E-commerce SEO in 2024
As we approach 2024, there are a ton of predictions circulating about changes coming to Google search.
One likelihood stands out—Google doubling down on owning more of the experience for e-commerce and shopping-related searches.
Category listing pages and product listing page’s, Google’s coming for you! (Pretty dang transparent after the swarm of broad core algorithm updates we’ve seen these past four months.)
Google Continues to Focus Heavily on Shopping Queries
In recent years, Google has rapidly built out capabilities for product discoveries and transactions through search.
Examples include (but are definitely not limited to):
Adding product grids directly in search results
Integrating price tracking tools and personalized alerts
Using more immersive, category-style search result layout
Shoving all of our hard-earned PLPs further down the page below an (ever-growing) carousel of paid listing ads
BONUS TIP 1: Optimizing your GMC product feed leads to better shopping ad
BONUS TIP 2: If you’re running PMax campaigns, this is a fantastic lever you can pull to help optimize the performance of those campaigns (a healthy optimized feed goes a long way in AI learning for the PMax algo’s)
Clearly, keeping users within their own ecosystem for shopping queries has become a priority.
This aligns with Google's core incentives. Shopping ads deliver billions in annual revenue. According to 2022 financial reports, advertising associated with product listings comprises the second largest ad revenue stream for Google, behind only search ads.
With their bottom line tied to shopping conversions, Google is highly motivated to own more of the consumer journey.
Over time, as Google rolls more of these PLP style features out directly in the SERPs (search engine result pages), the diminishing effectiveness of static e-commerce category pages will lead SEOs to double down on optimizing the product description pages (PDPs) instead.
Translation, Google stops serving your CLPs and PLPs as text links in favor of it’s own pseudo PLPs with your best-selling products (if they make it in there - resellers beware!).
Side note: I think that means that affiliate marketing will make a big comeback because how else do you gain backlinks to individual products? Internal links will only get you so far. (Think about it)
More Immersive Product Research Coming to a SERP Near You
Given the momentum behind shopping search, we can expect expanded capabilities again in 2024. Potential developments include:
Further improving product grids and comparison tools to replace the need to visit additional sites
Increased leverage of Google Knowledge Graph data to power personalized recommendations
Site-specific price drop alerts and stock notifications
Iterating layout and interface to truly mimic top native shopping platforms
Google is effectively working to remove as much friction as possible for finding and evaluating products through search. Their reach across consumer entry points gives them the foundation to own a greater portion of transactions—if the experience rivals top retail sites.
Remember how all of their articles have been so focused on UX? Welp… kinda feels like they’re about to take our content and say “We’re going to do it better than you, and you’re going to pay us to serve it… AND… if you don’t like it, drum up another anti-trust lawsuit. GG breh.”)
Implications for E-commerce SEOs Today (and in 2024)
As Google further integrates shopping into search, e-commerce SEO strategies must shift to treat search results as the new digital storefront. This evolution necessitates that SEOs:
Work closely with development teams on product shopping feeds to ensure Google Merchant Center alignments.
Think “what does my shopping feed say vs my schema on the site vs what Google crawled? Double-check those final attributes in Google Merchant Center because they may not be what you expect, dont just take a “green light” as a “good to go” signal
SEOs may need to help identify and resolve feed discrepancies compared to crawled product pages or schema markup. Basic JavaScript comprehension is growing in importance for diagnosis.
Enhancing individual product detail pages by:
Expanding unique product descriptions and benefits
Adding more visual content like images, videos, 3D models
Building out related/recommended product sections
Creating personalized, engaging content for the product
Become conversant in expanded Google Merchant Center features as they relate to display, product grouping, and performance reporting in search results. Optimization often requires tight collaboration with paid search analysts as well.
Monitor search algorithm updates for potential impacts on product markup, feeds, or content structures as Google’s capabilities advance.
Variation Style Listings as a Secret Weapon (Get Ahead While You Can)
A rising priority for ecommerce SEOs will be consolidation around variation product listings.
For example, VistaPrint combined all customizable tablecloth options into a single product detail page encompassing the entire range.
Despite recent core algorithm fluctuations (October 2023 broad core update - links below), this variation-focused page held rankings steady while mainstay CLPs (like the custom tablecloth PLP from TotallyPromtional.com) dropped to average position 4 at the time of this article. (PS, the SERP is SUPER ecommerce heavy, so blue links aren’t what they used to be unless you're in the top slots!)
This indicates Google rewards the more frictionless variation experience aligning with on-SERP product expansions. As the algorithms continue learning what pages best serve user intent for personalized research, variation listings can concentrate ranking signals more efficiently. Sites like PremierTableLinens.com managed gains with their own variation pages in tandem.
SEOs should strategically examine where variation listings can concentrate product search visibility and equity in 2024. Consolidating variations onto single product pages offering an integrated customization journey may strengthen rankings as Google shopping evolves. The optimization attention on those pages is magnified given their rising capability to absorb and retain search traffic.
TLDR…(You should though, it’s a great article)
The bottom line— ecommerce SEO is entering a new era aligned to Google's shopping integrations in search. As consumer journeys initiate more frequently directly on Google, brands must optimize for this emerging reality:
Consolidate variation listings to concentrate rankings and frictionlessly guide customization
Resolve Google Merchant Center data discrepancies through cross-functional collaboration
Monitor algorithm shifts with an e-commerce-first perspective
Treat the search platform as the new digital storefront
At Rare Dog Marketing, we specialize in advanced e-commerce SEO consulting adapted to Google's next-generation shopping capabilities. As search and conversion continue converging, let us help build your e-commerce search dominance. Reach out today to get started.
Recommended Reading:
Google’s Algorithm Updates (the ones they announce anyhow lol):
https://status.search.google.com/products/rGHU1u87FJnkP6W2GwMi/history
A great article on data feed optimizations:
https://www.datafeedwatch.com/blog/tips-google-shopping-feed-optimization
Another great article on data feed optimization:
https://searchengineland.com/google-shopping-optimize-free-product-listings-430104
JavaScript for Ecommerce SEOs - The Basics https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/javascript/javascript-seo-basics
