WooCommerce gives you more SEO control than any other ecommerce platform — but that flexibility means more things to configure. This checklist covers everything that actually moves the needle for WooCommerce stores, in priority order.
1. Fix Your Permalink Structure
Go to Settings > Permalinks and make sure you're using a clean structure. The best option for most stores is:
- **Product permalinks:** `/product/%product%/` (or just `/%product%/` for shorter URLs)
- **Category base:** `shop` or remove it entirely
Avoid the default `?p=123` structure — it's terrible for SEO. If you're changing permalinks on an existing store, set up 301 redirects from the old URLs to prevent losing rankings.
2. Install and Configure an SEO Plugin
You need either Yoast SEO or RankMath — pick one, not both. These handle the technical SEO basics: meta titles, descriptions, canonical tags, XML sitemaps, and schema markup.
**Key settings to check:**
- Enable XML sitemaps
- Set default meta title templates (include your brand name)
- Enable breadcrumb schema
- Set Products to "Show in search results"
- Disable attachment page indexing
- Enable canonical URLs
3. Optimize Product Pages
For each product:
- **Title tag:** Include the product name + key attribute + brand (e.g., "Blue Leather Crossbody Bag | BrandName")
- **Meta description:** Write a compelling 120-160 character description that includes a call to action
- **Product description:** At least 150 words of unique content — don't just copy the manufacturer's description
- **Images:** Descriptive alt text on every image, compressed to under 200KB, with proper dimensions
- **Schema:** Ensure Product schema includes price, availability, and reviews
4. Fix Page Speed
WooCommerce sites are often slow due to heavy themes and too many plugins. Priority fixes:
- **Use a caching plugin:** WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache (free) or WP Rocket (paid)
- **Optimize images:** Install ShortPixel or Imagify for automatic compression
- **Limit plugins:** Each plugin adds load time. Audit and remove what you don't use
- **Use a CDN:** Cloudflare's free plan works well for most stores
- **Lazy load images:** Most modern themes support this, or use a plugin
Aim for a PageSpeed score above 50 on mobile — most WooCommerce stores start around 20-30.
5. Set Up Schema Markup
Product schema is what makes your products show prices, ratings, and availability in Google search results. Your SEO plugin should handle basic Product schema, but verify it's working:
- Visit a product page
- Test it at Google's Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results)
- Check that price, availability, and review data appear
If schema is missing or incomplete, your SEO plugin settings may need adjusting, or your theme might be interfering.
Quick Wins You Can Do Today
If this checklist feels overwhelming, start with these three things:
1. **Install Yoast or RankMath** and run through their setup wizard
2. **Write unique meta descriptions** for your top 10 products
3. **Run a free scan with RankRipper** to find the specific issues on your store
RankRipper checks for all of the above and gives you copy-paste fixes tailored to WooCommerce. It takes 60 seconds and costs nothing.