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February 14, 2006 |
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By: Louise Rijk - Bio - Blog |
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| Ecommerce Web Site Product Entry: |
| How to Get High Search Engine Rankings and Increase Conversion Rates - Part I
How product categories and products are named and how product information is written and organized within the product catalog of an ecommerce Web site can greatly affect the ranking of the product pages on the organic listings of the major search engines, the amount of free traffic that is generated from those listings, and the Web site usability. What you say and how you say it matter, and following certain guidelines can mean the difference between success and mediocre results.
Product Category Structure - Make it Easy for Your Customers to Find What They Want
The way in which products are entered and organized within a Web site product catalog directly affects the navigation scheme, which ultimately determines how easy it is for potential customers to find what they are looking for if they "browse" through the Web site.
In a typical ecommerce Web site, products are organized in top-level product categories and then sub-categories within the top-level categories. To determine how these product categories and sub-categories should be organized, look at your entire product offering for natural product groupings. Although it may take more than one look to determine the final product grouping, it's worth the time investment. A logical, user-friendly product structure ensures that your visitors will be able to find what they want quickly and easily. If the product listing lacks structure, then you visitor will become discouraged and leave your site for a competitor.
Creating Search Engine-Friendly Product Category and Sub-Category Names
To facilitate organic search engine optimization (SEO), it is beneficial to use the high-volume, multi-keyword search phrases closely related to product groups for the naming of the product categories and sub-categories. It is important to use these keywords naturally and not force them in the directory structure where they may not fit. Again, your products should be organized with your visitor in mind. Your visitor isn't concerned with high traffic keywords; just appropriate ones. It is also important to choose one category naming convention throughout the entire product catalog for consistency.
Example: Bottle and Packaging Web Site
A bottle and packaging web site carries a large inventory of bottles, jars and vials. Each product comes in a large variety of shapes, colors and materials. The main categories within the product line and the most popular keywords for these product types are glass bottles, plastic bottles, glass jars, and plastic jars. An example of an effective and logical category and sub-category naming scheme, that addresses both, search engine optimization and the site navigation objectives, is listed below:
Glass bottles
- Cylinder
- Oval
- Boston round
- Square wide
Plastic bottles
- Cylinder
- PVC
- Oval
- Boston round
- Square wide
The navigation path "glass bottle > oval" leads a visitor through the site to the detailed product page of the oval glass bottle. From this previous navigation path and keyword combination the web site logic dynamically generates the sub-category name "Oval glass bottle". Plastic cylinder type bottles come in a variety of plastics, e.g. PVC, HDPE, LDPE, and PET. In this case the path to the detailed product page is "glass bottle > oval > PVC" and the web site logic generates the sub-category name "PVC plastic cylinder bottle".
Category and Product Entry Sequence
Since most site visitors expect the best offers to be listed first on the page, the order in which sub-category and product entries are entered in the category pages is important. In order to capture and maintain visitors' interest, put your best offers at the top of the page.
Writing Product Titles
Product titles are the equivalent of the product names as they are listed in the manufacturers printed or electronic catalogs. Because people often use the manufacturer's product name from the printed catalog when searching for a product online, the original manufacturer product name and model number should be included in the product titles. For instance if the manufacturer product name is Sony Cyber-Shot DSL-T7, be sure to use the model number as part of the product title.
Adding Keywords and Keyword Phrase Variations
You should also consider adding search keyword phrases to your product titles where it appears natural. The product mentioned above is a digital camera ("digital camera" is a very popular keyword phrase), so you could change your product title from - "Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T7" to either: "Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T7 Digital Camera," "Sony Cyber-Shot Digital Camera - DSC-T7," or "Sony Digital Camera - Cyber-Shot DSC-T7."
Writing Your Own Product Names/Titles
If you do decide to modify the product names from the manufacturer or if there is no set manufacturer product name, try to write short, yet descriptive product titles. You should also follow a particular naming convention consistently, so as not to confuse visitors.
Writing Product Descriptions That Sell
Well-written product descriptions serve two purposes. First and foremost, a compelling product description persuades customers to buy a product, and secondarily, it can garner high rankings on the search results pages of the major search engines. When you are writing descriptions for your products, it is important to keep in mind that customers are at a "sensory disadvantage" when they are shopping online since they can only use their sense of sight to evaluate a product. To compensate for this disadvantage, e-commerce Web sites must have compelling product description tailored towards the target audience and excellent product photography, perhaps with multiple views. It's important to bring the product to life on your Web site.
A well-written product description creates a tangible image in the customer's mind of how a product looks, feels, smells, tastes (whatever senses would be important for the user to select the item) and also explains the virtues and benefits of using or owning the product. This description, paired with the customer's imagination, can be far more powerful than the product image alone since it will evoke a feeling and energy about the product that convinces the customer whether or not to click the "buy" or "add to cart" button.
Tailoring Product Descriptions to Your Target Audience
It may be tempting to use the product descriptions supplied by the manufacturer, but these descriptions may use technical language that your average customer might not understand. After all, if these descriptions come out of a vendor catalog, they were probably not written with your customers in mind.
Knowing your target audience helps you determine what tone to use, what style to apply, and whether to be sober, serious, informal or over-the-top. Whatever tone/style you choose, it is important to be consistent with the rest of your site. Make sure that all of the content on your site (product page, informational page, home page, etc.) sounds like it is addressing the same audience. You should also consider extending this writing style to any collateral you use to communicate with potential customers (email, print ads, etc.).
Using Keyword Phrases in Your Descriptions
To maximize the effectiveness of your product descriptions, it is wise to use your product keywords in varying permutations throughout the text you write. It isn't necessary to use keyword phrases repetitively, but it is a good idea to get in the habit of using them where they might appear naturally, preferably in the first two sentences of the description. Doing this will not only help make your site's internal search mechanism function better, but it will also help the organic search engine optimization effort on your site as well.
How your products are arranged and described on your Web site can have a huge impact on Web site conversion rate, search engine results page ranking, and ease of navigation. Objectively evaluating your product organization and spending time writing search engine and customer-friendly product descriptions will help you achieve online success. Next month, we'll give you a writing template you can use when writing your own product titles and descriptions, as well as pointers for writing long and short product descriptions.
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