Optimizing BigCommerce Shops for Search Engine Performance: Essential Strategies
BigCommerce: A Comprehensive SEO-Friendly Ecommerce Platform
BigCommerce is a robust and versatile ecommerce platform, first launched in 2009, that helps businesses create and run online stores efficiently. One of the key advantages of using BigCommerce for SEO optimization is its strong native SEO features.
Built-in SEO Toolkit
BigCommerce's built-in SEO toolkit includes native support for rich product schema, fully customizable URLs and slug structures, built-in AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) support, admin-level access to critical SEO controls, an SEO-friendly blog module, and built-in faceted navigation with canonical rules. These features enable merchants to create SEO-friendly websites without relying heavily on third-party apps.
Mobile Optimization
BigCommerce offers mobile-friendly, responsive design templates, and includes built-in AMP support, offering faster mobile page speeds, improving mobile-first indexing performance. Every BigCommerce store comes with a free SSL certificate, ensuring a secure site for customers.
Scalability and Integration
BigCommerce offers scalability for large and growing catalogs and robust integration capabilities with a wide array of marketing, analytics, and business applications, which streamline operations and contribute indirectly to SEO effectiveness by enhancing overall site performance and management.
SEO Best Practices
To optimize site speed, businesses can optimize images, enable Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), limit third-party apps and plugins, minimize custom code and features, and use fast-loading web fonts. A well-structured category hierarchy helps search engines understand your site's layout while making it easier for visitors to navigate, improving your ranking potential, and enhancing the customer's shopping experience.
Addressing Challenges
While BigCommerce offers many advanced SEO tools natively, businesses with advanced SEO needs may need to rely on third-party apps for additional features. BigCommerce can sometimes generate duplicate content through product variants and URL parameters. However, it automatically handles 301 redirects and URL rewriting, and integrates with popular SEO tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is essential for driving organic visibility and plays a crucial role in every stage of the buyer's journey. Effective ecommerce content angles include how-to guides, product demonstrations, comparison guides, customer success stories, user-generated content, seasonal or trending content, listicles, and email newsletters.
Conclusion
In summary, BigCommerce’s built-in SEO toolkit, mobile optimization, customizable SEO elements, and scalability make it well suited for merchants seeking strong, scalable SEO foundations for eCommerce growth. However, businesses with advanced SEO needs may need to supplement the platform with third-party apps. Hiring an SEO agency with specific expertise in BigCommerce SEO can enhance the success of your online store by making the most of the platform's tools, ensuring your site ranks higher in search results, and delivering a better overall user experience.
[1] Source: BigCommerce official website [2] Source: BigCommerce official blog
- The built-in SEO toolkit of BigCommerce, including content marketing capabilities, offers merchants the ability to create SEO-friendly websites and drive organic visibility.
- Performance enhancement techniques, like optimizing images, enabling AMP, and minimizing custom code, can contribute to better site speed and SEO effectiveness on BigCommerce.
- To deliver a better overall user experience and rank higher in search results, businesses can utilize technology integrations and education-and-self-development resources to improve the SEO performance of their BigCommerce online stores.
- For comprehensive SEO optimization, businesses may consider hiring an agency with experience in BigCommerce SEO and general-news about the latest trends in content marketing, analytics, and conversion strategies can aid in the success of an ecommerce business using the BigCommerce platform.
