SEO for Product Category Pages in 7 Steps

Product category pages target high-volume search queries. Optimizing those pages for organic search rankings can be difficult, as they are usually dynamically generated based on available inventory.

Here’s how to improve the organic rankings of your ecommerce site’s category pages.

SEO for Category Pages

1. Start with titles and meta descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions are the basis of content optimization. Title tags are the most influential on-page element of a page’s keyword theme. Meta descriptions are not a ranking signal but can influence search-result click-throughs when Google uses them in listing snippets.

Title tags and meta descriptions are located in HTML code. Most content management systems provide access to both.

• Keep both concise, descriptive, and helpful.
• Include the primary keywords.
• Don’t stuff keywords, as it sends a negative signal to Google.

2. Make headings relevant and informative

Next, start at the top of the visible page and optimize the heading tags — H1, H2, and so on — to help search engines understand the context of the content in a particular section.

Google uses the H1 heading to create a page’s organic search snippet. H2 and H3 subheadings emphasize supporting themes such as relevant product subcategories or filters.

3. Include product details

The purpose of category pages is not just to attract traffic but to engage visitors into buying products. Listing products on a page is not enough. Provide sufficient details on each listed product to help visitors decide and to aid search engines in understanding its purpose.

Essential product details on a category page typically include:

• Price.
• Average ratings.
• Available colors.
• Specifications such as size and material.

4. Provide useful text

Text on a category page should be helpful to people, not just search engines. It doesn’t need to dominate the page.

Remember that product category pages tend to rank for queries with purchase intent. Thus the text should help those searchers evaluate the products. Think about what shoppers may find helpful.
Depending on the products, useful text could include:

• Relevant FAQs.
• Instructions for using the item.
• A brief description of the products in the category.
• Prices.
• Social proof, such as customers’ reviews.
• Examples of buyers using the products.

5. Link to other internal sections

Product category pages typically reside at the top of an ecommerce site structure. Thus adding links to other internal sections spreads link equity efficiently.

For example, Home Depot links to related categories, searches, and products on each category page.

Home Depot links to related categories, searches, and products on each category page. Click image to enlarge.

6. Emphasize category navigation

Categories help shoppers find products. But the navigation affects the indexing, authority, and relevance of each page in organic search. Thus including relevant words will benefit rankings.

Make sure the main category pages are linked from the site’s primary navigation using clear, descriptive anchor text. Don’t stuff keywords in the navigation, however. Keyword-focused navigation links are repetitive and hard to navigate.

Ensure search engines can crawl your faceted navigation before optimizing it. Otherwise, the effort is futile.

7. Use breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs help humans and search engines understand a site’s structure. (The BreadcrumbList Schema.org markup type also helps search engines.) Breadcrumbs spread link equity to main categories and subcategories.

Ikea, for example, has detailed breadcrumb navigation on its product category pages.

Ikea inserts detailed breadcrumb navigation on its product category pages. Click image to enlarge.

Product Page SEO: 5 Content Tactics

Merchants squander search-engine opportunities when they publish bare-bones product detail pages.

The practice of ranking a product page on organic search results is nuanced and detailed. While one could focus on dozens of technical aspects, the content makes a product detail page unique.

Here are five content tactics for better product page rankings.

Questions Answered

Questions on ecommerce product detail pages typically take one of two forms: “frequently asked” or “user-generated.” Both fit well with Google’s experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EEAT) framework and otherwise provide critical long-tail keywords.

The FAQ approach facilitates structured data markup, such as Schema.org, to help search engines understand a page’s purpose. It can also provide product specs and other deep-dive info.

Newegg, for example, deploys user-generated Q&A.

Newegg deploys user-generated questions on its product pages. Click image to enlarge.

Product Reviews

User-generated reviews can also differentiate a product detail page for both search engines and shoppers.

Reviews are similar to questions in that they can (i) employ structured data markup, (ii) encourage trust, and (iii) insert long-tail keywords. Reviews are also eligible for rich snippets on organic listings, which boost click-throughs.

Search optimizer Bruce Clay reported in March 2024 that at least one user-generated reviews campaign had increased search traffic to an ecommerce site by 80%.

Huckberry, the men’s apparel site, places customer reviews on its product pages.

Huckberry includes user-generated reviews on all of its product detail pages. Click image to enlarge.

Guides

A detailed guide on a full-funnel product page can move shoppers through the typical stages of a buying journey: attention, interest, desire, and action.

Apple uses guides on its product pages. For example, a shopper browsing the long MacBook Pro product detail page encounters a section about the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips used in that laptop. Shoppers can “go deeper on M3 chips.”

The guide helps move shoppers along the buying journey while elevating search engine rankings.

Apple uses detailed guides on product detail pages.

Tables

Tabular data can differentiate a product detail page for shoppers and search engines. An easy-to-read, informative table can keep a shopper on the page and discourage bouncing.

Plus, tables with product specs and features provide essential search-engine keywords and facilitate structured data and rich snippets.

Wayfair organizes product specifications into an HTML table. This format is good for both shoppers and search engines. Click image to enlarge.

Descriptions

Product descriptions are last on this list of ideas but first in the ability to impact search rankings.

I’ve written several thousand articles for Practical Ecommerce. One of my favorites is a 2016 post titled “How to ‘Manufacture’ Product Descriptions for Ecommerce,” which walks through the process of creating a soup spoon description, concluding with this:

Hungry for some hearty chicken noodle or creamy clam chowder? This soup spoon has a large bowl to haul bisques and broths to your mouth. In fact, this soup spoon can hold about three times as much soupy goodness as your standard table spoon. You could take three times as many bites or buy this soup spoon and slurp large.

Product descriptions are an excellent opportunity to include keyword phrases in a very natural way.

This Star Trek t-shirt includes a detailed description of the television episode it depicts, adding specific keyword phrases. Click image to enlarge. 

Programmatic SEO for Ecommerce, AI-Driven

Whether they know it or not, many ecommerce marketers are programmatic search engine optimizers. It’s one of the hottest SEO tactics in the artificial intelligence era.

Marketers can use what they already know about optimizing product and category pages to attract new visitors.

Programmatic SEO uses data, algorithms, automation, and AI to create hundreds or even thousands of web pages.

Programmatic SEO

You will not likely find “programmatic SEO” in a dictionary. The process uses algorithms, automation, and sometimes AI to create keyword-specific web pages at scale.

The technique aims to rank pages for a vast number of long-tail keywords, driving traffic and topical authority.

Programmatic SEO (pSEO) saves content in a database and displays it on a website using a template. Thus it’s similar to the way ecommerce websites already work.

An online shop keeps product information —  e.g., item name, description, picture, price — in a database. Each product detail page uses the same layout or template and loads content from that source.

Consider the Dick’s Sporting Goods website. It had 105 Nike men’s running shoes at the time of writing. All are content pages in the pSEO context.

Dick’s Sporting Goods dynamically generates product detail pages, with 105 such pages for Nike men’s running shoes.

Each page shared the same template and targeted a unique long-tail keyword such as “Nike Men’s Pegasus 41 Running Shoes” or “Nike Men’s InfinityRN 4 Running Shoes.”

Every ecommerce platform, content management system, and blogging tool behaves similarly. The pSEO approach applies the concept to content generation and marketing.

Ecommerce pSEO

Imagine a new online store selling shoes. This new shop is unlikely to rank for a stem keyword of “running shoes,” given it would have to compete with retail behemoths like Dick’s Sporting Goods or even manufacturers like Nike.

Instead, the new store might try a content marketing approach to attract folks who might eventually want to buy shoes.

The merchant could do it manually with a series of blog posts or automate it with pSEO.

Keyword Phrase

The first step in the pSEO process is identifying a stem keyword phrase to modify into a long tail. If it focused on trail running, this new shoe seller could choose a phrase such as “national park running trails.”

The phase can be extended with superlatives and locations.

• “best national park running trails in Michigan”
• “longest national park running trails in Ohio”
• “hardest national park running trails in the Pacific Northwest”
• “steepest national park running trails near Calexico, California”

Each long-tail phrase will ultimately morph into content to attract a few site visitors each.

Data Source

A page built on the keyword phrase “steepest national park running trails near Calexico, California” will not generate much traffic. It’s not worth the time to write manually.

But pSEO makes creating content easy for hundreds or even thousands of low-difficulty, low-traffic pages.

The first step is a data source.

For example, the U.S. National Park Service maintains several databases about parks, trails, usage, public notices, and even native animal species.

Databases from the U.S. National Park Service include much info about trails, usage, animals, and more.

Content Generation

Using the National Park Service data, the shoe shop could set up an automated workflow.

This workflow might require a developer or, in many cases, just Zapier or If This Then That connecting data to a generative AI platform. The genAI would parse the data and add content, such as a page title, a short introduction, the park’s address, and a table of National Park facts — not necessarily an entire blog post.

The key for pSEO is that the content is generated automatically and passed to the shop’s website.

Template

The store requires a page template displaying the running trail information consistently, helpful to shoppers. The page might include products such as the top-selling trail running shoes or an email subscription form.

The template is analogous to a product detail page.

A separate category template could help, too. For example, a page targeting “national park running trails in Michigan” could have sections about the longest, steepest, flattest, busiest, and best-running trails in each region of the state — similar to a pillar or hub in a content marketing topic cluster.

Implementing pSEO

The pSEO process is similar to what ecommerce marketers do already: optimize product detail and category pages. What’s new is automating the workflow and organizing the data.

Each pSEO content page will not likely attract many visitors. But combined, all pSEO pages will.

For example, in August 2024 content creator Adam Enfroy published a YouTube video demonstrating how he used this technique to rank for more than 50,000 keyword phrases on Google. Many of the pages Enfroy created received just a few monthly visits but collectively drove a massive increase in traffic.

Content creator Adam Enfroy used pSEO to rank for roughly 50,000 keyword phrases on Google.

13 Essential On-Page SEO Factors You Need To Know via @sejournal, @lorenbaker

On-page SEO is fine-tuning various website components to help search engines crawl, understand, and rank pages for relevant queries.

While off-page factors like backlinks and brand signals are critical, optimizing on-page elements lays the groundwork for maximizing search visibility.

Beyond the content itself, on-page factors signal a page’s relevance and quality. The website architecture, including site speed, mobile-friendliness, and URL structures, impacts on-page SEO.

On-page SEO matters because:

• It helps search engines find and show your pages to users.
• Higher-ranked pages get more clicks and visitors.
• Good rankings boost your brand’s trustworthiness.
• It enables you to create content that meets your audience’s needs.
• It’s the foundation for other SEO efforts like building links.

This guide explores 13 essential on-page SEO elements, from E-E-A-T and keyword semantics to HTML tags and site architecture.

13 Essential On-Page SEO Factors

On-page SEO can be divided into content, HTML, and website architecture. We’ll look at each individually.

Content

You’ve heard it before: Content is king.

SEO without it is like a beautiful new sports car without an engine; it might look nice, but it’s going nowhere. But not all content is created equal.

Here are the content factors you need to consider to maximize your on-site SEO:

1. E-E-A-T

One way Google weights your site is based on E-E-A-T, or experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

As highlighted in Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, E-E-A-T evaluates the first-hand experience, subject matter expertise, authority, and trustworthiness demonstrated by a website and its content creators.

Google added experience as a new component, signaling the increasing value placed on content created by those with relevant credentials and direct, real-world experience with the topic. This is especially critical for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics like health, finance, safety, etc.

While Google has only confirmed a few E-E-A-T elements like PageRank and links, it’s generally accepted that factors like author expertise, topical authority, transparency, and hands-on experience play a significant role in E-E-A-T evaluations.

2. Keywords

Creating content that includes the words and phrases your target customers are searching for is essential.

However, with advancements in AI and natural language processing, you’ll need to think beyond individual keywords.

Optimize for:

• Semantically related phrases and topics (entities): For example, if you offer cloud data storage services, related entities could include backup solutions, disaster recovery, data management, etc.
• Contextual meaning and intent: A search for “cloud migration” could have different intents, such as technical how-to guides, pricing/cost info, migration strategies, etc.
• Providing comprehensive answers: Cover related subtopics to address customer journeys fully.

Use keyword research tools to identify relevant entities and related queries around your main topics.

Get started by downloading our ebook on keyword research.

3. SEO Writing

Creating content that prioritizes search engines and converts human visitors to your site is an art.

Writing copy that reads well and adheres to SEO best practices can be challenging unless you’ve done it before.

We have an entire piece dedicated to helping you master the art, but some of the key takeaways include:

• Emphasize readability: Your content should be easily scannable so users can quickly find the information they want.
• Don’t overuse keywords: Keyword stuffing is a technique used by unscrupulous SEO professionals to game the system. Google looks down on sites that overuse keywords. If caught, your page could be demoted in SERPs or removed altogether.
• Keep sentences and paragraphs brief: If you’ve ever clicked on a webpage only to be assaulted by an unbroken wall of text, you know how hard it is to read lengthy pieces of copy. Avoid driving users away by keeping your sentences and paragraphs short.
• Use subheadings: Subheads stand out because of their size, attracting attention from people scanning your page. Use an ample amount of content to guide readers down the page.
• Use bulleted lists: This may feel very meta, but bulleted lists are an excellent way to break information into easily digestible chunks. Use them whenever they make sense.
• Add personal experience: Where relevant, discuss the author’s experience, background, and hands-on knowledge related to the topic to demonstrate experience credentials.

4. Freshness

For rapidly evolving topics, keeping your content fresh and providing new value as you learn more about your audience’s needs is critical.

Google rewards sites that maintain their content rather than letting it become stale or outdated.

Some tips:

• Update content regularly with new information, insights, or angles.
• Fix inaccuracies or outdated information promptly.
• Expand content to cover newly discovered areas of audience interest.
• Consider content exports or opt-in offers for frequently updated content.

5. Visual Assets

Adding pictures, videos, charts, and other eye-catching visuals makes it more attractive for visitors and improves its appearance in search results.

Optimizing images can also help you to gain more visibility through image search and in the SERP image carousel.

To make your content easy to find in text searches and image-based searches, here are some tips:

• Provide contextual information and relevant details in image captions.
• Implement schema markup for images, videos, products, etc., to enhance search visibility.
• Ensure visual assets are high-quality, original, and relevant to the page content.
• For ecommerce sites, provide multiple clear product images from various angles.

As computer vision models advance, search engines will better understand and surface relevant images and videos.

Optimizing for visual search now can help future-proof your content.

Read More:

HTML

HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language used to structure your webpage and content. It tells the user’s browser where to display what on the page and it also tells search engines what your page is about.

Here are the on-page SEO HTML factors you need to consider:

6. Title Tags

This is one of those areas where it’s essential to focus on the details.

On its own, this snippet of code probably isn’t going to have you shooting up SERP rankings.

However, when combined with other on-page elements (like the ones discussed here), title tags can help you provide context and demonstrate your site’s relevancy.

For a more thorough look at how to optimize your title tags, read this.

7. Meta Description

A veteran SEO professional is throwing up their hands at the screen. “Oh, come on,” they’re saying, “Everyone knows meta descriptions aren’t an SEO ranking factor.”

They’re only partly correct. While it’s true there’s a lot of evidence against meta descriptions as a ranking factor, they’re wrong about everyone knowing that.

But, don’t let them dissuade you from adding meta descriptions to your site.

Despite their relative lack of SEO use, descriptions offer two key benefits:

• They can help Google understand what your webpage is all about.
• They have an outsized influence on your CTRs.

Better meta descriptions give searchers a better understanding of your page, leading to more click-throughs. So, don’t neglect them.

8. Image Optimization

We discussed the importance of visual on-page assets on your page, now it’s time to examine their technical aspects more closely.

Here are some tips to help optimize yours:

• Include SEO-friendly alt tags.
• Choose the proper format and file size for fast loading.
• Customize file names instead of using something like IMG_08759.
• Ensure your images are mobile-friendly.

Once again, we have an excellent resource for more in-depth information on HTML image optimization. Read it here.

9. Geotagging (For Local Search)

It may be a global economy, but most business is still done at a local level. Connect with the people in your neighborhood by optimizing your on-page local SEO.

There are three main SEO tactics to consider when focusing on local traffic:

• Optimizing listings and citations, including name, address, phone number (NAP), website URL, business descriptions, and getting reviews.
• Optimizing local content, including accommodating “near me” searches, providing location-based content, or buying a local website or blog.
•  Building links with other local businesses and organizations.

Some additional local SEO tactics to incorporate:

• Implement localized schema markup for local business listings, events, special offers, etc.
• Optimize Google Business Profile with up-to-date info, photos, posts, Q&A, and locally relevant content.
• Leverage proximity and geolocation data for mobile search.
• Create location-specific pages, content hubs, or microsites.

Examples of effective local SEO could look like:

• A restaurant featuring locally sourced food specialties on dedicated pages.
• A service provider’s site with geo-pages for all service areas.
• An ecommerce store highlighting inventory available for local pickup.

For more information on building your geotagging SEO strategy, read this.

Read More:

Website Architecture

Having a well-structured website is essential for two reasons: First, a website laid out logically will be crawled more effectively by search engines, and second, it will create richer user experiences.

Here are the factors to consider when optimizing your site’s architecture:

10. Site Speed

A clunky, slow-loading site does more than frustrate and drive away visitors – it hurts your search ranking, too.

Search Engine Journal investigated the effect of a page’s loading time on SEO and confirmed that page speed is a ranking factor in search results.

However, the minimum speed your site needs to meet is constantly changing.

This can be achieved by meeting Google’s Core Web Vitals minimum threshold. If your site isn’t currently meeting these standards, there are several steps you can take, including:

• Enabling compression.
• Reducing redirects.
• Optimizing images.
• Leveraging browser caches.

11. Responsive Design

Mobile search volume surpassed desktop in 2016 and has only grown since then.

Because more users are on mobile devices, Google followed the logical path and began prioritizing sites with designs that adapt to mobile screens.

While ranking in search results without a responsive design is still possible, Google strongly recommends having one.

You can read more about the effect site responsiveness has on search results here.

12. URL Structure

There was a time when URLs played a prominent role in SEO. Businesses would include keywords in domain names to help them rank higher.

But Google, doing what Google does, changed the algorithm. What was once so important to rankings now plays a much smaller role.

That’s not to say it doesn’t matter. Search engines still include your URLs in your overall score – they just don’t hold the same prominence they once did.

However, there is evidence they play a role in a site’s initial ranking, and some professionals believe they’re used to group pages. While they shouldn’t be your top SEO priority, you don’t want to ignore them.

Read more about how URLs factor into Google rankings here.

13. Links

Remember E-E-A-T from way back at the beginning of this article?

One of the best ways your website can establish it is through links from other reputable websites.

Think of it this way: Who would you rather trust your 401(k) to – a financial advisor who manages Warren Buffet’s portfolio or your cousin Jimmy, who lives in your aunt’s basement? Jimmy might do a fine job, potentially even outperforming Buffet’s guy. But he doesn’t have the credibility that comes with a strong co-sign.

Links work in the same way.

There are three main types you need to know about for SEO:

Of the three, inbound links are the most important for boosting E-E-A-T signals. High-quality, relevant inbound links, especially from authoritative and experienced sources, can help demonstrate your site’s expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

SEO professionals use various methods to generate quality incoming links, including social media, creating sharable infographics, and even asking for backlinks.

But beware: Not all inbound links are helpful. Some, especially those from link farms, forum posts, and guestbooks, can be fake links that cheat the rankings system. If you don’t disavow these, it can hurt your ranking.

Here’s information on how and when to disavow links.

Read More:

On-Page SEO Vs. Off-Page SEO

We’ve talked a lot about on-page SEO, but there’s also something known as off-page SEO. The difference, as you could probably tell by the names, is where it happens.

On-page SEO is everything you can do internally to boost your rankings, including keyword optimization, meta descriptions, title tags, alt text, and website structure.

Off-page SEO refers to all external factors that impact your site’s rankings. This includes backlinks, E-E-A-T, local SEO, social media mentions, and pay-per-click.

You have much more control over your on-page SEO, but it’s also important to consider off-page SEO – you need both to achieve your goals.

However, it would be best to first focus on building a good, relevant webpage that’s fully optimized for search engines before you begin investing a lot of resources into building links and promoting your site.

Conclusion

As search algorithms evolve, the need to create high-quality, relevant content and optimize technical elements persists.

Key takeaways to remember:

1. Focus on creating valuable, user-centric content that demonstrates E-E-A-T.
2. Optimize technical elements like HTML tags, site speed, and mobile responsiveness.
3. Maintain a logical site structure and use internal linking effectively.
4. Regularly update and refresh content to maintain relevance.
5. Remember that on-page SEO works with off-page factors for overall SEO success.

Approach this as an ongoing process rather than a one-time fix.

Consistently implementing these tactics will considerably improve your chances of ranking well in search results.

More resources: 

Featured Image: BestForBest/Shutterstock

How to Audit Content for Better SEO

Google’s frequent algorithm updates produce nonstop fluctuations in organic traffic and rankings. Content audits are essential to identify lost rankings, revive declining traffic, and find new topics.

Here’s how I audit content for better search engine optimization.

Evaluate Lost Traffic

Traffic declines from organic search can occur for multiple reasons.

• Over time, new articles push current ones deep into the archives. Updating articles with substantially new info and a new date will likely help regain traffic.

• Google’s core updates often focus on searchers’ intent. Many queries imply multiple intents. For example, a search for “backyard barbeque” could suggest a need for information (how to cook barbeque) or purchase options (where to buy a grill). This type of loss is not easy to fix, likely requiring a new landing page or article.

• Rankings of competitors’ pages surpassed yours. Shifting from position 1 to 2 can result in huge traffic losses. That, too, is not easy to fix. Closely analyze your competitors’ pages and backlinks to identify what may have led to their ranking increase.

• Changes by Google in search result pages, such as adding sections and lowering the visibility of organic results. There’s no fix.

Regardless of the cause, the first step is to know which pages account for the loss. Search Console is an easy and free tool for diagnosing organic traffic drops.

1. Go to the “Performance” section.

2. Click “Search results” > “Date” > “Compare.”

3. Select “Compare last 3 months to previous period” or “Compare last 3 months year over year,” depending on your audit frequency.

4. Click on the “Pages” and sort by “Clicks difference.”

5. Click any URL in the first column.

6. Click “Queries” and sort again by “Clicks difference” to see the search terms causing the biggest traffic drops.

Now search for those queries (keywords) in Google to evaluate what may have caused the decrease.

Search Console is an easy and free tool for diagnosing organic traffic drops. Click image to enlarge.

Identify Opportunities

There are two main ways to improve your organic search performance.

Identify and improve page 1 rankings

Even climbing one position on the first page will likely increase traffic substantially. Optimizing the page copy by adding more keywords and creating more internal backlinks will likely help.

To identify these pages, use Search Console’s Performance section again.

• Click “Search results” > “Average position” on top of the graph.
• Click the filter option (inverted triangle) and select “Position.”
• Click “Filter by Position” for “Greater than” 2.

Sort the queries by the number of clicks to see the top (and bottom) performers. Again, a page that climbs even one position will experience a huge traffic increase.

In Search Console, filter “Average Position” for “Greater than” 2. Click image to enlarge.

Identify and improve pages with external backlinks

Pages with many backlinks but few searchable keywords often fail to rank. For those pages, research keywords to help Google understand them.

Semrush’s backlink research tool can identify top-linked pages:

• Log in to Semrush and click “Backlink Analytics” under “Link Building.”
• Paste your URL and select “Root domain.”
• Click the “Indexed pages” tab.

The report is sorted by the number of linked domains for each page on your site. Heavily linked pages are easier to improve, rankings-wise.

Use Search Console for ranking opportunities, or run keyword research tools to find new queries.

Semrush’s backlink research tool can identify top-linked pages. Click image to enlarge.