Just about every online store owner knows that ecommerce SEO content plays a vital role in ranking and growth. With that said, many are not sure how to use ecommerce marketing content in a way that delivers results. Although content in itself is important to help your store get found, simply adding content to your primary, category, and product pages is not going to much good if the content is not optimised or planned.
Good ecommerce SEO content is written in a way that not only helps your store get more traffic; it also helps to increase conversion once visitors land on your site. Unlike traditional stores, which give customers the chance to see and feel products physically, online stores need to rely on visuals and descriptions to make an informed purchase decision. Generic, uninspiring, dull or overly technical descriptions do not have the same impact as descriptions that give customers a deeper sense of products. When content is carefully planned, you have the chance to entice visitors with descriptive product pages that work alongside images and even video. The goal here is to make customers want to buy.
Why is content so important for ranking and conversion, and how can you improve your current ecommerce SEO content to be more effective? This guide takes a closer look at ecommerce SEO content to share some in-depth tips on how you can optimise your content for better results.
The Importance of Ecommerce SEO Content
Every single page on your store website plays an important role in the purchasing decision. From the moment a prospective customer arrives on your site, they are forming an impression of your store, your products, your brand, and your overall tone. A homepage that ‘speaks’ to customers and makes them interested in clicking through to your categories and product pages would do far better than a homepage that is all image and sales and distracting banners with no content or glimpse into what you are offering.
Likewise, when that customer clicks through to your category pages, they can either view a short description of what each category offers or they can view a menu that does not give any sort of introduction at all. If they click through to products, they could either be greeted with manufacturer descriptions (that are almost always generic and duplicate) or they could view a short paragraph that uses vivid imagery and descriptive language to give them an idea of what the product offers and what need it solves. Which do you think has the best chance of conversion?
From an SEO point of view, content is even more important. This is what gets visitors to your store in the first place. Metadata, product content, category page content, and every other page all help the boost SEO ratings. You could optimise your website with the most targeted keywords, but without content that uses these keywords, you will struggle to see any difference in traffic.
Now that you have a better understanding of why ecommerce SEO content is so important, let’s take a look at how you can improve your content organically.
Getting More From Your Ecommerce SEO Content
Whether you are planning a brand new store, aiming to improve your current ecommerce SEO content or knowing how to price your seo services, here are some of the ways that you can get more from your content.
1. Avoid generic manufacturer descriptions
According to SEO Australia, one of the biggest and most common mistakes made is using generic manufacturer descriptions. This is especially common in larger stores. The problem with this is that a huge number of stores all use the same description, which creates a major duplicate content risk. When descriptions are generic and duplicate, it becomes almost impossible to rank. Worse, you stand a very high chance of being penalised by search engines, which further risks your rankings.
2. Create brand new content for every product
The simplest and most effective way to get around this mistake is to create brand new content for your product pages. That does not mean duplicating your own content, however. Another quick fix that many larger stores end up taking is to use the same content for similar products. For example, you may have separate product pages for items of a different size or colour that are only different in one way rather than being different products entirely. This creates the same issue as using generic descriptions from the manufacturer website. You will lose ranking and risk penalisation. Although it can be a headache writing endless similar descriptions in a new way, it is worth it for the chance to rank individually for similar products/
3. Keep content short and to the point
Longform content is great for certain pages and blog posts. Shorter, to the point content is best for product pages. Rather than spending a great deal of time trying to create extra-long descriptions, aim to keep descriptions simple and focused. A few paragraphs that are carefully optimised, well-written, unique, and focused on your primary USP or the problem that your product solves will do far better in search than a long, rambling page that tries to fit in as many keywords as possible.
4. Include keyword variations and longtail keywords
On that note, make sure that you have a solid keyword strategy in place. Using variations on brand, product type, and audience along with intent-driven words such as buy, shop, and order will help you get the best results. For instance, if you have an online sportswear store, and you are writing descriptions for your top-selling running shoes, you could include keywords such as [brand] shoes online, shop [brand] shoes online, and buy [brand] footwear online. You could also add in long-tail keywords with a lower search volume but a higher focus, such as buy [brand] sports shoes online in cape town, for example. Just be sure to use keywords naturally so that you don’t lose the flow of your content. Sounding forced or keyword-stuffed won’t help your rankings or conversion.
5. Add links carefully, only where necessary
Finally, be very careful about adding links. Adding one or two links sparingly is fine – only if they can be used naturally. Too many links can end up doing more harm than good, especially if you also have a large number of keywords. In longer pages, you can get away with a few more links. In short product pages, focus only on one or two links and only if you absolutely have to add links. A proper navigation menu will remove the need for links back to category pages. You could choose to link to brand pages or similar products (although the latter can be done more effectively with a ‘view similar items’ feature).
Investing in Ecommerce SEO Content
When you stop and make time to evaluate your current ecommerce SEO content, or, better yet, invest in an audit that identifies potential areas for improvement, you will soon start to notice the difference. Investing in content is every bit as important as investing in SEO in itself. Treating it as something you can think about someday rather than now is the fastest way to stop your growth online. Content plays a vital role within ranking and, as such, your ecommerce SEO content should never be treated as an after-thought.
