How Heads Of SEO Can Boost Customer Loyalty In Ecommerce

Intro

For businesses that leverage SEO to generate sales in Ecommerce, the need to have loyal customers can't be overemphasized. The headache is always how to boost customer loyalty so that a one-time customer can become a lifetime customer.

The fact remains that the cost of acquiring a customer for your ecommerce business using SEO is higher than the cost of keeping them loyal to you.

A study has it that the chances of making more sales with a returning customer are 60%-70% while that of a new customer is 5% to 20%

And as a business, the goal is to have more loyal customers who will always return to make more purchases.

This guide will show how you as the Head Of SEO in your ecommerce brand can boost customer loyalty using SEO.

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What is Customer Loyalty In Ecommerce?

Customer loyalty in ecommerce is the measure of a customer's readiness to continue to make purchases from your ecommerce website. It is a function of customer satisfaction, experience, and the maximum value a customer derives from the goods and services they bought from you.

When a customer is loyal to your ecommerce brand, they don't care about price, or your competitors, provided the quality of service meets their expectation. That's like having charm on them.

But how do you boost customer loyalty in your ecommerce business using SEO?

1. Make Navigation Easy

You may have the best products on your ecommerce site, but customers won't like to return to make more purchases if your pages are hard to navigate. It doesn't matter if you are the only one that has the product.

Customer experience matters in ecommerce and they will opt for your competitors that make the buying process easier for them.

For example, a potential customer shouldn't pass three clicks before viewing your contact us page and return policy page. These are important pages they check alongside the product page before adding products to cart.

2. Invest in SEO Web design

The design of your ecommerce site should be SEO-focused. Customers use different web browsers and different devices to find you on search results.

The design should remain responsive, to accommodate potential customers who may use something obscure like Roku web browser to visit and shop in your ecommerce site.

SEO web design boosts pages on your ecommerce site. Keep in mind that your main source of traffic is organic, and a customer who doesn't find you easily on search results will assume that you're out of business.

3. List Your Ecommerce Site On GMB

Google My Business is an online business directory you can use to boost customer loyalty. When you list your ecommerce site on GMB, it's easy for customers within your area to find and shop for products.

Instead of them wasting time searching for sites to buy what they need, you are there on Google raising your hands to do business with them.

The after-effect is that customers will return directly to your ecommerce site for subsequent purchases, since you have made it easy for them. And in that process become loyal to you.

4. Pay Attention To Website Security

Security of your ecommerce website impacts SEO and the behavior of a customer towards patronizing you constantly. A customer who suspects your site is vulnerable to attacks won't return to make more purchases. In fact, they may even inform their friends about the dangers of using their credit cards on your ecommerce site.

Same with Google, it won't rank unsecured sites. For example, an ecommerce site without SSL certification is a red flag to search engines. You will find it difficult to rank.

And if you manage to do, a customer who makes a purchase and checks the address bar only to see" connection is insecure" will regret making the purchase for fear their data isn't safe. Nothing will make them remain loyal to you. Not even the quality products you sell at affordable prices.

But how do you tackle this as Head of SEO?

Start taking simple security measures like getting SSL certification for your ecommerce site, ensuring secure cookies, and sitewide SSL.

Run a penetration test if you can, or get a website security expert to do that for you. The aim is to discover and plug all security loopholes in your ecommerce site before hackers take advantage of it.

These will make your customers trust, buy more, and remain loyal to your ecommerce brand.

Also, search engines will rank your product pages higher on search results, and that will bring more potential loyal customers.

5. Create Valuable Content

Content is key to making more sales and earning the loyalty of a customer. The digital era has made it easy for customers to learn about a brand and product before making a purchase.

As the Head of SEO, the content on your ecommerce site should add value to customers. That's the only way to have them return to make more purchases. Whether it's a product description or a blog on your ecommerce site, make it customer-centered.

Put yourself in the shoes of a customer who has a problem and is looking for a solution via the content they consume online. Then write a sales copy that will offer a solution.

For instance, a customer who searches for a washing machine wants to get their laundry done quickly. Content on your ecommerce site about such a product should explain the features, benefits, price, how to use it, shipping, and refund policy.

Customers trust and value brands that make it easy for them to get what they want.

After the first purchase, they will return to make more purchases since they know your content is always helpful.

Take Nike for instance. The content on its product page is top-notch and easy to comprehend. The product details outlines the features, benefits, prices, and other information that a customer needs to make a purchasing decision.

6. Fix Link Issues

How do you feel when you click on a product page that shows on search results, and it returns a 404 error, a popular SEO term?

Disappointed right?

Same with a potential customer that wants to shop on your ecommerce site.

Such a first impression is distasteful. And you have denied yourself a potential sale that could translate to regular sales.

That's why you should fix all broken and dead links.

There are plenty of free SEO tools you can use to find them.

Screaming Frog is my go-to SEO tool in this case. It's more advanced and precise. It can run a check for broken links on a website with thousands of pages in minutes.

Although it has a paid version, you can use the free plan that crawls only 500 URLs.

To fix broken links, you can avoid deleting a page with outdated or out-of-stock products. Instead, do a 301 redirect to a page with a similar product.

Better still, leave a note on the page like:

This product is out of stock or is currently unavailable.

That's how other ecommerce and online retail stores handle it.

7. Announce Discount In Your Content

When you create SEO content for your products, offer discounts to woo customers. Buyers search for sellers that can offer discounts and deals.

Product pages that appear on search results with a certain percent of discount on the headline excite customers and serve as incentives.

A survey has it that 75% of customers return to make more purchases due to the incentives they receive.

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Of course, they want to save money while buying a product.

They appreciate brands that offer discounts, and there's no better way to keep them coming back to buy more than that.

Discounts shouldn't be only during Black Fridays because many ecommerce sites do that.

Building that reputation of offering discounts no matter the season is what will win you more loyal customers.

**Final Thought **

Boosting customer loyalty in ecommerce isn't the role of the customer support and marketing team alone. You have a role to play as the Head of SEO. I have shown you 7 different ways you can come in. Make navigation easy, invest in SEO design, and pay attention to the security of your ecommerce site.

Create valuable content, fix broken links, and above all offer discounts. All these when implemented will boost the number of customers that return regularly to shop on your ecommerce site. The end result will be more sales, revenue, and profit.