Written by Anastasia Kurmakaeva
Índice
Previously, we had highlighted the main differences in positioning between Google and Yandex. We have seen that, although similar in their objective, the Russian search engine took into account some specific characteristics when displaying certain websites among the first results. With this article we intend to delve into a more specific type of website: online stores.
Business relevance is a term coined by Yandex specialists in 2013 to determine the ranking of an online store from a user’s point of view and based on many factors, among them being:
- Usability of the e-commerce platform.
- Ease of ordering.
- The confidence the site conveys.
- Store design (including menu navigability).
- The service offered by the company.
- Real-time customer service.
In general terms, these are the points Yandex looks at when positioning an online store. As you can see, their demands are nothing fancy, nor do they try to defy logic to make our lives more complicated. We will now look at the specific aspects of commercial relevance that we should implement from the beginning to improve our chances of positioning a service or an online store on the Russian market. From the point of view of content:
Contact information
One of the basic recommendations is to specify the contact details of the company or service in the header of the website: mainly the telephone number and the location or address.
With this, we should not forget to dedicate a much more complete “Contact us” page, where it is recommended to include:
- If you have a physical store or franchises, their mailing address. It also doesn’t hurt to add an interactive map using the Yandex.Maps widget.
- Phone numbers, emails, links to social networks, and even the possibility of contacting the company through instant messaging such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
- Working hours.
The use of Schema.org microformats is also recommended for the creation of rich snippets of the online store in search results.
About the company
Another important aspect to consider is the “About” section. In it we can briefly describe what we do, the history or origin of the store, and the area of business to which our trade or service is dedicated. It is also recommended to include photographs to improve our online credibility. Present your business! Share your enthusiasm and the reason why you have decided to dedicate yourself to it.
Payment, shipping and return information
On this page we will describe in detail the methods of payment, the regions to which we ship, types and delivery times, and the costs involved in each. We will inform the customer about the possible ways of return and refund in case they wish to do so. Again, it is recommended to make use of an interactive map so that you can see at a glance which regions your store works with.
And a tip: if your online store is based in Moscow, this year Yandex has launched a new service under the name of Yandex.Delivery, an aggregator of transport companies that will help you ship your products from the capital to anywhere in Russia. The aim of this service is to facilitate the logistical aspect for online stores and to promote the use of e-commerce in Russia.
Information on products and services
To gain points in relevance and usability, it is convenient that all products have a file where we will add a concise but descriptive description of them, their price, as well as multiple images. It is also advisable to present a block in which related products will appear, as well as giving the user the possibility to comment, rate or write reviews of the products purchased in our online store.
As for the navigability of the online store, Yandex takes into account the following points:
- Hierarchical menu structure: main categories and product subcategories. Breadcrumb navigation makes it easy for the user to find what they are looking for.
- Internal web search engine using keywords and product filtering by characteristics. It is positive for Yandex that you give an extra point of usability to your online store by providing users with an internal search engine where they can search for specific products filtered by their characteristics and keywords.
- It is also recommended to eliminate advertising in the form of banners or pop-up windows, especially of the type that interfere with the usability of the site and may generate distrust to the user. Likewise, advertising irrelevant to the business itself whose sole purpose is to monetize the website will also contribute to diminishing the commercial relevance of the site. Linking to the company’s partners, or affiliated companies is allowed.
- Configuration of a version of the online store following responsive design standards, i.e. adapted to mobile devices.
Social networks
As we have already mentioned at the beginning of this article, one aspect that is considered very positive by Yandex is to include the social media links of your online store on the contact page. Well, this indication works both ways: mentions of your business and links from social networks give your online store popularity and help it climb up the rankings. Take care of your profiles on social networks, especially those where the density of your business’ target audience is higher.
Other general recommendations
- Register in Yandex.Market. User reviews about your business and its products will contribute to your online store being considered as a trustworthy site.
- Use Yandex SEO tools, such as Yandex.Wordstat to define the list of keywords with the most potential for your e-commerce products or services; and Yandex.Metrica to track traffic to your online store.
- Clearly establish the target audience of your niche market.
- Capture your customers’ attention: offer discounts and special promotions with their purchases.
- Optimize your online store website: write titles up to 70 characters or 15 words maximum, and remember that Yandex still takes into account the meta description field for the relevance calculation.
- Take care of the content of your online store. Remember that both in terms of optimization for Yandex and to improve the user experience, it is important that your content is correctly translated or written in Russian. The mistake is often made of using English as the international catch-all language. If you really want your online store to succeed in Russia, strive to offer content targeted only to Russian-speaking customers.
