Magento Go, a cloud based solution for small companies, allows simple application of the most popular search engine optimization techniques. This hosted shopping cart provides you with tools to manage URLs, set product tags and adapt other popular SEO practices aimed at increasing traffic to your website. Let’s take a look at the most useful options available in Magento Go:
1. URL configuration
Catalog tab in Magento Go provides you with a useful tool for rewriting URLs. Here you can fully customize URLs for all product pages in your online store, adding powerful keywords to the page address. Why is this option useful for SEO? Having a keyword in a URL helps improve the way the page is indexed by search engine bots and in result – it increases relevant traffic to your website. URL customization is one of the most popular search engine optimization techniques used for e-commerce. Magento Go URL management tool has one more advantage – it automatically changes all links directing to the page, so you do not have to manually check and adjust links every time you change the URL.
2. Adding meta information
Another element of your product page that you should work on is the meta information page, accessible in Magento Go from the Admin Panel by selecting “Manage Products” in the Catalog tab. It is the feature that allows you to provide keyword-filled description for each of your products individually. Magento Go allows you to create and edit Meta Title, Meta Keywords and Meta Description for each page. Relevant keywords and accurate product descriptions help search engine bots index your website properly and in result – your online store is more visible to the customers, who are looking for products in your offer. Remember to put the keywords not only in the Meta Keywords box, but also include them in the Meta Title and the Meta Description. Google and other popular search engines claim that their bots no longer read the Meta Keywords box, so the Meta Title and the Meta Description are the main sources of keywords.
3. Adding synonyms
Even if you stick to one term that best describes the products in your offer, you have to be aware that your customers might be typing in different, synonymous names when they are searching for your products. Magento Go tackles this problem by providing a useful option – add synonyms, which redirects different queries to your product page. To add synonyms for your products go to Admin Panel > Catalog > Search Terms.
4. Creating robots.txt file
Robots.txt file is one of the most important features of any website – it is the first document checked by search engine robots every time they visit your website. The file provides them with instructions on what type of content they should crawl and which parts of the website are off limits for robots. Thus, the robots.txt file allows you to control the type of data the search engine bots can and cannot access. Magento Go provides you with the ability to create customized robots.txt files. To create one, go to System > Configuration > Design > Search Engine Robots.
About the Author
Marta Gromadzka is a writer and editor with a wide variety of experience, including writing for websites internationally and editing books on many different subjects and in a variety of formats.
Photo credit: infocux Technologies
