Do you want to take your fashion studio or boutique to a new level this year? Search engine optimization (SEO) for fashion may be the answer. Whether you want to encourage more in-person visits to your local studio or boost sales and conversions to your online ecommerce site, SEO can produce excellent results.
What Is Fashion SEO?
Fashion SEO is a digital marketing strategy that includes optimizing your website for search to generate more traffic and sales, specifically for fashion brands. SEO for fashion helps your brand stand out among its competitors. Even the best-designed websites with a unique, trendy inventory of clothing and accessories won’t do well if no one is able to find the page.
Why SEO for Fashion?
The ecommerce industry is highly competitive. IBISWorld estimates that there are as many as 178,366 fashion boutiques in the United States, which is a 1.7% increase year over year. The barrier to starting a fashion store is simple, yet a large percentage of smaller startup fashion boutiques close within the first year due to a lack of customers and sales.
A comprehensive marketing strategy is a must to stand out in the fashion industry today, especially when selling products online. SEO has the potential to boost your search rankings, meaning your website will be placed in front of your target customers at the same moment they’re shopping for items similar to what you sell.
SEO Techniques for Fashion Stores
Fashion stores and boutiques have a lot of excellent options when it comes to optimizing their websites for ranking purposes. Here are a few SEO techniques to consider:
A User-Friendly, Trustworthy Website
A user-friendly website is a must in today’s technological world. In addition to fast page load speed times, the website should also be easily navigable using multiple devices. Ideally, you’ll want to generate traffic from both desktop and mobile phone users. Ecommerce websites require another element – trustworthiness.
You have to capture your customer’s trust to encourage them to pull out their payment information and place a sale. Google considers many factors in SEO, with your website layout and user-friendliness being two of the most important factors. A good working website falls under technical SEO, and technical SEO should be a part of every search campaign.
Descriptive Keywords
Product listings should clearly define what the user is getting. However, you don’t just want to satisfy your users; you also want to provide Google bots with a clear understanding of the items you’re selling. Careful, strategic use of descriptive keywords tells Google what search phrases your items should rank for.
In-depth keyword research in the fashion industry can help you decide which keywords to target. Consider factors like search volume and how easy or difficult it will take to earn those rankings. This is where many fashion boutiques choose to turn to agencies and opt for their SEO keyword research services.
SEO agencies typically have specific strategies that can help increase your rankings even more. For example, schema markups that tell Google exactly what to expect from your website can offer more relevant traffic. Carefully placed guest posts put your brand in front of more users, giving you more opportunities to convert sales.
Build Trust
We have already established that trust is extremely important in the e-commerce industry. There are a number of ways to build trust, including customer reviews, backlinks, and secure payment processing.
Encourage and make it easy for previous customers to share feedback or reviews, not only of your brand but also of specific items. Backlinks are an effective SEO strategy that can help build trust among your customers and Google. Leveraging professional partnerships with other website owners and swapping a guest post in return for a link shows Google that others trust you. Additionally, as users see your brand across multiple platforms, they’ll be more trustworthy with your website.
Any business that accepts payment information online needs a secure payment processing system. Working with an established processor, like PayPal, can ensure your customers trust your website enough to provide information.
Start a Fashion Blog
A fashion blog is an especially powerful SEO strategy that allows you to create evergreen content that resonates with your target audience. You can also use your blog to increase keyword usage while positioning your boutique or fashion company as an industry leader and trendsetter. Finally, a fashion blog is a great way to partner with other industry-relevant websites to acquire backlinks or drive more organic traffic to your product pages.
A fashion boutique or online ecommerce store can benefit from SEO. SEO techniques drive more organic traffic to your website, which allows you to display your products to a wider audience. SEO campaigns can also increase brand awareness and overall trust, helping you turn that increase in audience into more conversions.
