How to optimise product pages for organic search
July 13, 2023
Are you running an ecommerce business? If you are, then product pages need to be at the top of your list of priorities.
A major factor in driving traffic and increasing sales, your website’s product pages are just as important as any other page type (if not more), but they’re often neglected 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.
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 actually convert.
Write detailed product descriptions
Many ecommerce businesses simply copy and paste duplicate content to save time writing product descriptions from scratch, but 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 key highlights (for example machine washable, made from recycled plastic etc).
Optimise your product page titles and meta descriptions
The titles and meta descriptions of your product pages are often the first thing potential customers see when they find your product in search engine results pages (SERPs). Make sure you include your primary keyword in the title and meta 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 in order 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 alt tags are added as these little details help search engines 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, where users can see price, availability, review ratings, shipping information and more right in search results. All product pages should have product schema and review schema, which can do two things:
- Drive more impressions and clicks
- Improve CTR and drive more sales
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.
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.
Been neglecting your product page SEO? We can help with that – get in touch and we’ll get right back to you.
