If you’re running an ecommerce business, product pages are your bread and butter.
A major factor in driving traffic and increasing sales, PDPs (product display pages) are just as important as any other page type on your website but are often overlooked and littered with duplicate copy and poor-quality images.
If this sounds familiar, then help is on the way. Below are some of our SEO experts’ tips to help you optimise your product pages for organic search, taking into account Google’s latest updates and AI overviews.
AI’s role in product page rankings
No doubt you’ve seen Google’s AI overviews by now. These AI-generated snapshots appear at the very top of the search engine results pages and show links to resources that support the information in that snapshot. Allowing users to get the information they need without even having to click on a result, these links make it easy to explore topics further. When AI overviews were first rolled out, however, it’s safe to say they weren’t exactly a roaring success, often bringing up irrelevant, incorrect or downright problematic results from less-than-trustworthy sources (see what we’re talking about below).
As demonstrated in a recent LinkedIn post by Aleyda Solís, product carousels are now showing up in the SERPs as part of AI-generated overviews for commercial and product-focused queries.
But what are product carousels and how are they presented in Google search results?
Product carousel types
Top products carousel: a list of products that are considered the best in their category. This carousel may include up to 12 products, but only four are visible at a time on mobile and desktop. Each product listing includes a title, image, price, and other information.
Related products carousel: a carousel that may appear when a user searches for a specific brand.
Popular product carousel: a carousel that displays popular products related to a user’s search query. This carousel is part of Google’s organic search results and is populated from Google’s organic index.
As of September 2024, these product carousels are now appearing in the SERPs alongside guides and category pages, generating a browsable, listing-like snapshot. Since these snapshots feature clickable products that trigger product knowledge panels, they present ecommerce businesses with new opportunities to drive traffic directly to product display pages rather than guides or category pages.
This latest update to the Google results pages means it’s never been more important to optimise your product pages with high-quality copy, customer reviews, and structured data as Google pushes more visibility to these pages via AI overviews. Let’s take a look at how you can improve your product page rankings.
Product page SEO best practices
Devise a keyword strategy
Before you can begin to optimise your product pages, you need to conduct thorough keyword research to determine which search terms and phrases users are typing into search engines to find products similar to yours. Use keyword research tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to identify the search terms that are most relevant to your products. Always use product-focused topics and don’t fixate too much on volume – consider relevancy and what is likely to convert. Look for keywords commercial and information intent, as users searching these terms are more likely to be planning a purchase.
AI-overviews and product carousels appear to be triggered by product-focused queries, for example, “new home gift ideas” or “running shoes for men.”
Write detailed product descriptions
Many ecommerce businesses simply copy and paste duplicate content to save time writing product descriptions from scratch. Still, while this may seem like a convenient shortcut, it can have a detrimental effect on your organic search rankings. Product descriptions are important not only for potential customers, but for search engines to understand your page. Use your primary keyword in your product descriptions and provide detailed information about the product that outlines the benefits of owning it. We’d also recommend summarising key pieces of information in bullet points, such as dimensions, materials, and important details or highlights (for example machine washable, made from recycled plastic, etc).
Optimise your product page titles and meta descriptions
The title and meta description of your product pages are often the first things potential customers see when they find your product in search engine results pages (SERPs). Make sure you optimise page titles and meta descriptions for organic search by including your primary keyword in the title and description and try to make it appealing to potential customers. If you have access to paid search data, then you can use it in your keyword and topic research and incorporate ad copy with high click-through rates into your meta descriptions. You should also make sure that important details are included such as brand names, product names, model numbers and dimensions where appropriate.
Like product descriptions, meta content should also be unique for every product to take full advantage of SEO.
Use high-quality images and videos
You’d be surprised by the number of ecommerce websites we see with very few or even poor-quality images. When customers are shopping online, a photo or video is as close as they can get to seeing the product before they buy it. Using good quality imagery increases the desirability of your products and helps to boost your organic search rankings. Make sure images are resized and compressed so they don’t slow down your page load speed, and that relevant alt tags are added as these little details help search engines to understand what the page is all about.
Mark up product pages with structured data
Adding structured data to your product pages means that search results can show product information in richer ways. The correct structured data type can help your page appear in rich snippets (and now AI overviews), where users can see the price, availability, review ratings, shipping information and more right in the search results. All product pages should have product schema and review schema, which can do two things:
1. Drive more impressions and clicks
2. Improve CTR and drive more sales
Structured data may also help you to appear in the ‘People Also Buy’ section of Google’s pages (see example below).
Use customer reviews to your advantage
Product pages with customer reviews see conversion increases of 52% or more than those without them. This is in part because customer reviews can help to improve search engine rankings by increasing the level of user-generated content. Encourage customers to leave reviews by including a user-friendly review section on your product pages. Business reviews on third-party platforms like Trustpilot can also have a positive impact on organic search rankings as they associate your business with positive sentiment. Be sure to mark up product reviews with review schema. Shopify users can easily integrate reviews and review platforms with their product pages via apps.
Add helpful FAQs
Content that meets the user’s needs is key to ranking highly in the SERPs. Content that isn’t considered useful leads to high bounce rates and lower conversion rates. Many of your customers may have a question but want to avoid speaking to a chatbot or customer service representative, and therefore not bother completing a purchase. If an FAQ section is built into the product page, it allows you to answer the most common questions potential customers have about your products, meaning they can find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Guilty of neglecting product page SEO? Not sure how to keep up with the ever-changing organic search landscape? Our experts are always one step ahead – send us a message and we’ll be in touch.
