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Jun 29, 2022

BEAM – How to use SEO Keywords for your Online Shop

Considered an essential part of digital marketing, understanding the basics of SEO keywords can really benefit your lampshade making business and increase your sales. From creating a list of keywords and highlighting free online tools, to exploring how to maximise product descriptions and website content, today's BEAM post is packed with information to take your online shop from invisible to visible.





What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, which is a digital process that improves web traffic to websites and includes a range of activities. In this post we're going to focus on using SEO keywords, which allow search engines to find your website and rank it in its results pages, increasing prominence to potential customers.


What are SEO keywords?

Keywords are either the phrase or part of a phrase that a potential buyer will enter into a search engine, to find the product they are looking for, for example, ‘purple drum ceiling lampshade’.


Why are keywords important?

It's important to include SEO keywords on your web pages, so in your product descriptions and in your generic web content to help Google and other search engines find the products that match what the buyer is looking for.


The largest search engine is of course Google and here’s how Google use SEO in the simplest terms:

  • Google looks for keywords across the internet that match the buyer's search, known as crawling and indexing

  • Google ranks the keywords against hundreds of other websites on their SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages)


How can I find keywords that apply to my products?

Write down everything you can think of that might attract a buyer to the lampshade you’re selling, both the unique and generic features. Planner


Below is a list of keywords for the lampshade pictured.


How do I write a keyword-friendly product description?

Bringing keywords into your product descriptions is a balancing act, as the description still needs to make sense to the potential buyer and sound natural, but also ideally include some of the unique and generic keywords from your list. It can be helpful to develop a set format to follow for each description, ensuring you capture as many keyword terms that are appropriate.


If you’re struggling, look at some high street descriptions for inspiration, but be careful not to copy, as Google will be able to detect this too! The more detailed your description the more likely you will rank in Google when a buyer searches for relevant keywords that match.


A clever way to maximise the use of keywords is to write the description, but also include bullet points, to reiterate the lampshade's selling points, like the example below from cheekypickle.co.uk.


Is there a tool I can use for keywords?

One of the best free tools is the Google Keyword Planner, which is part of Google Ads. To use simply set up a Google account, go to Google ads and start your search. Similarly, Google Trends can also be used for searching keywords too.


Another free and easy way to find keywords is to type a keyword you identified above into Google and press return. On pressing return for a second time, you'll see a list of previously used search terms from Google. The same trick can be used on Amazon too, giving you insights into consumer searches.


Is my online shop structure important?

As Google searches your website for keywords, it’s helpful if these words are easy to find and this is where your site structure has a part to play.


Ideally, you'll already have the simplest route for the buyer to reach your product and therefore Google will also find it easy to find your relevant keywords too for ranking. Your product pages should be just 2 or 3 clicks away from your homepage and as you develop and expand your website it’s important to keep this in mind.


Does having a blog help with SEO?

Writing a blog post can seem like just another thing that needs to be done as part of running your own business, but writing regular blog posts can have HUGE impact on your SEO ranking with search engines.


Blog posts allow you to use a different type of keyword - ‘long tailed keywords’ - which are searches that contain 3 words or more and are usually much more specific to what the customer wants.


An example might be ‘20cm empire lampshade in lilac silk with trim’ or ‘lampshade making workshops in Stoke in July’. While you might not be able to write a whole blog post on ‘20cm empire lampshade in lilac silk with trim’ (but hopefully you’ve been able to include these keywords in your product description), you could potentially write about your forthcoming lampshade workshops, that includes 'long tailed keywords', that are searchable.


Also by keeping your blog active and updating posts regularly you are indicating to Google and other search engines that you have fresh and new content, which will help your website rank higher.


Finally, Google loves internal links, and when writing a post you should, where possible link back to your own products and web pages.


Other content pages

Google not only looks for product description keywords, but content that’s relevant on other pages too, so by writing FAQ pages, About pages and Service pages, with generic keywords in mind, you can maximise the opportunity of bringing more traffic to your site.


SEO website tools

Whatever website platform you’ve used to build your online shop, there will be a back-office setting that will also focus on SEO. Do your homework on how to make the most of this 'in platform' programme; most have a blog post explaining how to use it best.


FREE Business Advice

Our Business Expertise and Advice for Makers - BEAM - blog posts cover everything from selling your lampshades to large retailers to offering customer refunds and everything in between! Including posts on lampshade safety advice and selling at craft markets, they're a wealth of information, specially written with lampshade makers in mind. Take a look at our information-packed and advice filled posts using the button below.


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