A product page is one of the pages on your website that showcases the products you sell. They are your revenue generator by providing customers with information about your products and the ability to add it to their cart and purchase.
Enhancing the visibility and performance of your eCommerce product pages is crucial for driving organic traffic and increasing conversions.
The ideal product page layout and optimisation varies by platform, industry and type of product. However, there are some general best practice tips that apply in all cases.
The most important thing to remember when creating URLs is to keep the URL path neat.
To do this, separate the product name with hyphens but try to avoid other symbols and codes or IDs; unless the SKU number itself is part of how people search for a specific product. Optionally, you can also include the product variant if shoppers reference this in their searches, eg. colour, size, material.
Think about how people would search for the product when deciding on the URL. i.e. is the URL path relevant to the way your customers search online and how they refer to the product? A simple way to test this is to type the name in Google Images and see what image results come up. This is the best method to test product name vs. relevancy and what the market is looking for.
If possible, remove any numbers, automatically generated codes or unnecessary tags. These do not serve any purpose to Google when crawling or to your shoppers. Unnecessary characters increase the URL length and unnecessary folders simply bury the product name further down the hierarchy. This tells Google that the product name is less important.
Where possible, remove the URL category path for the product’s location. It is best practice to have a single product folder that will contain all products underneath as second level URLs, as it can help with crawling and analytics. We typically use a pattern of /product/product-name/.
Lastly, do not use category or general names as product names, for example: blue-dress-42 or maxi-dress-brand, unless of course that is the actual product’s name. Otherwise, these names will compete with your categories for the same search intent.
Non-optimised URLs:
The meta title (page title) of your eCommerce product page is a HTML tag that is shown on the browser’s title bar, whereas the H1 tag is located on the page and is the main heading of the webpage.
Both the H1 tag and the meta title of your ecommerce product pages should align with the main, singular long-tail keyword you wish to target. For a product page, this should be the full product name including variant/size/colour if using simple products with different URLs for each type.
You do not want to have the same H1 across multiple pages on the website because each page should serve a different purpose, or search intent.
These factors go for meta tags as well. Make sure the meta title and meta description are engaging for your customers and that they contain some keyword variance. In particular, make sure to align the meta title with the best possible keyword. It should also contain the specific product variant or differentiating factor, like the colour.
Example H1: BrandM Black Leather Handbag
Example Meta Title: BrandM Black Leather Handbag – Black BrandM Handbags Online
Example Meta Description: Looking to spruce up your look this winter? Shop our latest Black Leather Handbag online from BrandM. If you love trusted brands like BrandM and need a new black leather handbag, shop today with free online shipping!
Featuring your detailed and unique product description in HTML text format is key when it comes to optimising product pages.
Again, think of the type of questions that customers would ask and specifications they may be looking for. Add that information to your eCommerce product pages. This not only helps to inform the user but increases your chance of ranking for featured snippets in SERPs.
Lastly, try not to just copy the manufacturer’s content if you do not have to. This is the easy approach, so it is likely that other stores are also using it. Having unique content is one way to stand out and to show Google that you have valuable information to showcase, helping you move up the rankings to the coveted first position on the first page.
Keep in mind that your customers may refer to the same thing in different words. Think doona vs quilt vs duvet. Therefore they may be looking for the same product but search different keywords. Ensure you are using synonyms, antonyms, phrases and stories in your on-page content.
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The ecommerce product pages on your website should contain all the necessary information for your shoppers to become your customers. Whether they need only the basic details, or if they need exact dimensions, photos from every angle and precise cleaning instructions, ensure their needs are being met by your website. Otherwise, they may be tempted to act on the cardinal sin— shopping from your competitors (gasp!).
There’s many other factors to optimising a product page, such as utilising structured data correctly, marking up specs & descriptions and employing correct CRO techniques, all of which are best done by the exports. As a premium partner of Shopline, Megantic is the recommended SEO partner for eCommerce. Contact Megantic for more information on their ecommerce SEO services.
Megantic is a leading Organic Search (SEO) specialist agency based in Australia, dedicated to eCommerce. A multiple award-winning global agency, Megantic has created a unique strategy for online retailers that enables them to target educated customers that are traditionally ignored by most SEO campaigns, to substantially grow their online revenue. With offices in the UK, Macedonia, Canada and a flagship office in Australia, Megantic works with many of Australia’s top brands, including The Good Guys, Forty Winks, Aquila and Cargo Crew. Find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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