E‑Commerce SEO Best Practices for 2025: How to Stay Visible in a Competitive Market
- Swype®
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 24
Search is still one of the most effective ways to attract online shoppers. In 2025, it’s more competitive than ever, with smarter SERPs, AI-driven changes, and algorithm updates. That means your store needs to get SEO right.
But SEO doesn’t stop once the site is live. If you want to stay visible, you need to keep working on it. Search engines look for relevant, recently updated content. If your site stays the same for months, your rankings will slide.
Looking for help with ongoing SEO? Read our recent blog: The Importance of ongoing SEO.
In this guide, we'll teach you everything you need to know to keep your eCommerce store ranking consistently above competitors. From site structure and content to technical SEO and performance checks.
Why e‑commerce SEO still matters
Search brings the right people to your site. A well-optimised product or category page earns trust, ranks well and drives sales.
Google now prioritises speed, Core Web Vitals and mobile usability. AI has changed how people search. But the basics haven’t changed. Good structure, relevant content and a fast site still matter most.
Build a clear and logical site structure
Start with how your site is organised.
• Group your products in a way that makes sense to your customers.
• Keep your URL structure clean and consistent.
• Use internal links that help users and Google move through your site.
• Avoid dead ends or redirect loops by running a crawl before launch.
Your site should be easy to navigate, both for people and search engines.
Write content that’s useful, not just stuffed with keywords
Every product and category page needs clear, useful content.
• Write unique descriptions for every product. No copying from suppliers.
• Add content to category pages. A short intro or buyer guide works well.
• Use keywords naturally. Don’t force them.
Also think about supporting content. Things like buying guides, tips and FAQs can bring in traffic and support product rankings.
On-page SEO: sort your titles, tags and image alt text
Try to keep all title tags under 60 characters and make sure meta descriptions are clear. Use H1 and H2 headings properly and add alt text (descriptions) to images. Stick to a clear structure on every page.
Run your site through PageSpeed Insights. Fix anything slowing down the site. If your store is slow, people will leave. Google knows this too.
Don’t ignore technical SEO
Technical work is often missed, but it’s what makes everything else count.
• Check if pages are indexed properly.
• Set canonicals where needed to avoid duplicate content.
• Add schema markup for products, reviews and breadcrumbs.
• Make sure your site is HTTPS, not HTTP.
• Upload your sitemap to Search Console and double-check your robots.txt file.
These are small things that can make a big difference.
Platform-specific things to watch
Each CMS has its own quirks. You need to research what your platform can and can’t do, and work around its limits where needed.
Wordpress
Avoid bloated themes and plugins. Use a solid SEO plugin like Rank Math or Yoast.
Shopify
Be careful with product variants creating duplicate URLs.
Wix/Squarespace
Less control over structured data. Set SEO titles and descriptions properly.
Webflow
More control, but you need to set everything manually, including redirects.
Links still help
Quality links still matter. Build relationships with relevant sites in your industry. Look for chances to get listed on directories, partner sites, or local news articles.
Don’t fall for spammy backlink services. One good link is better than twenty poor ones.
Before you launch, double-check everything
• Run a crawl and check for broken links.
• Make sure metadata is set up properly.
• Test your structured data.
• Confirm your tracking tags are live.
• Check mobile and desktop performance.
And make sure your redirects are working if you’ve moved any URLs. Miss this and your rankings will drop.
Get a free basic e‑commerce site audit
If you’re planning a new store, or already live and seeing traffic issues, we can help.
Swype® offers a free initial website audit that looks at:
• Errors and warnings affecting your rankings.
• Where you’re missing content or keyword opportunities.
• Pages that need fixing, updating or improving.
If you want a full review of your site structure, SEO and content, you can then request a complete SEO audit from our team.
We’ll either implement the changes for you or work with your developer to get everything sorted.
