Welcome to the DIY SEO show where we discuss industry-specific strategies for the e-commerce industry. Today, we will be exploring some of our favorite e-commerce companies who are building brands, selling innovative and unique products and services. We will provide specific and tactical insights that will help you drive your SEO forward.
One important approach I've found is that e-commerce companies tend to have more in-house marketing or have the actual founder or proprietor leading the SEO and digital marketing charge. This is different from larger companies that typically outsource their SEO to agencies. Having passionate individuals within the company helps in networking with blogs and other organizations to gain PR and backlinks. On average, the three websites I surveyed had a domain authority of 39, which is very strong for local and medium-sized businesses. To achieve this level of power and prowess, you would need approximately 400 backlinks from 400 different referring domains.
Large-scale home service or professional service companies often outsource their SEO to agencies, but e-commerce businesses often rely on in-house marketing or the founder/proprietor to lead the charge. This means that there are smarter strategies at play, where those who are familiar with the product and passionate about it help network and gain PR and backlinks from blogs and organizations.
The average domain authority of the top three e-commerce websites that I zoomed in on was 39, which is strong and legitimate online presence. Anything above 25 is considered very strong in the SEO world for small and medium-sized businesses. To achieve this level of power, your website would need approximately 400 backlinks from 400 different referring domains.
Two of the websites I surveyed had over 1,000 different referring domains, which shows that the e-commerce industry is highly competitive. The exciting thing is that if you're an e-commerce startup, your product or service is likely unique or creative, making it more noteworthy than small, local service companies.
Therefore, blogs, industry publications, and local and national media publications might be interested in featuring your company. Some of the SEO backlink strategies I observed from high-performing e-commerce companies include being featured on blogs related to your product or industry, industry publications, and local media.
Look for competitors or companies that are larger than yours and most represent what you're trying to do. Use a tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify websites that link to them, then make a list of those media and blogs. Look for email contacts or forms to fill out and begin reaching out to them, saying, "Hey, we also sell this type of soap, and we're sustainable. We would love to be featured in your top 10 new company profiles."
Additionally, having a sustainability page is essential for e-commerce companies, as it is trendy and on the consciousness of many people. If your item is sustainable or has a community impact thrust, that type of page could get picked up and featured, providing valuable backlinks.
E-commerce companies have an advantage in that they offer unique or creative products and services, which makes them more noteworthy than other businesses. Blogs, industry publications, local and national media publications are interested in featuring your company. We will discuss some backlink strategies that I observed from the three high-performing e-commerce companies. These strategies include being featured on blogs that talk about the industry or product type, industry publications, local media, and scouting top competitors to look at their backlink profile.
I would recommend looking at their backlink profile and making a list of websites that have linked to them. You can then reach out to those websites to be featured in their blogs or articles. Additionally, I found that having a sustainability page is very trendy now and can be picked up and featured, especially if your item is sustainable or has a community impact thrust.
If you're an e-commerce brand, you have immense potential to increase your domain authority and attract more customers. As someone who would steer the SEO of an e-commerce brand, I would begin by looking at startup-related sites, such as those listed on DIYCO startup directories. These sites are cool and are often frequented by people who are interested in discovering new brands. Similarly, there are many listings for e-commerce-related sites where you can easily obtain backlinks.
Next, I would focus on offering targeted discounts to different categories of people. By creating separate pages for each category and sharing them with relevant publications and websites, such as those that cater to military personnel or educators, you can get more backlinks and drive traffic to your site. These discounts don't have to be prominently displayed on your homepage navigation but should be easily discoverable by those who are looking for them.
Another effective special play is podcasting. By creating audio content and hosting it on free podcast platforms, you can attract more listeners and drive traffic to your site. You can also get meaningful backlinks by appearing on other podcasts and sharing your expertise with a wider audience.
Overall, these strategies can help increase your domain authority and attract more customers to your e-commerce brand.