So, you’ve decided to build an online retail site for your growing product business. If you find choosing themes, color wheels, templates, and photos that display your products in the best light exciting, you’ve only scratched the surface of what your website requires from you. Building a retail website for your business is a dynamic process that will show you returns – if you continue to give your website time and attention.
The online retail space is competitive and, well, worldwide. If you want to have a website that can stand up to all of the other options, it is important to focus on SEO. A part of your SEO strategy should consider how your content is improving rankings with Google and other search engines. You’ve got great products, so how do we differentiate them in organic results from other similar products?
Why Optimize Your Product Descriptions?
1. Keywords change
2. Duplicate content is bad
3. To enhance user experience
1. Keywords have changed since you first wrote your Product Descriptions.
When you first sat down to write your product descriptions, you, no doubt, ran the product name through several keyword tools to determine which keywords you would include in the description. Then, after determining volume and user intent, you settled on a keyword or phrase and wrote your description with a keen eye on not over-using the keyword but using it just enough.
Scheduling time regularly to evaluate Google Analytics for your website is essential. First, determine if your URL is ranking – and if not, why not? Then, see what words or phrases have current volume, consider search intent, and your overall SEO keyword strategy. Then rewrite your product descriptions using those updated keywords and for current SEO standards.
2. Duplicate content sends Google to another site over yours.
Google does not like duplicate content. For example, if you sell merchandise on your website that you get from a manufacturer – who also sells that product on their website – and you copy the product description word for word from the manufacturer’s site, Google is going to move on without ranking your site.
Google is the consumer advocate. If your website offers the consumer something different to benefit the consumer, Google will rank your site higher. Duplication of information is not seen as a benefit, so rewriting your product descriptions is considered a great benefit to both you and the consumer.
3. An exceptional user experience is the ultimate endgame.
Prioritize the user experience by analyzing your keywords often. When you review your website analytics and find a decrease in traffic, consider optimizing your product descriptions. Optimizing your product descriptions can help you improve rank for current searches and keyword trends. And when the consumer can easily find the product they are looking to buy, they are more likely to purchase – and that means from you!
Ultimately, it is up to you to differentiate your products from all the competitors found online. You can do this yourself or hire SEO experts. By keeping your product description content original, regularly reviewing and updating keyword use, and using Google Analytics to your advantage, your organic traffic will bring excellent returns for the time and attention you are willing to give.