Ranking Collection and Product Pages for a Brand New E-commerce Website

Introduction

Starting a new e-commerce website brings its own set of challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is driving traffic to the pages that matter most – collection and product pages. These are the pages that convert visitors into buyers. In this case study, we’ll show how we took a brand new Shopify store from scratch and implemented an SEO strategy focused on ranking collection and product pages.

At ThriveCraft, we focus on getting traffic that converts. Many stores rely on TOFU (Top of Funnel) content, which often doesn’t lead to sales. Instead, we focus on BOFU (Bottom of Funnel) strategies. This helps your store gain visibility for collection and product pages, which drives sales.

Pain Points

For New E-commerce Stores

Starting a new store means facing several challenges:

• You don’t have organic traffic yet
• Search engines don’t trust your site because it’s new
• Product and collection pages struggle to rank
• You attract visitors, but they don’t convert into sales

Getting traffic to a new website isn’t easy. But we know the strategies that work for new e-commerce websites. Here’s how we ranked collection and product pages from scratch.

The SEO Strategy

For a New Website

For a brand-new e-commerce site, we had to lay down the groundwork for SEO. Our focus was on optimizing collection and product pages from the beginning. Here’s how we did it:

1. Site Structure and Foundation:
   • Collection and Product Pages First: We prioritized creating high-quality collection and product pages before building out any TOFU content. These pages would become the backbone of the site’s SEO strategy.
   • Keyword Strategy: We focused on finding commercial-intent keywords. These keywords reflect what buyers are searching for, such as “buy [product name] online” or “best [category name] for [specific use].” These keywords were used in the page titles, URLs, and meta descriptions.
2. Content for Collection Pages:
   • We added brief, SEO-optimized content at the bottom of each collection page. This content described the types of products available and helped search engines understand the page’s relevance. It was short, to the point, and keyword-focused.
   • Internal Linking: We linked all collection pages to their related product pages and vice versa. This structure helped spread authority across the site.
3. Optimizing Product Pages:
   • Unique Product Descriptions: Each product had a detailed, unique description. We made sure not to use manufacturer descriptions to avoid duplicate content issues. These descriptions also targeted long-tail keywords that reflected buying intent.
   • Image Optimization: All product images were optimized with alt texts. This helped improve visibility in image search results and boosted page rankings.
4. Structured Data and Schema:
   • We implemented Product Schema for all product pages from the start. This gave search engines clear information about each product, including prices, availability, and reviews. This also made the products eligible for rich snippets, which can improve click-through rates.

The Results

Even though we started from scratch, the results were strong that are Within 6 months, our collection pages began ranking in the top 10 for key commercial-intent keywords. and Product pages saw a steady increase in organic traffic.

The Challenges

For New E-commerce Sites

1. Low Domain Authority: A new website lacks the authority established sites have. This made it harder to rank initially. We overcame this by first building authority on high-intent pages and optimizing internal linking to pass authority across the site.
2. No Existing Traffic: Starting from scratch means there’s no existing traffic to leverage. We targeted long-tail keywords with lower competition to start driving traffic early on. As traffic grew, we expanded the keyword focus to more competitive terms.
3. Building Trust with Search Engines: Google doesn’t trust new websites immediately. It takes time for new sites to rank. By focusing on BOFU pages and using schema markup, we gave search engines every reason to trust and rank our client’s pages faster.

Why BOFU Works for New Sites

Most new sites make the mistake of focusing on TOFU content first. But new sites need traffic that converts. That’s why we focus on BOFU keywords. These keywords indicate that users are ready to buy. By ranking collection and product pages, we drove relevant traffic that resulted in sales.

Key Takeaways

1. Prioritize Collection and Product Pages: Build these pages first. Optimize them for the right commercial keywords. This will give your site the best chance to rank and convert.
2. Implement Schema from the Start: Add structured data for all your product pages. This increases the chances of appearing in rich results and improves click-through rates.
3. Internal Linking Strategy: Link from every blog or TOFU content piece to relevant product and collection pages. This will pass authority and help improve their rankings.