3 Essential SEO Goals and Strategies for Brand E-Commerce Sites
Updated on: by Heysho
"How can we efficiently increase organic traffic to our brand e-commerce site?"
"We've implemented SEO measures, but we're not seeing results."
"What KPIs should we prioritize for our corporate site's SEO strategy?"
If you're facing these challenges, you're not alone. In this article, we'll explore three critical goals (KPIs) for e-commerce site SEO, along with actionable strategies for each.
In summary, these three goals are essential:
- Increasing search volume and click-through rates for branded searches (brand name only)
- Improving search rankings and click-through rates for branded long-tail keywords
- Growing traffic from general keywords through strategic content marketing
While individual bloggers often focus primarily on content marketing for SEO, brand sites should prioritize the first two goals. Let's examine each in detail.
Goal 1: Increase Search Volume for Branded Searches
When more people search specifically for your brand name, you'll see several key benefits:
- Higher traffic from general keywords through improved content marketing effectiveness
- Overall growth in organic traffic
- Enhanced domain authority that strengthens your entire SEO profile
Increasing branded searches means your brand is becoming established in consumers' minds—a concept known as "brain SEO."
How to Increase Branded Search Volume
To efficiently build brand awareness, strategically increase touchpoints with your target audience:
- Brands with rising search volumes typically show higher overall marketing effectiveness and sales growth
- Maximize follower acquisition and content exposure across social media platforms and YouTube
- Gain impressions through strategic display ads and social media campaigns
- Enhance brand visibility through partnerships with relevant media outlets and influencers
Remember the marketing "Rule of Seven"—consumers typically need to encounter your brand message seven times before they truly recognize it. Focus on consistently delivering valuable content on platforms where your target audience spends time.
Key Metrics to Track
- Impression trends for your brand name in Google Search Console
- Brand name search trends in Google Trends
- Brand name search volume using keyword research tools (such as Ubersuggest or Google Keyword Planner)
Google Search Console provides the most reliable measurement among these options due to its larger sample size and more accurate impression data. Note that if you're running paid ads for your brand name, aim for 100% impression share to ensure accurate performance metrics and maximize visibility.
Goal 2: Improve Search Rankings and Click-Through Rates for Branded Long-Tail Searches
For established brand websites, this goal is particularly crucial. Consider how Nike's official site appears at the top when searching for "Nike Dunk," outranking major e-commerce platforms like Rakuten and BUYMA.
If you've secured top positions for your brand terms, you're likely implementing basic SEO correctly. However, continuous monitoring of your branded terms and long-tail keywords is essential. It's surprisingly common to find major e-commerce sites like Amazon taking the top spot for your brand terms if you're not vigilant.
How to Improve Click-Through Rates
Once you've achieved high rankings for branded long-tail keywords, focus on improving your click-through rate (CTR).
Take Uniqlo as an example: they not only dominate the top rankings for "Uniqlo Hybrid Down Coat" but also display rich results with star ratings, review counts, and pricing information.
By implementing proper structured data markup, you can display these enhanced search results that capture user attention and drive higher click-through rates.
Key Metrics to Track
- Average search ranking for 50 important branded keywords
- Average click-through rate (CTR) for these same keywords
For accurate performance measurement, consistently monitor the same set of keywords over time.
While some teams track average rankings and CTR for all keywords from Google Search Console, this approach can be misleading. The total number of keywords your site ranks for can fluctuate significantly due to technical SEO improvements or Google algorithm changes.
Always compare performance trends using the same keyword set to ensure accurate measurement of your efforts.
Goal 3: Increase Traffic from General Keywords Through Content Marketing
This strategy should complement your branded keyword efforts outlined in goals 1 and 2.
By creating high-quality informational content like "What is [product category]" or "[Product] Comparison" guides, you can effectively reach potential customers who aren't yet familiar with your brand.
While more challenging to execute, SEO-driven content marketing typically delivers the highest long-term ROI among digital marketing initiatives, potentially yielding substantial and sustainable results when done correctly.
How to Improve Search Rankings for General Keywords
A strategic blog-centered content approach is most effective for this goal.
In less competitive niches, simple glossaries or FAQ pages might rank well, but comprehensive article-format content provides better user experience and deeper product understanding.
These content types consistently perform well:
- What is [product/concept] (foundational explanations)
- How to use [product] (practical guides)
- Types of [product category] (comprehensive overviews)
- Problems that [product] solves (solution-focused content)
- Comparing [product A] vs [product B] (buyer's guides)
This approach is particularly effective for corporate websites.
For topics beyond your in-house expertise, consider strategic partnerships with affiliate partners or industry publications.
Setting Appropriate Conversion Goals
When implementing content marketing, setting appropriate conversion goals is crucial.
Users searching with general keywords typically aren't ready to purchase immediately, so expecting direct sales from this traffic is often unrealistic.
Instead, focus on intermediate goals or "micro-conversions" that build relationships with these early-stage prospects:
- Email newsletter subscriptions
- Account registrations
- Social media follows
- Transitions from blog articles to product pages
Key Metrics to Track
- Search ranking trends for target general keywords
- Organic traffic volume
- Lead acquisition numbers
- Assisted conversions in Google Analytics (optional)
For more sophisticated analysis, use Google Analytics' assisted conversion tracking and multi-touch attribution models to accurately measure how your content contributes to e-commerce sales.
Conclusion
In this article, we've explored effective goal-setting and specific strategies for implementing SEO on brand e-commerce sites.
Thank you for reading.