If somebody asks you to rank the pages on your e-commerce website according to the order of importance, which would get first place? If you’re like most business owners, you’d probably give the highest rank to your homepage. After all, it is your virtual storefront. It’s what greets your customers when they visit your online store — or is it?
Ask a search engine optimization or SEO service provider, and they will probably tell you that you’re wrong. On e-commerce websites, the homepage is not your most important web page.
The most important keywords for e-commerce websites are the so-called buy now keywords. Examples include “buy air Jordan shoes,” “best Apple iPhone deals,” and “lowest price i7 laptop.” People use such keywords when they’re ready to make a purchase. Thus, people using such keywords are much more likely to convert.
Here’s news for you, though. The homepage is not a good match for highly specific (i.e., long-tail) and high-intent commercial search terms. The homepage is a catch-all page for broad, generic, and branded keywords and, thus, unlikely to rank well for commercial-intent keywords.
The Importance of Category and Product Pages
So, where are commercial intent searches likely to land if not on the homepage of e-commerce sites? The answer: category pages. Therefore, if you don’t have them, create them. If you do have them, make sure to optimize them.
Then how do you make more money off your website? Make more sales.
This is why you want traffic to your product pages. The higher your product page traffic, the more people you can convert into customers.
It is for this reason you must optimize your product pages for search engines, too. Search engine optimization will give your product page a higher likelihood of ranking on the search engine results pages of relevant keywords.
Only after your product pages rank and appear on relevant keyword search engine results pages (SERPs) can your potential customers find your products on search engines.
Not sure how and where to start?
Then this blog post can help.
Here, we dive deep into creating e-commerce content that sells, starting with category pages and then moving on to product pages.
We’ve even added an in-depth bonus tutorial on building an optimized FAQs page that’ll support your money pages.
What Is a Category Page, and How Does It Capture Commercial Intent?
A category page organizes or groups products according to a shared characteristic.
For instance, on the ASICS e-commerce website, the category page “women” groups together all products for women. Running shoes jostle for a place with running shorts and caps.
The “women” category page is subdivided into the following subcategories: featured, shoes, clothing, and accessories. Clicking on the “women>shoes” subcategory will land you on a page that shows only shoes for women.
The women>shoes subcategory is further subdivided into these sub-sub-categories: running, trail running, tennis, volleyball, indoor, others, and sport style. When you click on “women>shoes>tennis,” you will land on a category page devoted solely to tennis shoes for women.
The specificity of category pages makes them ideal for capturing commercial intent. If somebody uses the search term “buy tennis shoes for women,” Google is likely to prioritize the category page “women>shoes>tennis” rather than the store homepage in search engine results pages.
Why is that? Because the home page does not show information specific to women’s tennis shoes, whereas the category page, “women>shoes>tennis,” talks about nothing else.
Why Not Just Let Your Product Pages Rank in SERPS?
Product pages must also be optimized, of course. If somebody wants to buy Air Jordan XXXVI Low Men’s Basketball Shoes, your product page for Air Jordan XXXVI Low Men’ Basketball Shoes must appear in the search results.
However, what if the search term is “buy Air Jordan shoes”? Without a category page grouping all Air Jordan shoes together, the search engine will not know which of your Air Jordan product pages it must show in the SERPS for the search phrase “buy Air Jordan shoes.”
Optimizing Your E-Commerce Site Category Pages
Now that it is clear why category pages are essential, it’s time to learn how to optimize them so they can rank high in relevant SERPs.
1. Use your main category page keyword in the headline.
Web pages have titles or headlines on top. Do not waste this optimization opportunity; use your focus keyword in the headline. Wrap the headline in an <H1> tag.
You do this primarily to tell search engines what the page is about. However, it also gives potential shoppers information about the content of the category page.
If the headline matches site visitors’ search phrase (or is at least relevant to it), such site visitors are much more likely to stay and look around.
2. Include introductory text
Many e-commerce website category pages just show product listings. They might have a keyword-optimized headline, but they don’t have any other content besides a grid of relevant products.
This is a missed opportunity. Add one or two paragraphs of introductory text.
In your introductory text, you can discuss the products shown on the page. You can emphasize the quality of your products’ craftsmanship or even some things that differentiate them from your competitor’s (similar) offerings.
Better yet, talk about the problems your customers are having and what the products on the page can do to solve them. You can also talk about your customers’ styling options if it’s a category page on a fashion accessory.
Just say something pertinent to the category. Whatever you choose to write, use relevant keywords. The introductory text of a “sunglasses for women” category page can have words like “cat-eye shades,” “wayfarer frames,” “Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses,” “women’s sunglasses for round faces,” and “different types of sunglass frames.”
The introductory text gives your audience more information, which could increase page dwell times. It also expands the number of keywords on the page. If your introductory text copy is well-crafted, it will also enhance site visitor experience.
3. Add body content.
The problem with e-commerce category pages is that search engines often deem them content thin. They don’t have much text content because they merely show product names and images.
As a workaround, create a writeup and put it at the bottom of the page, below the category page’s product listings. Aim for at least 200 words of content, preferably more — around 300 is ideal.
This will allow you to use more keywords. It’ll be longer than the introductory text. Thus, you can use more latent semantic indexing terms, mid-tail keywords, and long-tail phrases.
Additionally, it’s an opportunity to provide more detailed information that your site visitors might find helpful. For instance, on a category page for women’s sunglasses, you can create a section on choosing the right type of sunglasses according to face shape, skin tone, and hair color.
Use Google’s “people also ask” section to identify the questions people often ask related to your focus keyword. This will give you some ideas on what content to write.
4. Use professional photos.
Of course, you want professional-looking photographs in your category product listings. The product photos must also have a consistent look and size.
Great-quality photos will enhance site visitor perception of your brand (which improves trust and, consequently, the likelihood of conversion). It can also make visitors stay, and dwell times are a signal Google uses to assess page relevance and determine SERP rankings.
Optimize Category Pages and Rank in SERPs
E-commerce websites must have category pages. These make the perfect landing pages for commercial-intent keyword searches.
To ensure that your category pages will rank for relevant SERPs, use your focus keyword in your category page headline, include an introductory text and body text, and use excellent visuals.
Even better, get an SEO company to create optimized category pages for your e-commerce website.
Why You Want Organic SERP Traffic for Your Product Pages
Sure, potential customers can still find your product pages by navigating to them from other parts of your website (your home page, category page, a link on a blog post, etc.). Thus, you can optimize your other web pages and leave “crumbs” everywhere for your site visitors to follow so they can land on your money pages.
However, wouldn’t it be so much better if someone looking for your product on Google could directly get to your product page from SERPs?
Getting direct traffic from search engines is especially beneficial if you have optimized your product page for transactional keywords. Such keywords typically contain “buy,” “shop,” “deals,” “prices,” and “offers,” among other terms (e.g., “buy Hoka trail running shoes”). People use them when they have commercial intent — i.e., they plan to buy.
By optimizing your product pages for commercial-intent keywords, appearing on SERPs for these transactional keywords, and getting clicks from SERPs to your product pages, you will gain traffic from users already inclined to make a purchase.
In other words, organic traffic from transactional keyword SERPs is much more likely to convert into customers than other types of traffic.
Basic Product Page Optimization Techniques
Here’s a rundown of the fundamental product page optimization techniques to start you off your product page optimization journey.
1. Product Page Title
Include your keyword and product name (including product code) in the page title, and limit the length to 55 characters.
2. Meta Description
Make each meta description engaging and add a call to action so it can induce click-throughs. Use your keyword and specific product name, and limit the length to 155 characters.
3. Headline
Include your keyword and specific product name. Wrap the headline in <h1></h1> tags.
4. Product Description
Use keyword variations and semantically related terms in your product description.
5. Product Video
Videos are engaging. On your product page, show a video of your product in action or the proper context. This will help potential customers envision how the product will make their lives easier or them happier.
6. Product Images
Pictures should be professional-quality: realistic but presenting the product in a good light.
Give them a keyword-optimized (but only if relevant) filename, alt-text, and caption (when applicable).
Pro-Level Techniques to Optimize Product Pages
Aside from implementing basic optimization, you should also apply the following advanced techniques.
1. Schema Markup
Schema markup refers to additional tags from Schema.org’s structured data vocabulary. A schema pertains to a type (e.g., event, product, person, place) with associated properties (e.g., for the type event, properties include the subject matter, actors, start date and time, end date and time, event duration, rating, audience, composer, and others).
Schema markup gives search engines additional information about a particular content. Instead of simply writing the product information on your product page, you can mark it up using the product type schema. This extra information can lead to feature-rich SERP listings for your product.
Instead of appearing as all other search snippets on SERPs (URL, clickable title, short description), your search snippet for an appropriately marked-up product page will show additional product details: rating, color, offers, category, product group name, height, weight, and many of the other properties defined in the product type schema.
This feature-rich appearance of your product snippet will make it stand out in SERPs. That should help you get more click-throughs.
The schema markup also helps search engines “understand” your product page content. This will help them better index your content and match it with more relevant search engine queries. The result: You will get more interested, easier-to-convert users organically going to your product pages.
2. Unique Product Description
Some e-commerce websites populate their product pages with information from product manufacturers. Don’t do that.
Write unique product descriptions. This will prevent duplication issues. Plus, it will help you give your potential customers value; your product description will provide them with the information they can’t find anywhere else.
To give your product description substance, include all the information you know your customers will want to learn about the product. Thus, your product description can have product features, benefits, dimensions, specifications, care instructions, and price, among other things.
Of course, optimize your product description by using keyword variations and semantically related terms. Moreover, use the schema markup everywhere it is relevant.
3. Additional Product Page Copy
Aside from the product description, include additional copy near the bottom part of the product page. Elaborate on the features and technical specifications of the product, or add related information, such as how to care for the product, maximize its value, etc.
Just write related content that will increase your product page’s word count, helping you avoid thin content issues and allowing you to pepper your page with many more related keywords. Again, use the schema markup where relevant.
4. URL
Include your keyword and specific product name on your product page’s uniform resource locator (URL), but make sure it’s not too long. Keep it to 100 characters at most (the shorter, the better). It must also be human-readable.
A simple strategy is making your generic keyword a category and turning other general attributes into sub-categories. This will let you optimize your URL and enhance its readability.
For instance, your URL can be something like this:
https://yourdomain.com/running-shoes/training/women/nike-air-zoom-superrep-3
https://yourdomain.com/running-shoes/women/training-shoes-nike-air-zoom-superrep-3
5. FAQs
Give your product page an FAQ section (more on this in the bonus FAQs tutorial). This will add value to your page by answering your potential customers’ most frequently asked questions. It will also give you another place to use related terms for keyword optimization.
6. Reviews and Ratings
These will provide social proof about your product, thereby inducing conversions. Mark them up using the review and rating schema markup, and the product reviews and ratings on your product page will enhance your SERP search snippets.
Optimize Product Pages
Traffic is the lifeblood of your product pages. More traffic means more opportunities to convert and sell. This is why you must optimize your product pages for search engines and rank high on SERPs. Try the above strategies and see your SERP ranking improve.
FAQs Tutorial: 4 Tips for Implementing FAQs for SEO and Conversion
Do you need a frequently asked questions page?
For search engine optimization, yes, you do. Ask any organic SEO agency worth its salt, and they will tell you the same thing. However, some conversion optimization proponents will tell you you don’t need an FAQ page and that it’s actually losing you sales.
So, which is it? Do you or do you not need an SEO page? Is it beneficial or harmful to your business? His writeup tries to answer these questions so you can make the best decision.
The Dual Role of FAQ Pages
An FAQ page is supposed to answer customers’ most frequently asked questions. If you are an online shoe store, your most commonly asked questions typically pertain to sizing guides, shipping, returns, refunds, membership, and order tracking, among other things. Thus, your FAQ page must provide answers to these questions and more.
From this perspective, it is clear that FAQ pages serve an essential purpose. They make information readily available for your would-be customers and address potential barriers to sales or conversion.
Is the customer feeling worried that the shoes will not fit them? The FAQ page is supposed to address this fear with a sizing guide.
Information on returns, exchanges, and refunds should also provide additional reassurance that, should they make the wrong choice, they can exchange the shoes for another pair or return them for a full refund.
Aside from giving customers the information they need, FAQ pages also serve a secondary role: SEO.
FAQ pages can capture traffic from search engine results pages. This is particularly true of companies that provide general information instead of focusing only on questions specific to their brand.
An example is a hosting company that answers questions about implementing AutoSSL on cPanel. This hosting company is far from the only provider of AutoSSL, and they’re not the only hosting company that provides clients with a cPanel interface.
Therefore, much of the information they’re sharing on their FAQ page can be helpful to users of other hosting platforms. In this case, the company can rank for relevant keywords and become a preferred source of general information on this niche topic.
If you optimize your FAQ page properly, it can appear on the SERPs for your industry’s keywords. It can even show up in question-based searches. Moreover, specific questions can lead to rich displays on SERPs with additional markup.
The Problem With FAQ Pages
However, from a conversion optimization perspective, FAQ pages can be detrimental to sales.
Think of it this way. Your customer is on your product page, in the process of checking out a pair of blue Nike training shoes. Suddenly, they become concerned about fit and size.
A note on the product page says questions about returns and refunds are addressed on the FAQ page. So, they click on the provided link, land on the FAQ page, and leave the product page.
This is problematic. It’s inducing a willing customer to leave your product page for your FAQ page.
Optimizing FAQ Pages for SEO and Conversion
As you can see, FAQ pages are valuable for customer service and SEO. However, they can also draw customers away from money pages. What can you do to ensure you can get all the benefits of FAQ pages and none of their disadvantages?
Here are a few of the strategies you can implement.
1. Answer the questions customers actually ask.
If you want your FAQ page to provide value (and not cause customers to drop off instead of returning to your money pages), make sure it answers the questions customers are asking.
How can you find out which topics most interest your customers? Read your reviews and testimonials, screen your customer emails, and check your messages on your social media accounts and contact forms.
For instance, a review saying the customer is happy about their purchase but a little miffed they didn’t know they could pick up their purchase from a branch should tell you including that piece of information on your FAQ will be worth your while.
2. Provide in-context FAQS.
You can have a central FAQ page that compiles the answers to all frequently asked questions for SEO. However, you should still put FAQ sections everywhere on your website.
Instead of asking your customers to go to your FAQ page, answer their questions where they currently are on your website.
Envision the customer journey on your website, and ask yourself what your customers’ most pressing concerns are at every step. If a customer is on a category page, what questions would they like answered? If they are on a product page, what are the likely barriers to them completing checkout?
Craft an FAQ section or FAQ snippets that address these most pertinent and common customer concerns in the context of their position in the customer funnel (i.e., it depends on where they are on your website). This ensures your customers won’t want to or need to leave the page where conversions (i.e., sales) take place.
3. Drive traffic from your FAQ page to your money pages.
Ensure your FAQ page has internal links that point to your money pages. Your FAQ page can also link to more in-depth information found elsewhere on your website.
These internal links are vital for SEO. You must induce potential customers who’ve followed your SERP search snippet to your FAQ page to remain on your website to discourage bounce-outs, increase dwell times, and improve conversion.
4. Use schema markup with your FAQs.
Schema.org has a schema markup for an FAQ webpage. Adding this extra markup on your FAQ page can lead to rich snippets on SERPs.
Instead of simply displaying the link to your page, your FAQ page title, and a short description or an excerpt of your FAQ page, Google may include a handful of the questions on your FAQ page. This significantly increases your search snippet’s screen real estate, helping you stand out in SERPs.
FAQs: All the Benefits Without the Disadvantages
An FAQ page is a valuable customer service and SEO tool, but it can cause your customer to drop out of the path to purchase.
To enjoy all of its benefits without experiencing its disadvantages, optimize your FAQ page correctly, perhaps with the help of a professional search engine optimization services provider.
Ready to Sell With Great E-Commerce Content?
Now that you have all the information you need to optimize your money-making pages, all you need to do is to implement the tips shared here.
Hopefully, once you’re done working on your category and product pages, as well as your FAQs, you’ll see a significant improvement in their performance and in your bottom line.
AUTHOR BIO
Jinky Elizan is a content writer for SEO Sherpa. She has more than 15 years of experience in producing content for SEO, inbound marketing and link building as well as in creating copy for web pages and social media. She also develops WordPress websites.
