How to plan category pages for eCommerce
Focussed Category Names for eCommerce
Trying to optimise a website for organic search results can sometimes be likened to playing a game of cards for high stakes, where nobody will tell you the rules or indeed what you forfeit if you lose.
Google especially love to come out with half-truths, innuendo and contradiction with their ever-changing policies for both organic and paid search programmes… it’s sometimes hard for even seasoned Online Marketing professionals to know who to believe.
It’s no wonder the majority of new eCommerce retailers that I speak to are nervous about online marketing; especially those who have been convinced by some of the ‘shadier’ members of our profession that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is some kind of voodoo that only those who have spent years in meditation (probably at the top of a mountain, cross-legged and surrounded by chanting monks) can perform.
Whilst it’s true that working in the Online Marketing industry can be ‘challenging’ (read: ‘mind-bendingly frustrating’) at times, I’m here to tell you today that SEO is common sense. Anybody can optimise and promote a website (assuming a willingness to learn and the time to do it) … There I’ve said it! No mystic Ninja throwing star skills required…
There is a quite HUGE caveat to the above statement when you are optimising an eCommerce website. You’ve got to think… not like a retailer, but like a consumer at every point in the optimisation and promotion process.
A very large portion of planning SEO strategy involves finding out what people are searching for and want, because there is no point in ranking for what nobody is looking for!
Keyphrase Research
Categorising product content requires a logical approach and a definite focus on what people may search for. For SEO purposes, it’s important to cover all the keyphrases in any trading vertical that could possibly bring in useful traffic and may convert into a sale.
I always try to get into the planning of an eCommerce website early if possible, before category structure has been decided. This ensures that the right categories can be created. Doing this gives the maximum potential for success in any on-going promotion for each website we work on.
Planning category names requires keyphrase research to be undertaken, this way you can name categories based on projected keyphrase traffic estimates and competitiveness data.
In a way, a good online marketer can see the potential revenue and chances of success for any website before the website is created, just by knowing the trading vertical, product ranges and the brands that are going to be stocked.
All good keyphrase research tools are based on solid, real-world data. There are many paid tools out there on the ‘web to help with research, however Google AdWords still allow you to use their Keyphrase Research tool to find historical search data and competitiveness. You need a Google AdWords account for this, however this is free.
Method
For promotion of a brand-new website on a brand new domain, things are all a bit ‘manual’ and involve getting lists of brands, product lines and maybe even products together before any research can be carried out, however once you have this data it’s fairly easy to start extrapolating the available data into an initial list you can put through keyphrase research tools in order to get an idea of search volumes and competitiveness.
Getting an initial list together is important and can be made easier by using keyphrase suggestion tools like https://goo.gl/KTva0P and even Google’s own suggestion tool which is integrated into Google search. Just start typing and you should get a list of suggestions to expand your initial lists.
To streamline the process (with less than optimal results) you can use Google AdWords’ own keyphrase suggestion tool https://goo.gl/oJ5HXX , this will suggest keyphrases that have been seen relating to your base set of keyphrases in AdWords campaigns previously.
Capture these suggestions and then you can proceed to competition and search volume research. This should give you not only an idea of optimal category names, but a really solid foundation for creating content for those pages. You’re going to need this for your category pages to have any chance of ranking well for more competitive keyphrases!
The whole aim of this research is to choose category names which reflect what you are offering and have a worthwhile amount of search volume. If you can choose names which also have lower than expected volumes of competition then even better. This puts the new eCommerce website on the best possible footing going forward.
Avoiding Duplication
Avoiding category duplication is important in an eCommerce website because having more than one page within a website targeting the same set of keyphrases will lead to leaching of page effectiveness. Ideally, each page in the website should be optimised for one set of very closely related keyphrases and this set should not be reflected on any other page.
This is important to remember when adding brands and product types into the mix.
As an example, if you are selling ‘sports watches’ and wish to categorise by gender (Men’s, Ladies, Boys, Girls) it makes sense to have ‘mens sports watches’ category alongside sports watch categories for ladies, girls, boys and then segment by brand as well, but not to be tempted to then be dragged into duplication by adding a separate ‘Brands’ top level category, which could dilute your optimisation efforts.
With planning, your freshly created website category structure should be totally focussed on keyphrases which are popular search terms and have a history of promoting conversions.
David Fairhurst
Head of eCommerce
Intelligent Retail
https://www.intelligentretail.com
David has been involved with Search Engine Optimisation and web development since 1999 and has spoken at many different retail and SEO conferences including Spring Fair and SES London