How to make your online store easier to find on Google

When someone searches for your store on Google, or you send your store link on WhatsApp or Facebook, a title, a short description and a picture are shown. This guide shows how to make your online store easier to find on Google and nicer to share, by setting those details yourself.

What to prepare first

• A short title for your store in each language your store uses, usually your store name plus what you sell.
• A one-sentence description of your store.
• A few words people would type to find you, such as "leather bags Cairo".
• A picture for sharing, 1200 by 630 pixels. It should be under 200 KB, and the maximum is 512 KB.
• A small square icon of your logo for browser tabs.

How to set it up

1. Open Company Management in the menu. This opens Company Settings, where the tabs on the side hold your store's details. The General tab has your store name, logo, email, phone and address, so fill these in first.

   

2. Click SEO & Social Sharing. Under Search Engine Optimization (SEO), write a title for each language in Store title (Arabic) and Store title (English). You only see the fields for the languages your store uses. Store title (fallback) is used when the title for a visitor's language is empty. Then write the Page Description (SEO). Type each word or phrase in Keywords and press Enter to add it. Choose the language and country that fit your customers in OG Locale.

   

3. Under Social Sharing, drop your picture into Social Image. It is the picture shown when your store link is shared on Facebook, WhatsApp and other apps. You can also enter your Twitter Username.

   

4. Under Icons, add the Favicon, the small icon in the browser tab (32 by 32 pixels), and the Apple Icon (180 by 180 pixels), used when someone saves your store to their iPhone home screen. If you skip the Apple Icon, the Favicon is used. Click Save Changes.

   

Check your result

Click View Store at the top of the dashboard to open your store and look at the browser tab. Then send your store link to yourself on WhatsApp and see the picture and title that appear. If you still see the old ones, wait a little and try again, since apps keep an earlier version for a while.

Google shows your new title and description after it visits your store again, and this can take days or weeks. Nobody can promise a position on Google, but a clear title, an honest description and good product names give Google and shoppers what they need.

If your store has two languages

When your store uses Arabic and English, each language has its own pages. Your main language keeps your usual store address, and the other language adds en or ar to the end of it. Google can then show your store to people searching in either language, so write a store title for both.

You do not need to switch anything on. Stores with one language keep the same links as before. Read more in your store can now show up on Google in both languages.

Your store's sitemap

Every store has a sitemap: a list of all your pages, products and categories that Google reads to find them. It updates by itself when you add products. To see it, add /sitemap.xml to the end of your store address, for example yourstore.mymatjr.store/sitemap.xml. If you use Google Search Console, you can add that address there so Google finds your new products sooner.

What to do next

Search for your store name on Google from time to time and see what appears. Share your store link with a friend and ask what they see. When you open a new line of products or change your delivery area, come back to this page and update the title and description so they stay true.

Write a good title and description

The title is the blue line people see first. Say what you sell and where, in a few words, for example "Nour Bags | Leather bags in Cairo". Leave out long lists of words, because they look careless and are cut off anyway.

The description is the grey text under it. Use one clear sentence that answers "why should I click?", for example "Handmade leather bags and wallets, delivered across Egypt in 3 days." Write for the customer first. Words that people really search for will appear naturally when you describe your products honestly.

Keywords are a short list. Choose five to ten words that describe your products and your city, and skip words that do not fit your store, since they bring visitors who do not want what you sell.

Common mistakes

• Writing a very long title. Keep it short so it is not cut off in the search results.
• Using the same description sentence for every store, or copying another store. Describe what you sell in your own words.
• Uploading a large photo as the Social Image. A file over 512 KB is not accepted, and a smaller one loads faster.
• Forgetting to click Save Changes at the bottom of the tab.

Good to know

• Store title (fallback) starts with your store name until you change it.
• Your product names and short descriptions are also used for the product cards and for Google, so write them clearly. See how to add a product to your online store.
• Your Social Links tab, in the same settings page, is where you add your Facebook, Instagram and other pages.
• To change the look of your store, read how to design your online store with the builder.
• To show your products on Google Shopping and Meta, read how to list your products on Google and Meta.