Ecommerce marketing in the digital age involves specialized ecommerce SEO strategies designed to take advantage of how online shoppers behave. And like general SEO, ecommerce SEO is driven by keywords. That makes keyword research just as important in ecommerce as any other setting. A retailer’s choice of keywords sets the stage for success or failure.

Unfortunately, there is a common misconception in ecommerce marketing that keyword choices should always be based strictly on volume. They should not. Obsessing over volume is a recipe for disaster. Why? Because the competition is fierce. Keyword volume means very little if an ecommerce operator cannot compete for it.

So how do ecommerce operators maximize their keyword choices? Webtek Marketing, a Salt Lake City SEO and marketing firm, offers the following four keyword strategies for successful ecommerce marketing:

1. Start by Benchmarking

Obsessing over keyword volume is not good. But this does not mean volume doesn’t matter. It actually does. Researching keyword volume tells you the types of words and phrases customers are searching to find your products. You need to know this for benchmarking purposes.

Choose the top two or three keywords based on total search volume. Then use them as a benchmark for comparing other keywords with lower volumes. Benchmarking provides a way to choose other keywords for which you might be more competitive.

2. Check the Competition

Speaking of being competitive, it is important to check the competition and how it ranks for certain keywords. Consider one of the keywords you hope to rank for. Run a simple Google search on it. If the top few results include competitors like Amazon, Walmart, and Costco, your chances of competing against such high authority sites isn’t particularly good.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you cannot use that particular keyword. But it does suggest that you think about a few longtail versions that might give you an edge over the competition. Using longtail keywords encourages greater specificity that could help you overcome a lack of authority.

3. Consider User Intent

Online shoppers do not always search for products wisely. They know what they want, but they don’t know how to express it in search terms. This is actually a broad problem throughout all of SEO, which is why companies like Webtek have had to work so hard to understand user intent.

Obsessing over keyword volume detracts from the practice of understanding intent. So rather than looking exclusively at volume, look at the keywords that drive qualified traffic. Then put yourself in the customer’s shoes. What would a customer be looking for when using a particular keyword?

Figuring out user intent makes it possible to utilize less competitive keywords to your advantage. If you can leverage those less competitive keywords, you could possibly drive more traffic than you otherwise would competing for high volume keywords.

4. Choose Relevant Keywords

Finally, keywords that are not directly relevant to a given product are useless, no matter how much volume they generate. Remember that online shoppers aren’t trying to waste time or research complex topics. They are looking to buy stuff. Relevant keywords words direct them to the websites that sell what they want.

Focusing on relevant keywords increases traffic quality, if not quantity. But quality is what you want. You want visitors ready to buy your products. You do not want the online version of window shoppers.

Keywords are a big deal in ecommerce marketing. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can get away with sloppy keyword research. You can’t. Without the right keywords and strategies to use them, your ecommerce site will not be able to compete effectively.