eCommerce has evolved into a highly competitive industry. The need to combine website functionality and proven SEO strategies to stay on top of search engine results is at an all-time high. Product pages make up the main bulk of any eCommerce website. Optimizing product pages to provide a better user experience will also increase the sites search ranking for products that potential customers want to buy. Here are four simple ways to improve product pages for shoppers and search engines.
Build Unique Product Page Content
Each product page should have detailed descriptions of the product, but you have to make sure each page contains unique content. Avoid using product description templates or default descriptions from manufacturers. Google may see these as duplicate content if your competitors or the manufacturers themselves may have already used these on their websites. This is also true within your own website avoid using the same description on multiple pages. Write your own descriptions or add user-generated content like comments and reviews to product pages to make them unique.
Optimize Product Images
Many people search for products directly on Google Images, which makes it important to optimize image usage. When uploading product photos and structuring your product page templates, make sure to do the following:
● Use good quality photos. Most online shoppers are attracted to clear, sharp product photos, and Google is more likely to display them in search results. The criteria for choosing product photos should include quality, format, and overall appeal.
● Create good ALT text. Add ALT text to images using the image alt attribute (e.g. <img src=”running-shoes.jpg” alt=”White running shoes for men”>). ALT text tells users and search engines what your images are about. Make sure product images have descriptive ALT text, but a word of caution, do not stuff your keywords into the tags.
● Use informative file names. Use file names that accurately describe what’s in the image. For example, “blue-suede-shoes.jpg” is a lot more informative than “product00192.jpg”. Descriptive file names also tell search engines what your images are about, and will increase the chances of them showing up in related search results.
Add Social Sharing Buttons
Including social sharing buttons on product pages can have a significant impact on sales and conversions. According to a study conducted by Sociable Labs, 63% of online shoppers read what their friends share about products on social media. 75% of those shoppers click through to the store’s page, and 53% of them buy the shared product. Don’t limit your social sharing to Facebook and Twitter. Creating business accounts on content curation sites like Pinterest and integrating their sharing buttons on your pages can also generate more interest and exposure for your products. Online stores and eCommerce sites like Sephora and Etsy have successfully used Pinterest to increase brand exposure, improve consumer interaction, and monitor popular trends and customer preferences.
Use Schema Markups to Create Rich Snippets
Every link listed in a search results page has descriptive text beneath it called a snippet. When you search for products or product reviews on search engines, you may notice that some of these snippets display information such as ratings, product category, and offer details. These are called rich snippets, and you can generate them by adding schema markups to your webpages. These are HTML tags that identify important pieces of information that should be included in snippets. These were developed by Google, Yahoo, and Bing in a joint effort to create a uniform code for search optimization
