A Checklist for Improving Branded Online Content in Search

For all the brands looking to improve their online presence, here is a checklist of 50 SEO tips that briefly cover everything from SSL certificates to schema to search-friendly URLs and much more. Note: If you are looking for an online reputation checklist click here.

Site Structure SEO Tips

Marketers should keep a close watch on the structure of their website and the SEO strategy they will implement. Below is the rundown of 19 tips linked to the construction of your site.

1. HTTPS. The security of your site is an important consideration. Migrate HTTP sites to the HTTPS protocol to protect customers and business information. HTTPS sites also enjoy slightly better Google rankings, making SSL certificates a worthwhile investment for e-commerce owners.

2. Fast Site. You must also ensure that your e-commerce site responds quickly to customer clicks. Site speed is another element that can dictate the success of your e-commerce SEO. Reduce page load times to reduce the bounce rates of your site.

3. Internal Linking tells search engines how to index your site. The further a page is from the home page, the less important it may be. Content should be organized logically, and every page on the site should have at least one link pointing to it.

4. Backlinks. The basis of off-page SEO is and has always been links. Start building superior-quality backlinks. For a deeper look at how link building fits into reputation campaigns, see our guide on link building for SEO reputation campaigns.

5. Mobile Friendly. Mobile devices now account for approximately 60–65% of global web traffic (Statcounter GlobalStats, 2024). Optimizing your site for mobile is a baseline requirement since Google completed its mobile-first indexing rollout for all sites in 2023. Compress images to less than 70KB so that mobile pages load faster, and use PageSpeed Insights or the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console to test mobile speed.

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6. Home Page Status to Category Pages. Grant individual home page status to category pages with their own content and keywords. A well-organized category-level navigation is an important factor that can boost SEO success.

7. Meta Descriptions play a significant role in increasing your click-through rate. Write compelling meta descriptions that give visitors a clear reason to click. One effective approach is to test a few versions as Google Ads, identify which gets clicked most, and use that text as the basis for your meta description.

8. Image SEO improves visitor engagement and helps pages appear in image searches. Content-supportive images should include alt tags and, where possible, title tags. These tags help both standard and visually impaired visitors access your site.

9. Title Tag. Optimize your title tag so it contains no more than 50–60 characters — the safe maximum before Google typically truncates titles in search results. Include long-tail keywords to capture organic searches, and use the Google Ads AB testing method to identify the most effective phrasing.

10. Chat and Chatbots. Live chat can improve visitor engagement, but requires someone available to respond. AI-powered chatbots — including those built on large language models — are now mainstream and widely deployed across e-commerce, making it easier to provide intelligent responses around the clock.

11. Breadcrumb Navigation helps visitors move between product lines, categories, and information pages. Google recommends breadcrumbs as a way to organize information. Use them on all product categories, sub-categories, and product pages.

12. Social Integrations. Allow visitors to share your pages through social integrations. Provide sharing options on all your product pages.

13. 301 Redirects. When a product or page is discontinued, use a permanent 301 redirect. This sends users to a live page instead of a dead one, and signals to search engines that the page has moved so you retain your hard-earned link equity.

14. Header Tags. Incorporate header tags on all your product pages. Use a single H1 tag for the most important headline, H2 tags for sub-headings, and H3 or H4 tags nested within H2s where needed. This helps search engines organize content at the page level.

15. Canonical Tags. Use a canonical tag to avoid duplicate content issues. When a search engine finds the same content in multiple places on your site, the canonical tag tells it which version to show in search results.

16. URL Structure. Pay attention to URL structure to strengthen product categories. Use website.com/category/ for category pages, website.com/category/sub-category/ for sub-categories, and website.com/category-sub-category/product-name for product pages. These formats are user-friendly and help search engines understand what each page covers.

Brand Awareness and Online Visibility

The following tips focus on building brand awareness and expanding your online presence through content, reviews, and community engagement.

1. Allow buyers to share reviews and recommendations on your website. This increases the content depth of your product pages and provides social validation. Understanding how positive and negative reviews affect business revenue can help you prioritize this effort.

2. Initiate a guest blogging strategy where third parties create content for your site. This can drive more traffic to your e-store and enhance your brand’s presence among online shoppers.

3. Paid search like Google Ads can build brand awareness and eventually lead to organic sales. Does PPC improve SEO? No — they are not connected.

4. Consider inserting aggregated star-based reviews next to your products to support organic search. Note that Google now limits review rich results to specific content types such as recipes, movies, books, and courses. Check Google’s current rich results eligibility guidelines to confirm what applies to your content type.

5. Use rich snippets to provide additional information to visitors in search results. Common e-commerce rich snippets include availability, reviews and ratings, events, and pricing. Implement them using Schema Markup. For brands, using web schema to improve branded search results is a particularly powerful application.

6. Launch an affiliate program by inviting bloggers to review your products. This can generate sales and increase backlinks to your site. Keep in mind that Google requires affiliate links to carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" attributes — untagged affiliate links can violate Google’s spam policies.

7. Look for local industry events to sponsor. Sponsorships build brand recognition and can generate valuable backlinks from event websites.

8. Participate in Reddit forums related to your product line, but do so subtly. Reddit users do not respond well to overt marketing, so use this strategy carefully.

Recommended SEO Tools

Along with the tips above, the following tools can help improve your organic traffic and support your broader SEO strategy.

• Google Shopping — May offer a lower cost per click and higher conversion rates compared to other PPC alternatives.
• Google Trends — Reveals what is trending in your industry, helping you decide where to invest content and SEO resources.
• Crazy Egg — A behavior analytics tool designed to help you improve website performance.
• Google Search Console — A must-have tool for quantifying search traffic data and improving site performance in search.
• Google Ads Keyword Planner — Useful for identifying keywords, though reported volume numbers are not always precise.
• Readable — Analyzes and scores the readability of your web content, with guidance on how to improve it.
• Canva — A design tool for creating visual content to share with your audience.
• Quick Sprout — A resource covering business software reviews and digital marketing guidance.
• Quora — A question-and-answer platform that can surface user insights and content gaps related to your products.
• Semrush — A powerful tool for identifying the keywords your competitors are targeting. For a broader look at tools our team relies on, see our roundup of the SEO tools we use most.