Start with the commercial outcome
Ecommerce SEO is not simply adding keywords to product descriptions. The provider has to manage category intent, product discoverability, technical crawl issues and the way large catalogues create duplicate or low-value URLs.
Large stores need prioritisation. The agency should focus first on categories and products with meaningful demand, margin and availability rather than trying to optimise the entire catalogue at once.
Compare proposals on the same questions
| Compare | Ask before signing |
|---|---|
| Categories | Which commercial category pages are prioritised? |
| Products | How are important products improved without rewriting everything? |
| Facets | How are filters and parameter URLs controlled? |
| Technical | Who fixes crawl, canonical and internal-link issues? |
| Content | Where are buying guides or comparison content genuinely useful? |
| Reporting | Can organic visibility be connected to product or category revenue? |
Make implementation responsibility explicit
Ask for a keyword-to-page map and a technical crawl plan. If the store has many filtered URLs, variants or discontinued products, the proposal should explain how those are handled.
List any work that depends on your developer, ecommerce team, sales team or another supplier. A good proposal should make those boundaries obvious before launch.
Agree the measurement model
Traffic growth should be interpreted alongside organic revenue, product availability and category performance. A ranking win on an out-of-stock or low-margin product may not matter commercially.
Decide which metrics are diagnostic and which ones determine whether the investment is commercially useful.
Protect account ownership and data
Keep appropriate business access to advertising, analytics, store and CRM accounts. Confirm what happens to campaigns, audiences, feeds, data and creative if the supplier changes.
Ask for proof that matches the service
Ask for a prioritised category roadmap and evidence of how technical recommendations will actually be implemented.
Where client data is confidential, the provider can still show redacted structures, workflow examples or implementation evidence without inventing results.
Watch for this red flag
How Kydos fits
Kydos' SEO services are custom quoted, with Advanced and Enterprise scopes adding technical, local and content work. Ecommerce projects can also be coordinated with web development where implementation is required.
Frequently asked questions
How should I compare ecommerce SEO providers?
Compare scope, implementation, ownership, reporting, exclusions and the commercial outcome each proposal is expected to improve.
Should I choose the lowest fee?
Not automatically. Compare media, software, production, implementation and support costs that may sit outside the headline fee.
What should be agreed before launch?
Agree goals, responsibilities, access, tracking, approvals, budget boundaries and the conditions for scaling or changing direction.
What is a warning sign?
The agency promises thousands of new product descriptions but has not audited categories, faceted navigation, canonicals or indexation.
What proof should I request?
Ask for a prioritised category roadmap and evidence of how technical recommendations will actually be implemented.
How does Kydos fit?
Kydos' SEO services are custom quoted, with Advanced and Enterprise scopes adding technical, local and content work. Ecommerce projects can also be coordinated with web development where implementation is required.