A sales executive based in Houston, Texas, Robert Wohlleber is the president of Integrity Sales Group. In that role, Robert Wohlleber directs strategies to develop online sales for suppliers in the outdoor footwear industry.

By maximizing search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, business owners can ensure that their e-commerce sites show up on the first page of major search engines, boosting conversion rates in significant ways. Key steps to embracing SEO include investing time to determine the keywords that are most likely to drive traffic to a site.

Once web traffic arrives, site designers should ensure that the site’s structure supports established SEO goals. In addition, each product page should be optimized individually with keywords that support the products on that page. This can be accomplished through keyword placement in URL addresses, product descriptions, product reviews, tags, meta descriptions, and filenames.

Blogs are another component that can be optimized for an e-commerce site. While product pages are more specifically targeted with one or two search terms, a blog can draw traffic to the site with longer key phrases that appeal to specific audiences. Businesses should keep the following strategies in mind when crafting pieces for e-commerce sites:

–Optimize each article for a keyword or phrase. When blogs are carefully written with efficiency in mind, search engines respond more favorably. Search engine algorithms tend to skip articles that are stuffed with too many keywords.

–Find a thoughtful writer who can appeal to your customer. Writers should understand the industry and write articles that are helpful, interesting, engaging, and sharable.

–Topics, headlines, and messages should all support your company’s overall goals.

–Incorporate links and photos into articles, preferably with titles containing keywords.

–Explore topics for articles that incorporate keywords and phrases that are difficult to work into product pages and descriptions.

–Keep content fresh. As new content is produced, your site stays relevant in consumers’ eyes.