Complete Guide to Keyword Research for Ecommerce Businesses

Want to get discovered by the right set of online shoppers on the search engine? Here’s how to get started with eCommerce keyword research.

Vanhishikha
August 31, 2023 | 10 MINUTES

In the vast landscape of Ecommerce, finding the right keywords is crucial for the success of your business. Internet users rely heavily on specific words and phrases when searching for products online.

Effective Ecommerce keyword research can help businesses understand how they search and describe products and can be the key to getting discovered organically.

Surprisingly, many companies fail to tap into this potential by solely relying on their product name and category as keywords. This leaves a vast untapped opportunity for those willing to invest in comprehensive keyword research.

In this guide, we'll delve into keyword research for Ecommerce, equipping you with the knowledge and tools to uncover the perfect keywords that will drive organic traffic to your Ecommerce business.

What is Ecommerce keyword research?

Keyword research for Ecommerce is the process of identifying and analyzing the specific words and phrases that potential customers use when searching for products online.

It involves understanding the language and terminology they use, as well as uncovering trending or popular keywords related to your industry. It then helps businesses execute effective Ecommerce keyword targeting.

What are the different types of keywords?

As part of Ecommerce keyword research, understanding the various types of keywords is crucial. Here are the four main types of keywords:

  • Informational Keywords: These keywords are used by users who are seeking information or answers to their questions.

    They often include terms such as "how to," "what is," or "tips for." Users with informational intent are looking to educate themselves and may not have a specific product or service in mind. For example, "How to tie a tie" or "Benefits of drinking green tea."

  • Navigational Keywords: Navigational keywords are used when users are looking for a specific website or brand.

    These keywords indicate that the user already knows what they are looking for and want to navigate directly to a particular website or page. For example, "Facebook login" or "Nike shoes."

  • Commercial Keywords: Commercial keywords indicate that the user is in the process of researching or considering a purchase.

    These keywords often include terms like "best," "top-rated," or "compare" and may involve specific product or service categories.

    Users with commercial intent are typically looking for information to help them make a purchasing decision. For example, "best DSLR cameras" or "compare iPhone models."

  • Transactional Keywords: Transactional keywords signify that the user is ready to make a purchase or take a specific action.

    These keywords often include terms like "buy," "order," or "book." Users with transactional intent are highly motivated to complete a transaction or take a desired action. For example, "buy running shoes online" or "book a hotel in Paris."

By understanding the different types of keywords and the intent behind them, Ecommerce businesses can tailor their SEO strategy to provide relevant content and capture the right audience at each stage of the customer journey.

Why is Ecommerce keyword research important?

Keyword research plays a pivotal role in the success of Ecommerce businesses. Here are five key reasons why Ecommerce keyword research is important:

1. Increased online visibility

By conducting keyword research, Ecommerce businesses can identify the specific words and phrases that their target audience uses to search for products online.

By optimizing their website content and product descriptions with these keywords, businesses can significantly improve their chances of appearing in relevant search results. This increased visibility can lead to higher organic traffic and exposure to a larger pool of potential customers.

2. Targeted traffic generation

Keyword research helps businesses attract highly targeted traffic to their Ecommerce website.

By optimizing their content and product listings with relevant keywords, businesses can ensure that they are attracting users who are actively looking for the products or services they offer.

This targeted traffic is more likely to convert into leads and customers, resulting in higher conversion rates and improved sales.

3. Competitive advantage

Keeping a pulse on keyword trends and researching competitor keywords can provide businesses with a competitive advantage in the Ecommerce landscape.

By identifying and leveraging keywords that their competitors may be overlooking, businesses can tap into untapped markets and gain an edge in search engine rankings.

Moreover, by understanding the keywords that their competitors are targeting, businesses can refine their own keyword strategy to differentiate themselves and stand out in the market.

4. Enhanced content optimization

Keyword research is essential for optimizing website content and product descriptions. By incorporating relevant and high-performing keywords, businesses can improve the overall quality of their content.

This not only helps search engines better understand and index their website, but it also enhances the user experience by providing valuable and informative content that aligns with what customers are searching for.

This, in turn, can lead to higher engagement metrics, lower bounce rates, and increased customer satisfaction.

5. Long-term growth strategy

Ecommerce keyword research is not a one-time task; it is an ongoing process.

By continuously monitoring keyword performance and staying up-to-date with evolving search trends, businesses can adapt their keyword strategy over time.

This allows them to stay ahead of the competition, optimize their content for emerging keywords, and ensure that their Ecommerce business remains relevant and visible in a rapidly changing online landscape.

How to do keyword research for Ecommerce?

While there is no one set way of doing Ecommerce keyword research, let’s look into the steps we recommend taking:

1. Evaluate where you rank

Establishing benchmarks is a crucial step before making informed decisions about your keyword strategy. It provides valuable insights that guide your efforts in terms of creating new content or updating existing content.

If you have already begun building your Ecommerce website and have incorporated SEO keywords, it is essential to utilize a keyword ranking tracker like Google Search Console.

This tool helps you determine your current position in relevant searches, allowing you to assess the effectiveness of your keyword implementation.

By keeping track of your keyword rankings, you can measure progress, identify areas for improvement, and refine your SEO strategy for better search engine visibility.

Alternatively, you can run a detailed eCommerce site audit using SEO apps like SEOKart. The SEO tool takes into account all the key parameters that a site is ranked on and makes use of artificial intelligence to create actionable insights out of the audit.

2. Start with a rough list

Before diving into Ecommerce keyword research, it is essential to brainstorm an initial list of search terms that your potential customers may use to find your products.

Start by thinking about the terminology and phrases that are relevant to your niche. You can then expand your list by leveraging Google search predictions.

This step is to understand precisely what people are searching for as opposed to what you expected them to search for.

Additionally, tools like Übersuggest can help you generate keyword ideas by scraping Google for frequently searched permutations. Once you have a comprehensive list, you can refine it by evaluating the relevance, search volume, and competition of each keyword.

3. Using the Google Keyword Planner tool

The Google Keyword Planner Tool is one of the most popular tools for conducting keyword research.

To use this tool, you will need a Google Ads account, which is free to set up. Once you have logged in and accessed the Keyword Planner, you can enter your brainstormed keywords and view search volume, competition, and related search terms.

The tool's filters allow you to narrow down your keyword list based on competition levels, ensuring you focus on keywords that are achievable to rank for.

4. Look into Ecommerce keyword analytics

When conducting keyword research, it is crucial to evaluate various Ecommerce keyword analytics to make informed decisions. Look into -

  • Search volume: This metric refers to the number of times a specific keyword is searched for in search engines over a given period.

    It is a crucial metric to consider as it helps to identify the popularity of a keyword and its potential to attract traffic to your Ecommerce website. Keyword tools such as Google Keyword Planner can help you determine the search volume of a particular keyword.

  • Search relevance: When it comes to keyword research, relevance is crucial. It is essential to consider how relevant a keyword is to your business and whether it aligns with your brand, products, or services.

    A keyword may have a high search volume but may not be relevant to your business, rendering it ineffective. Therefore, analyzing the relevance of a keyword to your business is crucial to target the right audience effectively.

  • Keyword difficulty: The keyword difficulty score is an indicator of how difficult it will be to rank for a particular keyword.

    It is important to consider the difficulty score while conducting keyword research as it helps to identify achievable keywords, considering the competition levels.

    A low keyword difficulty score means that there is less competition for that keyword, making it relatively easier to rank on the first page of Google search engine results.

  • Search intent: Understanding user search intent is a crucial step in keyword research. It involves analyzing the reason behind a user's search query and the results they expect to see.

    By understanding the search intent behind certain keywords, you can tailor your content strategy to provide users with exactly what they are looking for and increase the chances of converting them into customers.

    For example, if someone searches for "buy running shoes online," their search intent is transactional and should be met with a product page to encourage a purchase.

4. Uncovering keyword opportunities through competitor analysis

Competitor analysis is a valuable tactic in Ecommerce keyword research, as it allows you to uncover keyword opportunities and gain insights into your industry landscape.

Identify your main competitors and analyze the keywords they are targeting and the backlinks they have acquired. Tools like SEOKart can provide comprehensive competitor analysis, including organic search volume, traffic, and keyword difficulty.

Here’s what you should specifically look for -

  • Targeted Keywords: It is important to analyze the specific keywords your competitors are targeting.

    This gives you insights into their SEO strategy and helps you identify opportunities to target similar or related keywords to attract the same target audience.

  • Backlinks: Analyzing your competitors' backlinks is crucial. By examining the number of backlinks they have, you can gauge the level of authority and credibility they have in the eyes of search engines.

    Additionally, investigating where their backlinks are coming from can provide valuable information for your own link-building efforts.

    It can inspire ideas for guest posting and collaboration opportunities with websites that are relevant to your niche.

  • Content Topics and Quality: Evaluating the topics covered by your competitors' content helps you understand what resonates with your target audience.

    By assessing the quality of their content, you can identify areas of improvement or missed opportunities that you can fill. This can involve creating more comprehensive, detailed, or engaging content that provides more value to your audience.

By leveraging competitor insights, you can refine your keyword strategy and identify gaps in the market that you can capitalize on.

5. Implementing keywords across your Ecommerce website

Once you have a refined list of keywords, it is crucial to implement them strategically across your Ecommerce website.

Optimize your product descriptions and titles to include relevant keywords that align with customer search intent. Incorporate keywords into your blog content and meta tags to improve your chances of ranking for relevant search terms.

Enhance your category pages and navigation by utilizing keywords in your website structure and URL hierarchy.

By strategically implementing keywords, you can improve your website's visibility and attract organic traffic from search engines.

6. Monitoring and adjusting your keyword strategy

Ecommerce keyword research is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and adjustment.

Track your keyword rankings and organic traffic to assess the effectiveness of your keyword strategy.

Analyze user behavior and conversion rates to gain insights into how your keywords are driving engagement and sales.

Adapt your keyword strategy based on performance data, adjusting your targeting, content, and optimization techniques to maximize your Ecommerce success.

The smarter way to do Ecommerce keyword research: Use SEOKart

SEOKart is your time-saving solution. It brings together all the essential SEO elements in one convenient place, eliminating the need to juggle multiple platforms.

By breaking down SEO silos and connecting the dots, SEOKart aims to maximize engagement for your store with minimal effort.

Here's how our system works:

  • Keyword Suggestions: Our powerful Shopify keyword generator can provide keyword suggestions based on what we believe will be the best fit for your online store.

    Alternatively, you can bring your own keywords for tracking. You also have the option to have a mix of both, combining our suggestions with your own.

  • Rank Tracking: Our system allows you to track the rank of your online store on the added keywords.

    We provide you with four default variables to track: country, language, device, and search engine.

    This comprehensive tracking helps you understand your store's performance in specific markets, languages, and devices, and on different search engines.

  • Competitor Comparison: Along with tracking your own store's rank, our platform enables you to compare your performance with three recommended competitors.

    You can also choose specific competitors that you want to keep a close eye on. This comparison gives you valuable insights into how your store ranks against your competition and helps you identify areas for improvement.

  • Lucid Presentation and Intelligible Information: We understand the importance of clear and well-presented data.

    Our platform provides a lucid presentation of your rank-tracking results, along with intelligible information. You can easily access details such as your best position, worst position, and historic changes.

    This user-friendly interface makes it easy for you to analyze and understand the data without any confusion.

With SEOKart you can effortlessly gather keyword suggestions, track your store's rank across different variables, compare your performance with competitors, and access intelligible information that makes data analysis a breeze.

Mastering Ecommerce keyword research is essential for success!

By understanding your target audience, their search intent, and the competitive landscape, you can develop a comprehensive keyword strategy that aligns with your business goals.

By consistently optimizing your Ecommerce website with relevant keywords, you can increase visibility, attract targeted traffic, and drive conversions.

However, this can be a long and tiresome task. And it doesn’t end with just research. You also have to work on effective Ecommerce keyword targeting.

With SEOKart, the all-in-one SEO app, each investment yields significant results, giving you excellent value for your money.

You can get started with a free trial of SEOKart today.

But if you need someone to manage eCommerce SEO for your business, book a call with us today.

Frequently asked questions

What are keywords in Ecommerce?

Keywords in Ecommerce are search terms used by customers to find products or services online, enabling businesses to optimize their websites and attract relevant traffic.

How do I find hot keywords for SEO?

SEOKart can provide keyword suggestions based on what will be the best fit for your online store.