When Jeff Bezos decided in July 1995 to create an online bookstore, the main tools he enlisted were a computer and a website, not a delivery van. In the same way, if your goal is to improve your SEO to gain more organic traffic, you need the right tools for the job.
And there are very good reasons for wanting to improve ecommerce SEO. Experts believe that 43% of ecommerce traffic comes from organic Google searches. This means that if you get search engine optimization (SEO) right, you can increase your store’s organic traffic by 43%. And more traffic = more sales minus ad spend (more profits!).
In this post, you’ll learn about the best ecommerce SEO tools to kick off your SEO strategy and what they help you achieve, and we’ll include both paid and free options.
Ecommerce SEO Tools, by Function
SEO tools come under four main categories, depending on their role within the overall SEO strategy flow.
SEO Audit Tools
There are various technical factors that determine how often your ecommerce site appears in search results. Some of these include page load times, keyword density, image alt tags, etc. Problems with one or several of these factors can hurt your search engine rankings.
That’s why an SEO store audit is the most sensible starting point for ecommerce sites looking to improve their search engine rankings.
Plug In SEO Shop Scanner: Find, sort, fix and track SEO issues
Plug In SEO is a specialized ecommerce SEO tool that automatically scans your ecommerce store, identifying on-page optimization opportunities for SEO improvement. It’s perfect for any ecommerce business on a budget, trying to save on costly ecommerce SEO experts.
It identifies issues affecting your store’s SEO and provides step-by-step instructions (including videos) to help you fix whatever issues the app finds with your site.
To use it, just install the app on Shopify’s App Store, set it up, and run a scan.
Best feature: Search. You can search for SEO problems by page/category and fix issues one page or category at a time.
When to use: From Day 1
Cost: From $29.99/mo. 14-day free trial
Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research helps you concentrate your efforts in the areas most likely to get you decent results. This is because it provides insight into your most relevant keywords by search volume.
Imagine working hard for 3 months to rank for “tracksuit bottoms” in the US (>100 monthly searches), only to find out that your US customers are actually typing “sweatpants” (>100,000 monthly searches) to find the same product.
You need a competent keyword research tool to find relevant keywords for your products in the market you’re in. To effectively research keywords for your store, you need a handful of seed keywords relating to your products. At the bare minimum, a good keyword research tool should be able to:
Ahrefs: Research monthly keyword volume and keyword density
Ahrefs is a keyword tool that tells you how many searches your keywords get each month. It also tells you how competitive each keyword is.
Best feature: Growth prediction graphs. Next to each keyword result is a tiny graph that predicts how search volume for your keywords are likely to perform in the future.
When to use: At content strategy ideation stage.
Cost: From $99/mo. No free trial.
Plug In SEO Keyword studio: Discover long-tail keywords based on your store data
In addition to scanning your store for SEO problems, Plug In SEO also suggests long tail keywords (aka more specific versions) that you’ll likely rank for.
You can explore this feature under “Generate new ideas”
Best feature: Delete irrelevant keywords.
When to use: From Day 1
Cost: From $29.99/mo. 14-day free trial
Performance Tracking Tools
If appearing in search engine results is your goal, then it makes sense to track your performance using the SEO tools provided by the search engines you’re hoping to optimize for.
This is why I stick to Google’s organic traffic-related performance tracking tools. It’s easy to get confused and mistake the “Analytics” in Google Analytics for an SEO analytics solution.
But what you actually want for monitoring organic SEO is Google Search Console (GSC)
Google Search Console: Track your store’s SEO
GSC (previously Google Webmaster Tools) is a free tool that tracks how well your SEO efforts are impacting Google and other search engines.
It shows you how Google views your store, and reports on which pages in your store are indexed, how many times online searchers found your store in search results, what countries they came from, which pages brought the highest traffic, etc.
To use it to find out how your site is doing, just click on “Performance” and scroll through to see your top queries, top-performing pages, devices used to find your store, etc. You can also use GSC to:
- Monitor impressions, click-through rates (CTRs), average position, and more
- Compare your store’s performance across devices (tablet, mobile, desktop)
- Find out which pages have been indexed by Google and which pages have not
- Identify which pages have backlinks, and how many
- Identify and troubleshoot usability concerns
- Optimize your site’s performance
Best feature: Quick Insights. Get a quick snapshot of your overall performance.
When to use: From Day 1
Cost: Free
Google Merchant Center: Track and optimize Google Shopping results
There is no single comprehensive SEO tool that covers all performance tracking metrics. If you’re looking to optimize your store’s SEO for Google, you’ll need 2 Google performance tracking tools – one for ordinary search results and the other for Google Shopping results.
Google Merchant Center is a dedicated tool that gives insight into and helps you manage your store’s performance in Google Shopping results.
Best feature: Store Quality Checker. Get a quick snapshot of your store’s likelihood of ranking and get quick insights into fast fixes for improving your search rankings
When to use: From Day 1, to track how well your actions impact on your Google Shopping results.
Cost: Free
Tools for Competitor Analysis
Analyzing your competitors helps you understand your relative strengths and weaknesses, so that you can concentrate your efforts on where they matter most.
SEMRush: Find out what’s working for your competitors
Semrush is a paid tool that you can use to find out who your biggest competitors are, and what keywords are working for them.
Best feature: Keyword gap. Compare your keywords with your competitors and identify new opportunities.
When to use: At content strategy ideation stage.
Cost: From $135.95/mo. 7-day free trial.
Link Analysis and Building Tools
Finally, links are another SEO component worth considering as you explore tools. Google views links to your site as “votes of confidence”, and the more links you get, the better your SEO rankings.
Connectively: Get backlinks to your store by pitching in third-party blog posts
You can use Connectively to pitch journalists as a subject matter expert in your niche.
Best feature: Get backlinks in big publications like Business Insider for free.
When to use: At linkbuilding stage
Cost: 10 free pitches/month
Semrush: Audit your backlinks
Semrush offers a free tool for analyzing all the backlinks to your website and scoring them on how toxic they are. Better still, it tells you what to do about your most toxic backlinks.
Tips for Choosing Your Ecommerce SEO Stack
Now you know what SEO tools can do for your ecommerce business.
Free SEO tools for ecommerce (e.g GSC, GMC, and even Plug In SEO’s free trial), are a critical starting point for understanding your current position, planning and executing SEO strategies without incurring costs.
Here are some tips to help you make the best decisions when assembling your ecommerce SEO tool stack.
Spell Out Your Goals and Objectives
Sounds cliche, but how do you aim for an undefined target? Define your target (ideally, on paper) so that you know what tools will help you achieve them.
Perhaps you want to increase revenue by a certain percentage or reduce your ad spend without sacrificing sales. A keyword research tool will help you meet these goals by providing insight into the search volume for your unoptimized target keywords, identifying new ranking opportunities for your online store.
Start with a Site Audit
Whatever your SEO goals, your journey should always begin with an SEO audit of your online store.
You need a battle-tested tool that can reliably evaluate your entire store and tell you where the chinks in your armor lie. Skipping this step could send you down the path of engaging in an expensive SEO process that does nothing to improve your overall rankings.
The best tool for Shopify-powered ecommerce businesses is Plug In SEO. The free trial allows you access to all areas, including the store audit tool, which identifies all your SEO problems and suggests how to fix them.
Check Online Reviews
It goes without saying in 2024 that it’s worth reading through online reviews before purchasing any ecommerce SEO tools. You don’t want to inadvertently purchase something that has predominantly negative reviews from proven customers.
Test Customer Support
Before committing to paying for an SEO tool, it’s important to ensure that you have access to a responsive support team.
Try asking questions during the free trial/setup period to get an idea of what sort of response to expect if you every fall into major problems. Will you be left at the mercy of a robot, or do you get access to real humans who understand your problems and want to solve them?
Free SEO tools like GSC are notorious for their non-existent human support, but one way around this is leveraging the access to ecommerce SEO experts that paid tools like Plug In SEO offer.
Shorten the Path to More Organic Traffic With Plug In SEO
The ROI on ecommerce SEO is exponential. Optimizing your ecommerce store for SEO with relevant keywords that match buyer’s search intent means more of the right kind of organic traffic. And the right organic traffic means more sales. That’s what makes finding the best tools for SEO ecommerce a worthwhile endeavor.
And you don’t have to overthink things. Start your journey for free with a full store audit using the most comprehensive SEO tool for Shopify stores, Plug In SEO.
From the app dashboard, you can access your store’s analytics, keyword research and discovery, and human support all in one easy-to-use location.
But you don’t have to only take our word for it, 2,500+ Shopify store owners and some top app reviewers have weighed in with their own reviews about why Plug In SEO is one of the best tools for improving organic traffic for Shopify stores.
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