How to Optimise Product Pages for SEO
To achieve success in what is a highly competitive online marketplace, ecommerce websites need to have properly optimised product pages.
Why?
Because only well optimised product pages are able to boost organic traffic, increase conversions, and positively influence revenue.
To help you get started, I have put together a list of different strategies and tactics you can use to effectively optimise your product pages. So, let’s get started.
1. URLs matter
Your product URLs should be descriptive and easy to read, clearly setting out the content that users can expect to find on the webpage. This is not an opportunity to keyword stuff and should instead be viewed as your chance to provide an extra level of user-friendliness and clarity.
I recommend ensuring that your product URLs contain your brand name, product category, product subcategory, product name, and product colour.
Ensuring that your URLs are well-structured will also improve the overall structure of your website, which will have a positive impact on your overall SEO strategy and your organic rankings.
2. Optimise Every Image
Many online users look for product pages that feature clear images which showcase every angle of the product being sold. However, it is not enough to simply put an image on a webpage and leave it at that.
It is essential that every image placed on your site has a descriptive file name. This will allow search engine crawlers to understand what the image is showing, which will, in turn, boost your SEO and ranking positions. Additionally, image alt text should be used to both further improve the crawlability of your website and as a vital aid for visually impaired users.
Once again, you should avoid keyword stuffing here and instead focus on providing meaningful value to your audience.
3. Refine Product Descriptions
When a user lands on one of your product pages, you have a short window of time to persuade them to convert. This means that developing a product description strategy is key to appealing directly to your ideal audience and providing them with the information they need to go ahead and make a purchase.
Firstly, it is important that each product description is easy to read. While it can be tempting to share every detail about a product, too much information can actually put people off and lead to abandoned carts.
Once again, stuffing too many keywords into a product description will look cluttered and spammy, so it is worthwhile editing each product description to ensure that only the most relevant keywords are incorporated into the copy.
– Can I Use AI to Generate Product Descriptions?
Many businesses are choosing to use AI to generate product descriptions. When used well, AI can be a valuable tool, particularly as it can generate large quantities of content efficiently and with a consistent tone of voice.
To obtain the best outcomes, I generally recommend working with a copywriter, particularly if you are a large ecommerce website. However, if you do want to use AI, it is imperative to edit all AI generated content to ensure it is error free and feels as though it has a distinctive human touch.
Don’t forget, consumers want to engage with brands and businesses that look and feel as though they are run by real people. So, ensuring that every sentence on your website carries your brand’s unique tone of voice will have a positive impact on your sales and conversions.
4. Leverage User-Generated Content
User-generated content can take many forms, including written reviews and images. Incorporating user-generated content on product pages can provide proof that your product lives up to its claims and that you have built a loyal and happy customer base, which can instil a whole new layer of trust in your brand.
This is a tactic that should only be used if it is relevant to your target audience because if this type of content looks out of place on a product page, it is more likely to lead to abandonment than it is to conversion.
5. Adapting for a Global Audience
If you want to appeal to a global audience with your products, it is important to think very carefully about how your product pages are adjusted for each target market. Clearly, this means using tools that will accurately translate pages into the local language, but it goes much further than that.
In addition to incorporating phrases and keywords that are specific to each region you are targeting, it is vital to understand the cultural nuances that are in play. To do this effectively, avoid using translation tools and instead use local copywriters who understand how to adapt existing on-page content to suit a local audience.
You should also pay attention to the pricing of your products and ensure you are positioning your brand properly in accordance with current market conditions and have properly considered the purchasing power of your target audience.
Similarly, supporting the payment methods that are most popular in each market is critical to securing those all-important conversions. After all, if your local audience prefers paying for products in instalments and that isn’t something your website supports, you are going to lose valuable customers to your competitor brands.
In Summary
Like so many aspects of SEO, product page optimisation isn’t a one-and-done task. Instead, the most successful businesses view it as an ongoing process with many moving parts. Ultimately, the goal here is to focus your attention on creating product pages that are engaging and informative, as this is what will allow you to hold the attention of your ideal customer.
Additionally, you must also consider what search engines are looking for and ensure that you are using keywords, product descriptions, URLs and image alt text in ways that provide search engine crawlers with the information they need to properly rank your content.
By committing to testing different tactics and using performance data to consistently refine your approach moving forwards, you will find that your product pages will help you to drive organic traffic and secure additional conversions that will allow your business to grow.