Brighton SEO: eCommerce SEO

Brighton SEO takes place twice a year and allows all those that live and breathe everything SEO to divulge in the latest trends, updates, and strategies, learning from the best of the best in the industry. However, this year, it was quite unlike any other year. Brighton SEO went digital!

Has the New Normal Changed Brighton SEO for the Better?

Under normal circumstances, Brighton SEO is the ideal location to network with other businesses and individuals of a like-minded nature, with nearly 3,500 people in attendance at the last event. Naturally, due to the current pandemic that is sweeping the world, the event couldn’t go ahead in Brighton as planned, but that didn’t stop it from taking place. As an industry that is all things digital, it only made sense that this event went digital too, and we have to say, we quite enjoyed it.

Some of the highlights for us included:

• The experience was effortless – We could browse the talks in advance, carefully select the ones we were interested in, and then we were provided with a personal schedule.
• The talks themselves were easy to access – We were sent an email 15 minutes before each talk started with a link to follow, which refreshed itself when it was ready to start. Plus, we didn’t have to fight for the best seat in the house. Every seat was the best!
• The talks were more than just interesting; it felt more personal – What was great about the talks was that it felt more like a 1-2-1 (a personal favourite of ours), which made them a lot easier to follow, learn and make notes.
• Short but sweet – The 22-minute videos didn’t feel rushed to get to the next talk, but they were also easier to digest.

Overall, our experience of the digital Brighton SEO was extremely positive, and the question we are wondering is, “has the new normal we are living with changed Brighton SEO for the better?”

The event adapted well, yes, and while we, for one, loved it, and we would be more than happy to “attend” again, we also love networking, meeting like-minded individuals, and enjoying the experience as a whole in Brighton with everyone else. Asking us to choose between the two would be like asking us to choose who our favourite cat was. We loved both equally while they offered different aspects.

Whether you preferred the event when it was held in Brighton or digitally like us, one thing is for certain, the knowledge you come away with from the event cannot be underestimated. We have put together the standout points from two of the talks we attended that could help you in your eCommerce SEO strategies.

Local SEOLocal SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank on the 1st page of Google for a search term and geographic location that is relevant to your business.

Talk: Local SEO Glow-Up: Easy Strategies for eCommerce & Retail

Speaker: Jayna Grassel

As an eCommerce business, growing is everything, and one way to get there is through local SEO. With this talk, we gained some great insight that could just help you out as you start out on this journey.

There are five main aspects to having a great local SEO glow-up:

1. Understanding local search
2. Basic optimisation GMB
3. Advanced optimisation
4. Weekly & Monthly tasks
5. Considering local search in COVID & post-COVID world

Understanding Local Search – Why is it so important?

Although it might seem like the entire world turns to the internet for everything from research and entertainment to shopping, it is important to remember that not everyone does. There are shoppers out there who will not primarily shop online and will be asking the question, “can I go to a store?” Without showing this select group that this is an option, you are missing out on vital sales and potentially loyal customers. The question is, how do you do this?

The answer lies with GMB, also known as Google My Business. The platform allows you to share quick relevant information, including:

• Opening hours
• Address
• Phone number
• Photos
• Review
• Business category
• Most recently, COVID updates

An example that was showcased in the talk was Walmart’s GMB listing; it shows all the departments for each location, such as whether there is a bakery, garden, pharmacy, and more.

However, this platform extends further than just stores. Hotels can also benefit. Customers can see the availability, any reviews, images, and even book via GMB.

Basic optimisation GMB

Even as experts, we know the importance of never forgetting the basics, so it was nice to see it included in the talk. A look at the basics reminds you of what the end goal is, and in this case, it is providing your customers with the right information that could convince them to use your services.

Google has just 4 priorities for local SEO that you must adhere to:

• Provide complete data
• Claim and verify the listing
• Respond to reviews
• Add photos

While the local algorithm cares about 3 aspects:

• Relevance
• Distance – where customers are located
• Prominence – “Online cred”

When trying to achieve the basics, bearing in mind the four priorities outlined in the talk, it should really only take around 5 minutes to update your name, address, phone, hours, and website details.

All of these need to be accurate, but none more so than your hours. As highlighted in the talk, these are “more important than ever.” You might have limited hours right now due to the pandemic, for example, so don’t lie to your customers that you are open full-time. If you close at 8 pm now, (even if it is changed by 30 minutes or by an hour), update your GMB to say so.

You can even add hours by department; for example, add your delivery hours, happy hours, or bakery opening hours: the more detail, the better.

Advanced optimisation

For local businesses looking to do more, it was great to see this was covered in detail, and many can take just as little as one afternoon to fix (photos – we are looking at you). Some of the most important aspects to include are:

• Photos

GMB has a feature that allows customers to upload photos, which is a great way to build your trust and reputation, but there’s one catch: you can’t take these down. This shouldn’t be too much of a worry, as long as you are uploading photos too. This way, there is a good balance between the two. Include both interior and exterior photos, even photos of your team to build up your business, and then take a look at which photo is viewed the most. You can use the information you find to see what photos the customers liked the most and produce even better ones in the future.

Bonus tip: You can manage bulk uploads!

• Categories

There 10 categories on GMB: 1 primary and 9 secondary categories. For the primary category, there are only pre-defined options based on your industry. Meanwhile, secondary categories are much harder to find. What was interesting in the talk was the recommendation to approach it like keyword researchKeyword research helps websites unearth the best keywords to drive traffic and visibility. This research is supported by a number of powerful web-based tools, the best of which we’ve listed here.. Simply keep the categories as relevant as possible. It was also recommended to use all 10 category spots. However, don’t stretch it too much just to add a category.

• Description

With the new update, there are now 750 characters available in the description. Some of the key points to include are:

• Service locations
• Products
• Categories

You want to avoid talking about the company history so much, so don’t take pre-existing content from your “About Us” page, as well as the hours you are open – this can be found above. Instead, make it more service and/or product-focused.

Top Tip: To optimise this content, use relevant keywords!

• Products

How do your customers know you are the business they need? You show them so with your products. Upload your products based on an Excel file and Google Shopping, and display these as a carousel in your GMB listing. It is important, however, NOT to use them all  – only pick the top products and then include a photo, price, and description alongside.

If you are a restaurant, instead of displaying products, you can showcase a menu. Unlike the products, you don’t need to upload the prices, but you do need a description.

• Services

Adding in the services you offer is easy. These are open text fields, in which you can use keywords and industry terms within, as well as important details about the area, i.e., the city or country you are based. These need to be both reasonable and accurate.

Weekly & Monthly tasks

While the above methods are essential, there are some elements that need your constant attention. Weekly or monthly tasks include:

• Replying to reviews – reply to as many reviews as you can and aim to remove bad reviews offline by offering an email address.
• Q&As – If you don’t reply, Local Guides will, and they might not be accurate
• Posting updates – You need to update any changes to opening hours/days as and when they happen.
• Learning from insights – reviewing your data is vital to do each month

Considering Local Search in COVID & Post-COVID World

Given the way it has affected businesses and individuals alike, looking at local search and COVID together is crucial. You can use GMB to your advantage and post any and all relevant COVID-19 updates regarding your business, including additional attributes, such as “kerbside pickup,” and temporary allowance to add descriptors to the business name.

A few top tips provided in the talk if you are unable to conduct business and so have the time free include:

• Optimise listings
• Add menus items
• Refresh descriptions – using the above info
• Review categories
• Upload pictures

However, do remember to remove all COVID-19 updates when you re-open.

Post-COVID 19 eCommerce Strategies

Talk: Could Your e-commerce Strategy Benefit from Some Post COVID-19 Therapy

Speaker: Becky Simms

With the world so greatly affected by this pandemic, and stores beginning to re-open, everyone wants to know how to recover successfully. This is what piqued our interest in a talk centered around the post-COVID-19 world.

The talk considered more than just SEO strategies and discussed some great therapy tips and tricks that can help any eCommerce store trying to come back. We have highlighted some of the key pointers that we think would benefit you as you begin to re-open.

Changes have altered behaviour

Everything we knew about the world changed in an instant, and that naturally changed our behaviour. People are now buying more online, and, as a result, the demand for stores to respond increased.

With so many people buying online, how do you meet this demand, though, while still maintain advice, such as social distancing? The short answer: you listen, and you stand out.

Listen to your customers

First, you need to start managing your customers’ expectations and opinions, but there has been one buzz word throughout the entire period of lockdown: Customer Service. According to the talk, it has been mentioned 125x more during this period than normal. People are expecting a great service, so listen to them and understand what they want from you as a business in a post. If they don’t tell you, ask them!

Authenticity stands out

Humans are seeking our authenticity, so you need to be more than just a shop. You need to provide the whole experience, build relationships, and a community so that you can keep those that are already coming to you interested in you. How you do this is simple:

1. Thank them

Simply let them know that you appreciate their custom.

2. Inspire them

Produce content that reaches out to them on a personal level, with your values at the heart of it, without being sales driven. However, never forget the importance of helping your audience out. Content that is considered helpful will do more than just drive sales; it will increase your reputation. This content can be relatively easy to complete, too, so don’t overthink it too much.

So how can you show that and drive conversions? You need a message that considers:

• Availability and delivery

If deliveries are going to take longer to arrive, tell them. It is sufficient to say that people have been frustrated throughout, so don’t make the problem worse by making false promises. However, this could make you analyse whether you are using the right supplier. Could you be using better?

• Safety

Your customers want to know that you are running a safe practice, so let them know how your warehouse is operating. By informing your customers of this, you are creating trust, which leads to comfort and, eventually, better engagement. Building this trust will drive them to you and, ultimately, more sales.

• Values

These need to be clear as this will help you secure long term customers. So what are you as a business concerned about implementing in this new world? Why not show your customers that you care about going green, for example?

If you aren’t too sure what values you have, take a look at your competitors to give you some ideas.

Providing the whole experience

We spoke briefly about providing the whole experience for your customers, but the talk dove a little deeper, and we felt it was important to highlight the following:

• Filter products: As an online store, you don’t have restrictions as you would in a physical store, and so you have the option of almost limitless products. However, you need to make it easy for these products to be found. This can be achieved with a filter system, such as “people also searched for.”
• Great navigation: Make navigating your site as easy as possible so that customers can find what they need quickly.
• Break your content up: No-one likes to read huge paragraphs, so break up the content into manageable chunks so readers can easily digest it.
• Utilise Chatbots: We learnt how important customer service is, so ensure you are hitting the mark all the time. Chatbots, which can provide a service 24/7, can be there when you are not, but ensure that these are as realistic as possible. Customers shouldn’t even realise they aren’t talking to a human.
• Optimise your site: Provide better photographs, 360 views, and online demonstrations.
• Email Marketing: Great communication strategies are crucial in building up relationships. Let your customers know about safety changes, for example, or reinforce their positive decision they made by purchasing with you. Send them an engaging email to get them excited about what they bought! (This is by far one of our favourite tips.)

If you aren’t too sure what changes you should be making, start with a gap analysis, considering convenience, usability, the environment, and more.

How to sustain growth

As highlighted at the very start of the talk, “SEO is worth nothing if you can’t convert the users,” so taking on board the above tips and tricks combined with SEO strategies will provide a recipe for success.

Overall, Brighton SEO provided excellent insight into dealing with SEO across the board, but the above talks were our particular favourites that took the current situation everyone is facing into account with some useful tips that we will be sure to use.