Building SEO landing pages in your online store: step by step in Shopware and Shopify

What a landing page is and why it decides what your ad budget achieves is explained in the encyclopedia entry on the landing page. This article is the guide to go with it: how do you build a landing page in your store that is found on Google and turns visitors into buyers? With every step from the search query to the finished page, and with the concrete tools in Shopware and Shopify.

A garden store that wants to win more visitors from Google Search with raised garden beds serves as the running example.

Step 1: Choosing the right search query

Every good landing page starts with a single question: what should this page be found for? In the garden store, there are very different candidates. “buy raised garden bed” has a lot of competition and a broad intent. “metal raised garden bed 200 cm” is searched less often but comes from people who know exactly what they want. “how to fill a raised garden bed” is a question, not a buying intent.

Keyword research shows which terms are worth considering. But the most important check anyone can do themselves in five minutes: search for the term on Google and look at what appears at the top of the results page. If Google shows categories and products from stores, it expects a buying page. If it shows guides and instructions, it expects answers. Building against this expectation almost never works.

Step 2: Choosing the right page type

The search query determines what kind of page you build:

• Category page: for search queries with buying intent and a clear product group, such as “metal raised garden bed”. In most stores, this is where the greatest potential lies.

• Theme page: for occasions, audiences and seasons that cut across categories, such as “raised garden beds for balconies and terraces” or “spring garden start”. It combines matching products from several categories with advice.

• Guide: for questions before the purchase, such as “how to fill a raised garden bed”. It links to the matching categories and products.

• Product page: for model names and very specific searches. It doesn’t need its own landing page structure, but it does need complete data.

One rule is important: there is exactly one page per search query. If a category and a theme page compete for the same term, they weaken each other. More on this under SEO keywords.

Step 3a: Building the landing page in Shopware

Shopware 6 comes with the tools for all three page types:

• Categories with Shopping Experiences: For a category, create a layout of the type listing page in Shopping Experiences. Text blocks, images, benefits and frequently asked questions can be placed above and below the product list. This turns a bare product grid into a landing page.

• The Landing pages module: Under Content, Shopware has its own landing pages, independent of the category tree, with their own SEO URL and sales channel assignment. They are suitable for theme pages that don’t belong in the menu.

• Dynamic product groups: Instead of assigning products by hand, rules fill the page automatically, for example all metal raised garden beds with a length of 150 cm or more. New products then appear without any extra effort.

• SEO fields: Title, description and URL are maintained per category and landing page in the SEO section.

More on the technical foundations under Shopware SEO.

Step 3b: Building the landing page in Shopify

In Shopify, categories are called collections, and here too there are several ways:

• Automated collections: Conditions such as product type, tag or price fill the collection automatically, similar to dynamic product groups in Shopware.

• Custom templates for collections: With the sections of Online Store 2.0 themes, alternative templates can be created, such as a collection with an advice block, benefits and frequently asked questions. This template is then assigned only to the collections that are meant to serve as landing pages.

• Metafields: For additional text below the product list or for individual questions and answers per collection, without having to work on the theme every time.

• Pages with their own template: For theme pages outside the collections, for example under /pages/raised-bed-guide.

• Search engine listing: You maintain the title, description and URL handle in the search engine listing section of each collection and page. Shopify prescribes the /collections/ and /pages/ paths.

More on the platform’s peculiarities under Shopify SEO.

Step 4: Content that sells and ranks

On a buying page, the products are the focus. The text must not push them aside; it has to sell them. A clear structure has proven itself:

• A short introduction at the top of two to three sentences that picks up the search intent and says what the visitor can expect. Then the products straight away.

• Selection aids directly above or next to the list: useful filters, for example by length, material and height, and a short decision aid if needed.

• Advice below the products: What matters when buying? Which material lasts how long? Which size fits which balcony? This is where the answers go that customers would ask a salesperson in a shop.

• Frequently asked questions about delivery, assembly and care. They address objections and at the same time provide answers that Google and AI assistants can cite.

• Trust: reviews, seals, delivery time and returns visible, not hidden in the footer.

How much text is needed depends on the competition, not on a fixed word count. A text that fully answers customers’ questions is long enough. Support with concept and copy is available via content for online stores.

Step 5: Title, description and URL

The title appears as the headline in the search results and is the strongest single signal on the page. It names the main topic first and gives a reason to click, such as “Metal raised garden beds: 40 models, delivered in 3 days”. The meta description adds in one or two sentences what the page offers. It is not a ranking factor, but it helps decide the click. The URL stays short and descriptive, such as /metal-raised-beds instead of /category/123?sort=new. The H1 on the page picks up the main topic, and subheadings structure the advice below.

Step 6: Integrating the page

A landing page that no link leads to is found neither by Google nor by customers. So link new pages from the navigation, or at least from related categories, matching guides and product pages that belong to the topic. The anchor text describes the target, such as “metal raised garden beds” instead of “click here”. Then the page belongs in the sitemap. How to check whether it has arrived on Google, and when a request is worthwhile, is shown in the article on Google indexing.

Step 7: Speed and smartphones

Most visitors come via smartphone. So check every new landing page on a phone first: are the introduction and first products visible without scrolling? Can the filters be used? Does the page load quickly? Images in modern formats and the right size are the most important lever here. The first large image on the page must not be lazy-loaded; all others may be. This can be measured with PageSpeed Insights, and more on product images is in the entry on Google Images.

Step 8: Measuring and improving

After launch, the real work begins. In Google Search Console, filter the performance report by the landing page’s URL to see which search queries it appears for, how often it is clicked and what position it holds. In web analytics, the landing page report shows how many visitors arrive via the page and how many of them buy. The most important metric is the conversion rate.

Typical improvements after the first few weeks are a clearer title when there are many impressions and few clicks, additional answers for search queries the page doesn’t yet cover, and a better product selection when visitors arrive but don’t buy.

Checklist before launch

• The page targets exactly one search query, and no other page in the store competes for it.

• The page type matches what Google shows for this search query.

• Short introduction, products visible immediately, advice and FAQs below.

• Title, description, H1 and URL are maintained.

• Filters, images and products work on a smartphone.

• The page is linked from the navigation, related categories or guides.

• The page is indexable, is in the sitemap and is not accidentally set to noindex.

• Measurement in Search Console and web analytics is set up.

Three mistakes that often happen in stores

The first is a landing page for every city or every word variant. Twenty almost identical pages for “buy raised bed Stuttgart”, “buy raised bed Munich” and so on are treated by Google as doorway pages. They do more harm than good.

The second is the indexable filter page. Not every combination of material, colour and length needs its own page on Google. Dedicated landing pages are only worthwhile where there is real demand for the combination.

The third is the landing page nobody finds. A beautiful theme page without a link from the store remains an insider tip, for Google too.

Landing pages for your store

Want to know which landing pages have the greatest potential in your Shopware or Shopify store? The arboro team analyses search queries, competition and existing pages and builds the landing pages directly in your store. More on this under SEO for online stores.

Image source:

@fonstra – stock.adobe.com, @biscotto87 – stock.adobe.com, @JulsIst – stock.adobe.com, @PCH.Vector – stock.adobe.com