Skip to main content

PRODUCT PAGE OPTIMISATION: HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS

Product-Optimisation

Understand It, Plan It, Implement It and Measure It

What is Product Page Optimisation?

By Callum Corrigan, Technical Account Executive

Product optimisation is an exercise that can often be over shadowed during a site’s SEO life. In this blog post we will look at the benefits of conducting an in-depth product page optimisation audit and the implications this may have on the four basic KPIs of an SEO campaign:

  • Rankings
  • Traffic
  • Revenue
  • Goals

To start with, we need to understand the slight difference between a category page led optimisation strategy and a product page orientated strategy.

As with most things in life everyone’s opinions and views vary, in the world of SEO, this is no different. Each ‘SEO’er’ will have a slightly different approach to optimisation; the following is more of a ‘guide’ and in-line with the latest Google trends from various Google supported forums/literature and Google Hangouts posts followed and written by our Technical team.

Difference between Category Page Optimisation and Product Page Optimisation

Category Page Optimisation – Category pages are generally more focused toward driving as much relevant traffic to the page as possible. It will often target a set group of phrases but include multiple variations, this will be seen throughout the Meta data and content which will also tend to be more top line focused. The end goal is to essentially capture as much of the relevant market as possible and then entice these visitors into drilling down into product/ service level offerings and convert.

Product Page Optimisation – This varies from the above in the type of user we are targeting in relation to their current sales funnel stage. With product page optimisation, we want to get into the thinking of an individual who is searching to purchase, they have made their decision on which product/ service they require and are now looking to convert.

Salesfunnel Image mailmunch.co

 

The Planning Process

Now we know the difference between product and category page optimisation, as well as their targeted audience, how can we translate this into an SEO audit and finally implementation?

The further down the sales funnel a user is, the more direct they will be in searching as well as the more active they will be in using specific long tail keywords.

We can translate the above into 3 core actions to implement across all product pages:

  • Keyword Research: Unlike category led KW research, the more specific and relevant the keywords are the higher the chances are of becoming visible to a user who is ready to convert. It is often expected to find that the final keyword list will be of much lower search volume than a category page KW list, this is not something to worry about as the focus is on quality (conversions) of visits not so much quantity.
  • Meta Data: This needs to reflect exactly what the product/ service is. It is also worth looking at the possibility to add keywords a user may include on a product search that is relevant to your company/ brand values.

For example, a company selling tickets for London based attractions that competes on price may look to include the words ‘cheap’, ‘discount’ and ‘offers’ in product page Meta data as the end user will know what tickets they require but will now most likely want the cheapest available.

  • Content: This will reflect the current structure seen above with key longtail phrases being added. Using the attractions company as an example the content will want to focus on incorporating discount associated keywords to further strengthen its ranking signal. In terms of content quality, it is often very specific about what is being offered and will also include any USPs or key characteristics relevant to a customer.

 

Implementation

Now that we have identified the relevant list of phrases to target, we can look to implement the above into the SEO strategy across the product pages of your site. This can also be translated into a ‘rule’ where by a generic formula is used with just the individual phrases being changed.

There is one last ‘trick up the sleeve’ you can implement to make your product pages further stand out in the SERP’s crowd. Rich Snippets are a great way of adding additional value to your product page listings that are seen before a user clicks through to the site.

Measuring The Results

All the above were recently implemented on one of WMG’s client sites, the main KPI for the client being to increase revenue in targeted areas. With this product based optimisation strategy, the focus was not to generate enormous amounts of additional traffic but to attract a higher converting audience thus growing organic revenue. The final part of this campaign was to work with our internal LPO team ensuring that the site was as optimised as possible to further encourage conversions and revenue growth.

A few examples of the results from the above product led strategy can be seen below. This involved optimising all product level pages within the targeted segments in May-17 (May-16 Vs. May-17 Comparison):

Summary

This post has hopefully shone some light on multiple ways to plan and action product optimisation that can reap noticeable results from a conversion/ revenue basis.

At first it may seem like an extremely daunting task, especially to sites offering many products and services. By sticking to a defined plan, it can be implemented efficiently but also effectively.

The easiest way to view product page optimisation is to follow the 3 Pillars of SEO but changing each focus to target a user who is ready to convert but just needs that final reason to. It is a way of attracting the right visitor but also ensuring you stand out in the SERPs, or effectively ensuring your shop front display products stand out amongst your competitors.

The next time you are on your site, check a few product pages and ask yourself if you would search the phrase(s) that page is targeting. If not, then consider what has been discussed in this blog post and see what tangible impact you can make with product page optimisation.

If you are looking for an integrated SEO strategy, contact us today!