How to optimize your Alibaba.com Storefront

Selling on Alibaba.com can be very profitable for business owners, and at the same time, it can be very competitive. For this reason, it’s essential to leverage some strategies to stay ahead of your competitors. One of the ways to stay ahead of your competitors is by creating an Alibaba.com storefront and optimizing that storefront to attract customers so as to generate greater sales.

Today, having an optimized e-commerce store is important to drive growth and reach more people across the globe. In this article, we’ll go through how you can optimize your Alibaba.com storefront for greater business success.

How does an optimized storefront benefit your business?

According to a study, 6 out of 10 shopping journeys start online.¹ This means that many people come online to search for what they want to buy. Optimizing your store will position you as an authority in your niche and expand your growth. Here are some benefits of having an optimized storefront for your business:

1. Rank high on search engine result pages

Many people when they want to purchase anything, start by researching it online, especially through Google searches. So, when consumers are looking for a hairdryer or children's clothing, they can search online and get results related to their search.

Now, as a business owner, you don’t want your online store to be on the 10th page people see when they search for something you offer. Optimizing your page through search engine optimization (SEO) helps your page rank higher so that people can easily find you.

2. Increase brand awareness

Optimizing your storefront allows potential buyers to see all your products in one place and at the same time, learn more about you. When your products get top positions on search engines, you’ll have increased chances of being found by potential customers. Also, customers are likely to find optimized storefronts more trustworthy, thereby driving more traffic and visibility to your business.

3. Provide a better user experience

Customers can now shop for whatever they want online, so it’s essential to make your store user-friendly, intuitive, and sleek. If you want customers to choose your products, giving them a good user experience is a great way to do so.

For instance, you can make it easier for customers to navigate pages in fewer clicks and provide them with detailed descriptions of products. An excellent user experience also encourages buyers to return to your page to do business with you again.

4. Generate greater sales

Every business owner wants to generate sales, and optimizing your storefront makes it easier to achieve that. With storefront optimization, you make it easier for customers to find you and to do business with you. The more you optimize your products, the easier it is to attract more customers and generate more sales.

6 steps for optimizing your storefront

Let’s get into how you can optimize your storefront and product pages. Here are 6 steps to obtain the best results from e-commerce optimization.

1. Conduct keyword research

Conducting keyword research involves finding out relevant terms that customers are likely to type in a Google search when looking for a product to purchase. To boost your online store presence, you need to include relevant and high-performing keywords in your website content. You can do this by researching high-impression keywords for your niche and location.

For example, you may be based in Atlanta, your niche is home improvement products, and you sell products like vases, faux flowers, and wallpapers. Relevant keywords for your business could be ‘home products in Atlanta,’ ‘smart speakers in Atlanta,’ ‘decorative vases for sale in Atlanta,’ and so on.

Including relevant keywords like these will ensure you reach targeted customers. You can also use tools like Google Keyword Planner to research and get information about keywords. However, you should avoid overstuffing your website with keywords, as this can be bad for SEO.

2. Optimize the title tag

The title tag is the HTML element that you see in the header section of your website pages. These tags appear on each website page, providing search engines and users context about your store. Title tags also appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) as clickable links, as well as in the browser window.

Many people usually ignore the title tag, but it happens to be one of the most essential parts of SEO. An optimized title tag makes it easy for search engines and searchers to find your store. Some of the best SEO practices for title tags include:

• Formatting title tags

• Add relevant keywords in your title. Googlebot analyzes the title tags of your pages and uses the keywords to analyze what the page is about

• Using unique tags for different pages to help search engines understand the relevance of each page on your storefront

• Being conscious of the title tag's length and width. Recommended length shouldn't exceed 50–60 characters, and recommended width is 600 pixels.

The default way of setting a page title is: Primary Keyword | Secondary Keyword | Branding.

An example of a title tag following this default would be: Decorative Vases in Atlanta | Beautiful Ceramic Vases | Homey.

However, there are other suitable ways to write title tags; you can choose any format, but ensure to follow the best title tags practices.

3. Create an effective meta description

You’ll have a better chance of attracting customers by creating engaging meta descriptions. If you put effort into the meta description, you will have a greater chance to generate more leads and customers.

The end goal of a meta description is to persuade a potential buyer to click through to your website, in turn, helping you attract more customers. Some tips for creating an effective meta description include:

• Using action-oriented language with verbs like “discover, grab, buy,” etc.
• Keeping your description under 155 characters
• Making your meta description specific and relevant to what you offer
• Sticking to your brand tone and voice
• Including a call-to-action
• Also, don’t forget to use keywords in the meta description.

Let’s say your brand name is Homey, and you sell home products, a good meta description could be “Discover affordable ways to upgrade your home. Homey is offering you quality home improvement products at a discount. Order now!”

4. Publish high-quality on-page content

Another essential tip for optimizing your storefront is creating quality content to increase ranking and improve your site authority. Displaying compelling copy and detailed product descriptions and product information can improve the user experience of potential buyers. Some tips for creating high-quality content include:

• Using images and videos: Brands that use visual content have 7 times greater conversion than those who don’t.² Visual content is what buyers see first, and this may determine whether they buy your products or not. Therefore, post high-quality images and make sure they are optimized so buyers can view them at a fast speed.

• Providing helpful product information, including product features and detailed descriptions. Also, optimize the product pages for better performance.

• Creating engaging content by including social proof like reviews, ratings, and product recommendations from satisfied buyers.

• Including internal links as they help Google understand which pages from your storefront are essential.

5. Avoid duplicate content

Optimizing for storefronts should automatically mean creating unique text and avoiding duplicate content. Outdated content and duplicate content make search engines and visitors wonder if you are genuine.

Duplicate content is content that shows up within or outside your domain; it may appear in more than one location or URL and be considered duplicate content. One study showed that about 24% of pages have duplicate content.³

Having duplicate content on your page can affect your SEO, so it’s best to avoid it. For instance, search engines consider generic or manufacturers product descriptions as duplicate content, which may affect your SEO.

It is not just pages that can be considered duplicate, but also URLs, images, product descriptions, and so on.

If you have two similar product descriptions at 2 different URLs, this is considered duplicate content. For this reason, you should create unique information on products with detailed descriptions that make them compelling to buyers.

6. Prioritize Link Building

Link building is an SEO strategy that boosts a website’s search engine rankings. It involves gaining links to your website, usually through guest blogging and finding broken links. Having many high-quality links is a signal to Google that your site is credible. Therefore, the more inbound/backlinks you have, the higher your ranking in SERPs and the easier it is for customers to find your store.

Benefits of listing your products on Alibaba.com

Many businesses have gone from just running a brick-and-mortar business to taking their businesses online. Alibaba.com is an e-commerce platform that makes it easy for suppliers and sellers to list their products and reach customers from different countries. Here are some of the benefits you get from creating an Alibaba.com storefront for your products.

1. Reach millions of global buyers

One of the major advantages of listing your products on Alibaba.com is the ability to reach millions of global suppliers and buyers. Alibaba.com currently administers services to over 190 countries and has more than 20 million active buyers.

Alibaba.com helps small and medium-sized businesses reach a large number of customers from different parts of the world. This means listing your products on Alibaba expands your target audience and potential customers.

2. Increase your sales

Thanks to Alibaba.com’s suite of digital marketing tools built for B2B sales, you can increase your sales and manage your growth on the platform. By taking advantage of intelligent tools like targeted advertising, data analytics tools, and customer data, you can easily get discovered.

• Customer data tools help you understand everything about your customers including their buying preferences, preferred time of receiving information from brands, and other things that help you make better business decisions.

• Ads and lead generation tools help you run targeted ads, increase brand exposure, and find the right buyers for your products.

• Analytics tools help you view your store performance metrics, get industry-based algorithms, and one-on-one support to improve your digital marketing strategies.

3. Gain access to professional services

Another great thing about Alibaba.com is that it has a professional team that offers different marketing services to ensure buyers get the best from the platform.

This team of B2B selling experts support and maximize the journey of sellers on Alibaba.com. They offer many services including one-on-one virtual support, account management services, and access to useful resources to accelerate business growth.

4. Strengthen your localization capabilities

Alibaba.com offers many features including localization tools that help you serve customers better. These features include language translation to audiences who speak different languages.

For example, Alibaba.com can translate your content into over 18 languages based on the preference of the buyer. This makes it easier to communicate and reach a global audience.

In addition, both buyers and sellers have the option of different payment methods and currency conversions. There are many payment methods on the platform including Western Union and Visa/Mastercard to suit the preference of different Alibaba.com users.

5. Transact more securely

Alibaba.com keeps adding more and more valuable features on the platform to serve buyers and sellers better. One of those impressive features is Trade Assurance which helps people transact securely and boosts buyers’ confidence in transacting with sellers.

Trade Assurance suppliers have multiple payment methods, a secure payment portal, and extended support in terms of requesting a refund. This feature gives buyers confidence in transacting with sellers with Trade Assurance.

Get started on Alibaba.com

As a reliable B2B e-commerce platform, Alibaba helps sellers showcase their products, promote their business, and let consumers shop. By selling on Alibaba.com, you can get into international trade easily and gain visibility among customers from around the world.

Get started on Alibaba.com by creating a seller account, listing your products, and taking advantage of the intelligent tools the platform offers. Finally, don’t forget to optimize your storefront. By optimizing your storefront, you have an added advantage to reach more customers and propel business growth.

References:
1. https://sleeknote.com/blog/online-shopping-statistics
2. http://bandwagoncreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Visual_Web_Infographic_Large.jpg
3. https://searchengineland.com/study-29-of-sites-face-duplicate-content-issues-80-arent-using-schema-org-microdata-232870