Competitive SEO

Competitive SEO

by | Aug 19, 2020 | Content Strategy, Ecommerce, Featured, Featured Home, SEO Behavior & Demographics, SEO Strategy

Competitive SEO

SEO is not a checklist. Despite what some might believe, ranking on page-one is not as simple as doing X and then getting Y. Search engine optimization is about offering the best results for a given search query. And that word “best” makes SEO a competitive sport.

Search optimization strategies typically follow the journey that begins with being seen and continues into the effort of being understood before ultimately making the case that the site should be preferred.

Be Seen

Typically referred to as “technical SEO” this is the art of making sure that your website can be easily consumed by search engines. This is often about code and security and architecture. All of this is critical, but unfortunately some sites get stuck at this stage and fail to progress beyond this phase. The number of potential optimization issues can feel overwhelming. Software scans can produce thousands of optimization opportunities. Most sites will want to determine when the visibility is “good enough” before moving to the next phases of the process.

Be Understood

It’s one thing to put your site out there and it’s another thing for the search engines to understand what the site is all about. Some sites present an image of great breadth while others are narrow and specialized. Sites should think about what they look like to a search engine relative to competitive sites.

As a general rule of thumb, sites that have less organic strength are probably better off focusing, while sites with the most organic strength are probably better off expanding that strength. For sites with a “focus” strategy, the key is to make sure that every page on the site contributes to a consistent story that is aimed at a specific type of searcher.

The best way to evaluate search engine perceptions is to see which pages (ignoring the home page) drive the most traffic to the site. If this is where the traffic is going, this collection of best performing pages likely represents what the search engines think is most relevant on your site.

Be Preferred

Once a site is both seen and understood, the next goal is drive more success by being a preferred source. What does it take to get to page-one of a search engine results page?

Getting to page-one is really hard. A keyword phrase like “ice cream” generates over 2.5 billion clickable options, but the page-one sites typically get over 90% of the clicks. Getting to page-one probably means displacing an existing link and that’s. Competitive SEO is the art of taking precise aim at unseating specific competitors for any given search.

SEO Competitive Content

Google has been clear that getting to page-one is about providing the best result for any given search query. Think of competitive SEO as competitive content and develop strategies for delivering better content than the competition. Getting to page-one starts with understanding which sites are on page-one today.

Sites like Google rely on a large array of indicators to determine how authoritative a site might be. It’s clear that not all good content is equal and that the stronger sites have a built-in advantage. But Google and other search engines are smart enough to realize that its opinion is not nearly as important as the opinion of searchers. Create exceptional content that searchers will eagerly consume and Google will increasingly reward the site with a higher ranking. It may not happen overnight, but it’s clear that competitive content wins in the end.

Building a Competitive Analysis

The first step toward building a competitive content strategy is to conduct a competitive analysis. There are two types of competitive analyses that can help guide a competitive search optimization strategy.

Competitive Site Analysis

Pick a handful of sites that are most similar. Picking large broad sites like Amazon or Walmart, for example, may not be as useful as picking sites that are similar in strength and product breadth. Using SEO research tools start to build a profile of the competition’s strengths and weaknesses. Your analysis should try to understand today’s success and the trajectory of the competitors. Is their SEO footprint growing? Is their strategy helping them gain or causing them to fall behind? This is also an opportunity to establish some site benchmarks to strive for.

Keyword Competitive Analysis

Collect a bundle of aspirational keywords that are representative of the site and then look to see what it takes, on average, to win. What does it take to come in number 10? How competitive is the site’s content when compared to the sites on page-one today? Which site would you want to best? How much content is required to displace one of these sites?

Most competitive analyses conclude that the single best competitive SEO strategy is to increase the overall content depth (word count) in order to deliver a more complete answer appropriate for more search queries.

Conclusions

Getting to page-one of a search result, whether as part of a paid search campaign or an organic strategy, requires having better content for any given search query than the other options. Building a plan to deliver page-one search results requires understanding and monitoring the content strategy of those sites that rank on page-one today. Generally speaking, displacing competitive sites requires building better content. A competitive analysis will help establish what “better” really means.

About the Author

Greg Harris is the Vice President of Strategy at eZdia.com. eZdia helps eCommerce sites design and scale their content strategies. eZdia offers both a site-level competitive analysis and a keyword competitive analysis for free to qualified eCommerce sites.

Google Announces Free Product Listings on Google Shopping

Google Announces Free Product Listings on Google Shopping

by | May 12, 2020 | Content Strategy, Ecommerce, Featured, Featured Home, SEO Behavior & Demographics, SEO Strategy

How to create a Google Shopping feed

Google Shopping is quickly becoming the single largest repository of product information. In May of 2020 Google started accepting organic listings for the first time in 8 years creating a significant new organic landscape for eCommerce sites. 

This document outlines the steps to take in order to create a Google Shopping feed. At the end of the day the organic winners will be those sites that invest in original content that engages and converts the reader but the first step is to make sure that Google has full visibility to your product catalog.

Here’s the information you’ll want to add to your feed:

  • ID: A unique alphanumeric ID number for every product you sell.
  • Title: This may be the single most important element on the page in terms and should include the most important keywords.
  • Description: Google will accept up to 5,000 characters in the description and again it’s important to integrate the appropriate keywords that will match your customers’ search queries.
  • Link: A link to the product URL on the site.
  • Image link: Google wants the link so that it can easily display your photo within the search results. Use the primary image.
  • Price: It’s important that you deliver the feed frequently and that the price on your feed matches the price on your site. Assume that Google is checking.
  • Brand: This is the brand name of the product and it helps Google match search intent to the product.
  • GTIN: If available, include the Global Trade Item Number. This helps Google to group sellers of the same product. Google can help you find your item’s GTIN if you’re unsure.
  • Shipping Weight, Length, Width & Height: Google Shopping tries to estimate the total cost of shipping. Values like weight, and shipping dimensions are designed to work alongside your shipping settings inside of Google Merchant Center.
  • Sales Tax: This is required in the US only if needed to override the account tax settings for an individual item. Use Google Merchant Center to settings to maintain your overall sales tax information.

Is my site eligible for Google Shopping?

Yes! All retailers can opt-in to show their products across Google Shopping for free once the product feed is submitted to the Google Merchant Center. Keep in mind that Google does restrict listings for illegal, regulated, or sensitive products.

How do I get to page one of Google Shopping?

The feed is critical and serves as Google’s starting point, but frankly that’s just a ticket to the game. In order to get to page one, you’ll have to compete for the best and most relevant product listings against all the other providers with products relevant to the search. Here’s a list of things to consider.

  1. Perfect your product title: The product title may be the most important page element and is weighed heavily in Google’s ranking algorithm. Be sure to optimize the title around the keyword phrases your customers will use to search for the product. You may need to try a few different titles if you aren’t getting to page one.

  1. Test different images: An image can really help your product stick out on a busy SERP, so pay attention to your product photography and understand how to stand out relative to other photos on the SERP. 

  1. Provide as much product detail as possible: While the most important keywords should be in your title, the description is an opportunity to connect with a broader range of search queries. Include as many relevant feed attributes as you can , such as your product category, product type, color, condition, size, and color!

  1. Product Schema: Schema on your website allows search engines to better understand your page. You’ll need to include the required attributes like price, and you can also add reviews to this schema to show the average rating. This can help entice clicks.

Must Have Schema Elements

We have seen in the competitive analysis that most of the eCommerce stores are not using rich snippets effectively. Rich snippets are missing or major product elements are not included in most of the product pages.

The most important details related to a product (which can grab the customer attention) are as following:

product name

eCommerce stores should consider implementing all important Schema Markups to all the product pages.

5. Offers: If you offer free shipping, or the product is on sale, include this information in the shopping feed. This will help the products stand out from its competitors.

6. PayPal: Google now has a partnership with PayPal, to quickly help stores with set up and provide users with “high quality results”. If you need a faster, more secure payment method for products, this is definitely worth looking into.

How will organic Google Shopping results impact paid product listing ads (PLA)?

Retailers can and should continue to show their paid ads alongside these new free organic listings. This will allow retailers more flexibility in how they chose to promote their full inventory across Google. Once the products are approved in Google Merchant Center, a retailer can create a Google Shopping campaign within Google Ads and promote specific items across Google, paying only when a searcher arrives at their site.

Current Google Shopping advertisers will continue to show their ads on the Google Shopping tab, primarily towards the top and bottom of the pages. Nonpaid (organic) listings will take the remaining real estate within that tab.

The shopping results from the Google Search results page, partner search engines, Google images, the Google Display Network, Gmail, and YouTube will still only feature paid shopping ads at this time, so advertisers won’t expect to lose much of their shopping ads traffic.

What is the ‘Google Buy Button’ or ‘Purchases on Google’? 

Google has branded the tool as Purchases on Google but many people refer to it as the Google Buy Button. The buy button appears when people do product-related searches on Android phones or tablets. This is how the process unfolds:

 

  1. Google Shopping product listing ads appear on those searches and if one of the advertisers uses Purchases on Google, its ad will have a “Buy on Google” button.
  2. When the user clicks on the Buy on Google button they go to a landing page on Google, i.e. not the retailer’s website.
  3. The user can add the product to a shopping cart.
  4. They then complete the purchase using Google Wallet, all without ever leaving Google.
  5. The retailer then fulfills the order and is responsible for all communications and interactions with the customer in relation to that order.

    At the time of the launch, Google said it had analyzed conversion data and found the conversion rates for its Product Listing Ads were 50 percent lower on mobile than desktop.

    With the Google Buy Button, Google aimed to increase conversion rates on mobile. Google says its buy button simplifies the process of buying online as the purchaser already has an account with Google and a method of payment.

    This is easier than going to a retailer’s website and, potentially, creating a new account and/or entering delivery and payment information.

How to Use Competitive Analysis in Ecommerce SEO Strategy

How to Use Competitive Analysis in Ecommerce SEO Strategy

by | Mar 15, 2020 | Content Strategy, Ecommerce, Featured, Featured Home, SEO Behavior & Demographics, SEO Strategy

Competitive drive is a key component to remain successful in the ecommerce industry. Knowing your biggest competitors and what they’re up to provides business owners with opportunities to take a competitive advantage. Including competitive analysis in your arsenal of ecommerce strategy tools has a positive impact on everything from on-site content to ROI. Evaluating your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses offers a window into areas of your own business that might need improvement.

When doing a competitive analysis, the eCommerce industry has more areas to consider than a basic brick-and-mortar operation. Social media marketing, SEO, product page content, mobile compatibility, and speed are just a few of the areas to include in the analysis. Comparing your own eCommerce business to competitors using unbiased analysis gives you a fresh perspective on site-wide SEO strategy. Use analysis tools like SEMRush™ or Google Search™ to identify your direct competitors, then select the top two or three to analyze.

Direct competitors are brands that provide products or services that are basically the same as yours, and operate in the same geographic region. Some eCommerce businesses add indirect competitors to the analysis. These are competitors who don’t sell similar products, but can fill the need or solve the problem your product does. Since the analysis process can be lengthy, it’s vital to focus most of your analysis on direct competitors. Take a look at the top five ways to use competitive analysis to improve your eCommerce SEO strategy.

1. Overhaul Content

eCommerce competitive analysis narrows in on the content that attracts the most views and UGC for your direct competitors. Use this information to evaluate where your content is lacking, and then update it accordingly. Keep the following areas in mind when performing a competitor analysis for content:

  • Buying guides
  • Blogs
  • Videos
  • eBooks
  • Product descriptions

Compile an accurate comparison by spotlighting competitors’ focus, length, and keywords in content.

Focus

Focus on how you can incorporate some of their topical content into your ecommerce business, and include fresh information and perspectives. What is their primary content focus? Are they constantly updating their blogs or creating buying guides? If you have similar content that is unsuccessful, rework it or start over using insight from the competitor analysis. Creating insightful content that enriches your consumer’s experience increases conversions. You only need to find out what your competitor is doing and do it better.

Length

Using competitor analysis can help you see where you may need to adjust content length based on competitor ranking in SERPs. Research done in 2017 showed that longer blogs ranked higher with search engines, but new information has determined that the length of content should be comparison based. In 2018, a study showed that ecommerce business blogs perform better if they use a similar word count, as compared to blogs on the same topic that ranked first in SERP.

Keywords

Use competitive SEO analysis to find out how your competitor is adding fresh keywords into evergreen short and long-term keywords to improve SERP ranking. How your competitors use keywords impacts their SEO success: evaluate what types of keywords they are using and adjust yours. Are they using LSI keywords? Are their keywords evergreen, or fresh (trending)? Fresh keywords are an excellent short-term source of conversions, but evergreen keywords are more relevant for consistent conversions. Pay attention to all forms of content including image meta-tags and titles. To get a complete view of your SEO content versus your competitors, don’t forget titles, metadata, tags, and content relevance.

2. Increase Conversions

Ecommerce SEO competitor analysis can increase your conversions because innovation is a large part of maintaining customer satisfaction. Gaining an increase in customer satisfaction provides you with a competitive advantage. Analyze growth patterns and current ROI to find opportunities to convert consumers to your brand by using innovative strategies that increase ratings and positive UGC. Evaluate your competitors’ marketing goals and predictions, as well as their past and present strategies that have been successful. Your closest competitors can give you insight into different SEO strategies that can increase your ranking in SERP, and lead to more conversions. Chances are, if they are optimizing for voice or image search and getting good results, your ecommerce business would be safe optimizing for those areas, too.

seo_competitve_analysis_ezdia.jpg

3. Strengthen Marketing Strategy

Ecommerce SEO strategy needs to include social media marketing: 25.6 percent of referral traffic came from social media advertising (SMA) in 2017. While Google Search is still king, social media continues to keep pace, and with voice and image search not far behind, text search will have stiff competition. Use competitive analysis to determine the type, frequency, and cost of your competitors’ SMA campaigns. Figure out what types of SMA worked for your direct competitors, and which ones fell short. Brainstorm how your ecommerce business can expand on competitor methods and find opportunities to surpass their successes. Competitive analysis allows your ecommerce business to locate opportunities for the right social media strategy, based on real-time marketing data. It can also determine where current SMA strategy fell-short. Pay special attention to competitor social media data like:

  • Fans, followers, and subscriptions
  • Sharing patterns
  • Frequency and consistency of posts
  • Customer engagement
  • Photos and videos
  • Advertisements and videos

In your competitor analysis, include the advertising methods that did and didn’t work for the competition to give yourself a jump-off point for additions or changes.

4. Maximize Overall Site Speed

Another key benefit of using competitor analysis is the ability to compare your current load speed with your competitors. Run all URLs through analysis to help you zero in on areas that can be improved to increase load speed. Include the following in your ecommerce SEO competitor analysis:

  • Images: What format are they using? How did they optimize images for search engines and mobile devices? What size are their image files compared to yours? Are their image titles more effective?
  • Links: How do they use internal and external links? Do they allow social media linking? How are their links displayed (buttons, images, direct links)? Are their external links more trustworthy or relevant than yours?
  • URLs: Does your competitor include keywords in product URLs? Have they optimized URLs for SEO? What type of formatting do they use?

5. Rank Higher in SERP

Ecommerce SEO competitor analysis used effectively leads to higher SERP rankings. When you analyze your competitor’s content, speed, and marketing strategy you break down their SEO structure. Find out how your competitor uses keywords to drive search engine results, and decide what you can do to improve on their existing methods. Competitive analysis allows you to see how they are redirecting broken or missing links, improving loading times, and using cross browser compatibility. Consider researching the following in your ecommerce SERP competitive analysis:

  • Ease of use: Sites that are user-friendly rank higher because they provide a positive customer experience
  • Layout: Site layout is important to SERP rankings – the easier a sight is for the search engine algorithm to navigate matters
  • Platform: Technology used to create a site is just as important as SEO content to search engines
  • XML Sitemap: Sitemaps provide efficient and quick indexing for search engines
  • Snippets: They appear at the top of SERP, usually with an image, link, and description

Don’t forget to double check UGC at all stages of analysis. See what aspects of products or services their consumers are satisfied with, and what needs work. Satisfied consumers create more leads, visits, conversions, and SERP rankings.

Let us know how competitor analysis has helped your ecommerce business, and what steps had the biggest impact on conversions. If you need guidance fixing under-performing areas of your site, we can help. At eZdia we analyze content, customer experiences, traffic, and conversions, and identify problems that can negatively impact your ecommerce business. We can also help by developing rich content like strategy guides and blogs that engage and entertain your consumers.

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Top 5 Product Page KPI’s every E-commerce Seller Should Follow

Top 5 Product Page KPI’s every E-commerce Seller Should Follow

by | Feb 5, 2020 | Ecommerce, Marketplaces

Brand managers are painfully aware of how important KPIs for e-commerce businesses are. You’re likely collecting dozens of different measurements and monitoring them carefully from day to day and month to month. How you track those KPI for product pages has a huge impact on revenue. That’s hardly a revelation for anyone involved in e-commerce.

Brand marketing is a science, a perfect blend of measuring the right analytics and interpreting them accurately. While that may sound obvious, we find in our business that many managers aren’t reading or tracking their KPIs correctly. Measuring experience is a practiced science. Here are some practices to make sure that the KPI for e-commerce business metrics you’re tracking will work better for you.

Your Top KPIs for E-Commerce Business Success

 1. Page Load Speeds

According to a 2015 report from digital SEO marketing firm Wolfgang Digital, fast load time leads directly to high conversion rates. It also has a direct and correlative impact on Google search results. Per their data, an additional delay of one second reduces conversion rates by 7 percent. So pay close attention to your product page load speeds, especially for items that aren’t hitting your forecast ROI numbers.

2. Desktop VS. Mobile

While there is quite a lot of hype around the traffic generated by mobile, the conversion numbers still aren’t quite there. Adobe analyzes 80 percent of all retail traffic from the top 100 retailers in the U.S. every year. Their data is vast, encompassing 290 plus billion visits. Because of the company’s massive infrastructure, $7.50 of every $10 spent with the top 500 retailers goes through its marketing cloud. When it comes to mobile, 26 percent of carts on desktops turn into orders compared to only 16 percent on smartphones. However, smartphone traffic is increasing, according to that same report. So, bottom line: balance your focus on mobile platforms vs. desktop accordingly. Read the full report here.

3. Product Page Visits

Measuring the best KPIs for product pages starts with a ranking of your most viewed to least viewed. This is maybe the single most important metric to track for your product pages. What if, for example, the most viewed pages are not generating the most revenue? What is the average ROI for the pages that you spend the most resources promoting? Generate a dynamic report for your product page visits so you can watch trends, especially during big buying seasons.

4. Returning Visitors

The 80/20 rule applies to almost every aspect of a business. For retailers determining how to leverage important KPIs for e-commerce, assume that 20 percent of your loyal customers will generate 80 percent of your revenue. How many of your overall page views are from returning customers? What do those returning customers do on the site? How does that relate to your sales forecasts? Just like restaurants get the most reliable business from their regulars, so do e-commerce sites.

5. Cart Abandonment Rate

If there’s one KPI for e-commerce businesses that needs its own weekly report, it’s how many customers purchase items that they place in their carts. The Baymard Institute went through the effort of collecting abandonment rate statistics from 37 different sources. In 2013, Comscore cited that 67 percent of shoppers abandon their carts. In 2017, Adobe listed the number at 75 percent. Your homework knows the average in your industry and constantly dive into those numbers so you know how your business compares.

Delving into KPIs for e-commerce is as time-consuming as it is crucial. Tracking the right metrics is akin to a doctor washing his or her hands before surgery: it’s good business hygiene. Of course, it’s not easy, and most teams need third party support to do it right. Let us know how we can help.

Important Factors Influencing Purchase in E-commerce

Important Factors Influencing Purchase in E-commerce

by | Dec 27, 2019 | Ecommerce, Marketplaces

In e-commerce, there are certain factors from the customer’s point of view which influence their purchasing decision. Here’s a look at those concerns that leverage customer buying behavior:

1. Good Product Quality

One of the most important factors influencing consumer buying behavior is the quality of the product and the quality of information about that product. These have a significant impact on the visitors to your website and turn them into potential buyers. Your products must reflect different geographic and regional flavors, speak loud the cultural ethos and fit the trend of the season. Product descriptions, specifications, catalogues and images all influence the customer buying decision process. A convincing and well-crafted representation of the products is sure to fetch better results.

2. Free Shipping Experience

Free Shipping is the second most principal factor in influencing an e-commerce consumer’s purchase decision. Free shipping is an attractive element for frequent online buyers as they save on the cross-border shipping cost to quite an extent.

3. Easy Return Policy

A simple, well-defined return policy is the third most influencing factor in urging customers buy a product. A customer-friendly return policy that’s laid down in clear language is convincing to online consumers. A well-structured return policy in case of faulty goods or mismatched sizes is mandatory for every genre of products, from apparel and household accessories to electronic goods and automobile parts. An easy, no-questions-asked return policy grows a sense of trust among customers for your website or brand.

4. Reviews from Customers

Healthy and positive product reviews from existing customers invite new customers. Appreciating existing customers and positive reviewers with award programs, such as free gifts or discounts on the next purchase, strengthens the bond further. Proactive initiative to resolve the problems of not-so-satisfied customers is also a kind gesture. These loyalty-building gestures encourage a growth in your regular buyer database.

5. Easy Navigation

Most e-commerce websites come with well-defined categories of products. That way, a customer can frame a very good idea of the exact location of the products they are looking for. Incorporating the keywords into the search bar also helps in navigating through the pages and finding the desired products or categories quickly. Accurate keywords create better search results. A well-designed visual sitemap, proper product listing and easy to understand controls like previous/next commands all contribute to simple and easy access, which positively influences customer buying behavior.

6. Hassle-free Checkout

Easy checkout logic is yet another deciding factor. Customers don’t appreciate a complicated checkout procedure. Anticipate their needs and make checkout a simple and logical process. Customers wish to complete the payment within one or two steps through debit/credit cards or net banking. They may need items to be shipped to a different address. They may have discount codes, gift cards or coupons to apply. Once these checkout features are taken care of, customers are more likely to continue with their online shopping.

7. Special Purchase

While shopping online, a customer can opt for several special purchases. Unlike many physical stores, e-commerce services make special categories and special custom sizes available in one destination. Not only this, special deals and special sections also create quite a buzz among customers and convert them into potential buyers.

To have customers coming back for more, e-commerce firms must take care of some factors influencing consumer buying behavior:

  • must make sure that their website is stable and easily accessible
  • must invest in building trust and a strong reputation
  • must focus on maintaining appropriate content volume
  • must focus on security and privacy policies to protect customers
  • must promote their website to increase awareness

In an urge to retain existing customers and draw new customers, e-commerce firms are constantly recognizing and implementing customer-friendly actions. All these efforts are made to influence customer buying behavior and take e-commerce to the next level of prosperity.

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Setting KPIs for Product Pages and Improving Performance

Setting KPIs for Product Pages and Improving Performance

by | Dec 17, 2019 | Ecommerce

Before we start talking about things you can do to improve product pages that drive KPIs, it might be helpful to review a few basic concepts. Let’s start by discussing KPIs — what they are, why they’re so important, and how to set them.

KPIs, key performance indicators, provide businesses with concrete data regarding website user experience, consumer preferences, and customer behavior. They give you hard data you can use to meet specific business goals by letting you know what’s working and what’s not. The right KPIs are a must for both growing and established businesses. Not every company needs to measure the same things. KPIs must be appropriate for your business, marketing, and sales goals.

The first step when it comes to getting started with performance measurement is to determine your goals. Figuring out how to measure KPIs comes towards the end of the process. After you’ve articulated your goals, think about what factors lead to success when it comes to your objectives. Select performance benchmarks with those elements in mind. Finally, make sure the measurement tool you choose fits the information you’re looking to gather. You’ll need web analytics software to gather and parse the data. From Google Analytics to paid tools with tons of features, you’ll find several options to help you get a handle on what’s going on with your e-commerce site. A company with web analytic experience can help you make optimal sense of the findings.

When it comes to eCommerce, product pages dominate sales and marketing strategies. They literally drive and create eCommerce success. To increase sales and overall profit, you’ve got to know how your product pages are working. Product page KPIs provide an efficient way to evaluate if you’re doing the right things to grow your eCommerce business. They give you insight into metrics like how long consumers typically stay on your product pages, organic traffic rates, and what items shoppers frequently purchase together. Other types of key performance indicators include how quickly pages on your site load, number of page visits, and even some measures of brand loyalty. Let’s review a few things you can do with product pages to maximize the chances of hitting your performance goals.

How to Improve Product Pages to Boost Organic Traffic

Let’s say you’ve set a goal of increasing your website’s organic traffic as a way to make more sales. Your research team runs the numbers, and now you have absolute proof that your company needs to do something about its lackluster organic traffic numbers. You decide to make some changes to your eCommerce site to fix the situation.

Using long-tail keywords in product descriptions should be one of the first options you explore. Let’s talk for a minute about the two broad keyword categories: short and long-tail. Short-tail keywords are not terribly specific, and they tend to generate large numbers of queries. Since so many sites have text with these frequently occurring terms, including short-tail keywords typically won’t help you improve your search position that much. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, provide more specificity. If pants is your short-tail keyword, potential long-tail variants might include, blue button-up pants, blue straight leg pants, and blue cargo pants.

Adding long-tail keywords to product pages provides a simple, unobtrusive, and natural way to raise your search visibility. It also has the potential to lift sales. Shoppers tend to search using long-tail keywords when they’re ready to make a purchase. Include long-tail search terms in title tags, meta descriptions and H1 headers to get the most out of this SEO strategy.

Optimize Your Product Pages to Reign in Pesky Bounce Rates

You added a few long-tail keywords to your product pages, and your organic search results started to soar. You decide there might actually be something to this KPI for product pages stuff. You ask around, and your web genius says that you really should look into your site’s bounce rates. Your analytics savant runs the numbers and sends you an email describing the results. Things don’t look so good. It turns out that large numbers of people just go elsewhere after getting to your product pages from search engine results.

People typically bounce in two situations: when the page they end up on doesn’t contain the item they’re really searching for, or when the page itself turns them off for some reason. You ask your web person dig a bit deeper. A few days later, another report appears in your inbox. It turns out that shoppers seem to be getting to the right page from search engine results. But they spend a few seconds there and then leave. Your web analytics master suggests there might be something about your product pages that disappoints or frustrates shoppers.

You see reducing bounces as a promising way to increase sales and resolve to act. Here’s a list of six product page optimizing must-dos that’ll reduce those dreaded bounces.

  • Increase page load speeds
  • Add killer visual content that accurately displays products
  • Get rid of distracting popups and advertisements
  • Create crisp, easy-to-read copy with compelling headers and subheaders
  • Make it simple for customers to initiate a live chat directly from product pages
  • Provide accurate and engaging product descriptions

Make a Few Easy Tweaks to Increase Brand Trust

You optimized your product pages and started working long-tail keywords into your product descriptions and your company’s profits really started to rise. Fewer bounces and high organic search results led to increased sales. Convinced this product page KPI stuff is driving your rising profits, you turn to your web team and ask them if they have a way to provide insight into how much trust customers have in your brand. Your web all stars suggest taking a look at the number of people who come back to make another purchase. The head of your research team sends you an article explaining that repeat customer numbers provide a pretty accurate measure of brand loyalty, which studies suggest grows out of brand trust. Your web department does a bit of investigating. It turns out you’re not getting as many repeat customers as you’d like.

You’d love to increase your customers’ brand loyalty. You paid attention in those marketing classes when professors talked about the link between long-term business sustainability and customer loyalty. Here are five easy-to-implement product page tweaks to get you moving in the right direction.

  • Add customer reviews to your product pages. They help the decision-making process and increase the likelihood that a shopper will follow through and make a purchase.
  • Include an easy-to-interpret product star rating or something similar. It gives shoppers a quick, convenient way to gather information that drives purchasing decisions.
  • Provide useful product descriptions. Put the things most important to your audience front and center in your copy. For bonus points, tailor your descriptions to the interests and needs of your target market.
  • Clean up broken links and create a well-designed 404 page. Nothing says sketchy louder than a site full of broken links, all of which lead to some generic, unprofessional-looking 404 page.
  • Put shipping, return, and warranty information right on the product page. Don’t make your customers search for this sort of crucial information. It’ll do two things: improve brand trust and reduce page bounces.

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