Aug 27 2025
Product page SEO: 5 things to improve

Having great product pages is important for your sales. After all, it’s where people decide to click that buy button. Besides optimizing your product pages for user experience, you also want to make sure these pages work for your SEO. You might think this is obvious. That’s why we’ll show you a few less obvious elements of product page SEO in this post. And we’ll explain why it’s so important to take these things into account. Let’s go!

Table of contents

1. The basics of product page SEO

First things first: a product page on an online store is a page too. This means that all the SEO things that matter for your content pages matter for your product pages as well. Of course, there’s a lot more to product page SEO. But for now, this will be your basic optimization. Tip: If you offer not-so-exciting products on your site, you may want to read our post on SEO for boring products.

Let’s start with the basics.

A great title

Try to focus on the product name and include the manufacturer’s name, if applicable. In addition, if your product is a small part of a larger machine (screw, tube), for example, you should include the SKU as well. People might search for that specifically.

A proper and unique product description

While it might be tempting to use the same description as the product’s manufacturer, you really shouldn’t. That description might be found on hundreds of websites, which means it’s duplicate content and a sign of low quality for your website (to Google). Remember, you want to prevent duplicate content at all times!

Now, you might think: “But all my other content (content pages, category pages, blog) is unique!” However, if the content on hundreds of product pages isn’t unique, then the majority of your website’s content still won’t be up to par. So make time to create unique content! And if you need help, the Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin comes with product-specific content and SEO analysis that helps you produce great product descriptions.

An inviting meta description

A product page usually contains a lot of general information, like the product’s dimensions or your company’s terms of service. To avoid Google using that unrelated text in a meta description, you want to add a meta description to your product pages. It’s arguably even more important than adding one to your content pages!

Next, try to come up with unique meta descriptions. This can be difficult sometimes. You might come up with a sort of template, where you only change the product name per product. That’s okay to start with. But ideally, all your meta descriptions should be unique. Yoast SEO has various AI features that will help you with this.

Pick a great and easy-to-remember URL

We recommend using the product name in the URL. However, keep it short and simple so that it is still readable for site visitors.

Add high-quality and well-optimized images with proper ALT text

Include the product name in at least the main product image. This will help you do better in visual search. Also, don’t forget video — if applicable.

Focus on your product page UX

Last but not least: UX, or user experience. This is an important step because it’s all about making your product pages as user-friendly as possible. Plus, it’s an important part of holistic SEO. There are many parts to UX, which is why we wrote a post with product page UX examples. Give it a read!

Read more: Write great product descriptions with WooCommerce SEO »

WooCommerce SEO simplified

Enhance product visibility and drive more traffic to your online shop.

2. Add structured data for your products and get rich results

Structured data is an essential part of a modern SEO strategy. You simply can’t do without structured data for your product pages anymore, because they help your product page stand out. For example, there is a specific Product schema that helps you get highlighted search results, so-called rich results. These are great for your site’s visibility, and they can also increase your click-through rate! And if you mark up customers’ reviews with Review structured data, they will show up in the search results. Seeing those beautiful stars underneath a product page will convince people they should check out your site!

Another reason to add it is to manage customers’ expectations. Your visitors will know your price up front and that the product is still in stock. How’s that for user experience?

Search engines and AI/LLMs will understand your page better

Structured data is also important for your product page SEO because the major search engines came up with this markup, not the W3C consortium. Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex agreed upon this markup, so they could identify product pages and all the product elements and characteristics more easily. Why? So they could a) understand these pages a lot better and b) show you rich snippets like this:

That’s a lot of info in the search results, right?

The Product schema tells the search engine more about the product. It could include characteristics like product description, manufacturer, brand, name, dimensions, and color, but also the SKU we mentioned earlier. The Offer schema includes more information on price and availability, like currency and stock. It can even include something called priceValidUntil to let search engines know that the price offer is for a limited time only.

Add structured data with Yoast SEO

Boost your website’s presence with powerful schema structured data features, included for free with Yoast SEO.

Options to add structured data for product page SEO

Schema.org has a lot of options, but only a limited set of properties are supported by search engines. For instance, look at Google’s page on product page structured data to see what search engines expect in your code and what they can do with it.

This is why you want to add Schema.org data for product page SEO: It’s easier to recognize for Google, and it makes sure to include important extras in Google already. If you have a WooCommerce shop, our WooCommerce SEO plugin takes care of a lot of this stuff behind the scenes.

Keep reading: Rich results, structured data and Schema: a visual guide to help you understand »

A preview of how your product might look in Google thanks to structured data

3. Add real reviews

Reviews are important. In fact, 74% of consumers say that they check reviews on at least two sites before buying anything online or locally. Although not everyone trusts online reviews, many do, so they can be very helpful.

If you are a local company, online reviews are even more important. Most reviews tend to be extremely positive, but it might just be the negative reviews that give a better sense of what is going on with a company or product. In addition, getting awesome testimonials is another way of showing your business means business.

Leading Dutch online store Coolblue gives consumers a lot of options to make relevant and useful reviews of the products they buy

Try to get your customers to leave reviews, then show the reviews on your product page. Do you get a negative review? Contact the writer, find out what’s wrong, and try to mitigate the situation. Maybe they can turn their negative review into a positive one. Plus: You’ve gained new insights into your work.

If you’re not sure how to get those ratings and reviews, check out our blog post: how to get ratings and reviews for your business. And don’t forget to mark up your reviews and ratings with Review and Rating schema so search engines can pick them up and show rich results on the search results pages.

4. Make your product page lightning fast

Nobody enjoys waiting, especially when browsing on a mobile device. Many shoppers are now using their phones to make purchases, so speed on your product pages is crucial. Visitors expect instant access to content, and search engines reward that expectation. Compress images, implement responsive design, and streamline scripts to enhance load times. Regularly test your mobile layout to identify and fix problems before they impact your users. Prioritizing mobile performance not only satisfies your customers but also aligns with search engine preferences, potentially boosting your SEO rankings and increasing traffic.

Remember, a fast, mobile-friendly site is a win-win for everyone involved. To get you started, here’s a post about how to improve your Core Web Vital scores.

5. User test your product page

Looking at numbers in Google Analytics, Search Console, or other analytical tools can give you insight into how people find and interact with your page. These insights can help you improve the performance of a page even more. But there’s another way to ensure that your product page is as awesome as it can be: user testing. There are also many ways to get more value from site visitors with A/B testing.

How user testing can help you

Testers can find loads of issues for you, such as terrible use of images (including non-functioning galleries), bad handling of out-of-stock products, or inaccurate shipping and return information, which can lead to trust issues. Now, you might be thinking: Surely, my website doesn’t have those issues! But you’d be surprised.

In their Product Page UX research project, the Baymard Institute found that:

“The high-level benchmark results show that only 49% of e-commerce sites have an overall ‘decent’ or ‘good’ UX performance for their product pages, while 51% of sites have ‘mediocre’ or worse product page implementations. On the extreme ends of performance, only a couple of sites had a very ‘poor’ Product Page UX performance that failed to align with commonly observed user behavior in our large-scale PDP testing. This is a fortunate shift upward from 2021, which previously had 4% of sites with below ‘poor’ performances. At the other end of the scale, there aren’t any sites with an overall ‘Perfect’ or ‘“’State of the Art’ product page implementation (unchanged since 2021).

You can read this fascinating study on their Product Page UX site.

The Baymard report has loads of insights into the most common errors seen on product pages

While you compare your product pages to external user research, don’t forget to do your own user testing! Doing proper research will give you eye-opening results that you probably wouldn’t have found yourself.

Bonus: Build trust and show people your authenticity

Getting a stranger to buy something on your site involves a lot of trust. Someone needs to know you are authentic before handing you their hard-earned money, right? Google puts a lot of emphasis on the element of trust — It’s all over their famous Search Quality Raters Guidelines. The search engine tries to evaluate trust and expertise by looking at online reviews, the accolades a site or its authors receive, and much more.

Brand perception in AI and LLMs

AI search engines and LLMs also assess these trust factors to shape how your brand is presented. They analyze reviews, schema, and overall credibility to produce an accurate portrayal. A trustworthy online presence can positively influence how these systems perceive and convey your brand to users.

This is why it’s so important that your About Us and Customer Service pages are in order. Make sure people can easily find your contact information, information about returns and shipping, payment, privacy, etc. This will build trust with your customers. So, don’t forget!

Social proof is another way to build trust with your customers. Adding social proof to your product pages can significantly influence buying decisions. Display customer reviews, testimonials, and ratings to build trust and demonstrate real-life experiences. Include trust badges, like security symbols or industry awards, to boost credibility. Encourage happy customers to share photos or videos of your products and showcase this content on your website. These elements help assure visitors that your products are both credible and valued by others.

Conclusion: Be serious about your product page SEO

If you’re serious about optimizing your product page, you shouldn’t focus on regular SEO and user experience alone. You’ll have to dig deeper into other aspects of your product pages. For instance, you could add the Product and Offer Schema, so Google can easily index all the details about your product and show these as rich results in the search results. In addition, you should make your product pages fast, add user reviews, and try to enhance your website’s trustworthiness. And don’t forget to test everything you do!

Need a helping hand? Be sure to check out our ecommerce SEO training course. Learn what ecommerce SEO entails, how to optimize your site, and boost your online presence. Want to get your products ranking in the shopping search results? We’ll tell you how. Start your free trial lesson today! Full access to Yoast SEO Academy is included in Yoast SEO Premium, which also includes all other plugins — including Local SEO for optimizing your performance in local search.

Check out our overview of product page must-haves

To help you stay on top of your product pages, we created a PDF that you can use to optimize your product pages. Most of what’s discussed in this blog post can be found in the PDF, plus more tips! Just click on the image to go to the PDF and download it.

preview product page must haves
Click on the image to download the PDF

Read on: 7 ways to improve product descriptions in your online store »

Avatar of Edwin Toonen


Edwin Toonen

Edwin is an experienced strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he worked for a top-tier web design magazine, where he developed a keen understanding of how to create great content.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Oct 7 2024
Black Friday & holiday season SEO 2024: 10 tips to start preparing!

The summer has just ended. Should you already start preparing for Black Friday and the holiday season? Yes! They’re the biggest sales of the year, and ranking in Google is something you take time to do. It’s never too early to start getting your deals ready. So, if you have an online shop or an ecommerce store, let’s start working on your holiday season and Black Friday SEO immediately!

Don’t forget that Black Friday (November 29, 2024) and Cyber Monday (December 2, 2024) are kicking off this year’s holiday shopping season. You can set up a lot of content for all occasions. In this post, we’ll review some things you can do to prepare!

Table of contents

Today, people are used to shopping online. It’s easy and convenient. You don’t have to travel only to find something out of stock. Plus, online stores often offer payment plans. Shopping online is so popular that online sales in the USA during the holiday season hit a record of $221 billion last year! And the numbers will only continue to rise. That’s why it’s safe to assume that people will buy many (if not most) holiday gifts online this year.

Staying on top of trends to prepare for the holiday season is good. E-commerce is still growing, and consumers expect more every year. Here are some actionable tips for the upcoming Black Friday and holiday season to improve your SEO:

  1. Discount deals and alternative payment options (Buy now, pay later) should be part of your ecommerce strategy
  2. Brands should provide a consistent purchasing experience across digital/online and physical stores
  3. To minimize returns, brands should make their product pages as comprehensive as possible
  4. Holiday season marketing campaigns should be tailored to each platform to ensure maximum effectiveness

Online is where it’s at

Of course, in-store or curbside pick-up will still prove popular. However, most people research their ecommerce purchases online – sometimes weeks in advance! So don’t be surprised when the holiday shopping season starts well before Black Friday and continues for weeks.

Extending Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other holiday season online deals for a few days or weeks can be a good idea. This is especially true if you want to prevent huge crowds from gathering at your store on a specific day. That won’t be a good shopping experience for anyone involved, so spreading these deals over an extended time is probably better.

Start preparing in time

Dive into the data you amassed during previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday events, and see if you can come up with improvements for your holiday season SEO. Bear in mind that it takes a while for content to rank. So, to keep up with the competition, try to get your content in gear at least 45 days ahead. That’s often recommended. Of course, you can always start preparing earlier if that works better for you. Your schedule could look something like this:

  1. 45 Days in advance: Post your promotion to your website calendar and post a save-the-date post on social media and in your email newsletter).
  2. 7 Days in advance: Post upcoming events/promotions on social media and via email. Try to encourage other (small) businesses to share it with their followers.
  3. 1 Day in advance: Post an event reminder post on social media.

It’s a good rule to remember these steps and time frames. However, you can do much more than set up new pages and renew old ones. Let’s look at a few practical tips.

1. Do holiday season keyword research

Keyword research is important all year, but especially during the season when your online store starts having big sales. You have probably worked on this research previously, but now is the time to dive in again. There are always things to learn, like developments in your industry, changes in consumer behavior, or new trends and topics to discuss.

Start early with your research to give yourself enough time to produce high-quality, helpful content that helps reach those new audiences. While using generative AI tools to generate Black Friday SEO content for your ecommerce is enticing, please refrain from doing so. Generative AI can help you do your job but can’t replace your valuable insights and opinions.

2. Set up holiday season gift pages

First, we must consider what category or particular landing pages make sense for the upcoming holidays. You can always set up pages like ‘Best gifts for parents/millennials/teens’, ‘Newest deals for your 6/10/12-year-old’, and ‘Best friend/grandparents/coworker discounts’. You could also think of ‘Top 10 gifts for outdoor/skiing/parasailing enthusiasts’ and ‘Top 3 deals for stay-at-home parents’, etcetera.

Make sure the page titles and meta descriptions of these gift landing– or category pages fit the upcoming holiday season. You can reuse these gift pages for Hanukkah or your summer sale. Find (old) content that fits the holidays, rewrite titles and meta descriptions to match the upcoming season, and chances are you won’t have to do that much work to get them up to date. Be sure to write proper product descriptions and improve the product images. Learn how to write great product descriptions using our product-specific analysis in WooCommerce SEO and Yoast SEO for Shopify.

To increase the chances of your gift pages ranking, boost their internal linking structure. You can also link the previous all-year holiday season pages, such as specific Christmas landing pages (‘Top 7/10/25 gifts for under the Christmas tree’) to boost these when the time has come. That could be around the 45-day mark, but we would be okay with stretching that to 60 days. You’ll need to give Google and other search engines enough time to follow your links and find your specific holiday season SEO landing pages with deals.

Social media like X and Pinterest — though this is technically a visual search engine — can play a massive role in the success of your (online) holiday season sale. Take Pinterest, for instance. Raise your hand if you or your spouse has a Pinterest Christmas wish list. Many people do. If you get your products on people’s wish lists, that can positively impact your sales.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to share your holiday season gift pages on Facebook and Instagram. In the previous section, we’ve mentioned the top 10 lists. We all know these still work pretty well on social media. Yoast SEO can help you optimize your social media posts before you share them.

Email marketing

Last but not least, remember your email marketing! For many companies, newsletters provide a steady stream of income. Be sure to plan a good campaign for your newsletters.

For example, we recommend setting up holiday gift guides and sharing these. You can create an excellent overview of many gifts that many people will enjoy. ELLE and Target have pages like that, and so do more companies.

4. Introduce new products

The holiday season is an excellent time to pitch new products. If you know of potential bestsellers for the upcoming holiday season, start writing content about these products now. You can compare it to tech sites writing about concept iPhones, features that Apple might add, etc.

The more you write about new products upfront, the more likely the sales pages for these products will rank when it matters. You should link all pages you made in advance to that one main page you’ll set up when the product is released and available to buy. Treat that page like cornerstone content.

5. Add structured data to your product pages

When adding or changing your product pages to fit the holiday season, don’t forget to optimize them. Check, for instance, whether you’ve added structured data to your product pages. Rich results that show ratings and prices can give you an edge over your competitors. Our WooCommerce SEO plugin, Local SEO plugin, or Yoast SEO for Shopify app can help you do this to improve your holiday season!

an example of a google search result for a product, in this a listing of a PlayStation 5 sold by Walmart
Example of a product appearing in the search results if you use structured data.

Read more: Structure data with Schema.org: the ultimate guide »

6. Check your product feeds

Don’t forget to optimize your product feeds for Black Friday SEO. This maximizes visibility and sales during this high-traffic online shopping period. Start by ensuring all product information, such as titles, descriptions, prices, and availability, is accurate and up-to-date. Check if the products that need them have relevant Black Friday keywords to enhance discoverability. Use high-quality, clear images to showcase your product.

Use the promotions feature in Google Merchant Center to prominently display special deals and discounts for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This way, you’ll make your offers more attractive to potential buyers. Please update your feed regularly to reflect real-time inventory changes and fix errors to maintain product visibility.

7. Reuse content

There’s no shame in serving old wine in a new bottle. If you have a Black Friday or a Christmas gift guide for 2023, feel free to reuse it in 2024. Update the year and details like popular brands and products for that year. If the slug of your URL is /black-friday-guide-2023/, change it to /black-friday-guide-2024/ around August next year, and redirect the old URL to the new one. No need to create a new page. It would be a waste of nice inbound links not to reuse that old URL. Of course, this is even easier if you don’t include the year in the URL, so /black-friday-guide/ is also an excellent slug.

In the months before the holiday season, you could even simply repost popular posts from last year (a bit adjusted or updated if needed) on social media. Valentine’s Day might even become Secret Santa. Cyber Monday might match your child’s favorite gifts for Ramadan. These are probably small adjustments; perhaps just adding ‘this Ramadan’ to a meta description or title will do.

Keep reading: Should I update or delete old content? »

8. Optimize for speed and mobile

It’s a good idea to check and optimize your website for speed and mobile use. Trust us; you’ll get these recommendations from an SEO blog or consultant daily. And with good reason! Mobile, site speed, and user experience are essential to get people to spend money on your ecommerce business this Black Friday. When preparing your online store for the holiday sale season, this is as good a time as any to check your mobile website and site speed, and update or improve them if possible.

To start, look at Google’s Core Web Vitals and use these to improve your site. Here are five ways to boost your Core Web Vitals scores.

Read on: How to check site speed »

9. Local business? Focus on local SEO

Investing in local SEO for Black Friday and Christmas shopping is essential for local businesses aiming to attract more customers. Begin by optimizing your Google Business Profile with accurate business information, including address, phone number, business hours, and any special Black Friday/Cyber Monday hours or promotions. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews. Use local keywords in your content, focusing on terms your community will likely search for, such as “Black Friday deals in [Your City].” Additionally, engage with your local community on social media by promoting special deals to drive more foot traffic to your store.

10. Create a measurement plan

All set? Remember to make a measurement plan to analyze your success. Write down all your plans, then think about how to track all your actions. This is key to knowing what to focus on next year. For detailed instructions on analyzing your Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Cinco de Mayo shopping, read our post with five tips to measure your holiday sales success.

What should you do when the holiday season is over?

How do you handle the product pages of holiday gift sets after the holidays? Even if the gift set or product was a great success, and you want to offer it again next year, it’ll take a while for the page to be relevant again. What is the best way to deal with these pages in the meantime?

Our advice: Keep the pages up. However, you don’t necessarily want them visible to people browsing your site. So, have the page up without linking, then link to it again during the holiday season. This is better than deleting it and starting again.

Conclusion on holiday season SEO

In short, now’s the time to buckle down and start writing holiday gift pages and content for new products. Remember to plan your social media promotion and analytics. After all, you can never start too early when your online business depends on the holiday season. Be prepared; begin now with your SEO. Good luck with your holiday season sale!

Keep on reading: eCommerce usability: the ultimate guide »



Edwin Toonen

Edwin is an experienced strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he worked for a top-tier web design magazine, where he developed a keen understanding of how to create great content.

Avatar of Edwin Toonen

Coming up next!

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
May 28 2024
Using the focus keyphrase for product pages in Yoast SEO

SEO is crucial for any online store. One key aspect that Yoast SEO needs to help you improve the SEO of your product pages is a focus keyphrase. This guide will help you find and fill in the proper focus keyphrase using Yoast SEO.

Understanding the focus keyphrase

The focus keyphrase is the main keyword or phrase that you want your product page to rank for in search engine results. It represents the core topic of your product pages. Usually, this is what you expect potential customers to type into search engines when looking for products similar to yours.

Adding the focus keyphrase in Yoast SEO

Why is the focus keyphrase important?

The focus keyphrase helps search engines understand the subject of your product page. When search engines crawl your product pages, they look for word patterns to determine what your page is about. By optimizing your product page around a specific keyphrase, you make it easier for search engines to index and rank your products accurately. As a result, your customers can find your products in the search results.

Filling in a focus keyphrase in Yoast SEO helps you optimize your product pages based on provided feedback. This might improve your product page’s search engine ranking. Higher rankings mean more visibility, leading to increased organic traffic and, ultimately, more sales. A well-chosen focus keyphrase ensures that your product page is relevant to what users are searching for.

Yoast SEO algorithms

Yoast SEO, Yoast WooCommerce SEO, and Yoast SEO for Shopify use algorithms to analyze your product pages based on the focus keyphrase you fill in. It checks if the descriptions you wrote for your products correctly use these keywords. This includes examining the keyphrase’s presence in the title, meta description, URL, headings, body content, and more. The tool gives feedback and suggestions to improve your ecommerce SEO.

Benefits of using a focus keyphrase in Yoast SEO

Using focus keyword phrases in Yoast SEO is essential, as it has many benefits, such as getting more targeted traffic. Optimizing for a specific product keyword attracts visitors specifically looking for your offer, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

A well-researched focus keyphrase can give you an edge over competitors who may not optimize their pages as effectively. Tracking the performance of your focus keyphrases helps you measure the effectiveness of your ecommerce SEO strategy. Based on performance data, you can refine and adjust your keyphrases.

An example: “Organic aloe vera gel”

Suppose you are selling “Organic aloe vera gel.” Your focus keyphrase might be “Organic aloe vera gel.” This keyphrase should be used consistently across your product title, meta description, URL, headings, and body content to ensure search engines understand the page’s relevance to users searching for organic aloe vera gel.

Understanding and using the focus keyphrase for product descriptions can enhance your online store’s SEO. As a result, your products will be more discoverable to potential customers.

How to determine the focus keyphrase for your products

Finding the right focus keyphrase involves understanding your product, keyword research, and analyzing its effectiveness. Here’s a step-by-step approach:

Step 1: Identify the product’s main features and benefits

Start by listing the primary features and benefits of your product. This will help you understand what makes your product unique and appealing.

Example:

  • Product: Organic aloe vera gel
  • Features: Organic, soothing, hydrating
  • Benefits: Soothes irritation, hydrates skin, suitable for sensitive skin

Step 2: Brainstorm potential keywords

Think of keywords and phrases a customer might use to find your product. Include broad terms as well as more specific, long-tail keywords. Head keywords are general descriptions of your product, while long-tail keywords are more specific and often less competitive.

Example:

  • Head keywords:
    • “Aloe vera gel”
    • “Skincare gel”
  • Long-tail keywords:
    • “Organic aloe vera gel”
    • “Natural aloe vera gel”
    • “Aloe vera gel for sensitive skin”
    • “Soothing aloe vera gel”

Step 3: Use keyword research tools

You can use keyword research tools to analyze the potential keywords you brainstormed. These tools can provide insights into search volume, competition, and related keywords. There are many tools out there, and you might have already picked a favorite. Popular tools are Semrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, and Moz, but you can even ask ChatGPT to help you find good product keywords.

Step 4: Analyze and select the best keyphrase

Once you have everything, you can select the best one. Choose a keyphrase that is highly relevant to your product, has a good search volume, the proper search intent, and is not overly competitive. Also, ensure the keyphrase aligns with your customers’ language and terminology.

The main focus keyphrase is the primary keyword you want your product page to rank for. It is the central topic of your content and should be used consistently across various SEO elements. For example, for the product “Organic aloe vera gel,” the main focus keyphrase could simply be “Organic aloe vera gel.”

Related keyphrases are secondary keywords closely related to the main focus keyword. They help broaden the scope of your content and capture additional search queries that your main keyword might miss. Related keyphrases add context and relevance, making your product content more comprehensive and improving your chances of ranking for multiple related terms.

For example, for the main focus keyword, “Organic aloe vera gel,” related keyword phrases could be “Natural aloe vera gel,” “Aloe vera gel for sensitive skin,” or “Hydrating organic aloe vera gel.”

Keyphrase synonyms in Yoast SEO

Keyphrase synonyms are alternative words or phrases with the same or similar meaning as your main focus keyword. Diversifying the language used on your page helps you cover a broader range of search queries, enhances the natural flow of your product descriptions, and avoids keyword stuffing.

For instance, aloe vera moisturizer could be an alternative to the main keyword, aloe vera gel. You could use this to enhance your product descriptions and use more words to rank for:

“Our organic aloe vera gel is perfect for those seeking a natural skincare solution. This natural aloe vera gel hydrates and soothes your skin, acting as an effective aloe vera moisturizer. This soothing aloe gel is ideal for sensitive skin and provides instant relief from irritation.”

Search engines use semantics to understand the context and intent behind queries. Using related keyphrases and synonyms helps search engines better understand your product descriptions and match them to relevant queries.

Additional tips for selecting a focus keyphrase

Of course, you can do more to choose a good focus keyphrase for the products in your ecommerce store.

  • Consider user intent: Consider what the user is looking for when searching for your keyphrase. Ensure your keyphrase aligns with their intent.
  • Look at competitors: Analyze your competitors’ keyphrases. This can give you insights into what is working in your industry.
  • Use variations: Include synonyms and related terms in your content to cover a broader range of search queries.

Using branded keywords

If you want to rank products by their brand and model, the approach is slightly different but follows the same principles. When optimizing for branded products, start by identifying the brand and model names, as these are often the terms customers use in their searches.

Use keyword research tools to analyze these branded terms for search volume and competition. Look at how competitors are ranking and the specific keywords they are targeting. Consider long-tail variations, including the brand and model, such as “Nike Pegasus 39 Shield women’s weatherized road running shoes”. These long-tail keywords are often less competitive and more specific, attracting highly targeted traffic.

By combining the brand name with descriptive terms, you can create a comprehensive list of focus keyphrases that will help your product pages rank higher in search results and meet the search intent of potential customers.

An example project

Here’s an expanded example of how to find and implement focus keyphrases and related keyphrases for an “Organic aloe vera gel” product using Yoast SEO:

Example: Organic aloe vera gel

Main focus keyphrase Related keyphrases
Organic aloe vera gel Natural aloe vera gel
Aloe vera gel for sensitive skin
Soothing aloe vera gel
Hydrating aloe vera gel

Step-by-step implementation in Yoast SEO

  1. Enter focus keyphrase in the respective Yoast SEO field

    Enter the main focus keyphrase “Organic aloe vera gel” in the focus keyphrase field in Yoast SEO.

  2. Enter the related keyphrases

    If applicable, enter the related keyphrases in their respective fields.enter the related keyphrase in yoast seo shopify

  3. Title tag: Use the main focus keyphrase in the product title

    Example: “Organic aloe vera gel – Natural soothing and hydrating skincare”

  4. Meta description: Craft a meta description including the main focus and related keyphrases

    Example: “Discover our organic aloe vera gel, a natural solution for soothing and hydrating your skin. Perfect for sensitive skin, this gel provides instant relief and hydration”editing the meta description in yoast seo for shopify

  5. URL slug: Ensure the URL slug contains the main focus keyphrase

    Example: yourstore.com/products/organic-aloe-vera-gel/

  6. Headings: Include the main focus keyphrase in the H1 and the others in subsequent headers

    For example, the H1 would be “Organic aloe vera gel,” the H2’s “Natural aloe vera gel benefits,” “Soothing aloe vera gel for sensitive skin,” and “Hydrating aloe vera gel for daily use”adding related keyhrases to headings in yoast seo shopify

  7. Body content: Use keyphrases naturally in the product description + lists

    Example, although this is too short based on our advice: “Our organic aloe vera gel is crafted from the finest organic aloe plants, ensuring a soothing and hydrating experience for your skin. This gel provides natural relief from irritation and dryness and is ideal for sensitive skin. Use our natural aloe vera gel daily to keep your skin hydrated and healthy. The soothing properties of this gel make it perfect for calming red or irritated skin, while its hydrating effects ensure your skin stays moisturized all day long.” Don’t forget to add lists!

  8. Image alt text: Use the keyphrases to describe the product images

    For example: “Organic aloe vera gel bottle,” but try to make it descriptive about what’s in the image

  9. See whether Yoast SEO finds your keyphrases

    Ensure Yoast SEO checks for the keyphrase in the title, meta description, URL, headings, and body content.

  10. Check the feedback from Yoast SEO

    Review the feedback provided by the plugin and make any necessary adjustments to improve the SEO score. Remember that the SEO analysis shows all you can do to improve your product’s findability in the search results. On the other hand, the readability analysis helps you make the product content as understandable as possible, which is good for search engines and users.more feedback yoast seo for shopify

How to use focus keyphrases in Yoast SEO

By following these steps and effectively using the main focus keyword and related keyword phrases, you can optimize your product page for better search engine visibility and attract more targeted traffic to your online store.



Edwin Toonen

Edwin is a strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

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Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Apr 3 2024
Yoast SEO 22.4: Better performance and product schema update

Get ready for a smoother ride with Yoast SEO 22.4! This update packs a punch, improving performance, fixing bugs and enhancing your overall user experience. Say goodbye to pesky ‘elementor’ slugs and enjoy seamless navigation. Plus, thanks to Yoast WooCommerce SEO 16.2, our webshop customers will better control how their product variants show to shoppers online.

Improvements for Yoast SEO 22.4

Across the plugin, customers can expect to see improved performance as a whole. We’ve removed unnecessary queries and fixed bugs, enhancing the user experience. In essence, we have been doing some spring cleaning.

One particularly noticeable fix is personalized for the vast Elementor community within our user base. You might have noticed that when saving a post with Elementor for the first time, the slug would stubbornly add on the word ‘elementor’ at the start. Well, no more! We’ve put an end to that annoyance. Say goodbye to those unnecessary redirects when you update to Yoast SEO 22.4!

Schema updates for product variants

In February 2024, Google updated its guidelines on structured data specifically for product variants, a complex issue for many ecommerce sites. They aim to match customer intent to results online more effectively. If you’ve ever searched for a t-shirt in a specific color and had a different colored t-shirt pop up in the search results, you can relate to the shopper’s experience.

We’ve updated our product schema in Yoast WooCommerce SEO 16.2 to align with best practices to communicate your product attributes to search engines more effectively. This will ensure your products match potential shoppers’ search criteria as closely as possible. So, now is a great time to ensure that all your site’s product variant data is correct on your website. Check our configuration guide for Yoast WooCommerce SEO for more guidance on how to do this.

Product schema settings in WooCommerce SEO

Yoast SEO workouts to guide you through optimizing your website

In the spirit of seasonal change, now is the perfect time to complete spring cleaning on your site by completing one or more SEO workouts. For Yoast SEO Premium customers, consider these workouts your personal trainers, guiding you through optimizations in just three simple steps each, ensuring your favorite content gets seen by your customers.

Update now to Yoast SEO 22.4

We’re here to empower your digital journey with bug fixes, enhancements, and tailored solutions like our exclusive SEO workouts. Happy optimizing with Yoast SEO 22.4! 

Beth Parker

Beth is the Product Marketeer at Yoast. Before joining the company, she honed her digital marketing and project management skills in various in-house and agency environments.

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Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Nov 30 2023
Use generative AI to make products stand out in search

Visibility on Google’s search results can make or break a business’s success. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a valuable ally for ecommerce companies seeking to enhance their online presence. Discover how generative AI can help your WooCommerce products stand out on search engine results pages.

Table of contents

Generative AI: A business’s secret weapon

Picture yourself armed with a tool to help you outpace your competitors. Generative AI is a tool that helps online entrepreneurs succeed. It’s more than just automating processes — it’s about creating user experiences that feel personalized and products that deeply resonate.

Generative AI tools learn from existing data to produce new, unique content, including text, images and designs that often rival human-made creations. Utilizing this technology can result in distinctive product-related content that stands out.

Fresh, quality content is vital for SEO. Generative AI can mold your product information to engage your audience and satisfy Google’s search algorithms.

Product descriptions that connect and convert

Envision product descriptions that do more than convey facts — they weave a narrative that connects with consumers’ emotions. Generative AI tools can craft such descriptions, leveraging your product’s features to produce content that aligns with your customers’ search intentions. This AI-driven copy can improve conversions with the right balance of targeted keywords and emotional appeal.

Titles and meta descriptions are crucial — their appeal can be the difference in a fraction of a second. They serve as your online shop’s calling card, tempting potential buyers to dive deeper into your offerings. Yoast SEO Premium can generate awesome titles and meta descriptions for you with a single click.

Titles that draw buyers in

The first interaction between a potential buyer and your WooCommerce shop is often through your product title. Generative AI can be your virtual copywriter, generating SEO-friendly titles that captivate. It combines creativity and keyword insight to craft titles that compel shoppers to look closer.

Generative AI can rapidly produce a variety of title options, reducing the time you’d spend brainstorming manually. Let the AI analyze your product and suggest titles, and you choose the one that packs the most punch.

Meta descriptions that make promises

Your meta description sits below your title in search results, acting as a quick sales pitch. Generative AI is adept at developing meta descriptions that are keyword-rich and compelling, guiding searchers toward that all-important click.

For WooCommerce users, product pages benefit from great meta descriptions. These improve click-through rates, signaling the value of your content to Google.

Evaluating AI titles and meta descriptions

When crafting AI-generated titles and meta descriptions for your e-commerce site, prioritize clear, product-focused content. Succinctly convey what’s for sale and emphasize key features and benefits. Keep the titles and descriptions concise to fit search engine display limits. Ensure each is tailored to avoid duplication across product pages. Incorporate compelling calls to action and highlight promotions or special offers to entice clicks and conversions.

Blend in primary and relevant long-tail keywords naturally. Make sure to reflect what potential customers might search for, including product names and specific attributes. Where brand strength is an asset, ensure brand names are visible to build trust and capitalize on brand loyalty. Titles and descriptions should also connect with buyers. When appropriate, address their purchasing motives and include social proof elements like high ratings or best-seller statuses.

Accuracy in product representation is crucial to maintaining credibility and reducing bounce rates. Prepare content with mobile users in mind, ensuring readability and impact on smaller screens. Finally, consider how your content will interact with rich snippets. Constantly refine with a human touch for optimal alignment with your e-commerce goals. Lastly, regularly review your SEO performance to tweak and enhance your approach.

AI is now in Yoast WooCommerce SEO

The Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin uses generative AI to create engaging titles and meta descriptions for your products. It integrates smoothly with your workflow. The AI ensures your content is optimized for search engines and potential customers, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.

This pairing of generative AI and Yoast WooCommerce SEO makes a great tool to improve your product pages. It’s an excellent example of how to use AI to make products stand out in Google’s search results. Your WooCommerce online store can then attract more clicks and encourage conversions, giving your products the showcase they deserve.

Get your products ready for primetime with AI in Yoast WooCommerce SEO

Bringing a personal touch to AI in eCommerce

Generative AI tools can make a big difference in how your products appear in Google searches. But it’s the personal element that makes your WooCommerce store stand out.

Keeping it real with human insight

While AI gives you the starting points for content, human expertise turns it into something special. Whether through expert advice or personal stories about your products, this human insight can make your store’s content feel more genuine and trustworthy.

Balancing AI and authenticity

It’s important that your AI-generated content still sounds like it comes from a real person — your brand’s unique voice. Editors play a big role here, tweaking the AI’s work to ensure it hits the right note with your customers.

Mix AI with a human touch

The best way to get noticed on Google isn’t just about using AI. It’s about combining AI’s smarts with the relatable and genuine feel that comes from real people. It makes your WooCommerce site not just another online shop but a place where customers feel understood and valued. This creates a mix that appeals to both Google and human customers.

You need a solid integration of AI and human creativity to get that searcher from the SERP listing to a completed purchase. So, while AI is beneficial, you still need to work to make products stand out in search results.

Generative AI is great, but…

Incorporating generative AI into SEO efforts comes with hurdles businesses should consider. Quality control can be uneven, necessitating a careful review of AI-generated content to maintain brand standards. The material produced may not always be relevant or accurate, sometimes requiring human correction to align with market trends. Relying on AI can dilute a brand’s unique voice. Also, changes in Google’s helpful content guidelines could mean AI might struggle to keep up without human guidance.

There are ethical concerns surrounding AI content creation, such as transparency and the potential for misleading information. A heavy dependence on AI can curb human creativity, and additional resources are often needed for AI training and incorporation into existing workflows. Additionally, AI’s unpredictable nature can yield off-brand or inappropriate content. Lastly, AI’s originality might not match the depth a human writer provides.

Despite these potential issues, with tactful application and human oversight, generative AI can improve your ecommerce SEO and keep your business competitive online.

Using generative AI to stand out in Google’s search results is no futuristic concept. WooCommerce store owners who want to improve their online visibility can use it today. Combine AI’s inventive capabilities with your strategic human insight for better product visibility and allure.

To thrive online, offer more than products — deliver stories that speak to the desires and searches of your customers. Integrate generative AI into your SEO strategy and help it build an audience for your ecommerce business.

Are you ready to take your WooCommerce store to the next level with generative AI? Showcase your products on Google’s search results and drive growth. Check out the Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin and transform your ecommerce SEO.



Edwin Toonen

Edwin is a strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

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Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Nov 28 2023
Yoast SEO 21.6: Generative AI now available for WooCommerce SEO

Yoast SEO 21.6 helps you rethink how you approach search engine optimization. With the power of generative AI integrated into our SEO tools, crafting compelling titles and meta descriptions was never faster or more effective. We added generative AI to Yoast SEO a while back, but now you can also improve your products in WooCommerce SEO.

Here’s how Yoast SEO helps you

Whether you’re a blogger, a digital marketer, an online store manager, or a business owner striving to climb the search engine ranks, we designed Yoast SEO 21.6 to enhance your workflow like never before:

  • Generative AI capabilities: Leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, the tool assists you in generating unique, relevant, and attractive titles and meta descriptions that help increase your click-through rates — for posts and WooCommerce products.
  • Efficiency at scale: Say goodbye to the days of laboring over the perfect wording. Our generative AI tools let you produce multiple options in seconds, allowing you to choose the best fit for your content.
  • Optimized for SEO: Our AI doesn’t just produce creative copy; we’ve trained it to align with SEO best practices. This ensures that the output resonates with your audience and aligns with what search engines love to see.

Online store owners: WooCommerce SEO just got smarter

Expanding the power of AI to ecommerce, the Yoast WooCommerce SEO add-on now comes with the same generative AI capabilities. You need Yoast SEO Premium to run this add-on. Then, online store owners can enjoy an array of benefits:

  • Product titles and meta description magic: Generate AI-driven product titles and SEO-friendly meta descriptions. It helps you stand out in the search results. It enables you to convert and sell more.
  • Save time and resources: Investing time in producing great product titles and meta descriptions can be exhausting. With our AI assistance, create compelling copy within seconds and focus your efforts on other aspects of your business.
  • Customized for WooCommerce: This feature is seamlessly integrated with WooCommerce, meaning you can boost your store’s SEO directly from your product editor.
An example of generative AI in WooCommerce SEO

Easy to use, hard to beat

Getting started with the AI feature in Yoast SEO is easy. First, upgrade to Yoast SEO Premium to unlock this invaluable tool. Once set, navigate to the ‘Use AI’ button in the search appearance section in the post editor. A simple click reveals a user agreement; review and accept the terms to proceed.

Instantly, the AI works, crafting multiple titles and meta descriptions tailored to your content. Take a moment to review the generated options. If they’re not quite what you were looking for, no worries! With the push of a button, prompt the AI to generate additional choices until you find the perfect match for your SEO needs.

Yoast SEO supercharged

We’re committed to providing you with the most advanced tools to help you reach SEO success. This update empowers you with smarter, faster, and more effective SEO solutions.

Join us on this exciting journey and take your SEO to the next level. Try our generative AI features in Yoast SEO Premium and WooCommerce SEO today and witness the impact on your site’s performance.

Try it now!



Edwin Toonen

Edwin is a strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

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