SEO is essential for driving traffic and sales if you have an eCommerce website. Your product pages need to be optimized to rank highly in search engine results and attract potential customers. Today, we’ll dive into everything you want to know about SEO for eCommerce product pages that will boost not only traffic but sales too.
Let’s kick off with this fundamental question.
Why is SEO for eCommerce product pages important for ranking higher and driving sales?
Product pages are typically the most SEO-sensitive pages on an eCommerce website because they are what shows up in search engine results. If your product pages are not optimized, potential customers will have difficulty finding your products online, which could lead to lost sales. If you’re looking for information as to check your page rankings, our guide shows you each and every step.
eCommerce Product Page SEO: The Basics
Now, let’s get into eCommerce product pages’ SEO basics, including keyword research, product page meta descriptions, product overviews and headings, rich snippets, page load speed, mobile optimization, and more!
Keyword research
The first essential component of SEO for eCommerce product pages is eCommerce keyword research. Next, you need to figure out what potential customers are searching for when they are looking for products like yours. There are a few different ways to go about this, including using keyword research tools, competitor analysis, and customer surveys, and we’ll talk more about them later in this post.
Once you have your list of relevant keywords ready, you need to start incorporating them into your product pages. This can be done in the product page meta descriptions, title tags, headings, and throughout the product overviews and descriptions.
eCommerce Product Description SEO
The meta description is a quick description that appears in search engine results beneath your product page title. This is one of the most important elements of SEO for eCommerce product pages because it needs to be compelling enough to make potential customers want to click through to your website.
Your meta descriptions should be unique and include relevant keywords. They should also be concise, between 150-160 characters. Any longer, and Google will cut off the end of your meta description.
Product overviews and headings
The product overview is the section of your product page that gives potential customers a high-level view of your product and what it can do for them. This is an excellent opportunity to incorporate relevant keywords and give searchers the information they need to know before deciding whether or not to buy your product.
Your product overview should be divided into different sections with headings and subheadings. This makes it easier for potential customers to scan the page and find the information they are looking for. It also allows you to include more relevant keywords which can help improve your SEO.
Rich snippets
These pieces of information appear in search engine results underneath your meta descriptions. These can include things like customer ratings, price, and product availability.
Rich snippets can boost the click-through rate (CTR) to your product pages because they provide potential customers with more information about your products before they even click through to your website.
To get rich snippets for your eCommerce product pages, you need to be sure your pages are marked up with structured data using a schema.org format. Once you have added the structured data to your pages, Google will be able to pick up the rich snippets and display them in search results.
Page load speed
The speed at which your pages load is important for SEO and conversion rates. If your pages take too long to load, potential customers will likely click back to the search results and find a faster website.eCommerce site speed is important because it impacts how long it takes for your site to load. A slow eCommerce site can cause customers to click away before seeing what you offer. Here are a few tips to help you increase your eCommerce site speed:
- Use compression: Compressing images can help reduce their file size, which will, in turn help your eCommerce site load faster. One way to compress images is by using Photoshop’s ‘save for web’ feature. This will ensure that your images are less than 100kb in size.
- Use a content delivery network (CDN): A CDN can also help speed up your eCommerce site by caching your site’s content and serving it up to visitors from locations closer to them.
- Optimize your code: Optimizing your code can help reduce the time it takes for your eCommerce site to load. One way to do this is by minifying your code, which involves removing all unnecessary characters, such as whitespace and comments, from your code.
Following these tips should help you increase the speed of your eCommerce site, which in turn could help you improve conversions and sales.
Avoiding SEO duplicate content for product pages
Duplicate content is when you have two or more pieces of content on your website that are exactly the same or very similar. For example, this can happen if you have multiple product pages with the same product descriptions or if you have products that come in different sizes or colors and each size or color has its own product page.
Duplicate content can hurt your SEO because it confuses search engines and makes it difficult for them to determine which piece of content is the most relevant. This can result in your pages being ranked lower in search results.
To avoid duplicate content, you must ensure all your product pages are unique. This means writing unique product descriptions and using canonical tags to tell search engines which page is the original.
eCommerce product hierarchy & SEO for page URLs
The URL of your product pages is also crucial for SEO. Your URLs should be short and descriptive and include relevant keywords.
Avoid using numbers or symbols in your URLs, making them difficult to read and remember. You should also avoid using stop words like “and”, “the”, or “of” as these are not necessary and can make your URLs too long.
Using hyphens (-) to separate words in your URLs is also helpful. This makes them easier to read and helps search engines understand what your page is about.
SEO-friendly images
Don’t overlook images when it comes to SEO for eCommerce product pages. Your photos should be relevant to the product and should include keywords in the file name.
We’ll tell you more about how to do this later in this post, so keep reading!
Mobile Optimization
More and more people rely on their mobile devices to search the internet, so it’s a must to make sure your eCommerce product pages are optimized for mobile. This includes things like making sure your pages are responsive, using larger font sizes, and keeping the number of elements on each page to a minimum.
Examples Of What Not To Do With SEO for retail websites
Now that we’ve talked a lot about what to do with SEO for eCommerce product pages, let’s talk about some examples of what not to do.
Don’t use the manufacturer’s product descriptions
You might be tempted to use the product description from the manufacturer’s website, but this is a bad idea for SEO. Why? These descriptions are often duplicated across multiple websites, making your pages penalized for duplicate content.
Instead, you should write your own unique product descriptions that are at least 300 words long. These descriptions should include relevant keywords and be well-written and informative.
Don’t remove out-of-stock pages
If you have products that are out of stock, you might be tempted to remove the pages from your website. However, this isn’t wise for SEO. This is because these pages can still rank in search results and drive traffic to your website.
Instead of removing the pages, you should mark them as “out of stock” and include a message telling visitors when the product will be back in stock. You can also include an alternate product suggestion.
Don’t use weak calls to action – or forget about them, either!
Your product pages should have a strong call to action (CTA) that encourages visitors to buy the product. However, many eCommerce websites have weak or missing CTAs.
CTAs should be at the forefront of your pages. They should also be specific and use persuasive language. For example, instead of writing a CTA like “Buy Now” you could use “Buy Now and Get Free Shipping”.
Don’t optimize for low-volume keywords
When you’re choosing keywords to optimize for, it’s usually best to avoid low-volume keywords. These are keywords that get very few searches per month.
It’s better to focus on optimizing for a small number of high-volume keywords than many low-volume keywords. This helps you drive more traffic to your eCommerce website.
Don’t miss opportunities for internal linking and backlinks
Linking can make or break your SEO for eCommerce product pages, so don’t miss any opportunities for internal linking or backlinks.
Internal links are links from a certain page on your website to a different page. They help search engines understand the structure of your website and can help improve SEO.
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They help improve SEO by showing search engines that your website is popular and authoritative.
Be sure to include internal links and backlinks in your product descriptions, blog posts, and other content.
We’ve got a bunch of backlink strategies for you here.
Don’t set the wrong price
Pricing is another big consideration for SEO for eCommerce product pages. You could miss out on sales and organic traffic if you set the wrong price.
When setting prices, you should consider your competition, your product’s perceived value, and profit margins. You should also experiment with different prices to find the sweet spot that maximizes sales and profits.
Don’t forget mobile optimization
Back to that critical component of mobile optimization: SEO for eCommerce product pages. In 2016, Google announced they would begin experimenting with using mobile-first indexing. Fast forward six years, and Google primarily uses the mobile version of your website to determine your rankings.
If you want good SEO for eCommerce product pages, you must ensure your pages are optimized for mobile devices. For example, using a responsive design, having a fast page loading speed, and making sure your content is easy to read on a small screen.
Don’t neglect product reviews
Product reviews are an integral part of SEO for eCommerce product pages. This is because they provide user-generated content (UGC) that can help improve your SEO.
Reviews also help build trust and credibility. They show potential customers that your products are high-quality and worth buying.
Don’t forget about schema markup
You can add this code to your eCommerce website to help search engines comprehend your content. It’s often used to provide information about products, such as price, availability, and reviews.
Adding schema markup to your product pages can help improve SEO by making your pages more “rich” and informative. This can result in better click-through rates and higher rankings.
If you’re not sure how to add schema markup to your website, you can use a tool like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper.
How to Optimize an eCommerce Product Page for SEO in 10 Steps
Next, let’s get into 10 steps to follow for optimizing SEO for eCommerce product pages.
- Conduct research and implement a keyword strategy
- Optimize title tags and meta descriptions
- Have unique product descriptions
- Include FAQ content
- Show testimonials and real customer reviews
- Add structured data
- Have high-quality images and videos with alt text tags
- Test landing pages
- Reduce page load times
- Audit for technical issues
Conduct research and implement a keyword strategy
Before optimizing your eCommerce product pages, you need to research and develop a keyword strategy. This will help you identify the right keywords to target for SEO.
There are a few different ways to conduct keyword research:
- Use a tool like Google Keyword Planner
- Look at your competitors’ websites
- Look at Google Suggest
- Check out Amazon’s search bar
Optimize title tags and meta descriptions for product pages
We’ve already mentioned title tags and meta descriptions a few times, but we’ll reiterate that they’re important! These are two of the first things people see when they find your website in the search results. So, you want to make sure they’re compelling and keyword-rich.
Your title tags should be unique, accurate, and descriptive. They should also include your target keyword. As for meta descriptions, they should be under 160 characters and also include your target keywords.
Have unique product descriptions
You need unique product descriptions if you want SEO for eCommerce product pages that convert. This is because potential customers use product descriptions to decide whether or not to buy a product.
Your product descriptions should be well-written, keyword-rich, and informative. They should also be unique. Remember: don’t just copy and paste the manufacturer’s description.
Include FAQ content
Another powerful way to improve SEO for eCommerce product pages is by including FAQ content. This strategy can be incredibly effective for SEO for eCommerce product pages, but it’s also extremely under-utilized!
This type of content can help improve your SEO in two ways:
- It can help you rank for long-tail keywords
- It can help reduce your bounce rate
To get started with creating FAQ content, look at customer questions related to your products when you search those terms in Google. You’ll see a heading on the search results page that says, “People also ask.” People are already asking these questions about your products, so including them on your product pages can help you rank higher in the search results.
Show testimonials and real customer reviews
Social proof is another powerful way to improve SEO for eCommerce product pages. This is because it helps build trust with potential customers, encouraging them to buy from you.
There are a few different ways to add social proof to your website:
- Customer testimonials are short, positive statements from real customers about your products or services. You can showcase customer testimonials on your website, emails, or social media.
- Customer reviews are in-depth reviews of your products or services from real customers. They often list pros and cons and a rating out of five stars. You can showcase customer reviews on your website or on third-party websites.
- Case studies are detailed stories about how your products or services have helped real customers solve a problem. Case studies are usually longer than testimonials or reviews, and they can be used on your website or as PDFs that you share with potential customers.
Add structured data
Structured data is a type of code that helps search engines understand the content on your website. This can be helpful for SEO because it can help your website appear in rich snippets and special search results that include additional information about your website.
To add structured data to your website, you need to use a specific code called schema.org. All major search engines recognize this code, and it’s relatively easy to add to your website.
Have high-quality images and videos with alt text tags
We touched on SEO-friendly images already, but it’s worth reiterating—high-quality images are essential! Not only do they make your website look more professional, but they can also help improve your SEO.
To make sure your images are SEO-friendly, you need to do two things:
- Use keyword-rich alt text tags: These are short descriptions of your images that help search engines understand what they’re about.
- Optimize your file names and image size: This helps improve your website’s load time, which is a ranking factor for SEO.
In addition to images, videos can also be beneficial for SEO. Videos can help improve your SEO in two ways:
- They can help you rank for long-tail keywords because you can include keywords in your video titles and descriptions.
- They can help reduce your bounce rate because people are more likely to watch a video than read a block of text.
If you want to add videos to your website, make sure to include keyword-rich titles and descriptions. You can also include transcripts of your videos to help improve your SEO for eCommerce product pages.
Test landing pages
Next, it’s time to test your landing pages!
You can use a tool like Google Analytics to see how well your landing pages perform. Look at metrics like pageviews, bounce rate, and time on page to get an idea of how well your pages are doing.
If you see that a particular landing page isn’t performing well, try making some changes to it. This could include adding more relevant keywords, changing the layout, or adding more images or videos.
After you make changes to a landing page, be sure to test it again to see if there’s a performance improvement.
Reduce page load times
We mentioned that page load times are important, but now let’s talk about how to reduce them.
There are a few things you can do to reduce your page load times, including:
- Optimize images: As we mentioned before, optimize your images by using keyword-rich file names and alt text tags.
- Use a content delivery network (CDN): This helps improve your website’s load time by caching your static content (like pictures and videos) on servers worldwide. This way, visitors can access your content from a server that’s closer to them, which can help reduce page load times.
- Minify CSS and JavaScript: This means removing any unnecessary code from your CSS and JavaScript files.
- Use a caching plugin: These plugins help improve your website’s load time by caching your pages and posts.
Audit for technical issues
Lastly, it’s crucial to perform eCommerce SEO audits of your website for technical SEO issues. Technical SEO issues can hurt your website’s ranking in search engines, so fixing them as soon as possible is important.
Importance of SEO for eCommerce
eCommerce SEO is crucial for retail websites because it helps to increase visibility and drive organic traffic to the site. By optimizing website content and structure, retail websites can rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which in turn can lead to more visibility, higher click-through rates, and, ultimately, increased sales. Additionally, effective eCommerce SEO strategies can help to improve the user experience on a retail website, making it easier for customers to find the products they are looking for and increasing the likelihood of them making a purchase. As competition for online customers continues to grow, it is increasingly important for retail websites to invest in eCommerce SEO to remain competitive and grow their online presence.
Hiring experts for your technical SEO audit tends to be the way to go. They will check your website’s structure, sitemaps, robots.txt file, and redirects to ensure everything is set up correctly.
By following these tips, you can improve your SEO for eCommerce product pages and drive more traffic (and sales!) to your website.
Get in touch with the team of eCommerce marketing experts at Blue Water Marketing for everything you need to get started! We can help you with keyword research, optimizing your website, and much more. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you grow your business.
