There are many ways you can improve SEO for your Shopify online store and one that we consistently see overlooked is user-generated content. UGC can be impactful in many ways and the great thing about it is that other people are doing the work for you!
What business wouldn’t want to capitalize on that? Below, we explain UGC content, why it is important for SEO, and some simple methods that you can use for your Shopify store.
Why is UGC Important for SEO?
User-generated content is invaluable for Shopify SEO and it helps make your online store stand out in search engine rankings but also in customer perception. UGC offers the following benefits:
- Google likes real customer interactions.
- It adds more depth and realism to your search results.
- It improves customer trust and brand loyalty.
- You can create diverse content.
At its most basic, Google loves UGC as it helps show the realness, validity, and quality of your Shopify online store. It gives more depth to your search results in the form of rich snippets and customer reviews and also means you get fresh content generated regularly.
From a customer perspective, UGC helps build trust and show that your products or services have merit and are worth buying. It’s a known fact that people are far more likely to make a purchase if they have read a positive review from a real customer for example.
4 Simple Methods of Using UGC for Your Shopify Store
UGC is the next step for your Shopify store and it can give you a competitive edge with these four simple methods you can make an immediate impact on your SEO:
1. Creating Rich Snippets with social proof
Rich snippets using things like product schema markup look great and they help make your company stand out from the competition. These are enhanced pieces of content that show more than just a typical website and title.
You can create rich snippets using Shopify product info like customer reviews and star ratings. These look appealing and immediately give your potential customers more info, but Google also loves rich snippets as they help with indexing and explaining your products and services in more depth.
2. Displaying customer reviews and ratings on product pages
If you use Shopify SEO services the company will be able to show you how to enable customer reviews on your product pages. When a customer clicks on a product page they will be able to leave a review and maybe even give a star rating.
These reviews can then be displayed – much like you see on Amazon product pages. Customer reviews are excellent for SEO as they give social proof of the worthiness of your products and services and contribute to content generation.
Make sure that the reviews are pruned as it is not uncommon to get spam reviews or bot reviews – these should be removed immediately. Also, if possible, make sure you reply to review comments as this improves SEO via a boost in engagement.
3. Creating a dedicated product review page
Aside from having customer reviews displayed on your product pages, a simple Shopify SEO technique is to have a dedicated product review or testimonial page.
This is great for SEO as it adds another piece of unique content, more internal links, and more user-generated content.
The reviews and testimonials must be real and should only be used with the customer’s express consent. Regardless, having a dedicated review page helps build user confidence and allows potential customers to see what you have to offer.
4. Create a referral program for existing customers
Referal programs are a win-win situation for you and the customer. You get free promotion and marketing, and a boost to your SEO while the customer gets something in return like a discount or free shipping.
Referral programs are tried and tested and they can do wonders for your SEO due to the increase in link sharing and traffic. You have to create a referral program that gives some benefit to the referee while still being profitable for your company.
An example could be that the referee gets a 10% discount on their next purchase if they refer a friend who spends a minimum set amount at your Shopify store.
Allow UGC to Push Your Shopify Store Forward and Boost Your SEO
Customers improving your SEO? Who would have thought it? User-generated content can give a huge boost to your SEO as you can see from the above but it also helps build a bond of trust with your customers.
Today, people want more information and real insight into the products and services they are spending their hard-earned cash on. Customer reviews, referral programs, and rich product snippets all help with this and show that your business and products are worthwhile.
Joshua George is the founder of ClickSlice, an SEO Agency based in London, UK.
He has eight years of experience as an SEO Consultant and was recently hired by the UK government for SEO training. Joshua also owns the best-selling SEO course on Udemy, and has taught SEO to over 100,000 students.
His work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, AgencyAnalytics, Wix and lots more other reputable publications.
