How to optimize SEO for online stores to increase sales: a 2026 guide with data

About 19% of websites are online stores, according to the e-commerce chapter of the Web Almanac 2025 by HTTP Archive, and in Chile online sales neared US$10 billion in 2025, according to the Santiago Chamber of Commerce. With so much competition, SEO for online stores is one of the most cost-effective ways to attract shoppers and increase sales without relying only on paid advertising.

In this guide we review what the data says about e-commerce platforms and what Google recommends so your products show up better in search results.

19.2%

Mobile sites that are online stores

2025

44.4%

Mobile stores built with WooCommerce

the most used platform

76%

Shopify stores passing Core Web Vitals

on mobile

US$10B

Online sales in Chile in 2025

according to the CCS

Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025; CCS, 2026

View the data as a table

Mobile sites that are online stores	19.2% | 2025
Mobile stores built with WooCommerce	44.4% | the most used platform
Shopify stores passing Core Web Vitals	76% | on mobile
Online sales in Chile in 2025	US$10B | according to the CCS

Why SEO for online stores helps increase sales

People who search for a product on Google are often ready to buy. Ranking at the top makes the difference: the first organic result gets 27.6% of clicks on average, according to an analysis by Backlinko, which we explain in our on-page SEO guide. Google can also show your products' price, availability and reviews directly in the results, which attracts more qualified clicks.

Which platform your store uses and how it affects SEO

WooCommerce and Shopify account for almost seven in ten online stores on mobile, according to the Web Almanac 2025:

WooCommerce44.4%

Shopify25.3%

Wix eCommerce11.1%

Squarespace Commerce9.9%

PrestaShop3.7%

Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025

View the data as a table

WooCommerce	44.4%
Shopify	25.3%
Wix eCommerce	11.1%
Squarespace Commerce	9.9%
PrestaShop	3.7%

The platform has a big influence on speed, one of the signals Google uses to measure page experience. The difference in Core Web Vitals is large:

• Mobile
• Desktop

Shopify76%76%

Wix eCommerce66%70%

Squarespace Commerce69%69%

PrestaShop50%54%

Magento35%36%

WooCommerce35%33%

Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025

View the data as a table

	Mobile	Desktop
Shopify	76%	76%
Wix eCommerce	66%	70%
Squarespace Commerce	69%	69%
PrestaShop	50%	54%
Magento	35%	36%
WooCommerce	35%	33%

If your store runs on WooCommerce or Magento, speed is your first SEO task: only one in three stores on those platforms passes Core Web Vitals. The Web Almanac also measures Tiendanube, widely used in Latin America: 51% of its stores pass on mobile.

7 steps to optimize SEO for online stores

1. Add product structured data

Structured data tells Google what you sell. According to Google's documentation, it lets results show price, availability, ratings, shipping costs and return policies. For pages where people can buy, Google recommends the merchant listings type.

2. Connect your store to Google Merchant Center

Google recommends using both structured data on your pages and a product feed in Merchant Center: "providing both structured data on web pages and a Merchant Center feed maximizes your eligibility" to appear in more Google experiences, according to its documentation.

3. Use clear URLs for products and variants

According to Google's URL guide for e-commerce:

• Use descriptive words: /product/black-t-shirt-with-a-white-collar is better than /product/3243.
• Give each variant (color or size) its own URL, and point the canonical tag to the main product page.
• Avoid internally linking to URLs with temporary parameters, such as tracking codes or session IDs.

4. Improve your store's speed

Check Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console and optimize images, themes and apps. We explain each metric in our study technical SEO in numbers.

5. Write unique product pages

Avoid copying the manufacturer's description. Explain what the product is for, its dimensions, materials and how it differs from other options. AI can help you write a first draft, as we explain in how to integrate AI into your online store, but always review the result.

6. Organize your category structure and internal links

Google recommends helping it understand what's most important on your store through navigation and internal links, according to its e-commerce guide. Link from your homepage to your main categories and from each category to its products.

7. Handle category pagination carefully

Give each page of a paginated category its own URL. According to Google, pagination is where most URL mistakes happen on online stores.

How to measure whether SEO is increasing your sales

1. Connect Google Search Console to see which searches find you and which products appear.
2. Use a web analytics tool to measure sales that come from organic search.
3. Track key indicators, such as conversion rate and acquisition cost, which we explain in our marketing KPIs guide.
4. Compare before and after each major change, such as adding structured data or improving speed.

Keep Google's AI summaries in mind too: when they appear, clicks on traditional results fall, as we show in AI Overviews in numbers. Structured data and complete product pages help your products stay visible.