer?

Aside from using various SEO tools, you can also install Shopify's SEO apps. Here are the best Shopify SEO apps you can use for your online store:

1. SEO Manager
   You can find this SEO app on the Shopify app store for 20 USD a month. It's designed to automate and optimise your SEO, including tools like meta tag optimisation, XML sitemap generation, and keyword suggestions.
2. TinyIMG SEO & Image Optimizer
   This app doesn't only compress your images for better site speed. You can also use it to optimise image alt text, JSON-LD, 404 pages, 301 redirects, rich snippets, meta tags, etc.
3. SEO Booster
   If you're looking for a free app for your SEO, SEO Booster is an all-in-one SEO solution. It comes with SEO reports, tag bulk updates, basic speed-up, and sitemap submission.
4. Smart SEO
   One of the most popular Shopify apps for search engine optimisation, Smart SEO can significantly improve your store's ranking on search engines. It has a free version, but you can choose a paid plan for advanced SEO features.
5. Avada SEO
   This automated SEO tool kit is an image optimiser and a page speed-up tool. It also optimises your SEO rankings through meta tags, structured data, and detecting broken links.
6. Plug in SEO
   This Shopify SEO app will increase your traffic and sales at 9.99 USD a month. It provides a range of SEO features, including on-page SEO, content analysis, keyword tracking, and site speed optimisation.

Are There Any Issues with Shopify's SEO?

Shopify merchants can use various SEO apps and features to improve their site's search engine rankings. However, they can also encounter some common SEO issues, which is why you might ask yourself, is Shopify bad for SEO?

Although Shopify is a generally reliable e-commerce platform, here are some issues you may come across:

• Duplicate content
• Canonical tags
• Limited structured data
• Editing your Shopify sitemap
• Lack of advanced customisation
• Adjusting a Robots.txt file

The most common problems Shopify users encounter are duplicate content and canonical tags. While duplicate content is necessary on e-commerce sites like Shopify, Google sees it as a red flag when indexing web pages. To deal with this issue, Shopify started adding canonical tags, which tell Google which version of the page is "canonical" or the preferred version. However, Shopify doesn't use an internal linking structure but links to non-canonical pages by default. Shopify's canonical tags are automatic, so you can't change them. The only step you can take to prevent this issue is to avoid duplicate content wherever possible.

Similar issues occur with sitemaps. Shopify automatically generates your store's sitemap xml file and offers limited editing options. The same applies to the robots.txt file. Descriptions on product pages and meta tags need to be addressed manually as well, which can be an issue for those who don't know how to code.

How to Improve Your SEO Strategy on Shopify

While Shopify offers various SEO features and tools, you can improve your Shopify store's SEO by taking a few additional steps. Here are different Shopify SEO tips you can use to improve the search engine results of your Shopify store:

1. Use a keyword research tool: Use Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and the Keyword Magic Tool, to identify target keywords related to the products and services you offer.
2. Add relevant keywords to your Shopify website: You can implement keywords into page titles, meta descriptions, product pages, product descriptions, URL structures, etc.
3. Create unique, high-quality content: Write blog posts, descriptions on product pages, and guides on topics related to your business.
4. Optimise images with alt tags: Optimising images using alt text will improve their visibility in image searches on Google and other search engines.
5. Insert link-building strategies: Add internal and external links to attract organic traffic from search engines and backlinks to earn credibility.
6. Create a sitemap: Building a sitemap that includes all the pages of your store will help Google crawl your Shopify site more quickly.
7. Optimise your e-commerce store for mobile phones: Choose a responsive design or an app that can be accessed from different devices.
8. Track and analyse your SEO strategy: Drive SEO success by constantly keeping track of your SEO efforts with tools such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

Advanced Customisation Options for Experienced Users

The power of Shopify's SEO tools is undeniable, and the advanced customisation options available to experienced users only add to its ability to improve a website's ranking on search engines. From optimising page titles and meta descriptions to using structured data markup for better visibility on SERPs, these features give businesses an edge over their competitors.

For those well-versed in coding, Shopify offers plenty of functions that can be customised through HTML or JavaScript. This includes customising template files and adding unique snippets into existing code blocks. The platform provides robust APIs which offer access to deeper levels of customisation, such as creating new navigation structures or customising product displays. With this flexibility, experienced developers have all they need to create beautiful e-commerce sites tailored to their business's needs.

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When it comes to managing SEO efforts, Shopify offers valuable tools for both novice and seasoned professionals. This range of customisation options allows businesses to maximise using the platform's SEO services while expressing creativity through various design elements.

Alternatives to Shopify for Improving SEO

While Shopify offers a range of tools that are good for SEO, it provides less control over certain SEO elements. Its content management system is designed primarily for product pages, making it harder to optimise non-product content such as blog posts, category pages, and landing pages. That's why several alternatives should be considered if you want to take your store's rankings on search engines to the next level.

Using Google AdWords campaigns is one way to boost your visibility on search engines. You can use target keywords or phrases related to your products or services so they appear at the top of relevant searches. This gives you access to potential customers who may not have been aware of your business before seeing it on the results page. You can also use analytics tools like Google Analytics for valuable insights into how visitors find and interact with your website, helping you optimise content for higher rankings.

Compared to other website builders, Shopify's SEO features are generally as good as other popular e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce and Magento. However, compared to other website builders like Squarespace and Wordpress, Shopify is a better solution for businesses with complex SEO needs. What’s more, all types of e-commerce businesses can benefit from Shopify. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does Shopify Cost?

The total monthly cost of using Shopify's services depends on your plan. Prices range from 5 USD to 2,000 USD a month. If you own a small business and want to advertise your products, you can sign up for the basic plan, which is 39 USD a month. But if you're interested in more comprehensive SEO services, Shopify's other plans might be a better solution.

Aside from subscription-based costs, businesses should factor in additional expenses associated with ongoing maintenance, including content and backlink updates and monitoring changes in search engine algorithms. If you want to install one or more Shopify apps, you must consider how much each charges monthly.

How Can I Measure the Success of My Shopify SEO Campaign?

To better understand your Shopify SEO performance, you should set measurable goals that align with the objectives of your business. These metrics should include tangible elements, including page views, the time-on-site rate, and the click-through rate. For this, you can use tracking tools like Google Analytics to monitor progress and determine whether or not you need to make changes to improve your results.

Analysing data from these reports will help identify areas in need of improvement and provide insights into new strategies for increasing visibility online. This includes researching keywords relevant to the target audience, creating meta descriptions that accurately reflect the content on different pages, monitoring internal and external links, and ensuring website speed runs efficiently.

Why Is SEO Important for E-commerce Stores?

SEO is essential for e-commerce stores for several reasons. The primary goal of SEO is to increase a website's visibility on search engines, which is also in the best interests of e-commerce stores. By ranking higher in search results, e-commerce stores can attract more organic traffic to their website, leading to more potential customers and more opportunities for sales.

Another reason SEO is important for e-commerce websites is the overwhelming levels of competition in this industry. With a proper SEO strategy, e-commerce stores have a higher chance of standing out from other businesses that offer similar products or services.

The Importance of SEO for Shopify and Vice Versa

When considering whether Shopify is good for SEO, our Shopify SEO review tells us that it can make a massive difference for online businesses trying to make a name for themselves in the world of e-commerce. Shopify offers a vast array of search engine optimisation tools and apps that can help your e-commerce store attract new visitors and increase revenue. Of course, Shopify isn't perfect, and it has a few flaws, but knowing how to get around them will take your SEO game to a whole new level.

If your e-commerce store is in need of SEO services, you can hire trusted SEO experts like RankRise. We're a digital marketing company specialising in SEO, and we can help you create the perfect SEO campaign for your small business. We can also make sure your business keeps growing with the help of our valuable content, which is tailored to each business. If you'd like to know more, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.