Conducting an SEO audit on a Shopify store often reveals a series of common, yet critical issues that can impede an online store's ability to rank well on search engines. Here's a straightforward look at the usual suspects. Note the below has a lot of overlap with difficulties found in e-commerce SEO in general:
1. Inadequate Internal Linking
Internal linking helps in spreading ‘link equity’ throughout the site and in guiding visitors to relevant content. An SEO audit often reveals a lack of strategic internal linking within Shopify stores. Review your homepage and take a look to which pages or directories can you get to, one page from the root domain?
Rather than doing this manually, you can run this code to do that in your dev tools web console …
function getRootDomain(url) {
const domain = (new URL(url));
return domain.origin;
}
function getAllInternalLinks() {
const rootDomain = getRootDomain(window.location.href);
const allLinks = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('a'));
const internalLinks = allLinks.filter(link => {
const linkHref = link.getAttribute('href');
if (!linkHref) return false;
const linkDomain = (new URL(linkHref, rootDomain)).origin;
return linkDomain === rootDomain;
});
return internalLinks.map(link => link.href);
}
console.log(getAllInternalLinks());
Which produces an output like this...
2. Thin Pages
Many Shopify stores have minimal or low-quality content. This includes thin product descriptions and a lack of valuable content like blogs or guides, which can hinder SEO efforts. Can you make your product descriptions more useful? Can you include a FAQ? (this will also prevent unnecessary emails to customer support).
3. Wrong Keyword Optimization
Many Shopify stores miss the mark on keyword optimization. Products and categories might not be optimized for the search terms potential customers are using, leading to missed opportunities in search engine rankings. You must compete on terms that are within your competitiveness.
4. Duplicate Content Problems
Shopify platforms can inadvertently create duplicate content issues. This happens due to similar product descriptions, or when products are listed under multiple categories. Search engines do not like duplicate content, which can negatively impact SEO. Usually this is resolved by setting a canonical URL. A look at product filters might be necessary too if your Shopify theme has deviated from standard practice.
5. Slow Site Speed
A common culprit in poor SEO performance is site speed. High-resolution images and unoptimized coding (especially from third party AdTech and analytics tools) can slow down a Shopify site, leading to a poor user experience and lower rankings on search engines. You can get an idea of site speed by looking at your website’s Google Search Console property.
An example small website where almost all pages need improvement
6. Poor Mobile UX/UI
If a Shopify store isn't optimized for mobile users, it’s losing out. With the majority of online shopping done on mobile devices, a non-mobile-friendly site can be a significant handicap in SEO. Again Google Search Console will tell you this in part; although ultimately determining a good mobile UI/UX is a matter of common sense; is the site’s visuals or design annoying on your phone? Pop-ups in the way, badly sized images?
7. Missing Meta Descriptions and Titles
Sometimes overlooked, meta descriptions and titles are crucial for SEO. Many Shopify stores have missing or poorly written meta titles and descriptions, which can lead to lower click-through rates from search engine results. These tags should match the result of researched keywords that you wish to rank on, where possible.
8. Unoptimized URL Structures
Similar but distinct to #4 above, Shopify stores sometimes have URL structures that are not SEO-friendly. Overly complex or irrelevant URLs can be detrimental to a site’s search engine ranking.
Conclusion
A Shopify SEO audit is a crucial step in diagnosing and improving the health of an e-commerce site. By identifying and addressing these common issues, store owners can enhance their site’s SEO performance, attract more traffic, and ultimately, increase sales.
