Essential Optimization Tips

E-commerce product pages are largely overlooked by companies who begin eyeing higher targets on the search engine result pages. SEO is just as important for these pages as it is for the corresponding category pages, and a properly managed queue of optimized product pages can do wonders for your e-commerce SEO.

1. The SEO Building blocks Still Apply to Product Pages

The product page title, URL, meta description and H1 should be unique, descriptive of the product, and implement key terms that have quantifiable search volume.

For example, let’s say you have an e-commerce site specializing in speciality meats. You’ve discovered that you have a corner of a lucrative market, canned unicorn meat. Doing some keyword research on your market, you find that “unicorn meat” is a much more highly searched term than “canned unicorn” according to the Adwords Keyword Tool, so you start optimizing your page for “unicorn meat” and “canned unicorn meat”. All of your page building blocks should reference exactly what it is you are selling to your consumer in a unique manner.

2. Product Descriptions

The product description is an oft-overlooked and one of the most important elements to optimizing your product pages to rank independently, and to help your overall site rank for some of the related products that you provide.

We recommend creating a 250-300 product description that is completely unique. Never include a description from the manufacturer, or from any other website that is selling the same or a similar product. It should highlight the points of the product such as color, size, texture, weight, height, length, and any other descriptive attributes that can be applied. One easy way to think about what to include in your product description is to imagine you are describing the product to someone who is blindfolded and has never encountered it before. What is it used for? Who made it? What does it provide that similar products do not?

If your product library is so large that you can’t possibly write unique content, then consider preventing the search engines from crawling the majority of your product pages. If you are serious about wanting a specific product to rank however, this is not the way to go.

3. Product Photos and Videos

This may seem like a no-brainer, but it is really important to have clear, unique, high quality resolution images that clearly illustrate your product and offer a variety of perspectives and color options, if possible. Optimize your image title and alt tag with key terms that reflect your keyword research. Additionally, many consider it to be a good idea to add a small watermark to your product image, so that if the image were to be shared through social media or downloaded and saved, there would be a reference back to your brand or website.

If possible, provide a video of your product. You can embed a video from youtube or vimeo, or host one on your site. Once you have all your images and videos uploaded, reference them with image and video sitemaps.

4. Product Microdata

This can really help your products get indexed and stand out in the search engines. Adding schema markup that shares on-site review ratings, prices, product titles, and product images can increase click-through rates, since users can discover more information about your product directly through search. This, in turn, can raise the relevancy of your pages, and lead to a greater overall experience for all parties involved.

5. Social Share Buttons

Prominently displaying these buttons on your ecommerce site can allow your site users to share your products with others, email it to themselves, or otherwise flag that specific product as something they want to come back to. Additionally, don’t underestimate the power of social signals, they are powerful attributors to what people want – which is what you, harnessing the power of search, want to deliver.

6. Product Reviews

Reviews tie into product microdata in that they can be viewed alongside your listing in organic search, they can help bolster your on-page content, and they are a great conversion factor. Great and varied reviews can help build your product and brand trust, leading visitors to return to your site and thus increase your site relevance.