Whitecap’s Team Weighs In: AI and Search Engine Marketing for Ecommerce websites
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The ecommerce industry has been buzzing about the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what this new technology means for the future of online retailers, search engine marketing (SEM), and search engine optimization (SEO). The past 6 months have seen AI technology take off and cause big shake ups in the tech industry.
Should your business use AI? How are search engines going to utilize this cutting edge technology? In this article Whitecap SEO’s team of experts lay out the answers to these questions and help you understand what to expect as an ecommerce business in the age of AI.
Read on to learn how to use AI to make your ecommerce business stronger than ever in this time of dramatic change.
Whitecap SEO’s Team of Experts Answer: 'How do you see AI affecting search engine marketing for ecommerce websites?’
Brandon Pierce
SEO Specialist
“Nobody knows what will happen with AI at this moment, but as the internet evolves, one thing is sure--we must be willing to adapt and change with it. Among the vast number of disruptions already experienced in the past few months, AI continues to significantly impact search engine marketing for e-commerce websites by reshaping how we write, publish, and interact with content on the internet.
As internet marketers, it's natural to feel a bit uneasy, but we've experienced disruption before. We don't know much right now, but we do know that search algorithms will continue evolving, prioritizing human-centric results over chaff. So, e-commerce websites need to produce top-quality content that supports the needs of their audiences. We know that customers still want to buy products. So, online shops must make it easy for shoppers to find what they want. Whether through traditional Google SERPs or AI-driven personalized recommendations, maintaining a strong focus on marketing fundamentals with your offers while delivering unique, high-quality content to your readers will ensure that your e-commerce website stays relevant and competitive as the future becomes clear.”
Begum Kaya
SEO Specialist
“As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, it will have a significant impact on search engine marketing (SEM) for ecommerce websites, both from the medium and content side.
AI-powered algorithms will improve the accuracy and relevance of search results, leading to higher click-through rates and conversion rates for ecommerce businesses.
By analyzing search patterns, AI can assist ecommerce websites in identifying and targeting specific customer segments. Also, with the help of AI, marketers can create targeted, personalized content and ads that appeal to their specific target audience. The key here is noting that the curation and editorial work is still necessary by experienced strategists.
Additionally, AI will help with the automation of routine SEM tasks, freeing up time for marketers to focus on more strategic initiatives. Therefore, ecommerce websites that adopt AI-powered SEM strategies will have a competitive advantage in attracting and converting customers in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.”
Jennifer Anderson
SEO Specialist
“The core principles of SEO remain the same, I see AI as another tool in our always changing SEO toolbox. It builds upon how we’ve been optimizing websites for voice search, by continuing to focus on creating content optimized for more natural and conversational language. AI can also be a good time-saving tool for assisting with basic copywriting, but writers and editors are still necessary to deliver quality content for users and search engines. ”
Eric Kamangu
SEO Director
“One of the biggest challenges for businesses in the e-commerce space is creating unique and engaging content at scale, especially in niches where multiple category and product pages share common attributes. This challenge can be even tougher for businesses that resell products or need to distribute content using omnichannel platforms. But the good news is that AI can help tackle this challenge in a cost effective way without sacrificing quality. By using AI technologies such as natural language processing and machine learning, we can automate part of the content creation process and generate product descriptions, category pages, and other content that is tailored to our target audience.”
Mallory Sutton
SEO Specialist
“In the short term, I believe that AI will make creating content a lot more efficient and streamlined which could help small teams make a bigger impact on their rank within search engines. In the long term it's likely that search engines will develop a way to detect when content is created through AI and penalize sites for an overabundance of that type of content.”
Heather Canfield
SEO Content Writer
“Keyword research is the foundation of effective ecommerce search engine marketing. AI technology is useful for quickly analyzing many keywords. It is also a wonderful tool for finding keyword variations and semantic keywords. This frees up valuable time to devote to incorporating the keywords AI has suggested into high quality high performing content for ecommerce sites.”
Key Takeaways:
The Whitecap SEO team have shared their strategies for success as AI becomes an essential part of internet marketing strategy. Here are the key takeaways from the interviews:
Focus on the basics– Clear, helpful, and non repetitive content will be essential to standing out in a world full of AI generated content. Take steps to ensure your site structure is accessible and fast loading.
Human Oversight is Important– You may be initially tempted to have AI create all of your content. However, search engines will also be training their AI to spot the experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness that only a human content creator can produce. Search engines will always direct users to concise, high quality, content so writers and editors collaborating with AI assistance will be crucial.
Internet Marketing is Always Changing– Don’t panic about the changes AI is bringing to the ecommerce space. The internet has always been a highly changeable medium and you have adapted your business to succeed throughout all its other trends and changes. As our SEO Specialist Jennifer Anderson stated in her interview “The core principles of SEO remain the same, I see AI as another tool in our always changing SEO toolbox.”
If you would like a team of SEM and SEO experts to assist you in adapting your digital marketing strategies to the AI landscape, Whitecap SEO is here to help!