Product listing SEO
The basis of a good marketing campaign is product listing SEO, which helps sellers create high quality and engaging product listings.
Selling the most attractive or high demand products doesn’t necessarily mean the seller is a market leader. Much of ecommerce success relies on the seller’s marketing efforts, so it is important to incorporate it in the overall business strategy. The more competitive the market - the more marketing efforts are required in order to stand out. Failing to put in the necessary effort in marketing simply leads to lost sales opportunities.
The basis of a good marketing campaign is product listing SEO, which helps sellers create high quality and engaging product listings.
Product Listing SEO
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process by which adjustments are made to increase the exposure of a website within a search engine. Accordingly, product listing SEO is the process by which sellers adjust their product listings in accordance with the requirements of different marketplaces and marketing channels. In short, SEO requires adjustments.
Get to Know Online Marketplaces
The first step in online marketing is to identify the most relevant target market. For instance, a seller that sells handmade jewelry should look for ecommerce platforms that specializes in this type of products.
In order to reach more potential customers, sellers can list their products on major ecommerce marketplaces, such as eBay. Sellers should familiarize themselves with the different platforms, so they can use them more effectively. Sellers should:
- Learn what type of shoppers each platform attracts
- Identify windows of heavy traffic on the platforms
- Adjust their listing to match the character of the platform
A good source of information on what to do is the competition. First sellers should identify who their main competitors are across different marketplaces. Then they should take note of how their listings are built and when they upload new listings. This way sellers can get to know the market they are entering, and how to make their listing more successful.
The Significance of High Quality Listings
After the competitive market research stage is done, the next stage is creating the listings. While relying on insights gained in the previous stage, sellers should create informative, yet engaging content. Most marketplaces limit the amount of content sellers can post, so here are four tips:
- Experiment and Adjust
As mentioned above, the content of the listing should be engaging. This is a process that takes adjustments and re-adjustments of the copy, experimenting with different keywords and key phrases that help improve the visibility of listings. Our handmade jewelry seller, for instance, would be wise to include such keywords as ‘artisan’, ‘handmade’ and ‘unique jewelry’, that have a high probability of attracting potential customers.
The gateway to the listing, and no less important, is the listing title. It is the first thing that attracts the customers, and it informs them about the product. Once more, adjustments will be necessary, and sellers should see how different titles perform. For instance, the title “Air Jordan 1 Sneakers” may perform better than “Nike Air Jordan 1 Sneakers” simply because of the fact that it highlights the model of the sneaker, which is what most customers look for.
Due to limitations of the number of words allowed in the title, sellers should attempt to keep only the most relevant information and keywords in the title, letting customers know exactly what the product is.
- Product Listings Should Be Informative and Accurate
Using too many adjectives and over-glorifying the product in the listing only makes customers suspicious. Listings should contain accurate and complete information in order to inspire confidence in shoppers. Highlight the true strengths and unique features of the product and how it may benefit the customers. A good way to do this is listing these features in a bullet point list. Most shoppers will glance at the list first to make sure the listing is relevant and worth their time.
- Know Your Audience
Depending on the type of products they sell, sellers should know their target audience and create the listing for them. Sellers who sell common retail products should use a language that the majority of people can engage with, adding consumer-centric key phrases. However, a seller that sells high end sound systems, should use the technical language most customers in this category use.
- Be Original and Engaging
The product listing is where sellers try to stand out above the competition. Sellers should create original and engaging content that will help them convince the customers the product will benefit them. Most sellers don’t invest in the content, resulting in many repetitive and boring listings. Take advantage with a unique and engaging content that will help attract new customers.
After completely optimizing the product listings, adjusting the titles and content and including the most effective keywords, it is time for the next crucial stage - product images optimization. Right next to the product title, there is the product image, which almost all customers take a glance at. That is why it is important to optimize the images.
Customers can easily notice the difference between poor quality and high quality images, so it is important to use the best quality images possible (within the marketplace’s limits). The image should highlight the product, and present it clearly. It is recommended to add images of the product from different angles or in real life use, if relevant, to give customers other perspectives.
Categorization is Key
All this effort to make the listings perfect will do no good at all if shoppers can’t find products. Major market platforms divide the millions of products they sell into specified product categories, and if a listing is mis-categorized, it gets lost among millions of other listings. It is very important that once sellers finish optimizing their listing, they upload them under the correct categories in each marketplace, so customers can find them easily.
Already rapidly growing, ecommerce has received a boost due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This has provided plenty of business opportunities for online sellers, but also increased competition. The key to success in today’s ecommerce world is understanding the online marketplace. Apply the tips we have given above to optimize your product listings, and see performances improve.
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