Earlier this month, Google’s Matt Cutts announced that the company with the largest search market share may be rolling out changes that will directly target and impact E-Commerce businesses. For web-based business owners, managers, marketing directors and social community managers – here’s what you need to know.
Google will be looking at the quality of online merchants because, as Matt Cutts stated to Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, “Google does not want low quality experience merchants to be ranking in the search engines”. This is great for consumers, but means that E-Commerce websites will really need to step it up in order to compete to obtain and maintain the coveted top position on Page 1, above the fold, for targeted search terms. A few factors that would likely impact E-Commerce sites in organic search – aside from reviews, are:
- Completion of data feed in Google Shopping- Google Seller ratings
- Popularity of brand name / website
- Social media activity (fresh content and actual dialogue with consumers)
- On-site trust factors (phone number, privacy & return policies, tracking, etc.
- Functional, full-featured shopping cart- Both current and historical rankings, traffic
- Quality, relevant content (informational in combination with E-Commerce)
So, until Google rolls this out, you’ve got some time to remove any duplicate content, ensure that all of the E-Commerce must-haves are in fact on your site, and identify what can be done to boost organic rankings.The best place to start? A complimentary web evaluation that focuses on organic SEO, social media marketing, device compatibility and more – with no cost or obligation. It’s a tremendously valuable 15+ page evaluation, and it takes only a minute to submit your request. Learn more »
This surely appears to be nothing more than a bunch of scare tactics to get people to use your services. Come on. Google already ranks their own paid (PLA) network poorly. Thus, they’re search approach is already a mess. It needs a complete overhaul and they know it.
It’s not meant to scare ecommerce owners, but to prepare them for a likely Google algorithmic change that is coming, and encourage them to get their site in order and create a great user experience. The offer at the end of the post is for a web/SEO evaluation that we provide free of charge to all prospects. Most who request it are truly surprised at how their website ranks and performs. It’s simply a value offer, no obligations.