Zappos’ On-Page Optimization


Introduction

We’re all familiar with the online shoe and clothing (but predominately shoe) store, Zappos.com. It’s probably safe to say that Zappos.com has done (and is doing) at least something right (and this is probably an understatement) in terms of its on-page optimization.  This post will look at how Zappos.com uses the three of the six on-page optimization factors outlined by Fleishner (2016): Keyword Development, Metatags, and Website URLs.

1.    Keyword Development

Fleishner (2016) encourages companies to simplify their keywords and phrases, which one might assume to be a difficult task for a company like Zappos that includes thousands of clothing and/or shoe brands. It is likely safe to say that these brands and the products Zappos sells are included in the list of keywords. But how could a company with as any brands/products as Zappos possibly simplify their keyword list? Rather, it seems the number of keywords could be near-infinite. Promodo.com (2013) suggests that where Zappos excels in keyword development is in the fact that they’ve identified keywords/phrases based on all possible landing pages within the website and attached blocks of text with said keywords to the relevant page. In this sense, Zappos is not only an online store, but an online mall wherein consumers can enter a particular type of store (shoes, dresses, etc.) or a particular brand’s store. Moreover, this focused and simplified Keyword Development makes it so that, when it comes to Google searching, consumers do not need to “walk” through other areas of the mall (the homepage, for example) to get to the brand or product they are seeking. In the “womens tennis shoes” example Fleishner provides, Zappos would come up as an option in the search, although not above Nike, tennis warehouse, and a few other stores.  Where someone might click Zappos, however, over the others is in the fact that “womens tennis shoes” is followed by “shipped free at Zappos.” This brings me to the next category: Metatags.   


2.    Metatags
“Shipped free at Zappos” functions as the website’s brand tag, distinguishing it from other e-commerce site searches linked to similar products. Free shipping is as (if not more) synonymous with Zappos as variety, so it makes sense that a “___ shipped free at Zappos” would proceed any Zappos search page that appears. For example, I might be able to get my Brooks shoes from BrooksRunning.com, and BrooksRunning.com might appear first in a “Brooks running shoe search,” but I can get them shipped free from Zappos.com, and the company’s effective use of metatags is part of what communicates this to consumers.

Metags also play a roll in Zappos internal linking, allowing them to define various pages within their sites as separate ecommerce entities made more attractive via Zappos “free shipping” tags. GetElastic.Com (2017) notes that this tag might help Zappos click through rate even when the website doesn’t appear first in a Google search. Whatever the brand, when it is tagged with Zappos, it becomes ____ brand (or product) + free shipping. 

3.    Website URLs
Zappos.com is a URL that houses hundreds if not thousands of other URLs, many of which consumers will visit before or in lieu of Zappos’ home page. Zappos seems to have focused on making its internal URLs as digestible as possible.  Siu (2012) compares Zappos shoe URL (http://www.zappos.com/shoes) to Bebe’s dress URL, (http://www.bebe.com/View-All-DRESSES-Products/b/675941011/175-25270233464666?ie=UTF8&pf_rd_r=04KVB9DN9J09VWJWANYM&pf_rd_m=A2FMOXN01TSNYY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=15390031&pf_rd_p=1348429822&pf_rd_s=top-7) and points out the “friendliness” of Zappos v. Bebe’s.  Siu claims that “dirty” URLs like Bebe’s make it more difficult for both humans and machines to navigate.

On this note, Zappos seems to look at their different merchandise categories as unique ecommerce divisions and devices internal links accordingly. Zappos Running is an example of this. The company seems to have branded their running division separate from other product categories so that it appears Running + Zappos in a search despite being zappos.com/running in the URL.

Conclusion

While Zappos inarguably does a lot “right” when it comes to SEO and on-page optimization in particular, quite a bit of my research pointed to the fact that they were not perfect. Gonzalez (2016), for example, points to the fact that Zappos has too many indexed pages, which has resulted in an “inefficient” number of URLS that Google has to crawl through. Gonzalez believed that this is how Nordstrom was able to compete with and ultimately “beat” Zappos in terms of SEO (2016).

While this might be the case, I’d argue (in line with all three of the categories discussed above) that while Zappos might not appear first in every Google search, the consumer’s eye is effectively guided to Zappos landing pages to do the free shipping tags (which is also connect to the promises of fast shipping that appears in the upper-right hand copy on any Zappos page you happen to land on). Moreover, consumers who complete purchases, returns, etc. on Zappos seem to find the brand’s claim to be validated, making it where the company is one worth scrolling to and clicking through even if it doesn’t appear first in a Google search.


References

Fleischner, M. (2016). SEO Made Simple: Insider Secrets for Driving More Traffic to Your Website.

GetElastic.Com (2017). Zappos Secret SEO Sauce for Branded Pages. Retrieved from: https://www.getelastic.com/seo-optimize-brand-pages

Gonzalez, J. (2016, May 10). How Nordstrom Strategically Beat Zappos in Google Search. Retrieved from: https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/05/10/how-nordstrom-strategically-beat-zappos-in-google-search/

Promodo.com (2013). Zappos SEO Strategy. What Are the Promotion Tools And Approach of Online Shoe Store Number One. Retrieved from: https://www.promodo.com/blog/zappos-seo-strategy-what-are-the-promotion-tools-and-approach-of-online-shoe-store-number-one/


Siu, E. (2012, March 27). How to Kill it at SEO Like Zappos. Retreived from: https://www.smartdatacollective.com/how-kill-it-seo-zappos/

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