Most shopping journeys start online, with studies showing that the vast majority of consumers research products online before they even think about buying, and 68% of online experiences start with the search engine. And that means searching on Google, on Amazon or Shopee, or even doing a search in YouTube or TikTok.
For your new WooCommerce store, this is the battlefield. You are competing with huge companies for attention. And that is why a solid SEO setup is not a nice-to-have; it is your ticket to the game.
SEO now powers AI answers too
SEO used to be simpler. Your goal was to get into the first page of ten search results.
But things have changed. Now, we have tools like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. These tools act like research assistants, scanning the web to give people direct answers. With AI Overviews, Google results will also include video, social content, as well as directly from ecommerce product pages.
If your WooCommerce store has messy, unclear information, these AI assistants will just skip over it. Imagine two online shops selling the exact same leather wallet. Shop A just has a product name and a price. Shop B has a clear title, a detailed description, customer reviews, and structured data for price and availability.
When someone searches for “a durable leather wallet under $100”, which shop do you think will appear first? It will always be the one that provides clear, structured information.
What this checklist will help you do
The good news is that you can build this strong foundation in a single weekend.
These are the “hygiene” steps that ensure your WooCommerce SEO gets off to flying start. It doesn’t require heavy code development, or writing a hundred blog posts. This is about getting the core setup right from day one.
Of course, SEO does not replace the need for great products, fair pricing, and good customer service. You still need to run a good business. But SEO is the way to get customers in the door.
Some of the steps might sound a bit technical. But don’t worry, most of it involves clicking buttons inside a simple plugin, and I will guide you through it.
Step 1: Basic WooCommerce and hosting hygiene
Before we get to the fancy SEO settings, we need to check the foundations of your online store.
Use decent hosting and HTTPS
Your web host is the landlord for your online store. A cheap or slow one can really hurt you.
A slow-loading website frustrates visitors. And frustrated visitors do not buy things. In fact, website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each extra second of load time. And based on the amount of time a site visitor spends on your site (or bounces within the first 5 seconds), Google knows whether your store is worth visiting, and will adjust your search rankings accordingly.
Here are a few quick checks:
First, make sure you have an SSL certificate. This is the little padlock you see next to your domain name in the browser, and it means your site runs on https://. It keeps your customers’ data safe and builds trust. In fact, by October 2026, Google Chrome will prevent customers from visiting any site that doesn’t have https.
Also, check that your hosting is using a recent version of PHP and that your WooCommerce plugin is always up to date. This is for speed and security. You can find minimum system requirements for WooCommerce. You can also use the WordPress site health check to tell you whether your site is running on out of date infrastructure.
Turn off “discourage search engines”
This one sounds simple, but you would be surprised how often I see this mistake. It is like leaving the ‘Closed’ sign on your shop door by accident.
During development, web designers often tick a box to stop search engines from indexing an unfinished site. Sometimes, they forget to untick it when the site goes live.
You can find this setting in your WordPress dashboard under Settings → Reading. Make sure the box labelled “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked.
Decide your site language and region
You also need to tell WordPress, and by extension Google, who your target audience is.
Set your site’s language and timezone correctly under Settings → General.
Then, set your store’s address under WooCommerce → Settings → General.
This helps search engines and AI tools understand your context. If you are selling in Singapore, setting your language and timezone tells them that your store is relevant for people in this region.
It is a small step that helps them show your products to the right people. Later, for local businesses, this information will also connect nicely with tools like your Google Business Profile.
Step 2 – Setup clean, readable product permalinks
A permalink is just the permanent web address for a page on your site. Think of it as the street address for your WordPress pages and posts.
You want an address that is clean and easy to read.
Unfortunately, WordPress defaults to the content ID instead of the title. So, if you don’t change anything, your URLs will look like this: yourstore.com/?p=481
But, if you setup your permalinks properly, your pages and posts will look like this: yourstore.com/premium-leather-wallets
Which one would you rather click on? The clean one, of course. It tells you exactly what to expect.
Clear URLs help your visitors, search engines, and AI tools understand what the page is about before they even get there.
How to configure WooCommerce product permalinks
To setup your posts and page permalinks, go to Settings → Permalinks. Change it to “post name”. Save it.
Besides WordPress permalinks, you also need to setup WooCommerce product permalinks. That’s because your product URLs are treated separately from posts or pages.
On the same page, scroll down a bit and you will see a section for “Product permalinks”.
The most common choices are “Shop base” (/shop/product-name/) or “Shop base with category” (/shop/category/product-name/).
For most new stores, I recommend starting with the Standard option or the “Shop base” option. It keeps your URLs short and clean. It also means you can change a product’s category later without breaking its URL.
Why choose “Shop base”? This is useful if your website is primarily a publishing site e.g. a blog, a news site, etc. Then, it makes more sense to have a “/shop” as a subsection of your main website. However, if your website is purpose-built for the store, then choose “Standard”.
Common permalink mistakes to avoid
Once you set your permalink structure and your store is live, try not to change it. Changing it will break all your existing product links from Google and social media.
If you absolutely must change your URLs later, you will need to set up redirects. A good plugin for this is Redirection, which can help you point old links to the new ones.
Also, avoid stuffing keywords into the URL. Just use the product name. For example, use /blue-running-shoes instead of /best-blue-running-shoes-for-sale-singapore.
And finally, do not include things like SKU codes in the URL. They just add clutter and do not help your customers.
Step 3 – Add your site to Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows you exactly how your store is performing in search results. You can see which pages Google has indexed, check for any errors, and get basic reports on your performance.
It also shows you the exact search queries that people are using to find your products. This is super useful for understanding your customers. For your WooCommerce store’s health, this tool is the main thing you need to check.
Easiest way: use Google Site Kit plugin
The simplest way to get this set up is by using the official Google Site Kit plugin.
It is made by Google, and it handles all the technical verification stuff for you.
The steps are very straightforward. First, you install and activate the Site Kit plugin from your WordPress dashboard.
Then, you just need to connect it to the Google account you use for your business. The plugin will automatically verify that you own the website.
Site Kit can also connect your store to other Google tools like Analytics, PageSpeed Insights, and Tag Manager, all from one place.
Quick checks after connecting
Once you are connected, do not expect to see data immediately. It can take a few days for Google to start showing you information.
After a week, log in and check the Index Coverage report. This report tells you if Google is having trouble seeing any of your important product or category pages.
Make it a habit to check in once in a while for any crawl errors or security issues. This quick check can save you from a lot of trouble later.
Step 4 – Install and configure Rank Math for WooCommerce
Now we need an SEO plugin to act as our technical assistant. This plugin will handle things like sitemaps and schema for us.
My go-to choice for this is Rank Math.
I like it for WooCommerce stores because it has a lot of e-commerce features built right in. It helps you add product details that Google loves to show, like price and stock status, and gives you simple controls for your page titles.
Other plugins like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO are also good, but I find Rank Math’s interface and specific WooCommerce tools very straightforward.
Basic Rank Math setup wizard
First, you will need to install the plugin from the official WordPress repository.
Once it is activated, Rank Math will launch a setup wizard to guide you through the main settings. It is very user-friendly.
During the wizard, make sure you choose “Ecommerce” as your site type. It will ask you to connect a free Rank Math account, which is a good idea for automatic updates and extra features.
You will also set a global format for your meta titles. A simple and effective pattern is %title% %sep% %sitename%. This will automatically turn a product named “Black Leather Wallet” into a title like “Black Leather Wallet – Your Store Name”.
Enable WooCommerce module in Rank Math
After the main setup, there is one more step.
Go to Rank Math → Dashboard → Modules in your WordPress menu. Find the “WooCommerce” module and turn it on.
This module is the special sauce for your store. It automatically adds product rich snippets, which help Google show your price, availability, and review ratings directly in the search results.
It also adds extra SEO options on your product edit screens and gives you control over pages that WooCommerce creates, like the cart and checkout pages.
What breadcrumbs are and why they help
Enabling breadcrumbs in Rank Math
TBreadcrumbs are the little trail of links you often see at the top of a page, like this:
Home → Men's Shoes → Running Shoes
They help your visitors understand exactly where they are on your site and give them an easy way to navigate back to a previous category.
For SEO, breadcrumbs are great because they show search engines how your site is structured. Google even uses them in its search results, which can make your listing stand out.
Since we have already installed Rank Math, we can turn on breadcrumbs quite easily.
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Rank Math → General Settings → Breadcrumbs. You will see a switch to enable the function. Just turn it on.
Most modern WooCommerce themes will automatically detect this and display the breadcrumbs for you.
If they do not appear, you might need to add a small piece of code (a shortcode or a PHP function) to your theme’s template files. If you are not comfortable doing that, it is best to ask your theme’s support team or a developer for help.
Best practices for WooCommerce breadcrumb structure
Just turning them on is not enough. You need to make sure they are useful.
Use clear category names that match what your customers would actually search for.
Try not to put a single product into too many different categories. It can confuse both your visitors and Google about which path is the correct one.
Always make sure each product has one main category set. This primary category is the one that will appear in the breadcrumb trail.
This part, many store owners skip, but it helps a lot once your store grows. It makes your whole site much easier to navigate.
Step 5 – Submit your XML sitemap
Imagine your website is a big library. An XML sitemap is like the table of contents you hand to the librarian, which in this case is Google.
It is a simple list of all the pages, products, and categories on your store.
This list helps search engines discover your new products much faster. Instead of wandering through the shelves, they can just look at your list to see what is new and where to find it.
Luckily, you do not have to create this by hand. Most SEO plugins will automatically generate and update it for you.
Finding or generating your WooCommerce sitemap
Since you already installed Rank Math, it will create the sitemap for you.
You can usually find it by adding /sitemap_index.xml to the end of your domain name.
For example: yourstore.com/sitemap_index.xml
When you open this link, you will see it is not just one list. It is a sitemap of sitemaps. You will see separate links for your product pages, your category pages, and your blog posts. This organisation helps Google understand your store structure.
How to submit sitemap in Search Console
Once you have your sitemap URL, you need to give it to Google.
Log in to your Google Search Console account. On the left-hand menu, go to Index → Sitemaps.
You will see a box that says “Add a new sitemap”. Just paste your sitemap URL in there and click “Submit”.
This sitemap part, once you submit you can just leave it.
You will see a status message next to it. “Success” means Google has received it. If you see “Couldn’t fetch”, it usually means there is a typo in the URL or your site was temporarily down.
You only need to resubmit it if you make huge changes to your site, like moving to a completely new URL structure. For daily product additions, the plugin will update the file, and Google will check it on its own.
What to watch in sitemap reports
After a few days, you can come back to this section in Search Console to check on its health.
Look at the number of URLs submitted versus the number of URLs indexed. It is normal for them not to match perfectly, but they should be in the same ballpark.
Check that Google is successfully reading your product and category sitemaps.
A red flag would be if you see a huge number of “Excluded” URLs, or if you know an important category page is missing from the indexed count. This tells you there might be a deeper issue to investigate.
Step 6 – Write more text for each product category page
Think of your product pages as individual items on a shelf. Your category pages are the signs for the entire aisle.
People often search with broader terms before they look for a specific product. Someone might search for “running shoes for flat feet” before they know which brand or model they want.
In these searches, your category page has a much better chance of ranking than a single product page.
These pages also give search engines and AI tools a perfect summary of what a whole group of your products is about. This helps them understand what you sell and who you sell it to.
How I write category content that still looks clean
You do not need to write a whole blog post.
I usually aim for around 200 to 400 words of helpful text that sits either above or below the grid of products.
In this text, I answer a few simple questions:
- Who is this category of products for?
- What main problem do these products solve?
- How can a customer choose the right option from this category?
- Are there any key products or buying guides I can link to?
The goal is to be genuinely helpful, not salesy. Just talk to the customer like you would in a real shop.
Where to add text in WooCommerce categories
You can add this content directly inside your WordPress dashboard.
Go to Products → Categories, and then click “Edit” on the category you want to work on. You will see a “Description” box. That is where the text goes.
Now, some themes do not show this description by default. If you add text and it does not appear on the page, do not worry.
First, check your theme’s settings. There might be a simple toggle to turn it on. If not, you may need to ask your developer to make it visible.
And always check how it looks on a mobile phone. You do not want a huge wall of text pushing your products too far down the screen.
Category content mistakes to avoid
When you are writing this content, there are a few common traps to avoid.
First, do not just copy and paste descriptions from your product pages. This creates duplicate content, which search engines do not like.
Also, avoid stuffing the text with keywords in a way that sounds unnatural. Write for a human first.
Do not write vague text that could apply to any product. Be specific about the category.
And finally, remember to update this content if your product selection changes over time.
Step 7: Monitor
After the first month, you should have enough data to start looking at a few key numbers.
Inside Google Search Console, I look at two main things: impressions and clicks. Impressions mean the number of times your store appeared in search results. Clicks are how many people actually clicked through to your site. At the start, you want to see both of these numbers slowly going up.
I also check the number of pages indexed versus the number submitted in your sitemap. This tells you if Google is successfully finding and listing your product pages.
Next, I look at the top queries report. This shows you the exact phrases people are using to find you. You might discover some surprising keywords that you can use in your product descriptions.
Simple weekly SEO check-in routine
To stay on top of things, I recommend a quick 15-minute check-in every week.
Think of it as a quick health check for your online store. Just block out a little time in your calendar every Friday morning.
Here is what you do:
- First, open Google Search Console and look at the performance and coverage reports. Are there any big drops or new errors?
- Second, check for any manual actions or security issues. These are rare, but it is good to know they are clear.
- Finally, just browse a couple of your category and product pages. Do you see any opportunities to improve the text or add more helpful information?
Common WooCommerce SEO pitfalls to avoid
There are a few common traps that can undo all your hard work.
Here are the big ones I see all the time.
Thin or duplicate product content
It is tempting to save time by using the same description for multiple products.
You see this a lot with products that only differ by colour or size. The store owner just copies and pastes the same text for the blue t-shirt, the red one, and the green one.
Another common shortcut is to just use the product description provided by your supplier.
The problem is, if a hundred other stores are selling the same product and using that same description, how does Google choose which one to show? It gets confused. When all the pages look the same, Google might just decide to rank none of them very highly.
Your product description is your chance to stand out and tell customers why they should buy from you.
Overcomplicating plugins and scripts
In the WordPress world, there is a plugin for everything. And it is easy to get carried away and install dozens of them.
But every plugin you add is another piece of code running on your site. Sometimes, these plugins can clash with each other, causing errors. Too many plugins, the site becomes very slow.
The same goes for tracking scripts. Adding too many scripts for analytics, ads, and pop-ups can seriously slow down your page load times.
My recommendation is to keep your setup as simple as possible. Regularly go through your plugin list and delete anything you are not actively using. A lean, fast store is always better for both your customers and your SEO.
Need WooCommerce SEO setup and audit?
Following this checklist will solve most of the common issues I see.
But sometimes, you just want a second pair of eyes to look over your work.
Maybe your store has been live for three to six months, but the traffic and sales numbers are just not moving.
Or you log in to Google Search Console, see a bunch of errors or a strange drop in clicks, and you are not sure what caused it.
And sometimes, you are just busy. You have products to manage and customers to serve, and you just do not have the time to run through all these technical settings yourself.
What I typically do in a WooCommerce SEO consult
First, I do a quick review of your store’s setup. I will look at your hosting, theme, and key plugins.
Then I will go through the exact checklist in this article, step-by-step, for your specific store.
Finally, I will provide a short action plan and set up a recurring time (e.g. monthly or every two weeks) to track your progress.
If you want me to run this WooCommerce SEO checklist on your store, you can reach me at the contact details at the end of this post.
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