So are eCommerce sites really harder to rank than other websites? There is a thread on High Rankings Forums where one of the members asks "How do ecommerce websites, that don't have the articles and content, become successful?".
In my opinion these types of sites are not much more difficult to rank rather they just require some special attention and tactics that are different than what you would do for a blog or content website. Jill says many of these sites become successful with "Advertising, marketing, public relations. Just like any business".
If you have been doing SEO for sometime for other people, you are invariably been approached by the little known and struggling eCommerce site who desperately wants your attention to SEO their site for top rankings in Google. You know that website created by some awful excuse for an eCommerce system selling Nascar commemorative plates or better yet army knives or some dropship website from eBay that no one wants. They tell you they feel downright maligned because Google won't rank their website. How unfair! Why it may be harder for a Nascar commemorative plate site to rank in some reasonable time, most eCommerce sites are not too difficult to rank, but just require some old fashion elbow grease and dedication to get them high in the search engine results.
Torka posted some great thoughts on the subject how eCommerce sites can rank just as well as any site out there. She says
"When you talk about "ranking highly" one has to ask: for what terms? I mean, somebody has to rank well for search terms related to the products you offer. And if you're actually selling the items, then your pages should be highly relevant for those products, no? So why would you assume you can't rank well for those terms?"IMO, one of the biggest things people have to get over is the idea that ecommerce sites can't have "content."
She makes an excellent point about the mentality some people have towards their website. Another poster follows and says: "Ecommerce owners generally spend a lot of time loading the database and can't be bothered writing their own content (the usually use manufacturers' content)".
Torka follows saying:
Exactly my point! If they can't be bothered to spend the time writing original, benefit-focused content (or justify spending the money to have a professional copywriter create it for them), then they shouldn't complain when they get mediocre results.
So its a matter of how much you want to rank and your dedication to getting the job done. Good information.
Continued discussion at High Rankings Forums.
