Top 7 Reasons Why Ecommerce SEO Will Dominate In 2021
Keeping up with ecommerce trends can feel like an impossible task, with new information breaking daily, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.
Yet, like it or lump it, ecommerce is here to stay, with 99Firms estimating in their Ecommerce Statistics for 2020 that by 2040, around 95% of all purchases are expected to be via ecommerce. This upward trend was inevitable, but the COVID-19 pandemic has had a hand in accelerating this transition to ecommerce through 2020, and into 2021.
1 – The COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Statista, retail websites generated almost 22 billion visits in June 2020, up from 16.07 billion global visits in January 2020, that’s around 6 billion more visits! This trend has continued into 2021, with 10% of Americans not expecting their lives to go back to how they were before.
More shoppers than ever have realised the value of ecommerce for both convenience and safety, turning to online shopping for their retail needs versus brick-and-mortar establishments. It’s important to capitalise on this wave of new ecommerce custom and ensure that your SEO is up to date. The brands that will dominate in 2021 are the ones that rapidly adapt to a broader, fresher market.
2 – Ecommerce sector growth.
Throughout the pandemic, ecommerce in the UK has enjoyed a large share of sales as detailed in the graph below:
As we head into 2021 it’s important to monitor these statistics, as lockdowns, social distancing and general wariness look to persist well into the year. Through 2020 you see a huge uptake in ecommerce. While it takes a dip through July 2020, ecommerce’s share of sales remains the highest it’s ever been.
A larger share of sales naturally generates more competition. Ensuring that your SEO is at an exceptionally high standard has never been as important as it is in 2021. Agencies such as MintTwist can expedite the SEO process and ensure that your website’s SEO is at the high standard that you need to succeed.
3 – Tailored marketing to your customer base.
With this influx of ecommerce customers comes a variety of new challenges. Many people are shopping online for the first time ever. SEO is, and will likely remain, one of the most dominant forces in bringing in new custom to your website, with around 37.5% of traffic coming through organic search alone.
People new to ecommerce are likely to turn to Google or other search engines as their first step to finding your brand. Ensuring that all your pages are performing to the best of their ability is crucial. Engaging in solid SEO practises is the foundation of any successful ecommerce business.
4 – Converting new ecommerce customers.
Bringing in traffic to your website with excellent SEO is only half the battle. New shoppers means a new chance to make a good first impression, and we all know how critical the first impression is!
Using the Amazon Enhanced Brand Content tool allows you to present your products in the best way possible by adding logos, graphics and photos to your product listings.
Consider how your copy is shown and how your imagery helps guide the prospective customer. Remember that with SEO, there’s always a competitor looking to draw attention away from your products. Ensure that your landing page gives exactly what is needed, and that a new visitor does not have to go trawl through superfluous information to find what they want to know.
5 – Informed buyers & brands.
Not only are there more people shopping online, but customers are becoming more informed about their purchasing decisions. Informed buyers want to buy from informed brands.
Ecommerce is transitioning from a transactional focus to an interactive focus. Customers are getting smarter, which means that your brand needs to evolve alongside this.
Targeted SEO is, of course, just as important as ever, but it’s the distinct interactions with a potential customer that are becoming key as time goes on. With ecommerce this can be done in a variety of ways, but one critical avenue is utilising machine-learning capabilities to ensure that your time is always spent productively interacting with customers/clients and driving sales & retention.
6 – Social media.
One clear standout for ecommerce SEO in 2021, social media’s importance in modern sales and marketing cannot be overstated.
At the end of the day, a social media platform is, for all intents and purposes, a search engine. As a result, they are extremely valuable tools for a marketer.
Each platform has distinct strengths:
- YouTube allows you to create informative, striking visual content. Their algorithms work intelligently to create organic growth through trending pages. This is an excellent platform to demonstrate your informed brand.
- LinkedIn is a great avenue to show expertise. Offering concise, informative advice through LinkedIn can pay dividends in the long run.
- Facebook & Twitter offer strong communicative options to your customers, providing them a direct line to your brand. Using tagging and maintaining a presence increases the likelihood that your brand is noticed.
7 – Working from home.
Many businesses internationally have realised through 2020 that working from home is a viable (and often profitable) venture. Working from home is a practise that will likely continue through 2021 and beyond; there has been a cultural shift which makes working from a desk at home just as acceptable as working from an office.
Naturally, it stands to reason that someone working from the comfort of home is going to be out-and-about less, and is going to be far more likely to shop online.
Summary.
It’s a safe bet that this trend towards ecommerce SEO’s dominance will continue into 2021 and beyond. More people than ever are shopping online and this trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.