eCommerce Keyword Research: Complete 7-Step Guide

Keyword research is at the beginning of any SEO success story. It sets eCommerce platforms up for success by targeting the right search queries.

And, honestly, it isn’t difficult. You could do one in-depth keyword research process and have enough keyword data to last you a lifetime. 

What is eCommerce Keyword Research? 

eCommerce keyword research is the process of identifying and analysing search terms that potential customers use to find products online. You can then use them to build an SEO strategy to improve your search engine rankings for eCommerce 

The Importance of eCommerce Keyword Research 

Keyword research for an eCommerce store creates the foundation for ranking the right keywords that attracts the right customers at the right time. 

Not only this, but it ensures that you stay ahead of your competition, it improves your market share, it improves your website's conversions, and, most importantly, it improves the user experience as you’re providing quality content to the right searcher. 

Plus, if you’re optimising product pages for SEO, keyword research is a must. Without it, you won’t be able to target your customers when they’re in a buying mood. 

Finding the Right Keywords for eCommerce SEO 

When it comes to finding keywords, you want to find the right ones - ones that are going to move the needle in your business. 

Ideally, you want a good mix of the following: 

• Commercial or Transaction Intent: These types of keywords are “purchasing” keywords. They are keywords used by people who are ready or getting ready to buy. Therefore, you’ll want to target these keywords as they have a high purchasing intent. 

• Specificity: Focus on long-tail keywords that are specific to your ideal customers. For example, instead of targeting a keyword like “dog food”, target keywords like “fresh dog food for dachshund puppies”. 

• Feasibility: Understand the type of websites that are ranking for a specific keyword and see whether your website can outrank them. This will mainly be based on authority or domain authority. If the SERPs are filled with websites you cannot outrank, then move on to something else until you can. 

• Commercial Relevance: Lastly, choose keywords that actually match your products or services, even in blog content (if you decide to start a blog), as these are the keywords where you’ll find your target audience. 

How to Find eCommerce Keywords for Your Brand 

Finding the right keywords is a very tedious process. However, do it once and very detailed, you’ll have enough keyword ideas to last a lifetime. 

Brainstorm Seed Keywords 

A seed keyword is a short, broad term that represents a core product or service. 

For example, “dog food” is a seed keyword. It represents, of course, food for dogs, but it doesn’t represent an actual product, type of food, etc. 

Therefore, quickly brainstorm and list all of the seed keywords suitable for your eCommerce store. This will be the very beginning of your eCommerce SEO strategy. 

Analyse Competitors 

After brainstorming some seed keyword ideas, go a step further and look at your competitors. See what type of keywords they’re ranking for, and look for more seed keywords. 

You can do this manually without question. However, we recommend that you use some type of SEO tool. There are plenty out there, but we recommend SEMRush or Ahrefs, these are the best. 

As you’re looking at what keywords they’re ranking for, note keywords down that could benefit your website - both seed keywords and long-tail keywords. 

So you know, long-tail keywords are 3 or more keywords long and are usually very descriptive. Therefore, instead of “dog food”, it’d be “dog food for active 20lb dog” or “[brand] dog food”. 

Use Keyword Research Tools 

You now have a list of keywords: seed keywords and long-tail keywords. Move the long-tail keywords to one side at the moment and enter the seed keywords into a keyword research tool. 

As you can see, the seed keyword “dog food” now brings up a list of keywords. In this case, 200,000+ more keyword ideas. 

Of course, this is way too many, so you want to filter them down. There are a few ways you can do this. Typically, you can filter by metrics, like volume, intent, keyword difficulty (KD), number of words, etc., or by word. 

For example, let’s say we wanted to find a list of low-difficulty, high-value long-tail keywords. We can filter by commercial and transactional intent, KD up to 30, volume from 500, and number of words 5. 

Now, this list of 200,000 words has now just under 450 words. And, even better, 450 long tail, low difficulty, and valuable keywords. 

If you’re looking for very specific words relating to your product, you can also filter by word. For example, for “dog food”, it could be a type of brand or type of dog. 

While doing this, just be sure to create a “list” on the keyword tool. This will save them in their own file so you can come back to them later on. 

Prioritise Long-Tail Keywords 

While using keyword research tools to research keywords, try to only add long-tail keywords to your list. These keywords are often less competitive and have a much higher conversion potential. 

Consider eCommerce-Specific Keywords 

As you want SEO optimisation for an online store, you need to be focusing on eCommerce-specific keywords. 

These are typically: 

• Product keywords – "Nike Air Force 1 Sneakers"
• Category keywords – "Men's running shoes"
• Buyer-intent keywords – "Buy leather wallet online"
• Brand + Product Keywords – "Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review"
• Seasonal keywords – "Christmas gifts for men"

Yes, you can focus on blog-based keywords. However, right now, especially in the beginning, you just want to focus on high-intent eCommerce keywords to start getting a return on your SEO investment. 

Refine with Keyword Metrics 

After following the above guide, you should have a long list of long-tail keywords that are eCommerce-specific. 

Great, you now want to focus on the best options. Remember, however, this isn’t always the one with the highest keyword volume. 

Use the keyword research tool to refine your keyword selection using metrics like volume, intent, keyword difficulty, lowest DR, traffic potential, target, SERP features, first seen, etc., to find a group of keywords where you can create a content plan. 

Please note you can refine this even further. You can use AI to generate relevance scores, use scrapers to get average word counts, etc.

Develop a Content Plan 

With your refined list, you can now create a content plan or a plan on how you’re going to incorporate these keywords on your platform. 

We recommend that you do this in the form of clusters. A cluster is a group of keywords that are relevant but mean different things. 

For example, going back to the seed keyword “dog food”, you may have found a ton of great long-tail keywords for “dog food for [size of dog] lb”. Each size will then be part of the cluster. 

By doing this, you build relevance and authority in that specific type of keyword. Search engines will then “label” your website as an eCommerce store that sells food for different dog sizes. 

In this plan, you’ll also want to see whether you can optimise current content or need to make new content. Other things like who’ll perform the action, etc., will also be required. 

How to Optimise an eCommerce Product Page

You now have your keywords and need to place them in the right spots. Typically, you’ll place your keywords in all the following areas: 

Final Word

After reading, you now know why eCommerce SEO is important and that keyword research is the foundation of any SEO strategy, basic or advanced. 

By getting this right, you’re ensuring that, in the future, your website will be ranking for the right keywords and attracting the right customers.

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