Looking for the best eCommerce platform for SEO?
Having a strong online presence is crucial for eCommerce businesses to thrive. Search engine optimization (SEO) plays a pivotal role in driving organic traffic to your online store, ensuring that your products are easily discoverable by potential customers. With a multitude of eCommerce platforms available, choosing the right one that seamlessly integrates with SEO best practices can be a game-changer for your business’s success.
In this article, I’d like to share some of the best eCommerce platforms for SEO. These help ensure your store is built on a foundation primed for success.
What are eCommerce Platforms?
eCommerce platforms are software solutions that enable businesses to create, manage, and operate online stores. These platforms offer a range of features, including product catalogs, shopping carts, payment gateways, and order management systems.
eCommerce platforms are essentially the online foundation for your business
By leveraging the power of these platforms, businesses can streamline their eCommerce operations, enhance customer experiences, and ultimately drive sales.
That’s why choosing the right platform is crucial, especially if you want to rank high in search results.
The Importance of SEO for eCommerce Brands
SEO is the practice of optimizing websites to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs), thereby increasing organic traffic. For eCommerce brands, implementing effective SEO strategies is crucial for several reasons:
- Increased visibility: Optimizing your online store for relevant keywords enhances its visibility to potential customers searching for your products or services.
- Cost-effectiveness: Organic traffic generated through SEO is essentially free, making it a cost-effective way to drive targeted visitors to your website compared to paid advertising.
- Credibility and trust: Higher rankings in SERPs often correlate with increased credibility and trust, as users perceive top-ranking websites as more authoritative and reliable.
So, if you want your business to thrive online, you need to build it on an eCommerce platform built with SEO in mind.
Best eCommerce Platform for SEO: Expert Picks
Now that you know what eCommerce platforms are and why they’re important, let’s quickly look at those to consider for SEO.
1. Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is a powerful WordPress plugin that offers a seamless solution for selling digital products on your website without the need to set up a dedicated eCommerce store. It is widely regarded as the best WordPress plugin designed to sell digital content such as ebooks, plugins, PDFs, software, and more.
To help you maximize sales, EDD is equipped with a comprehensive suite of eCommerce and reporting features, enabling you to optimize your digital store, drive traffic, and boost conversions.
Selling using EDD is also super easy. With a fully integrated shopping cart system, the plugin allows you to seamlessly incorporate cart elements into your product pages. Furthermore, you can create customer account pages where users can conveniently access their purchase history, license keys, downloads, and other relevant information.
Accepting payments is a breeze with EDD, as it seamlessly integrates with popular payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and many others, providing a smooth and secure transaction experience for your customers.
Easy Digital Downloads stands out as the premier eCommerce platform for SEO as it is primed to help you rank, convert, and drive sales.
Pricing: Free. Paid plans start at $99.50.
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is one of the most widely adopted WordPress plugins for building eCommerce stores. It’s renowned for its versatility and extensive ecosystem. It’s also SEO-friendly, making it a top contender in our list of the best eCommerce platforms for SEO.
Regardless of the type of online store you envision, you’ll find many add-ons, themes, and templates available to bring your vision to life. This is all thanks to numerous marketplaces that provide WooCommerce plugins and other resources. Moreover, many web hosting companies offer specialized WooCommerce hosting solutions, solidifying its position as a top choice for building online stores.
While the core WooCommerce plugin has essential features to set up your eCommerce store, you can extend its functionality by leveraging the platform’s extensive collection of free and premium add-ons. One way to do this is by using AIOSEO’s WooCommerce SEO module to extend the platform’s SEO capabilities. This will help your store and product pages perform better on search engines.
One key factor contributing to WooCommerce’s popularity is its versatility. It enables you to sell both digital and physical products seamlessly. Combined with its user-friendly interface, WooCommerce offers an unparalleled eCommerce solution.
WooCommerce boasts extensive support for popular payment gateways and services, such as PayPal and Stripe. Additionally, you can further enhance your payment options by incorporating add-ons for less common payment gateways that may not be natively supported.
If you’re looking for a Shopify alternative that allows you to build your eCommerce store on the WordPress platform, WooCommerce stands out as the best choice. For a detailed comparison between these two solutions, we recommend checking out the WooCommerce vs. Shopify guide from our friends at WPBeginner.
Pricing: Free. Add-ons range from free to $150 per year.
3. SeedProd
SeedProd is the best WordPress site builder plugin, according to over 1+ million users. While SeedProd excels as a site and theme builder, it also serves as a powerful page builder tool. With this versatile plugin, you can build high-converting landing pages for your eCommerce store. This includes product pages, email opt-in pages, coming soon pages, maintenance mode pages, and more. You can also use SeedProd to build sales funnels!
Moreover, if you plan to build an online store, SeedProd offers custom WooCommerce blocks that can streamline your customers’ shopping experience. You can incorporate these Gutenberg blocks into your store, making it easier for shoppers to interact with your products. Examples of said blocks include add-to-cart buttons, shopping carts, checkout, and product grids. These features not only simplify the process of customizing your WooCommerce site, checkout pages, and product pages but also help boost conversions on your product-focused landing pages.
Note: AIOSEO has many page builder integrations, including with SeedProd. These help you optimize your pages on the fly.
If you’re not familiar with coding and want to build a website, SeedProd should rank high on your list of the best eCommerce platforms for SEO. Its user-friendly interface is designed to be accessible even for those without coding or tech knowledge. Additionally, as an SEO-friendly website builder, you can rest assured that your store and products will perform well in search engine rankings.
Pricing: Starts from $39.50/year. Free version available.
4. Thrive Suite
Thrive Suite is a collection of WordPress plugins designed to help you build conversion-focused eCommerce sites faster. Some of the plugins in the suite that help make this the best eCommerce platform for SEO include:
- Thrive Theme Builder: Thrive Theme Builder empowers you to create visually stunning, marketing-focused WordPress websites with its revolutionary 100% front-end visual theme building capabilities. This powerful tool eliminates the need for coding, making it accessible to users of all skill levels.
- Thrive Architect: This is a powerful no-code landing page builder that can help you market your business better, generate leads, and drive sales.
- Thrive Leads: Supercharge your email list building so you can promote your products directly to your customers.
- Thrive Ovation: Show social proof to trigger FOMO (fear of missing out) and boost credibility. Display testimonials to drive sales
Thrive gives you all the tools you need to build a conversion-focused eCommerce store on WooCommerce without hiring a developer.
Pricing: $299/year for the suite or $99/year for individual plugins.
5. WP Simple Pay
WP Simple Pay is the best eCommerce platform for SEO if you’re looking for a streamlined eCommerce solution. It’s the perfect payments solution for those who don’t require a comprehensive eCommerce platform like Easy Digital Downloads or WooCommerce yet seek a straightforward way to process payments.
One of WP Simple Pay’s key advantages is its lightweight and easy-to-set-up nature. Once installed and activated, you can easily add payment forms anywhere on your site, making it simple to sell products and services, even without any technical or coding expertise. Additionally, WP Simple Pay enables you to accept donations and set up recurring subscriptions, further expanding its versatility.
WP Simple Pay offers over 10 payment options, including credit card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and ACH debit payments. It also offers a buy now, pay later option for businesses that support this. This extensive range of payment methods ensures you can cater to your customers’ preferences, thereby reducing cart abandonment rates.
WP Simple Pay stands out as the easiest way to accept one-time and recurring payments on your WordPress site with a simple buy button. Unlike complex shopping cart systems, WP Simple Pay streamlines the payment process, making it the ideal choice for expert and novice eCommerce store owners alike who seek a simple yet effective payments solution for their site.
All this makes this plugin the best eCommerce platform for SEO.
Pricing: Starts at $49.50.
6. WPForms
WPForms is the world’s leading form builder plugin, boasting an impressive user base of over 6 million. With its powerful features, you can add any type of form to your site, streamlining processes such as lead generation, surveys, event registrations, and much more. Plus, these are all SEO-friendly!
While primarily known for its form-building capabilities, WPForms is also a powerful eCommerce solution. It provides a simple and straightforward way to accept payments on your WordPress site. This is made possible through the robust order forms that WPForms enables you to create. For example, you can easily create sophisticated online billing and order forms, streamlining your payment collection process. Plus, WPForms supports multiple payment gateways.
If you don’t require a comprehensive shopping cart or checkout system to sell on your site, WPForms presents itself as a solid solution. Whether you’re looking to sell a single product or service or explore alternative eCommerce solutions, WPForms offers a powerful and versatile platform to accept payments on your WordPress site seamlessly. Because of this, it is the best eCommerce platform for SEO for those who aren’t looking for a fully-fledged eCommerce solution.
Pricing: Free. However, you’ll need a Pro license ($159.60 annually) to accept payments through your forms.
7. BigCommerce for WordPress
BigCommerce is one of the biggest eCommerce platforms on the market and powers a huge chunk of online sales. It’s a SaaS platform that provides an all-in-one package of eCommerce services. These include hosting web design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), payment processing, and more.
If you want to use BigCommerce on your site, you can integrate it seamlessly with WordPress using the free BigCommerce for WordPress plugin. This offers users the power of BigCommerce and the SEO-friendliness of WordPress. Plus, this setup is an effective way to scale your business with WordPress on the front end while freeing up server resources on the back end.
BigCommerce also offers digital download support, advanced shipping & complex product catalog support, and multiple payment options, among other features.
Pricing: The BigCommerce for WordPress plugin is free. However, you need a BigCommerce plan to use it. Plans start at $29.50 per month.
8. Shopify
Unlike other options on this list, Shopify is a fully hosted eCommerce platform and doesn’t offer a WordPress plugin or integrate with WordPress. The biggest advantage of Shopify as an eCommerce solution is its hassle-free and managed approach. You don’t have to worry about managing software, installing updates, or handling backups.
Shopify also has a built-in SEO tool to help you rank your store and pages. However, because of the platform’s nature, this is more rigid than WooCommerce SEO. This means the trade-off for having a managed solution is that you have less control over your site compared to a self-hosted WooCommerce store.
While Shopify takes a different approach than WooCommerce, it offers a streamlined and user-friendly eCommerce solution for those prioritizing ease of use and a managed experience over complete control and customization.
Price: Paid plans start at $32/month.
9. Wix
While primarily a website builder, Wix also offers eCommerce capabilities with its Wix eCommerce solution. Like Shopify, Wix is a fully hosted solution.
With Wix Stores, setting up an eCommerce website is a breeze, even for those with little to no technical expertise. This is thanks to Wix’s user-friendly drag-and-drop interface and extensive design options. The platform also provides a range of customizable templates and design elements, enabling businesses to craft visually appealing and professional-looking online stores that align with their brand identity.
On the SEO front, Wix has built-in SEO tools. These tools are designed to help you optimize your online stores for search engines, ensuring better visibility and increased organic traffic. Wix also automatically incorporates some essential on-page SEO standards. Plus, the platform provides additional App integrations like SEO Wiz to optimize pages. However, site structure and technical enhancements require manual optimization.
Additionally, Wix Stores offers robust eCommerce features such as secure payment gateways, inventory management, shipping and tax calculations, and comprehensive analytics. With its user-friendly interface and powerful eCommerce capabilities, Wix makes it easy for solopreneurs and mid-sized businesses to create, manage, and optimize their online stores.
Pricing: eCommerce plans start at $17/month.
10. Squarespace
Squarespace is another popular website builder that offers robust eCommerce functionality, earning its place on this best eCommerce platform for SEO list. One reason for its popularity is its clean and visually appealing designs.
One of the key advantages of Squarespace’s eCommerce solution is its SEO-friendly features. The platform allows for customizable URLs, ensuring that product and category links are easy to read and understand for both users and search engines. Additionally, Squarespace’s responsive designs ensure that online stores are fully mobile-responsive, a crucial factor for SEO in today’s mobile-centric world.
Beyond its SEO-friendly features, Squarespace’s eCommerce solution offers a range of powerful tools and functionalities. These include secure payment gateways, advanced inventory management, seamless integrations with popular shipping carriers, and comprehensive analytics for tracking and optimizing sales performance.
With its emphasis on clean and visually striking designs, SEO-friendly features, and robust eCommerce capabilities, Squarespace empowers businesses to create beautiful and optimized online stores that captivate customers and rank well in search engine results.
Pricing: eCommerce plans start at $23/month.
Once you’ve built your eCommerce store, getting it to rank should be your priority. Here are some tools that can help you do that:
All In One SEO (AIOSEO)
AIOSEO is a powerful yet easy-to-use SEO plugin. It boasts over 3 million active installs and is trusted by many eCommerce stores and marketers to help them boost their search engine rankings and drive qualified traffic to their online stores.
As you know, every successful eCommerce business depends on organic traffic for growth. After all, you can only boost your sales if you make it easy for customers to find your store and products. AIOSEO has many powerful SEO features and modules designed to help you do just that.
The plugin even has features designed explicitly for WooCommerce SEO. This powerful module helps you optimize product pages, product categories, and more. So, if your eCommerce store is built on WordPress, AIOSEO is the best SEO plugin for you.
To help you gain your customers’ trust and drive more sales, AIOSEO has a powerful next-gen Schema Generator that features a product review schema module and Google’s Merchant Listing schema. These enable you to display customer reviews, shipping details, and more on SERPs.
Other examples of SEO features that can help you boost your online visibility include:
- Search Statistics: This powerful Google Search Console integration lets you track your keyword rankings and see important SEO metrics with 1-click, and more.
- SEO Revisions: Track any changes you make to your site and see their impact on your SEO. Plus, you get to see on a timeline how Google updates affect your site.
- Advanced Robots.txt Generator: Easily generate and customize your robots.txt file for better crawling and indexing.
For step-by-step instructions on how to install AIOSEO, check our detailed installation guide.
Pricing: Starts at $49.60.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free SEO tool by Google. It allows you to track your eCommerce site’s performance and identify technical issues impacting it. You can also use it to monitor your keyword rankings, impressions, clickthrough rates, and more.
However, one of GSC’s biggest drawbacks is that the reports can contain so much data that they can be overwhelming for beginners. This is one of the main reasons we recommend using AIOSEO’s Search Statistics instead. It gives you the necessary data to gauge your SEO performance in an easy-to-understand format.
One reason SEOs love GSC is that you can use it to submit sitemaps for faster crawling of content. However, AIOSEO has a revolutionary feature that also lets you connect to GSC without the hassles of verifying using a code.
It’s a 1-click connection. Once done, you can also automatically sync your sitemaps to GSC. This improves your chances of ranking high on search engines.
Google Search Pricing: Free.
MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights is the best Google Analytics tool for WordPress sites according to 3 million users. One reason MonsterInsights has such a large fanbase is its intuitive and easy-to-use interface. MonsterInsights gives you all the power of Google Analytics but with a more user-friendly interface. That means you get all the data you need to run a successful eCommerce site right from your stores dashboard.
Because MonsterInsights gives you deep insights into how visitors interact with your site, it helps you optimize for traffic and conversions. It also shows you where the visitors come from and their behavior as they navigate through your site and product pages. This helps ensure you target the right traffic acquisition channels.
If you use WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads to sell on your site, MonsterInsights also offers enhanced eCommerce tracking features. This will help you optimize your store and landing pages for improved sales.
Pricing: Starts at $99.50/year.
Best eCommerce Platform for SEO: Our Top Picks
Our recommendation for the best eCommerce platform for SEO is Easy Digital Downloads if your business model involves selling digital products. However, if you sell physical products or a mixture of physical and digital products, then we recommend WooCommerce.
And for the best eCommerce SEO tool, we recommend you join 3 million other users and go for AIOSEO. The plugin will help you rank your site, product pages, and other content high on search engines.
Best eCommerce Platform for SEO: Your FAQs Answered
What are eCommerce platforms?
eCommerce platforms are software solutions that enable businesses to create, manage, and operate online stores. These platforms offer a range of features, including product catalogs, shopping carts, payment gateways, and order management systems.
Which platform is best for eCommerce?
The best eCommerce platform for your business depends on various factors, including your specific needs, budget, and technical expertise. Some popular options include Easy Digital Downloads (EDD), WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.
We hope this article has helped you discover the best eCommerce platform for SEO. You may also want to check out other articles on our blog, like our guide to common SEO mistakes to avoid or our list of the best WooCommerce SEO plugins.
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