Search engine optimization (SEO) helps improve your site’s visibility in search results and drives unpaid traffic to your store. With Lightspeed eCom (E-Series), many essential SEO elements are already built in. Your site automatically includes clean URLs, a sitemap.xml, a robots.txt file, and alt text for product images.

To boost your store’s ranking even further, follow the guide below to optimize your site for both search engines and customers.

Adding keywords to product names and descriptions

Use keywords that potential customers might search for. This helps search engines understand what your store offers and improves your rankings. Here are some tips for finding keywords:

• Brainstorm search terms related to your products.
• Look at hashtags used on social media for similar products.
• Use Google Search Console to find queries that lead visitors to your site.
• Check related searches shown at the bottom of Google search result pages. For example, these are searches related to "surfing clothes":

Adding custom meta tags to product pages

When analyzing a webpage, search engines get information about its content from the meta tags that include the title and description. Search engines use this information to describe pages as they appear in the search results and rank them by relevance.

Visitors read these descriptions to decide if they want to click on the result. You can edit meta tags for every product in your online catalog to make it more inviting.

To add custom meta tags for your products:

1. From Retail POS, navigate to Catalog > Products.
2. Select the product in the list, then click View on Lightspeed eCom on the right. This will open the product page in the eCom admin.
3. Switch to the SEO tab and click Customize page title and meta description‍.
4. Write your texts in the Page title and meta description fields. The text should be short and readable (50-400 characters), ideally under 155 characters, so it’s not cut off on the Google results page. Include your main keywords in product names and early in the description, but avoid keyword stuffing.

5. Check how the product will look on Google when indexed.

   

6. Click Save.

Optionally, you can use AI to generate custom meta tags for your products.

Adding custom meta tags to category pages

Categories allow you to organize products in your store and help visitors navigate the site. By default, eCom creates meta tags automatically from category names and descriptions. You can add custom meta tags to individual product categories to make them look more attractive to potential customers on the search results page.

To add custom meta tags for your categories:

1. From Retail POS, navigate to Online > Webstore (or Website) > Categories.
2. Find the desired category in the left panel and click it, or create a new category.
3. Switch to the SEO tab and click Customize page title and meta description.
4. Write the text in the Page title and meta description fields. It’s best to keep the title under 80 characters and the description under 160 characters. This way, they won't be cut off on the search results page.

5. Check how the product will look on Google when indexed.

   

6. Click Save.

Adding custom alt text to product and category images

Alternative text helps you to describe images for search engines and visually impaired users. It also appears if an image fails to load. By default, eCom uses product or category names as alt text. You can customize this in your product or category settings:

1. In your eCom admin, navigate to Catalog > Products or Catalog > Categories.
2. Click on the product or category to edit.
3. Hover over the product or category image and click Actions > Edit Alt Text.
   
4. Update the alt text and press Save.

Adding custom meta tags to eCom site pages

With your Lightspeed eCom website, you can set SEO details for each page to help search engines and visitors understand your content:

• SEO titles create the title tag for the page.
• SEO descriptions create a summary of the page.
• Site image appears as a preview when someone shares a site page on social media.

eCom automatically adds meta tags to each page based on SEO settings you set up in the eCom site editor. Make sure you include relevant keywords in SEO titles and descriptions so tags give more context for search robots and help visitors use your site more effectively.

SEO settings for the homepage and custom pages are set up separately. If you leave the homepage SEO fields empty, tags will be automatically generated from your site’s content. If you don’t create SEO settings for custom pages, then the page will get the homepage SEO settings.

Adding custom meta tags to the homepage

A homepage is the first page your visitors see when they open your site. A one-page site consists of the homepage only, while a multi-page site consists of the homepage and custom pages you add to your eCom site.

To create SEO settings for the eCom site homepage:

1. From Retail POS, navigate to Online > Webstore (or Website) > Edit Site.
2. At the top left, click Settings > SEO & Sharing.
3. Add site title, description, or image.
4. Click Publish.

Adding custom meta tags to custom pages

Custom pages are unique pages that you add to your eCom site. It’s recommended to add a page-specific description and title since that copy is displayed in search results. A relevant and catchy description can encourage people to click through to your site.

To create SEO settings for the eCom site page:

1. From Retail POS, navigate to Online > Webstore (or Website) > Edit Site.
2. At the top left, click Page and select the page.
3. Switch to the Settings tab.

4. Click the title to add relevant SEO texts or images.

   

5. Click Publish.

Collecting product reviews from customers

When ranking websites in search results, search engines consider self-published content as well as what others say about your site and your products.

Through customer reviews, ratings, and comments, you can increase your online store’s rankings. Customer-generated content also provides relevant keywords and lots of backlinks to your eCom store. On top of that, customer reviews build trust, help people make purchase decisions, and increase conversion rates in your store. 

Learn more about the built-in option for collecting customer reviews and ratings on your eCom site. Alternatively, you can use apps from the Lightspeed eCom App Market like HelpfulCrowd, Trustami, or TargetBay to collect customer feedback.

Adding your business address to your website

Your site has a better chance of appearing in searches for your area if Google and your customers can see your location. If your business has a physical location, it’s recommended to add your address and a map to the Contact Us section of your eCom site.

Adding a favicon to your website

A favicon is a small icon that shows in a browser tab before the website name, in bookmarks, in search results, and elsewhere on the web. It gives more visibility to your site's brand.

Learn how to add a favicon to an eCom site.

Using a custom domain name for your website

To succeed in search, your site needs its own domain (rather than a default .company.site URL). It helps strengthen your SEO by consolidating traffic, links, and content under a recognizable brand. Having your own domain will also help customers remember your brand and make your site look more professional. 

Learn how to connect a domain to your eCom site.

Setting custom URL slugs for products and categories

eCom automatically generates SEO-friendly URLs for products and categories based on their names. For your eCom site, you can also set custom URL slugs for products and categories to boost your SEO and make the customer experience more engaging (for example, create easier-to-remember URLs or even add emojis to them).

To set custom URL slugs for a product or category:

1. In your eCom admin, navigate to Catalog > Products or Catalog > Categories.
2. Open the product or click on the category in the list.
3. Go to the SEO tab and click Customize product URL or Customize category URL‍.
4. Enter your custom URL slug.
5. Save the changes.

The URL for this product or category on your eCom site will be updated. All the previous slugs will now redirect to this one.

Use the Bulk Product Editor or CSV import/export to update multiple slugs at once.

Setting up 301 URL redirects for your website

Permanent redirects, also known as 301 redirects, allow you to send visitors and search engines away from one page to another. This way, visitors can always get to the active product pages, and Google and other search engines keep your site's SEO ranking high even if you migrated your online store to eCom. You can also use redirects when running marketing campaigns.

Learn how to add redirects for an eCom site.

Enabling social share buttons for products

Sharing your products on social media can improve your store’s visibility to search engines and increase your reach. You can set up social sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to encourage people to share your products.

To enable share buttons on product pages:

1. From Retail POS, navigate to Online > Webstore (or Website) > Edit Site.
2. In the Page dropdown at the top, select Product > Product Details.
3. Click Share Buttons and choose your option from the dropdown.
4. Publish the changes.

If you're not using the Lightspeed eCom sitebuilder, go to Online > Webstore > Design > Sidebar to enable share buttons on product pages in eCom.

You can add plenty of other share buttons (Instagram, Linkedin, Tumblr, Blogger, Reddit, and more) to your store with the 20+ Promotional Sales Tools app from the Lightspeed eCom App Market. To encourage people to share your products, you can use the Social Boost and Gratisfaction apps.

Verifying your domain with Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free service that helps you monitor and improve your site’s presence in Google search results. Before you can use its features, you need to verify your domain so Google knows you’re the rightful owner of the site.

Learn how to verify eCom site ownership in Google Search Console.

Submitting a sitemap to Google

A sitemap is a file containing a list of individual pages of a website. It tells Google and other search engines about the structure of your site content and when it was last updated, helping search robots to index and crawl your products faster. All eCom sites automatically generate a sitemap file, moreover it is already submitted to Google internally (via robots.txt file). If you wish search engines to find it a bit faster, you may want to submit your sitemap to Google manually via Search Console.

Using Google Analytics to track SEO efforts

With Google Analytics, you will have access to lots of stats and insights on how your existing and potential customers find and use your online catalog and store. Create a Google Analytics account to set up a property and set up a tracking code so Google can collect your website data. Once connected, you can find referral sites, see the number of store page views, search queries, what shipping method visitors choose, and other reporting on your site through eCom's built-in integration with Google.

Building high-quality backlinks

Backlinks are links to your site from other reputable, relevant websites. They can significantly improve your search rankings and credibility in the eyes of both Google and potential customers.

Ways to earn valuable backlinks:

• Write guest posts for popular blogs in your industry.
• Ask your suppliers or manufacturers to feature your store and link to it on their websites.
• Publish helpful blog articles and link them to your products.
• Collaborate with influencers or reviewers who can mention and link to your store.