The world of SEO can be a tough one to crack. Especially for website owners who are not familiar with on-page optimisations, and how to use this method to rank against their competitors on the search engine results page. Although you may have an understanding of what it takes, you have likely also been bombarded with 100’s of different methods to SEO optimise your website. Both product and collection optimisations are mentioned when it comes to optimizations, but the question of why both, or either is needed arises. In this blog, we are going to share the impact of both product and collection page optimizations, which should be a priority for a long-term strategy. Take a look at the following suggestions:
What is on-page optimization?
On-page optimization is the process of fine-tuning different aspects of a web page to make sure it fits in line with SEO best practices, and therefore increase the chances of ranking on the organic search results page. This keeps in mind Google policy updates, in addition to user experience elements for an all-round optimisation. Businesses with a website should be implementing content optimisation in particular to their website to increase the potential of attracting organic search traffic, more specifically their target organic user.
While paid advertising can land users onto the website to make a purchase or enquiry, attracting users who have a search query on Google and having your website pop up will attract a qualified user who knows what they are looking for. If your website has helpful, optimised content, you are more likely to support the user through their journey to make an informed decision to purchase the product.
What type of businesses should consider on-page optimisation?
No matter the nature of your website, everyone can benefit from on-page optimizations. The question of product vs collection optimisation is more tailored to e-commerce websites, however, an enquiry-based website will also benefit from optimising tailored landing pages per each service.
What is included in on-page optimisation?
There are some ways you can implement on-page optimizations on your website –
- Content optimisation (product & category descriptions, FAQs)
- Schema markups
- Alt tags
These are just a few basic things that should be considered when optimising a web page, but also more technical SEO elements fall into this including ensuring fast load speeds and making sure the structure of the page suits both mobile and desktop view.
Find your keywords
Before you begin your on-page optimization, you need to find the right keywords for the page’s purpose. Some websites host a keyword search volume checker to find the right ones for you. It is important to pick keywords based on their volume. For a new website, you may target low search volume keywords to begin with and eventually add larger keywords once top rankings are achieved. Low search volume keywords might be considered anything below 300 average monthly searches, but this can differ depending on the industry.
Product optimisation for early SEO
If you have a new website with a limited range of products that are not scheduled to expand (anything less than 10), you will likely benefit from product optimisations. The reason for this is you want to expand as many opportunities for your products to rank on the search engine results page as soon as possible. Your products should ideally target lower search volume keywords, and leave the more competitive ones for collection pages. For example, if you have a collection of hijabs, you may offer specific products with bespoke materials therefore you would optimise each product for the name ‘satin hijab’ or ‘cotton hijab’.
Collection optimisations for longterm organic visibility
For a long-term SEO strategy, your collection page optimisations should be a priority. This is because you can not predict what products you will sell in the future, and relying on individual products when they can fall out of stock will limit your conversion rate potential. Your collection pages will be a part of your long-term strategy. Products may change on the page, but the page’s purpose will stay the same. This means going for your higher competition, broader keywords. Using the previous example, you may optimise the keyword ‘Hijabs’ for the collection page, and then niche the keywords down for the product page. You may also include a couple of long-tail keywords in your FAQs here, and use every opportunity to include helpful, optimised content.
Final tips for creating content
Avoid keyword stuffing
Google knows that many SEO’er are trying their hardest to manipulate the search engine results page but include=ing as many keyword mentions as possible. Because of this, Google has released a number of updates that means if they spot keyword stuffing, they will disregard the content, if not rerank websites adopting this feature. Keywords need to look natural and organic, as opposed to looking forced and excessive. When adding keyword mentions, make it as seamless as possible.
Helpful content
Googles ‘helpful content’ update means that websites adding content just for the purpose of adding keywords are also being disregarded. Instead, make sure that any and all content that is added to a website is relevant to the page, whilst also offering helpful advice to users who are interested in the products.
Use Google’s NLP checker
Google utilises NLP to gauge an understanding of the purpose of content, in addition to making the score optimal will increase the chances of your content being crawled and begging recognised as beneficial to the SERP. Just for reference if your overall score fits into the optimal range, then you are good to go! Google NLP will point out any sentences that are not optimal for NLP, so you can fine tune your content accordingly.
Include long tail keywords for FAQ questions
Long tail keywords can also be your secret weapon when it comes to content optimisation. These keywords will have lower overall searches, but they wil be much easier to rank for on the SERP. make use of these long tail keyword searches when adding FAQS onto a page, offering helpful advice within these sections of content.
Bottom line
Overall, category vs product optimisation should all be taken into consideration for SEO. While category content is essential for a long term strategy, product optimisations can also be beneficial when dealing with a more refined and specific range of products. Take on board all of our suggestions, and see your organic visibility sore up to the top of the search engine results page.