3 tips for understanding Product SEO for eCommerce

“I don’t understand why this product isn’t showing up on Google. I have a great exact match domain, my products are wonderful, but I still can’t find my products when I search for them!” Said every shopping owner I have ever talked to. Well… the problem is most likely your content!

Lets face reality. When you do an SEO audit for small to mid size eCommerce sites the business owners are usually shocked to see the results. You can show them their technology is usually good (most are on SaaS solutions like Shopify or Big Commerce), their designs are decent (they are using a tweaked theme), and the platforms are stable. They sites are well indexed, no issues right?

Wrong…

The major issue faced when selling to the public is the Product Description content. For me this falls into 3 major categories of failure

Experts vs Novices

In most situations, the store owners are “experts” in their field, whereas the purchasers are “novices”, and therefore the content is written with completely the wrong wording. If you are selling say Cars. You would know everything that there is to know about them. Engine size, torque to the wheels, inner dimensions, wheel size, horse power, types of headers used, boost in the turbo, exact manufacturer color number etc. But a novice knows “Fast, Blue, Sporty, Small”. So if you have written the product description based on your knowledge it might be missing the target.

TIP: I have found it extremely easy to ask a previous customer of the site, or a family friend that has no clue what you do to describe what the product is. Also include multiple descriptions to cover different levels… This is why people have that wonderful specifications tab on many stores.

 

Not Enough Information

If you are writing some basic information on the site think about if it is enough. People have so many options to buy that same product most often, what are the words that will convince them to buy from you? Free Shipping? Product Guarantee? Cost? If you don’t write it on the page, search engines will have a tough time finding it!

TIP: Think back to high school.  When you had to write a 500 word summary for a 400 page book. You covered the best, most interesting things in that report. Do the same for your product. No… Not 2 pages… Thing 4 paragraphs. If it seems just a bit to long… it is likely perfect!

 

Not Knowing what people are looking for

So if you tackle the terminology issue, and the length issue, and still aren’t getting anywhere maybe people legitimately aren’t looking for your product. Now this is a detriment to many small businesses out there that have risked their livelihood, and their family to start a business and become overnight millionaires. People simply don’t want the product, or there isn’t a big enough market. Well hey… this isn’t really an SEO “issue” but some simple SEO tools will help you see that. Use Google AdWords and see what the common terms are related to a competitors page and what people are looking for (yes you can do this and it isn’t illegal). Check words you (or better yet your non-knowing neighbor) think should drive traffic to the site and see the global and local monthly searches are.

TIP: Rinse repeat! This isn’t something that remains static. The industry and product you are in will change overtime. You need to be an informed business owner and stay ahead of the market, or be an early adopter to the new world that is happening around you. Playing catch up is never fun

So there you have it 3 basic things to remember when you think your site is so great and not being searched. Ask an Expert about their opinions on your Content strategy