The ecommerce landscape is now at the peak of its growth, getting super competitive and overwhelmed with never-ending trends like artificial intelligence.
So, you must be ready to do everything possible for your online business to stand out and attract customers. One effective way to do this is to optimize your ecommerce store for search engines (SEO).
However, traditional SEO techniques can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Fortunately, you can now use artificial intelligence (AI) to automate many of these tasks, freeing up your time and resources so you can focus on other essential aspects of your business. In this post, I will walk you through the top 7 benefits of using AI for ecommerce SEO:
Create high-quality, relevant, and searchable content
One of the biggest challenges you will face while running an ecommerce business is constantly posting high-quality, relevant, and searchable content for your products. Buyers want to find products quickly and easily and be convinced they make the right purchase decision. That's where AI can help.
How? You may ask? Right now, there are already a bunch of AI tools that can help generate content ideas and graphics across multiple channels including ChatGPT for retail. Tools like Canva, Chat GPT4, or Bing chat can instantly generate content based on the prompts you provide tailored to each customer's specific needs and preferences. For instance, you can use their browsing history, purchase behavior, location, and many other factors.
Further, you can use AI to optimize your content for search engines, using keywords, tags, titles, and descriptions that match the customer's intent and query. So yes, with your guidance, AI can help you create and post engaging, persuasive, and factual content. This works because these tools use natural language generation (NLG) to produce text that sounds human-like and natural, using data, statistics, testimonials, and
Smarter keyword research
Using AI-powered tools like Google Trends, Ahrefs, and Semrush to do keyword research can help you deep dive into what your customers want. For example, some of these tools have features that help you to generate and find the relevant keywords faster.
However, keyword research is more than just finding the terms so that this tool can perform other keyword tasks in minutes. Let's take a look at how you can use them to optimize your marketing content based on the terms your customers are using:
- You can pick the most popular keywords related to your business.
- You can use the data to determine the search volume for each keyword.
- They can help you track your competitors for each keyword.
- These tools can also analyze the trends for each keyword.
- You can get new keyword suggestions to target.
So, after gathering all that information, you will get the exact terms your shoppers are using. For example, consider a business owner with an e-commerce business selling running shoes. AI can quickly analyze search shopping trends(by brand, color, or material ), competitor data, and shoppers' behavior to suggest targeted keywords like “best running shoes for marathon training” or “top-rated trail running shoes.”
Lastly, note that tools like Ahrefs and Ahrefs require you to adjust settings such as location to get accurate data on various terms. Therefore, if your business is located in the United States, ensure you switch locations and adjust other settings accordingly. This will ensure you target the most relevant keywords to help you improve your website's visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) and draw in more visitors interested in your products.
Advanced analytics
Analytics is analyzing, organizing, and interpreting large data datasets and using them to make sense of your marketing efforts. This means using an analytical tool to compare various metrics and patterns. For instance, you can discover customer behavior, website performance, and return on investment (ROI) for each marketing channel your online store has.
One tool that can help you achieve this is the Google search console. You can analyze it to collect the website's main metrics, like overall performance in terms of clicks, impressions, the average click-through rate(CTR), and average position in SERP.
So, for you to understand more, here is a detailed explanation of each of the four ways that AI can improve analytics in SEO:
- Analyzing large datasets of SEO data: As I mentioned earlier, AI can analyze large datasets of SEO data, such as search engine traffic data, keyword data, and backlink data. For example, you can use GA4 to find keywords driving the most traffic to a website or which pages are most likely to be linked to from other websites.
- Identifying correlations between different SEO factors: AI can identify correlations between various SEO factors(keywords, authority backlinks, etc.). For example, you can use AI to determine whether there is a connection between the number of backlinks a website has and its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can improve your store's SEO by providing information that has the most impact on its ranking and sales.
- Making predictions about future SEO performance: Although it's difficult to predict the future of Ecommerce SEO with certainty, AI can still help us make the correct assumptions. This is because AI algorithms can access the most relevant amounts of customer data, quickly revealing patterns and trends in SEO performance. Therefore, shoppers will get accurate search results, and you will consider their preferences, and your ecommerce store will improve its website content and design.
- Automating tasks related to SEO analytics: AI can automatically collect data from search engine traffic reports, keyword research tools, and backlink analysis tools. This data aims to help you quickly and efficiently track your SEO performance for a better future for your online shop.
Personalized product recommendations
Personalized product recommendations are powerful, especially now that people want to find things online faster. Another thing is that personalization shows that you care and listen to each shopper's interests.
There are several ways that AI can personalize product recommendations for your ecommerce store. One of the most popular approaches utilizing machine learning algorithms to analyze historical data, such as past purchase history, browsing behavior, and search queries. This way, you can see patterns and trends that can be used to predict what products each shopper is likely to be interested in.
Another approach to AI technology is natural language processing (NLP) techniques. This means you can optimize your eCommerce website's content, like product descriptions, meta tags, and other marketing content, to match the language and intent of your target audience. NLP can also enable the extraction of valuable insights from customer reviews and feedback, helping your business to value customer preferences and needs.
Here are some detailed examples of how AI can help create personalized product recommendations for ecommerce stores:
- Recommending products based on past purchase history: The AI algorithm analyzes the shopper's purchases to identify products they are likely interested in.
- Recommending products based on browsing behavior: Here, the AI will provide the shopper's browsing history to identify products they have shown an interest in. You can achieve this by using GA4 to track the pages the shopper has visited, the products they have added to their cart, and the products they have clicked on.
- Recommending products based on search queries: The shopper's search queries can lead you to products that match their favorite products. Again, GA4 can help you track the keywords the shopper used in their search queries.
- Recommending products based on social media posts: This approach analyzes the shopper's social media posts to identify the products they are talking about. Here, you track the hashtags the shopper uses and the products they tag in their posts.
- Recommending products based on customer reviews: Customer reviews can help AI identify products highly rated and recommended by other shoppers. Mostly, the AI algorithms rely on star ratings and comments that customers have left.
Fraud detection and prevention
E-commerce is one of the best modern conveniences but also the most targeted by online fraudsters. I'm saying this because I came across this Australian government website with several scam stories and found an interesting story. One customer confirmed losing $160 to a website selling cheap barbeques. After sending the payment, they received an email saying their order was concerned but had no refund, and that was the last time they heard from the ‘vendor.' Your customers may have had similar experiences or just heard about them online. So, your customers need to feel their information is protected when purchasing from your store.
Luckily, there are AI-powered fraud detection and prevention systems in eCommerce that ensure businesses safeguard their operations and protect their customers. These advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques can use real-time data to identify suspicious patterns and behaviors that may indicate fraudulent activity. For instance, AI algorithms can detect unusual purchasing patterns, such as a sudden surge in high-value orders or multiple purchases from different geographic locations within a short period.
Furthermore, AI can also analyze billing information to identify inconsistencies and flag potentially fraudulent transactions. It can help you or your team compare billing, shipping, and IP addresses. This means you can easily spot any discrepancies that may indicate fraudulent behavior. Your business will always be able to take immediate action and prevent potential losses.
Another critical benefit of AI-powered fraud detection is its adaptive nature. AI algorithms continuously learn from new data and adapt their detection methods accordingly. This reduces false positives and ensures a seamless shopping experience for genuine customers. For example, if a customer's purchasing behavior changes, such as making a high-value purchase that is out of their usual pattern, you can quickly determine if the transaction is legitimate or fraudulent.
Finally, the best thing about these systems is that they can integrate with other security measures, such as biometric authentication, device fingerprinting, and IP reputation analysis, to enhance fraud prevention efforts.
With all these technologies, businesses can create a multi-layered security system that provides robust protection against various types of fraud. As a result, your store will become popular and gain more traffic and sales, which are aspects of SEO done so well.
Improved customer targeting
To understand this concept, imagine you are a customer browsing an e-commerce website like Amazon looking for a Dishwasher. How AI technology will help is that it will quickly fetch information and help them recommend the right products.
The algorithm will look into your previous gadget purchases, searches, and behavior to understand your dishwasher preferences, maybe by brand or size. Based on this understanding, it will recommend similar or complementary dishwashers you might be interested in. For instance, they can suggest an LG dishwasher if you have bought or searched for their products online.
These recommendations are usually accurate and helpful because the AI algorithms continuously learn and improve from the data of thousands of other customers' experiences. Here are more examples of how customer targeting works:
- Recommendation engines: Amazon uses AI-powered recommendation engines to suggest personalized products or content to customers based on their browsing history, purchase behavior, and preferences. These engines continuously use machine learning algorithms to learn and improve Amazon recommendations.
- Predictive analytics: AI tools can help predict customer behavior, such as indicating which customers are likely to churn or make a purchase. Brands like eBay leverage predictive analytics to identify customers more likely to convert and target them with personalized offers or discounts to increase sales.
- Chatbots: Like those used by brands like Sephora or H&M, they can engage with customers in real-time, understand their preferences, and make personalized recommendations. They can also simulate a customized shopping assistant, providing product suggestions based on the customer's needs and preferences.
- Dynamic pricing: AI can comb through real-time data such as stock levels, competitor prices, and customer demand to dynamically adjust prices. Online travel agencies like Expedia utilize AI-driven dynamic pricing to optimize revenue based on need, seasonality, and customer segmentation.
Track and measure your SEO performance.
Tracking SEO performance is essential for e-commerce businesses because it helps them understand how well their online store performs in search engines and how they can improve their results. The most important metrics to track in e-commerce include:
- Organic traffic: The term refers to the number of individuals visiting your website via search engines.
- Keyword rankings: It's how high your website ranks for your target keywords in search results. It is a good measure of how visible your website is to potential customers.
- Bounce rate: Visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page contribute to a high bounce rate. This may indicate that your website needs to be more relevant to people's search terms.
- Conversion rate: This means tracking the number of visitors who take action on your website, such as purchasing or subscribing to a newsletter. If the conversion rate is high, it indicates that your SEO strategy is driving qualified traffic to your website.
- Average time on page: This is how long visitors typically stay on each page of your website. Again, if the average time on a page is longer, this is a sign that visitors are finding your content valuable.
- Pages per session: This indicates the number of visitor views during each session on your website. Increased pages per session allow visitors to navigate your website and easily find what they seek.
- Backlinks: To make your website popular on search engines, you need other websites to link to. These links are called backlinks, and they are essential. Remember them!
- Domain authority: Domain authority measures the overall strength of your website's SEO. Several factors, including the number and quality of your backlinks, calculate it.
- Customer lifetime value is the total amount of money a customer is expected to spend on your website over their relationship with you. It's a good measure of the long-term value of your customers.
- Return on investment (ROI): The money you make from your e-commerce business is divided by the amount you invest in it. It is suitable for tracking the profitability of your e-commerce business.
So, the tracking process provides insights, identifies trends, and predicts future performance based on the metrics above in just a few minutes or hours. Therefore, AI tools can help you save time and effort, improve your SEO strategy, and achieve better results. Here are some AI-powered tools that can help you track your SEO efforts in e-commerce:
- Semrush: Semrush is a popular SEO tool that offers a variety of features for tracking keywords, backlinks, competitors, and overall SEO performance.
- Ahrefs: Ahrefs is another SEO tool that offers a similar set of features.
- Moz: Moz is a more affordable SEO tool offering features for tracking local SEO, site audits, and ranking data.
- Majestic: Majestic is a tool that specializes in tracking backlinks, an essential factor for SEO.
- SEO.ai: SEO.ai is an AI-powered tool that can help you automate many aspects of SEO, including keyword research, content generation, and technical SEO.
Conclusion
The benefits I have just discussed above are just some of the ones. There are many benefits to using AI for ecommerce SEO. So, if you've encountered something else, you can tell us about it in the comments.
But from the post, we can say that AI is a powerful tool to help you achieve your ecommerce SEO goals. Here are some final tips for using AI for ecommerce SEO:
- Choose the right AI tool: Several AI tools are available, so it's essential to choose the one that is right for you. Consider your budget, your needs, and the features that are important to you.
- Start small: Wait to try to do too much too soon. Start by automating a few of the most time-consuming SEO tasks and then gradually add more as you become more comfortable with the tool.
- Track your results: It's essential to track your results to see how the AI tool is performing. This will help you make necessary adjustments to your SEO strategy.
I hope you use AI to improve your ecommerce SEO and attract more organic traffic to your website.