Skip to main content

How to Add Keywords to your Shopify Store for SEO?

Last updated: November 28 2024

Written and researched by experts at Avada Learn more about our methodology

If you’re running a Shopify store, optimizing your website for search engines is one of the best ways to attract more traffic, boost your visibility, and increase sales. But here’s the catch—without the right keywords, your store might be getting lost in the depths of Google’s search results. This guide will show you how to effectively add keywords to your Shopify store, helping you connect with your ideal customers and drive more organic traffic to your site. Let's dive in!

Why Should You Add Keywords to Your Shopify Store?

Adding Shopify SEO keywords will provide several competitive advantages over other competitors. Here are some reasons why you should do this:

  • Enhance Searchability: Adding keywords improves your store's visibility on search engines like Google. For example, when customers search for products, keywords help your store attract more potential buyers.
  • Improve SEO: Using relevant keywords in titles, product descriptions, and content improves your store's SEO ranking. As a result, your store will increase traffic and improve conversion rates.
  • Address Customer Pain Points: Customers often face challenges finding the right products. By optimizing keywords, you help them quickly identify what they need, minimizing frustration and increasing the likelihood of purchases.
  • Increase Competitiveness: Effective keyword usage helps your store stand out from competitors. This can lead to attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
  • Analyze and Adjust Strategy: Monitoring the performance of keywords provides insights into customer shopping behavior. You can then adjust your marketing strategy to align with actual market needs.
  • Create Quality Content: Using keywords optimizes SEO and encourages you to create useful and relevant content related to your products, building trust with customers and enhancing brand value.

How to Add Keywords to Your Shopify Store

The significance of keywords on Shopify is well recognized. Here are four essential methods to effectively add keywords to your Shopify store:

Add Shopify Keywords for SEO to Your Shopify Store’s Titles and Meta Descriptions

Page titles and meta descriptions are HTML attributes that tell search engines and users what your page is about. They are essential for on-page SEO and directly influence click-through rates from search engine results pages (SERPs).

How to edit your page titles and meta des in Shopify 

Optimizing title tags and meta descriptions is crucial, as they provide potential customers with essential information about your products.

Step 1: Access Preferences

Log into your Shopify admin panel and navigate to "Online Store" > "Preferences."

Step 1: Access Preferences

Step 2: Edit Page Title and Meta Description

In this section, you can modify the page title and meta description for your store's homepage. Keep in mind:

  • The title will appear as a link in search results, with a limit of 70 characters.
  • Enter a description for the search engine listing, which should not exceed 160 characters.
Step 2: Edit Page Title and Meta Description

Step 3: Save changes

Click "Save" to complete all the steps.

Step 3: Save changes

Tips for improving page titles and meta des:

  • Title tag under 70 characters to avoid truncation in search results
  • Ensures full visibility in search results without truncation.
  • Meta description under 160 characters, including the main keyword
  • Write engaging text that accurately reflects the page content and entices users
  • Unique title and meta description for each page to prevent duplicate content
  • Include a call to action (optional) to encourage users to click, such as "Shop now" or "Learn more."

Add Keyword to Shopify Product Pages

Product pages are the “Gateway” that plays a vital role in customer’s purchasing decisions on Shopify, so you should optimize them with relevant keywords.

How to add the keyword to product pages

Step 1: Select Product

Go to the “Products” section and select the product you want to add keyword pages.

Step 1: Select Product

Step 2: Enter a Descriptive Title Containing Keywords

Next, fill in the title with keywords. For example, if my main keyword is "T-Shirt", ensure you add title tag that includes the primary keyword to enhance visibility.

Step 3: Save Changes

Finally, click "Save" to complete the process.

Add keywords to the H1 header

An H1 header is the main heading at the top of the page. When creating a product page, collection page, blog post, or webpage, Shopify will use the title that you can enter to generate the H1 header for the pae.

Step 1: Choose the Content to Edit

Firstly, select the product, collection, web page, or blog post to add the H1 header. In the Title field, enter a descriptive title having your chosen keywords to improve search visibility.  

For example, I choose to add a descriptive title to the product section. 

Step 1: Choose the Content to Edit

Step 2: Save Your Changes

Once you have added your keywords and made any necessary adjustments, click the "Save" button to apply your changes.

Add keywords to image ALT text

Adding images to your Shopify product page makes customers who are blind or have love vision access, so Shopify store owners should do this by adding alternative text that describes each image. 

Step 1: Choose the Product

In your Shopify admin, navigate to the Products section. Click "All products" and select the product you want to edit.

Step 2: Access Product Images

Locate and click on the image of the product that you want to change.

Step 2: Access Product Images

Step 3: Edit ALT Text

Click on the "ALT" link associated with the image.

Step 3: Edit ALT Text

Step 4: Enter Descriptive ALT Text

Provide a clear and descriptive alternate text for the image, ensuring it accurately represents the product.

Step 5: Save Your Changes

Once you’ve entered the ALT text, click "Save."

Add Shopify Keywords to Collection Pages

Adding Shopify keywords to collection pages will improve your store's visibility and attract potential customers. These pages serve as a hub for your products, making it essential to optimize them with relevant keywords.

Step 1: Select Collection Product

In your Shopify admin, go to Products and click on “Collections.” You can choose any existing collection you want. 

If you want to create a new page, click the "Create Collection" button.

Step 2: Add Keywords to the Collection Page

Fill in your keywords in the title section of the collection.

Step 2: Add Keywords

Step 3: Click Save

Once you have finished setting it up, click "Save" to apply your changes.

Use Keywords in Your Blog Content

Inserting Shopify SEO keywords into your blog content helps customers find relevant information in a crowded online marketplace. By using these keywords effectively, your blog posts can appear in search results when potential customers seek solutions related to your products.

Step 1: Start a New Blog Post

Navigate to your Shopify admin panel, select "Online Store," and click "Create blog post" for a new post. 

Step 1: Start a New Blog Post

Step 2: Add Keywords in the Title

In the title section of your blog post, enter relevant keywords that reflect the content of your article to improve your post’s visibility in search results.

Step 3: Save Your Changes

After entering your keywords and finalizing your content, click the "Save" button to ensure all changes are recorded and published.

Top 3 Tools For Optimizing Shopify Keywords  

Effective keyword optimization is crucial for driving organic traffic to your Shopify store. Here are three powerful tools that offer valuable features and insights to simplify keyword research and improve your search engine rankings.

Tool 1: Semrush Keyword Magic Tool

Tool 1: Semrush Keyword Magic Tool

SEMrush is an all-in-one marketing platform with a robust SEO toolkit. A massive database of up to 25.5 billion keywords helps you with keyword research, competitor analysis, site auditing, content marketing, etc. providing a holistic view of your online marketing efforts.

Key Features:

  • Keyword Magic Tool: Provide comprehensive keyword research, including search volume and keyword difficulty, helping merchants target audiences and niche keywords.
  • Competitive Analysis: Analyzes competitors’ top keywords and paid ads, helping store owners create their strategies based on successful market practices.
  • Position Tracking: Monitors keyword rankings over time, providing insights into SEO performance and allowing merchants to adjust their strategies for improved visibility.

Pricing 

  • Pro plan: $139.95 per month
  • Guru plan: $249.95 per month
  • Enterprise plan: Start at $5,000 per month

Tool 2: Ahrefs

Tool 2: Ahrefs

Ahrefs - a comprehensive SEO toolkit provides in-depth data for keyword research, competitor analysis and backlink tracking, uncovering high-potential keywords and analyzing competitor strategies for a data-driven approach to SEO. The downside of this Ahrefs is that the ownership cost is relatively high, making it suitable for stores with financial solid potential.

Key Features

  • Keyword Explorer: Delivers extensive keyword suggestions along with metrics like search volume, clicks, and keyword difficulty. This feature helps Shopify store owners target keywords that bring in organic traffic effectively.
  • Site Audit & Backlink Analysis: Provides a detailed audit of your Shopify store and assesses your backlinks to identify areas for SEO improvement, which can lead to higher search rankings and greater visibility.
  • Content Gap Analysis: Identifies keyword opportunities that your competitors are ranking for but you aren’t, allowing you to close content gaps and gain a competitive edge.

Pricing

  • Lite plan: $129 monthly 
  • Standard plan: $249 monthly 
  • Advanced plan: $449 monthly
  • Enterprise plan: $14,490 monthly 

Tool 3: Google Keyword Planner

Tool 3: Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a widely used FREE tool for optimizing Shopify keywords. This tool can be directly linked with Google, providing essential keyword research capabilities, such as search volume and competition, helping merchants improve their SEO strategies, attract more traffic, and ultimately increase sales.

Key Features

  • Get Search Volume and Forecasts: Analyze search volume and traffic forecasts. Prioritize high-volume keywords to maximize traffic potential.
  • Cost-Per-Click (CPC) Insights: Offers CPC estimates for keywords, making it easier to budget for Google Ads campaigns targeting your Shopify products.
  • Google Ads Integration: Directly integrates with Google Ads, allowing Shopify store owners to streamline paid and organic keyword strategies for maximum reach.

Pricing: Free

Essential Things You Should Know When Adding Shopify Keyw1ords to Your Store 

Here are the essential things you should know about how to add keywords to the Shopify website to boost your store's visibility and attract more organic traffic:

  • Relevance is Key: Choose keywords that directly relate to your products. Think like your customers; for example, use terms like "handmade dog collars" in titles and descriptions.
  • Balance Search Volume and Competition: Target a mix of high-volume and low-competition long-tail keywords, such as "vegan running shoes for women size 9," using tools like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs.
  • Check Keyword Difficulty: Assess keyword difficulty with tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush. Start with more accessible keywords to build authority before tackling more competitive ones.
  • Understand User Intent: Match your keywords to customer intent—whether they're researching or ready to buy. For instance, "best dog collars for puppies" indicates research, while "buy personalized leather dog collar" shows intent to purchase.
  • Strategic Placement Matters: Integrate keywords naturally into product titles, descriptions, meta tags, headings, and alt text. Focus on readability first, then optimize for search engines.
  • Target Niche Customers with Long-Tail Keywords: Use specific long-tail keywords like "plus size floral summer dress for wedding guest" to attract qualified leads. The Plug in SEO app can assist with this.

Bottom Line

To optimize your Shopify store, effectively adding keywords SEO is crucial. By identifying relevant keywords and strategically integrating them into product titles, descriptions and meta tags, you can improve your search engine rankings and enhance user experience. Additionally, you should learn to use tools that assist in keyword optimization; mastering these tools will help increase your product visibility and attract more customers on Shopify.

FAQs

Can you do SEO on Shopify?

Yes, Shopify online stores have SEO built in and features to help you optimize your content. Some SEO is taken care of automatically: auto-generated canonical tags are added to pages to prevent duplicate content from appearing in search results, your website's sitemap.

How do I add a meta keyword in Shopify?

To add meta tags in Shopify, the process is quite straightforward if you only need to edit a page's meta title and description. Here’s how to do it:

  • Step 1: Open your Shopify admin tab.
  • Step 2: Choose the page where you want to add meta tags. For example, click on the Products, Inventory, and then on the needed item.
  • Step 3: Scroll down to the “Search engine listing” section. Click “Edit” and change your page's meta title and description.
  • Step 4: Save changes by clicking the “Save” button below.

How do I add keywords to my business?

You can add keywords to your business by incorporating them into your product titles, descriptions, and meta tags. Conducting keyword research will help you identify the most relevant terms for your niche.

How do I add an API key to my Shopify store?

To add an API key to your Shopify store, follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Access your Shopify account and navigate to the admin panel.
  • Step 2: Click "Apps" in the left sidebar.
  • Step 3: Select "Develop apps for your store."
  • Step 4: Click on "Create an app" and provide a name for your app.
  • Step 5: Configure the appropriate API scopes for your app.
  • Step 6: Navigate to the "API credentials" section to find your API Key and Secret Key.
  • Step 7: Use the API key in your application or integration as needed.

How many keywords should I target for each product page?

For each product page on Shopify, it is generally recommended to target 2-4 keywords. This allows you to optimize your content without overwhelming, ensuring that the keywords are relevant and improve the user experience. 

Can I change my keywords after publishing a product page?

Yes, you can change your keywords after publishing a product page on Shopify. To do this, go to the product page in your Shopify admin, edit the title, description, and meta tags as needed, and save your changes. Regularly updating your keywords can improve your search rankings and attract more relevant traffic.

Is there a way to automate keyword optimization on Shopify?

Yes, Shopify offers several ways to automate keyword optimization, making it easier to boost your store's visibility on search engines. Here are some options:

  • Shopify Apps: SEO apps on Shopify's App Store (like Plug In SEO, Avada SEO Speed Image Optimize, SEO Manager, and Smart SEO) automate keyword optimization, suggest keywords, analyze on-page SEO, and generate optimized meta tags.
  • SEO Automation Tools: Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz are popular automation tools for keyword updates, analyzing keyword trends, competition, and content gaps.
  • Dynamic Product Tagging: If you have many products, automating keyword tagging through scripts or apps can save time. This helps categorize products efficiently, ensuring relevant keywords appear across your store.
  • Template Optimization: Using SEO-friendly themes and templates can automatically apply best practices for keywords, headings, and meta descriptions across pages, reducing the need for manual updates.

Sam
linkedin
Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.