The landscape of online stores has expanded exponentially, with a surge in the number of ecommerce businesses. Thanks to platforms like Shopify and the accessibility of dropshipping contracts, setting up a fully functional storefront and ecommerce product pages can now be achieved in a matter of hours, provided you have the necessary expertise.
However, amidst this abundance of online stores, competition for visibility in search results has intensified. With numerous sellers offering similar products, the challenge lies in securing favorable rankings on search engines like Google to stand out and succeed. If your ecommerce product pages are struggling to rank, it’s crucial to identify and address potential issues.
To aid in this endeavor, here are ten common reasons why your ecommerce product pages may not be ranking well, along with best practices to help rectify the situation and improve your site’s visibility and performance.
10 Important Reasons For Your Ecommerce Product Pages To Not Rank
1. Poor Keyword Optimization
At times, aiming for the primary keyword you want to rank for might be challenging, but your ecommerce product pages could still perform well for alternative keywords. Each webpage has the potential to rank for numerous keywords, and often, the most apparent ones aren’t necessarily the most important. Experiment with your keyword research and explore the long-tail keywords where your products excel.
On other occasions, the keywords you’re targeting might not attract as much traffic as anticipated. Utilizing SEO tools such as Ahrefs or Ubersuggest can help gauge keyword volume and identify the ecommerce product pages and keywords that are driving success for your competitors.
However, it’s crucial to avoid keyword stuffing; over-optimizing your pages can result in robotic-sounding content. Concentrating too heavily on search terms can backfire, so strike a balance in your optimization efforts.
2. Thin Product Descriptions
“Thin” content can be termed as content that lacks depth or value. Some individuals attempt to “spin” a product description by simply substituting words with synonyms in the manufacturer’s description, but this approach is often ineffective. Ideally, you should aim for longer and more comprehensive product descriptions and product headlines. While the general recommendation is around 150-160 words per product description, aiming for 300-500 words is preferable. Following errors should be avoided while writing descriptions for your ecommerce product pages.
However, achieving this without veering into overly verbose or irrelevant territory can be challenging. It’s mandatory to strike a balance between providing helpful and high-quality content without becoming too redundant or off-topic. Ultimately, the more informative and engaging the content on the ecommerce product page, the better.
3. Slow Website Speed
Slow-loading websites or ecommerce product pages frustrate users and search engines alike. If your ecommerce site takes extra long to load, search engines may penalize it, leading to lower rankings for your products. Optimize your website’s performance with these strategies:
- Implement caching to generate static pages, reducing render time.
- Compress product images to smaller sizes for faster loading.
- Utilize modern image formats like Webp to further reduce file sizes.
- Implement a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to enhance media loading speed, especially for images.
- Upgrade your site infrastructure, including WordPress framework, eCommerce platform, PHP version, or web hosting, for improved performance.
- Opt for a faster social media sharing plugin to minimize unnecessary assets.
Enhance page speed, load times, and Core Web Vitals score through various optimizations. Improving these aspects can significantly impact your search rankings, as a slow website can hinder your online visibility and user experience.
4. Lack of Internal links
Internal links serve two crucial purposes. Firstly, they establish a network of pathways between ecommerce product pages on your site, aiding Google in indexing all content effectively. Secondly, they engage and retain visitors by guiding them through your site’s content, fostering trust, and potentially leading to conversions.
This approach isn’t limited to blog posts; incorporating “related products” links on ecommerce product pages can also be highly beneficial. You never know which related product page ranks well and can be an added advantage for your other product pages.
5. Duplicate Content
Source: Ahrefs
A prevalent issue in ecommerce arises from the temptation to take shortcuts. One of the most common shortcuts involves copying product descriptions, specifications, and other details directly from the manufacturer. Especially when selling products not developed in-house, there’s often a temptation to duplicate the description and item information provided by the manufacturer.
However, this practice results in duplicate content, which Google tends to penalize. When multiple retailers offer the same item with identical descriptions, Google prioritizes the original manufacturer and then the most established ecommerce platforms before considering others further down the chain.
Google favors diverse search results over multiple identical options. Therefore, investing in unique product descriptions crafted by a copywriter can significantly improve your ranking and visibility.
6. Ineffectiveness of Metadata
Metadata plays a fundamental role in optimizing your website, especially in two key areas: your meta title/description and your image meta tags.
Meta title tags and meta descriptions are prominently displayed in search results, making them essential for attracting users. Ensure they are optimized with relevant meta keywords, and consider placing the main item front and center to provide clarity to users.
Image alt text serves two significant purposes for ranking of ecommerce product pages. Firstly, it aids Google’s indexing efforts since its image parsing tools are not yet advanced enough to fully understand images. Secondly, alt text enhances accessibility, ensuring that users with visual impairments or when images fail to load can still understand the content.
Canonical tags are vital, particularly when dealing with multiple product variations featuring identical content. By specifying which version Google should prioritize, you can prevent any negative impact on your website due to duplicate content.
Remember, metadata optimization isn’t limited to your homepage; dedicate time to optimizing metadata for every product on your ecommerce product page to maximize organic visibility and user engagement.
7. Existence of Multiple Product Pages
A common error observed in many online stores involves creating a separate product page for each item. While this approach isn’t necessarily detrimental, it becomes problematic when dealing with numerous similar products.
For instance, if you specialize in selling shoes, consolidating various color and pattern options for a single shoe model onto one page proves beneficial. This consolidation aggregates all options, descriptions, reviews, and specifications onto a single product category page, streamlining the user experience.
This method enables you to concentrate efforts on boosting specific pages rather than diluting value across multiple segments. By consolidating similar products onto one page, you enhance the page’s relevance and authority, ultimately improving its performance and visibility.
8. Poor User Experience (UX)
Poor User Experience (UX) on an ecommerce website can lead to multiple negative outcomes, including decreased customer satisfaction, lower conversion rates, and, ultimately, reduced revenue. When users encounter obstacles such as complex navigation, confusing layouts, or slow-loading pages, they’re more likely to abandon their shopping journey and seek alternatives.
Additionally, factors like unclear product information, difficulty in accessing support, or a lack of mobile optimization can further contribute to a subpar user experience, ultimately impacting the site’s overall performance and competitiveness in the market.
9. No Implementation of Schema Markup
Schema.org offers a dedicated section for structured data tailored to eCommerce websites. But what exactly does this entail? In essence, schema markup involves enriching data on your web pages with specific tags, allowing search engines, including Google, to interpret it accurately. For instance, by adding a “ingredient” snippet to the ingredients of a recipe, search engines can precisely identify the information, ensuring consistency across various platforms like Google.
Maximizing the implementation of schema markup is crucial. Doing so not only enhances your website’s visibility in organic search results but also improves its performance in shopping systems. By providing search engines with detailed and structured information about your products, you increase the likelihood of your offerings being accurately presented to potential customers, thereby driving traffic and sales.
10. Lack of Social Proof
Social signals such as reviews, likes, and shares can impact your search rankings. Product reviews are a staple feature in every major eCommerce store, from Amazon to smaller platforms. These reviews serve three key purposes.
Firstly, they enable users to rate your products, which can significantly influence potential buyers if the rating is favorable.
Secondly, product reviews contribute to building trust in your website. Consumers generally prefer purchasing from stores with reviews over those without, as reviews serve as social proof of the product’s quality and the reliability of the store.
Thirdly, product reviews add substantial content to your pages, potentially incorporating valuable keywords related to the product. This additional content can enhance your website’s visibility in search results and magnetize more organic traffic.
Therefore, it’s crucial to actively encourage and gather more likes, shares, and reviews to bolster your credibility, improve sales, and enhance your website’s search engine optimization.
Conclusion
Addressing these ten reasons can help improve the ranking of your ecommerce products and drive more traffic to your online store. By equipping your website for search engines, you can elevate your probability of success in the competitive world of ecommerce.
FAQs
How do I know if my ecommerce product pages are not ranking?
You can assess your product pages’ rankings by monitoring their position in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords and analyzing organic traffic levels to those pages.
How can I track the performance of my ecommerce product pages over time?
You can keep tabs on your ecommerce product pages’ performance by employing tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These tools help monitor essential metrics like organic traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates. By consistently analyzing these metrics, you can pinpoint areas that need enhancement and keep track of your progress over time.
How frequently should I update my ecommerce product pages?
Regularly updating product pages with fresh content, including new product information, reviews, and customer testimonials, can signal to search engines that your site is active and authoritative, potentially improving rankings over time.
