How website speed enables online businesses to increase their revenue
Google and other search engines appreciate websites that load quickly. It is a sign of website quality, and e-commerce sites such as Cuborio that load very quickly are rewarded.
Google and other search engines place great importance on websites that load quickly. Core Web Vitals are a sign of website quality, and websites that move quickly are rewarded in the rankings. A fast website not only offers a superior user experience, but also has a positive impact on SEO.
Implement fast hosting.
As the title suggests, fast hosting involves using a host that provides the server and computing power necessary to support fast page loading during normal traffic periods and the ability to scale during peak seasons.
Minimise HTTP requests.
Scripts and plugins can be useful, but they come at a cost. To reduce site speed, HTTP requests should be minimised.
Use a single CSS stylesheet.
Using multiple CSS style sheets creates confusion for developers, users, and site engines. Using a single, unified template creates a consistent experience and avoids load times.
Compress image files.
Do not resize images through code, but resize them natively. Using web-optimised images (without forgetting alt text) minimises file size and the number of bytes to load.
Minimise site code.
Minimising means reducing unnecessary or redundant data that only serves to slow down the site. Eliminating useless code streamlines site loading times.
Eliminate redirects.
Older websites with previous modifications can be weighed down by a constant stream of redirects. If these are present for a few months, that's fine, but without routine maintenance to remove older redirects, they can become burdensome.
Why mobile-friendly design creates a better customer journey
In addition to the advantages for search engines, the benefits for customers are significant. E-commerce is increasingly shifting towards mobile, with 42.9% of e-commerce sales predicted by 2024. Customers expect a simple mobile experience, and it is up to the platform to provide it.
M-commerce sites such as Cuborio, designed with excellent mobile design, are streamlined and avoid many of the features that bog down desktop sites. This means direct navigation and basic functionality on the page. Don't worry about bells and whistles, but perfect the basics.
Build a website architecture that will stand the test of time
Taxonomy is the foundation of content and structure. It will inform how customers interact with your site and navigate from one product to another. Although content architecture will evolve, the technical aspects must be integrated into the site from the outset.
Breadcrumb navigation.
Breadcrumb navigation—the series of catalogue-like links that form the content architecture—should be included on every page. This allows site users to easily move backwards in their navigation.
Descriptive URLs.
Having URLs that actually tell users what is on a page is better for long-tail strategies, click-through rates, and search engine rankings. Including keywords creates an expectation in potential customers that they will get the product information they are looking for.
Internal links.
Don't let your navigation do all the heavy lifting. A backlink and internal linking strategy, i.e. linking to other pages within a website's content, builds trust with search engines and makes it easier for customers to find what they are looking for in your online shop, increasing conversion rates.
Orphan pages.
Orphan pages should be avoided. They will be forgotten by content authors and can actually hurt your ranking. They often include outdated information that can confuse customers. Make sure all pages have a home and continue to be useful.
Use canonical tags to keep your content list clean
Canonical tags are HTML codes used to define the main version of duplicate or near-duplicate pages. If you have product categories available under multiple URLs, a canonical tag will indicate which version should be indexed.
Duplicate content.
For the end user, duplicate content may not even exist. However, search engines crawl URLs, not web pages. For example, a single web page with different parameters for geography will be indexed by those in a specific location.
Generate sitemaps to improve your marketing efforts
From a functional standpoint, sitemaps may seem like an idea from a bygone era. However, from a technical standpoint, they are valuable for search engines to understand the structure of your site and how it works.
XML sitemaps.
XML sitemaps are a list of the site's URLs and show search engines the site's content and how to reach it.
HTML sitemaps.
An HTML sitemap is an index of every page on your site and shows the architecture of your site. While XML sitemaps are intended for search engines, HTML sitemaps are intended for humans and help them understand the structure of your site.
Robots.txt file.
The robots.txt file tells search engines which pages can be crawled. This prevents a site from being overloaded and keeps it running smoothly.
The importance of structured data
Structured data markup is code that is added to a website to help search engines better understand the site's content. This data can help search engines index the site more effectively and provide more relevant results.
In addition, structured data improves search results by adding 'rich snippets': for example, you can use structured data to add star ratings to reviews, prices to products, or information about reviewers.
Increase customer confidence with an SSL certificate
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a security technology that creates an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. You can spot a site that uses SSL quite easily: the site's URL begins with "https://" instead of "http://".
In 2014, Google announced that it wanted to see "HTTPS everywhere" and that secure HTTPS websites would be preferred over non-secure ones in search results.
It is therefore advisable, where possible, to ensure that your site is secure; this can be done by installing an SSL certificate on your website, although most of the best website builders now include SSL by default.
Tools for technical e-commerce SEO
Technical SEO is big business, and there are many quality tools and platforms that can improve your site. Here are some of the most widely used tools.
Screaming Frog website crawler: this is a website crawler and SEO guide that checks URL structure and identifies common problems.
Oncrawl: a crawler that optimises a website for SEO. It analyses websites and provides solutions to increase ranking.
Google Search Console: this is a tool owned by the search engine giant (along with Google Analytics) that analyses an SEO checklist to help developers measure performance and optimise search rankings.
