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Shopify Homepage SEO: 16 Tips to Optimize your Homepage for SEO

5 minutes

A Shopify store’s homepage works just the same as a traditional storefront. It’s the first impression customers get when visiting a business. Thus, a homepage must be in tip-top shape to entice customers to browse products, convert sales, and keep people coming back.

While a great storefront is extremely important, optimizing your homepage for SEO is also huge.

How so?

Optimizing your Shopify homepage SEO allows your store’s visibility to rise. As a result, you can improve your chances of attracting users, converting sales, and ensuring customer loyalty. These results are possible thanks to a few tweaks to your Shopify homepage SEO strategy.

In this article, we’ll take a look at 16 tips you can use to optimize your Shopify homepage SEO.

What is Your Shopify Homepage?

Your Shopify homepage is the first thing customers see when they enter your store. Your homepage greets customers with visuals aimed at enticing them to purchase. In contrast, a poor homepage takes away from your products’ appeal. This situation can result in customers leaving your site, sometimes never coming back.

On the technical side, your Shopify homepage is like a tree. Trees have a trunk from which their branches spread out. So, like a tree trunk, your Shopify homepage is the base that allows branches to spread out. The branches can include product pages, site features (i.e., blogs, about us, or contact sections), and other important site information.

Your homepage is also important to search engines. Search engines such as Google or Bing go through millions of websites in seconds. Search results appear based on a number of factors, such as keywords, loading times, URLs, metadata, and so on. Consequently, search engine optimization focuses on making your Shopify homepage visible to search engines.

Here is an example of a great-looking Shopify homepage:

Ocean Park swimwear’s homepage is a cool example of simplicity. Usually, when it comes to homepages, less is more. Your homepage should be a hub from where users can navigate your site. Crowding your homepage confuses users, causing them to leave.

What Elements Should be Included in a Shopify Store Homepage?

Keeping things neat and simple means including the right amount of pages or links to suit your Shopify store’s needs. That is why we recommend including eight key features on your Shopify store’s homepage.

Logo. Your store’s logo and brand name should be recognizable.

Navigation tabs. Most website designs use navigation tabs right below the address bar.

Headline. Your homepage should feature a headline that captures its essence.

Call to action (CTA). A CTA is a short statement that entices customers to shop on your site.

Social proof. Whenever possible, include product reviews and trust badges to back up your products.

Images. Using a single, large image as your homepage’s main focus is preferable to using multiple images.

Text. Keep text to a minimum on your homepage.

Footer. The footer is a great way to add more links to other parts of your site. For example, footers include payment information, job opportunities, legal disclaimers, and other pertinent information

Consider this example:

This homepage example highlights a single image representing the brand’s spirit. The logo is located in the top-left corner. The navigation menu allows users to click on where they want to go. That leaves the CTA and headline as the main focus. Users can click on the CTA button to shop for specially discounted items.

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16 Amazing Tips to Optimize Shopify Homepage SEO Tactics

Optimizing your Shopify homepage SEO is crucial to your Shopify store’s success. So, here are 16 amazing tips you can put into practice right away.

#1: Shopify homepage SEO URL

A URL refers to your Shopify homepage’s actual location. In other words, a URL is the name users type in to access your Shopify store. Your store’s homepage URL is one of the key factors search engines use to find your website.

Optimizing your Shopify homepage SEO involves ensuring the URL represents your brand name and includes keywords, if possible. For instance, a URL such as www.thebestfashion.com sounds good, but it doesn’t help search engines find your particular Shopify store.

Ideally, URLs should contain your Shopify store’s name. For example, a brand called “Downtown Fashion” located in Miami would do well with a URL such as www.dowtownfashionmiami.com. This URL captures the brand’s name and location. These elements are crucial to your homepage’s visibility.

#2: Shopify homepage SEO titles

Homepage titles are the headlines users see when searching for a page or website. They tell users what the page is about. It’s a useful tool, especially for SEO purposes. Page titles should contain relevant keywords. Otherwise, page titles will be tough for search engines to track down.

A page title such as this one doesn’t help boost SEO:

The Best Fashion Brand | Downtown Fashion | Great Brands, Great Prices

While this title contains the brand’s name and a nice sales pitch, it doesn’t contain relevant keywords. Instead, using keywords helps search engines locate the store. The following would be a better alternative:

Casual Children’s Clothes | Downtown Fashion | Great Kids’ Accessories

In this example, we see the use of “casual,” “children,” “clothes,” “kids,” and “accessories” since these terms could be potential keywords used in searches. It is always a good idea to include relevant keywords whenever possible as long as they make sense. Great page titles should be about 60 characters to prevent search results from truncating the title.

#3: Homepage meta descriptions

Meta descriptions are the snippets users see when reading through search results. As a result, meta descriptions should contain the essence of what users can expect to find on your Shopify homepage. A solid meta description would look something like this:

“Get the best children’s clothes and accessories in Miami. Downtown Fashion offers high-quality boys’ and girls’ fashion at great prices in downtown Miami.”

This meta description works because it contains relevant keywords, it’s under 160 characters, and it contains the Shopify store’s location. Consequently, search engines and users will get the information they need to find your Shopify store.

#4: Homepage SEO metadata

Metadata is an important part of your Shopify homepage SEO strategy. Metadata such as page descriptions help search engines learn about your Shopify homepage’s content.

As a result, metadata should be loaded with keywords. However, metadata must have a coherent structure, given search engines’ algorithms. Merely stuffing keywords won’t get the job done.

The worst thing you can do is leave metadata fields blank. While copy doesn’t need to be perfect, it should help improve your homepage’s visibility.

#5: Homepage SEO Alt text

Alt texts refer to the metadata used to describe specific objects, such as images. Therefore, optimizing Alt text SEO is a great way to boost your Shopify homepage’s positioning further.

Alt text functions like page description. In particular, Image Alt text allows you to input descriptions on images and other objects such as videos. Alt text must be keyword-optimized like all other metadata to ensure your search engine rankings make the first page.

Above all, leaving Alt text blank is the biggest mistake you can make. That is why taking advantage of Alt text is crucial to boosting search engine results.

#6: Homepage SEO internal links

SEO experts focus heavily on links. Specifically, internal links are a great way to boost your Shopify store’s SEO.

How so?

Internal links allow users to access other parts of your Shopify store from the homepage. This approach reduces the number of elements on the homepage while giving users a friendly experience.

Internal links also allow search engines to create an image of your Shopify store’s structure. Using internal links creates a logical map of your site’s overall structure. That is why ensuring your site has logic is essential. For example, you can link blog posts and individual product pages to a main collection page. Additionally, you can create links to individual product pages as opposed to listing all product ads on a single page.

When you think about how to edit homepage SEO on Shopify, focus on building a clear internal linking strategy to help search engines figure out your site’s architecture.

#7: Homepage SEO loading times

Loading times are an essential element to focus on. Slow-loading pages get shoved down to the bottom of search results since they deliver a low-quality user experience. As a result, fast-loading pages get rewarded with a higher ranking.

Improving loading times boils down to keeping your homepage simple. Adding third-party apps, videos, large images, and scripts can slow down your homepage’s loading times. As a result, keeping things simple on your Shopify store’s homepage is the best way to boost fast loading times.

#8: Shopify homepage SEO image optimization

We know that loading times are a big deal. One of the best ways to boost Shopify homepage SEO is to use high-quality but “light” images. By “light,” we mean avoiding large-size photos that may impact your store’s performance.

Shopify recommends keeping image resolution at 2048 by 2048 and size under 20MB. These parameters ensure that images look great but don’t drag down your store’s loading times. Please remember, less is more when it comes to learning how to edit homepage SEO on Shopify.

#9: Homepage SEO Backlinks

Backlinks work just like internal links. The difference lies in the type of links used. Backlinks are “external” links that take users away from your Shopify store. This strategy is useful since it allows search engines to see how your Shopify store relates to other high-quality sites.

If you have more than one Shopify store, using backlinks to your other stores can be a great way to keep users in the same loop. Additionally, linking to the manufacturer to top review sites can be great to position your Shopify store atop search results.

#10: Shopify homepage SEO Anchor text

Anchor text is used to insert links to other pages or sites. For instance, the “shop now” CTA on a button is a classic example of anchor text. Ideally, anchor text should represent a clear CTA, plus include a relevant keyword whenever possible.

Anchor text such as “save 10%” is good. But for SEO purposes, it doesn’t work. Using anchor text such as “save 10% on kids’ shoes” utilizes the keyphrase “kids’ shoes.”

Please remember that using anchor text is another way to boost your Shopify homepage SEO significantly.

#11: Shopify homepage SEO linking to social media

Social media is more important than ever, so it pays to use high-quality social media links. Links to manufacturer or brand profiles help search engines create an accurate map of your Shopify store. Additionally, including links to your Shopify store and the brand’s social media profiles help feed the information network needed to boost your Shopify store’s SEO ranking.

However, be sure to avoid links to unrelated content. Unrelated content may confuse search engine algorithms. So, be sure to include as many relevant links and content as possible.

#12: Homepage SEO structure

When you consider how to edit homepage SEO on Shopify, think about your site’s overall structure. Your store’s homepage should function as a hub from where all other pages link. For instance, a “shop now” CTA button on the homepage takes users to a collections page. From there, users can click on individual product photos to view individual product pages.

Using a clear structure allows search engines to read your Shopify store’s structure logically. Otherwise, search engines may have trouble making sense of your store.

In general, Shopify stores use the homepage as the main hub. You can then use collection pages as categories and product pages as sub-categories. Consider this structure:

Homepage

>> Category 1: men’s shoes

>>>> Subcategory 1: casual

>>>> Subcategory 2: athletic

>> Category 2: women’s shoes

>>>> Subcategory 3: casual

>>>> Subcategory 4: athletic

>> Category 3: kids’ shoes

>>>> Subcategory 5: boys

>>>> Subcategory 6: girls

A store using a logical structure facilitates search engine “reading.” So, when you think about how to edit homepage SEO on Shopify, remember to keep a clear and organized structure.

#13: Shopify homepage SEO sitemap

A sitemap is a, well, a map of your Shopify store’s structure. While it’s not necessary for you to build one, it saves Google a lot of time if you submit it to them. In doing so, Google doesn’t need to build your sitemap from scratch. As a result, you save Google time and effort while automatically boosting your SEO presence.

#14: Shopify homepage SEO responsive themes

User experience is a big deal. In addition to loading times, responsiveness can also play a significant role in improving user experience. In short, responsive themes on Shopify display properly in desktop and mobile environments.

Responsive themes help create a better user experience leading to more conversions and revenue. Also, responsive themes help cut down on loading times. As a result, using responsive themes is a great way to boost Shopify homepage SEO.

#15: Shopify homepage SEO H1 and H2 headers

Organizing content with H1 and H2 headers allows Google’s indexing of your Shopify store. In particular, H1 and H2 headers boost your homepage’s architecture mapping. That is why organizing titles and headers with H1 and H2 headers, as opposed to bullet points, facilitates Google’s indexing functions.

#16: Shopify homepage SEO frequent updates

We have saved the best Shopify homepage SEO tip for last. The best thing you can do to keep your homepage atop search results is to update it frequently. This tactic is important as Google prioritizes fresh content. As a result, setting and forgetting your homepage will cause it to slide down search results slowly.

There is no need to overhaul your homepage once a month. All you need are minor tweaks and changes to keep the page current. For instance, adding weekly or monthly sales gives you a great reason to update your homepage. A good rule of thumb is to make major layout and theme changes once a year. Making minor tweaks monthly is a good way to keep things fresh.

Optimize your Shopify Homepage To Help your Store Rank Higher

SEO is one of the most important things any online store can do to make them as visible as possible to users and customers. So, make sure you keep things fresh with your Shopify homepage SEO strategy.

The tips and tactics we have discussed are relatively straightforward and don’t require drastic changes. It pays to invest time and effort to regularly update and maintain your homepage.

Your sales, revenue, and profitability will be so much better off because of it.

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Shopify Homepage SEO: 16 Tips to Optimize your Homepage for SEO

Table of Contents

What is Your Shopify Homepage?

What Elements Should be Included in a Shopify Store Homepage?

Grow your sales with high-performing deals.

16 Amazing Tips to Optimize Shopify Homepage SEO Tactics

#1: Shopify homepage SEO URL

#2: Shopify homepage SEO titles

#3: Homepage meta descriptions

#4: Homepage SEO metadata

#5: Homepage SEO Alt text

#6: Homepage SEO internal links

#7: Homepage SEO loading times

#8: Shopify homepage SEO image optimization

#9: Homepage SEO Backlinks

#10: Shopify homepage SEO Anchor text

#11: Shopify homepage SEO linking to social media

#12: Homepage SEO structure

#13: Shopify homepage SEO sitemap

#14: Shopify homepage SEO responsive themes

#15: Shopify homepage SEO H1 and H2 headers

#16: Shopify homepage SEO frequent updates

Optimize your Shopify Homepage To Help your Store Rank Higher

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