Today, we are going to focus on some simple tips for optimizing your Magento eCommerce website.

- Make your site visible to search engine spiders.  Go to Configuration => Design => HTML Head; change the value of Default Robots to “INDEX, FOLLOW.”

- Make sure to use relevant keywords in your title.  The default setting in Magento is for the title to be “Magento Commerce.”  This will not help your search engine rankings.  To change the default title, go to Configuration Tab => Design => HTML Head.

- Change the website configuration for your category pages: System => Configuration => Catalog => Search Engine Optimization and set “Use categories path for product URL’s” to “No.”

- To set the details for each category, go to Catalog => Manage Categories.  The most important fields are: Meta Description, Page Title, and URL Key.

- If you utilize Magento’s ability to support multiple stores and you sell the same products on multiple sites (with the same information on each site), it will be easy for a search engine to determine that the sites are not only related, but that they are one in the same.  This would create the problem of duplicate content and would ruin your attempt to achieve greater reach via multiple stores.

- Use 301 redirects for products that are no longer available.  A permanent redirect to a related product or a search will be much more helpful for your SEO than a 404.

- Use an optimized blank template.  A “Blank Magento SEO Theme” based on the core “Magento Blank Theme” is available for download.  This theme automatically incorporates many SEO-enhancing effects into your eCommerce site.

- Increase the loading speed of your site by enabling caching.  Go to System => Cache Management, and enable all caching features.

- Make sure to no-follow unnecessary links, such as your login, checkout, wishlist, and any other pages without content.  (You may have to do this by hand, but it will have a noticeable effect.)

- Create an XML sitemap.  This will not improve your ranking, but it might help your site get indexed faster by letting search engines know exactly where your content is.  Go to Catalog => Google Sitemap => Add Sitemap; choose a filename, path, and store view, then click “Save & Generate.”

In conjunction with the above, more technical SEO tips for Magento, creating good content will always be the biggest key to improving your rankings.  Here are some important content-related tips:

- Make sure to avoid using manufacturers’ descriptions of products.

- Use images, but ensure that you include the alt and title attributes of the img tag to add useful descriptive content.

For more information about Orange Collar Media’s expertise with SEO, website design, and website development, please contact us at info@orangecollarmedia.com or call us toll free at (866) 262-1517.

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