Prestashop is a great website platform for small and medium sized online shops. It’s user-friendly for its customers and can be more cost-effective than some of the more major eCommerce platforms out there. While it might be one of the less commonly used eCommerce platforms, we have a number of clients using it. So, our team of SEO experts have really been able to get under the skin of the platform and its functionality.
We are specialists in Prestashop SEO
We’ve been exploring which SEO strategies seem to work particularly well with Prestashop and therefore how our clients can really make the most of it to elevate their SEO campaigns and ultimately bring more traffic and more potential customers to their websites. Prestashop might be one of the more cost-effective platforms available for eCommerce, but with the right knowledge it can be a top-performer for SEO.
We offer a bespoke Prestashop SEO service. We take the time to get to know your online shop, carrying out an audit so we can understand what might be working and what it is that might be limiting your search engine ranking. Then, work through a tailored plan of action with you and your team.
A reactive SEO campaign is essential
It’s important to keep your Prestashop (or any platform) updated to the latest version. Doing this means you’ll get the most out its functionality as well as keeping your company and your customer’s information safe.
These upgrades can however mean that changes to the platform’s functionality can interrupt the SEO tools that are in place. We keep a close, continuous eye on how our clients SEO is performing – particularly during these version upgrades to make sure the ranking of the site and the flow of traffic to it isn’t negatively impacted as a result of the changes to how the platform is working in the background.
Case Studies
Why Prestashop is a great option for small-medium sized online shops
Here are a few of a few of the key features this eCommerce platform has to offer. If you’re already et up on Prestashop, it’s worth having a reminder to make sure you’re always getting the most out of it.
It’s quick and easy to get set up
Prestashop comes with a demo guide which takes you through the basic setup process. It can take a bit of time and expertise to get your site fully up and running, so you may want to get the help of an expert with the web development skills to do this.
Intuitive product pages
You can list thousands of products on a Prestashop store. The product listing feature is an intuitive one, where you can add complexities like expiry dates for perishable or time-sensitive products. You can set up email alerts for you and your team to let you know when stock is getting low. And, you can easily manage your inventory.
Customising your online shop
As your brand develops, you’ll want to keep your online store updated so that it all aligns. Prestashop has great customisation functionality, so your website can be unique to you and your brand.
The core elements of your website are all customisable – how your products are organised, your payment provider options, and the search engine tool set up on your site so that your customers can easily find what they’re looking for.
There are then thousands of themes and templates to choose from which you can purchase from certified partners to get your site exactly as you’ve envisioned it.
Legal consideration
Surprisingly, most eCommerce platforms don’t offer any legal support for their customers or for the visitors to the websites hosted on them. This is unfortunate as over time it’s easy for companies to get complacent and get caught out. Complying with legislation is an essential part of running any company. However, this is something Prestashop does offer. For example, how the shopping cart is set up on your site might need to differ depending on the country it’s being accessed from so that it’s compliant – Prestashop comes with a tool that sets that up for you.
Built-in marketing tools
The platform includes a long list of built-in marketing and relationship-building tools. They’re custom features, but are available to apply to your product pages. Some of the most beneficial and more commonly used tools include a coupon code feature, gift wrapping option, a discount mode, varying shipping cost choices and email marketing set ups.
Easily keeping in touch with your customers
Prestashop has a suite of automated email communications set up for your customers post-sale and at other points of the customer journey. This a great way to maintain good relationships with your customers and visitors to your website. For example, the platform allows you to send an email to a customer when their transaction goes through which brings a sense of security and building trust for your brand.
Depending on marketing permissions, you can set up promotional email alerts for specific groups of customers or specific products or services. And, when a visitor adds items to their basket and doesn’t complete the order, you’re able to trigger email communications as a reminder of what they’ve left in their shopping cart.
FAQS
Prestashop is a great choice for many eCommerce websites – but with any platform, it’s important to take time to consider how it works before you choose it for your online shop. Here are its best features, along with what should be considered.
What the platform is best known for:
It’s a particularly user-friendly option. There isn’t much web development skill needed for the basic use of the software. So, if you’re new to the world of eCommerce websites, it might be a good one to start with. When it comes to getting the most out of the platform in terms of SEO, an SEO specialist can guide you through the most relevant optimisation strategies for this platform.
It’s unique selling point is how customisable it is. You can set up a store that really meets your needs, then change it accordingly as your business needs change over time. If you’re selling products with a lot of variations – like colour, sizing, specs etc – the platform’s customisability means it’s a great option for you.
Things to consider:
The add-on features can add up. While the platform is completely free to set up and get running, be aware that a user-friendly website that customers will enjoy using and keep coming back to will probably take a bit of investment. Plus, themes and templates to align with your brand will need to be purchased.
Another potential cost, the Prestashop support on offer is expensive. While basic use of the software is fairly straightforward, if you encounter any issues along the way and need to speak to the Prestashop support team, their prices are quite high for not a lot of hours of support.
Yes, it’s a secure platform. You will however need to purchase a SSL certificate – this is simply some code on your web server that provides security for online communications. Saying that, the latest version (Prestashop Ready) is hosted on the Google Cloud platform which includes a free SSL certificate.
This is another user-friendly element of the platform. You just need to get a payment gateway set up on your website. Prestashop supports all the major secure payment gateways as standard. So if you want to go with PayPal, Amazon Pay, Worldpay or another well known payment provider, they’re ready to be linked up. If you want to set up with one of the less commonly used payment providers, there are over 200 available as add-ons.
Prestashop will allow you to set up a basic online shop completely for free. However, it’s important to understand that you’ll need to pay for add-ons to help optimise your store so that it’s easy to use for your customers, so they keep coming back. And, so that your website aligns with your companies brand, it’s very likely you’ll need to spend money on themes and templates to get the look you want.
Most importantly, if you don’t have traffic coming to your website, you won’t be making revenue from it. So, we suggest working closely with an SEO expert to understand what your particular Prestashop store should be doing to bring organic traffic to it.