Effective e-commerce search engine optimization (SEO) entails a number of important steps, but good product page SEO is absolutely essential to reach your site’s full potential for organic traffic.

The good news is that this entails a number of tactics that are easy to replicate again and again, which is how you can address all of the products on your site, even if you have a massive inventory.

At the same time, after working in SEO for more than a decade, I’ve definitely noticed companies making some costly mistakes when it comes to building product pages that will rank and drive traffic.

The Most Important Thing You Have to Understand About Product Page SEO

I think the most important aspect of nailing product page SEO is this: not all of your product pages are of equal value as far as search engines are concerned.

For example, some of your products might get hundreds or even thousands of clicks a month whereas others may not get any. They may hardly see any impressions.

Of course, that doesn’t mean these products don’t sell well. They just don’t do well with search engines for some reason.

Sidenote: this is why I stress the importance of category page SEO so much with our e-commerce clients. While product pages are where transactions happen, category pages are more often than not the assets that actually bring traffic to your online store.

How to Approach Product Page Optimization

In SEO, product pages don’t exist in isolation, and search engines don’t treat them that way.

Every page on your e-commerce website influences others, meaning you must consider how product pages connect with the broader structure of your store. 

Search engines evaluate your site holistically, with the whole being greater than its individual parts.

To optimize product pages effectively, you need a dual focus: fine-tuning each page while ensuring they each complement the rest of your site. This includes addressing key challenges such as:

• Category pages competing with product pages for the same keywords.
• Nearly identical product variants.
• Products listed under multiple categories.
• Managing expired or discontinued products.

Although these tasks may seem complex, rest assured we’ll guide you through actionable solutions further in this article.

However, as I just mentioned, not all of your products have the same SEO potential, so while we’re about to go over the 17 most important ways to optimize your product pages, one very important question remains: where do you get started?

If you have a sizable e-commerce website, you could easily have tens-of-thousands of products. How could you possibly hope to work through all of those product pages, especially as you 

17 Ways to Improve Your Product Page SEO

Now, let’s go through each tip we recommend for giving your product pages the best possible chances for doing well with Google and other search engines. I’d also recommend you check out our blog about technical SEO to give all of your products a boost by improving your entire site when it comes to search engine optimization.

1. Check What’s Working for Your Competitors

The number one rule in SEO is don’t reinvent the wheel. 

For example, competitors that show up at the top of Google have put a lot of time and money into creating product pages. Why not use all the hard work to your advantage by adopting what is clearly putting them on the first page and bringing them lots of traffic?

So, when you think about the keywords you want to rank for, step one is actually searching for them in Google and step 2 is looking at what is working for the companies that land there. In particular, think about the following

• Content Depth and Structure: Look at how competitors describe their products. Do they use detailed descriptions or just a few lines? Longer, keyword-rich product descriptions tend to perform better in search rankings, as they give search engines more context and help address potential customer questions. However, as I talked about in my blog post about B2B SEO strategies, sometimes this kind of content just isn’t necessary. Taking the time to add it could still help you outrank your competition, but it could also amount to a lot of work being done with no chance of achieving a decent ROI (as I mentioned above).
• Use of Visual Media: Check whether competitors include multiple images or just one. High-quality images showing the product from different angles, or in use, can enhance user experience and engagement. Look for product videos, too. Whether demonstrations, tutorials, or unboxings—can keep visitors on your page longer and improve engagement metrics, which may indirectly impact SEO.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): I’ll talk some more about this later, but check to see if competitors feature reviews, ratings, or customer photos. UGC builds trust, enriches your page content, and can improve visibility in search results by incorporating relevant keywords from customer feedback.
• Schema: Check if competitors are using structured data like Product Schema, Review Schema, or FAQ Schema. This markup helps search engines understand the content better and can enhance search result appearances with rich snippets, such as star ratings, price, or availability. I’ll talk about this more down below.
• Additional Features: Do they include FAQ sections, downloadable guides, or comparison charts? These extras can address user intent comprehensively, reducing bounce rates.

By analyzing these factors, you’ll better understand what’s working in your niche and can craft product pages that stand out, both in terms of content quality and user experience.

2. Put the Buy Button Above the Fold

Placing the buy button above the fold on your product pages is a smart move for a number of reasons. This can help drop your bounce rate and, of course, increase your conversion rate.

Fortunately, this type of engagement can also improve your product page SEO.

Users often make snap decisions within seconds of landing on a page, so if your buy button is immediately visible, it reduces friction in the purchase process by allowing customers to take action without hunting for it.  

Having the buy button easily accessible improves your chances of converting visitors into customers. It removes potential obstacles, particularly for users who are already primed to purchase. 

From an SEO perspective, a higher conversion rate can indirectly improve rankings. Google considers user engagement metrics, such as bounce rate and time on page, when evaluating the quality of a webpage. If customers can easily take action- like by adding a product to their cart or checking out – it signals that your page is effectively satisfying user intent. 

On the other hand, making users scroll through lengthy descriptions or search for a hidden CTA can increase bounce rates and decrease engagement.  

With that being said, there are definitely times when product pages need longer descriptions. Like I recommended above, you might find that competitors who make it to the top of Google tend to rely on this type for content.

However, even for those product pages, I still recommend placing the buy button nice and high.

You can even add another one farther down the page if you want, too.  

But no matter what, put the “Add to Cart” and “Buy Now” buttons above the fold where people can see it right away.

3. The Same Goes for the Rest of Your Essential Content

Borrow a page from Amazon’s very successful playbook and put everything important above the fold: price, SKU, guarantee/warranty, etc.

Placing your most important product information above the fold is a proven strategy for improving user engagement, boosting conversions, and enhancing your SEO. Countless companies have followed Amazon’s approach and showcased key product details – such as price, specifications, guarantees, and standout features – in a concise, scannable format like bullet points at the top of the page. 

When users can quickly find the critical details that influence their purchase decisions, they’re more likely to stay on the page and complete the sale. 

For example, if a customer immediately sees a competitive price, free shipping, or a warranty offer, they’re less inclined to leave and more likely to take action. This accessibility improves the overall user experience by catering to customers’ desire for efficiency and clarity.  

And, of course, the connection between user experience and SEO is significant. When essential information is above the fold, it reduces bounce rates and increases time on page – those two key metrics I’ll keep mentioning because they tell Google people are happy with your product page. 

To replicate this approach:

• Use bullet points to highlight essential features, specifications, and benefits (just like Amazon does)
• Ensure important elements like the product price, SKU, availability, and unique selling points are visible 
• Include the most engaging images or videos

This above-the-fold strategy aligns user priorities with search engine expectations, creating a win-win for your product pages. By prioritizing user intent, you’re not just increasing revenue but also reinforcing the metrics that contribute to better rankings in Google.

4. Product Pages with Good SEO Start with the Title

Optimizing the title tag is one of the most fundamental aspects of product page SEO. It’s your opportunity to clearly communicate the relevance of your product to both search engines and users. The title tag should incorporate precise keywords that potential customers are likely to search for like your brand name, product name, model number, and key attributes like size, color, or specific identifiers like an SKU if appropriate.

There are two important approaches I recommend here:

1. Though I’m sure you’re sick of hearing it: check what’s working for your competitors. If you both sell the same products, their title tags are going to be extremely important to emulate. If you sell the same types of products – but maybe your brand has their own versions – I’d still follow their lead when choosing Title Tags for your products.
2. And that leads me to my second piece of advice, which is to leverage your Search Console query reports to see what people are searching for when Google shows them your products. These important keywords would probably help quite a bit if they were in your title tags.

Incorporating these keywords into the product title not only helps the page rank higher for relevant queries but also sets clear expectations for shoppers. This clarity can boost click-through rates, which signals to Google that your product page is valuable and relevant. Always strive for accuracy, relevance, and specificity when crafting product titles.

Do the Same with Your H1s

For a long time, the conventional wisdom has been to make your Title Tags and H1s match. The rationale was that if your description is good enough for the title of a page, it’s good for the H1 and that this also ensured Google wouldn’t get confused. 

However, we know that Google will just rewrite your Title Tag about 60% of the time. So, the smarter play is probably to give your Title Tag plenty of keywords for Google to use. Obviously, start with the ones that seem to be working best for your competitors, but I’d experiment with adding plenty of other options, as well. 

But can’t title tags only be 60 characters

Title tags can be as long as you want. Google usually shortens them to about 60 characters (technically, it’s 580 pixels). So, try giving Google plenty to choose from and see what happens.

Then, for your product page’s H1 tag, be a little more judicious. Create user-friendly H1s that are written for your customers first and Google second. Do not throw in every keyword you can think of. Google won’t be rewriting those and too much text could make them look spammy.

5. How to Write Product Descriptions That Actually Drive Traffic

Alright, one more reminder that not every product on your e-commerce website may be worth  the time it takes to write an engaging description. You need to think long and hard before you start working your way through thousands of pages that all need copy.

However, in this section, I’m going to give you advice for writing these descriptions for products that definitely have the potential for lots and lots of traffic.

• Focus on Primary Keywords: Begin by identifying the primary keywords your target  audience is likely searching for. These should include terms related to the product’s name, brand, and key features. Integrate these keywords naturally throughout the description to avoid keyword stuffing, which can harm SEO.
• Highlight Key Features and Benefits: Rather than just listing product specifications, focus on the benefits these features provide. For example, instead of saying “100% cotton material,” say “Soft, breathable 100% cotton for all-day comfort.”
• Write for Your Audience: Understand your audience’s needs and preferences. Use language that resonates with them and answers their most common questions. For instance, a tech-savvy audience may appreciate detailed specs, while a general audience might prioritize ease of use.
• Optimize for Readability: Keep sentences concise and paragraphs short. This improves user experience and ensures your content is engaging and easy to digest.

By blending SEO keywords with a customer-focused approach, your product descriptions can effectively drive traffic and conversions.

What About the Manufacturers’ Product Descriptions?

What about when you sell products that aren’t your own? 

For example, if your sports equipment website sells the Wilson Pro Staff X V14 Tennis Racquet, it would be tempting to simply copy-and-paste the description for this product from Wilson’s official website.

If this isn’t your first time reading a blog about product page, then you already know what the “tried and true” advice is here: ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DO IT!!!

The justification is simple: it’s “duplicate content” that won’t help you rank because Google hates that and will know you just “stole” it from another website.

But there are a couple problems with this rationale.  

First, why would Google care if you’re using the product description that the actual manufacturer came up with. Do you really think Google is going to appreciate it if you take creative licenses with this official information?

That doesn’t mean you can’t use this information and do more. As we touched on above, User Generated Content (UGC) is a good example of this. Your own, unbiased thoughts might be helpful for example.

6. Highlight Similar Products

Here’s another example of where Amazon knocks it out of the park with their product pages.

No matter what you’re looking at, Amazon will highlight some type of “Recommended Products” or “products customers bought together.”

And that’s another example of how good search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization, and good user experience all go hand-in-hand.

Showing customers these recommended products is smart because it offers a more helpful experience. Of course, it can also improve your conversion rate and increase average order value.

At the same time, giving them more products to consider is another way to drop your bounce rate and drive up your average time-on-site.

But the other thing I love about “recommending” products is that it gives you a fantastic opportunity to leverage the power of internal links. While using out-of-the-box options like Adobe’s “Recommended Products” is a good way to make it easier for Google to find all of the products on your website, I recommend that you put a bit more effort into internally linking to your most valuable pages to improve their search engine rankings. 

For a full breakdown of my recommendations, check out my complete guide to internal linking for SEO.

7. Add Product Reviews

I don’t know if I’ve brought up Amazon yet, but they’re quite good at product page SEO. Look no further than their insistence on highlighting customers’ reviews.

• Fresh and Relevant Content: Search engines favor pages that are updated regularly with new content. Reviews generate user-created content that keeps your product pages fresh and relevant, signaling to search engines that the page is active and valuable.
• Improved Engagement Metrics: Reviews encourage user interaction, leading to longer dwell times and lower bounce rates, which are metrics that Google considers when ranking pages. A well-visited page with engaged users is more likely to be seen as authoritative and useful.
• Better Conversion Rates: I’ve talked about why conversion rates are good for product page SEO about a million times now, but positive reviews can bolster your conversion rate for obvious reasons. But I often find that most e-commerce companies don’t take full advantage of them for this nearly enough. When you get really good customer reviews, don’t relegate them to the bottom of the page. Put them nice and high – even above the fold – where customers can’t miss them when they visit your page. That’s going to lead to all the positive metrics that lead to better conversions and SEO.

And here’s the other reason to use product reviews…

8. Add Product Schema to Every Page

Using Schema markup has become an absolute necessity for improving your rankings and clickthrough rate for product pages. 

In short, this type of “structured data” (which you can find on Schema.org) provides data that helps search engines understand the content on your product pages more clearly, enhancing their ability to present it in search results.

For example, you can use this kind of structured data to clearly identify for Google that your page has an “Offer” on it, what the “Price” is for that product, and what the “AggregateRating” is based on what your customers have said.

Best of all, that information can then show up on Google, making your product pages all the more enticing for users who only want to click if the product has lots of impressive reviews.

Structured data can also make your pages more accessible for voice search, which often relies on specific, concise answers derived from Schema.

9. Include a FAQ (and Optimize It with Schema)

For the millionth time, you need to prioritize your online store’s inventory, but if it makes sense, I highly recommend you use an FAQ for product pages with high traffic potential.

There are a number of reasons I love this strategy:

structured data for these types of FAQs to improve your chances of organic traffic even more

So, if you have the time, identify the products that need a little extra help ranking and add Frequently Asked Questions to them.

10. Optimize All of Your Product Images

Improving your product image SEO involves combining technical optimization with strategic content enhancements to boost your site’s search visibility and user engagement. Here’s a streamlined approach:

• Use Structured Data: Let’s start with this one because we just talked about it. Using Schema Markup for images makes them eligible for rich search results, which show up in Google’s search result pages – enticing more clicks. This can include properties like “contentUrl” or “product details.”
• Rename Files with Descriptive Keywords: When naming the image files, use file names that describe the product and include keywords. For example, instead of IMG12345.jpg, name the file something search-engine-friendly like wilson-pro-staff-x-v14-tennis-racquet
• Add Relevant Alt Text: Write concise alt text that accurately describes the image and incorporates keywords. This supports search engine indexing and enhances accessibility. To be completely honest, I don’t think this tactic actually has a ton of SEO value, but this conventional advice is still smart to follow to ensure your e-commerce site is ADA-compliant.
• Select the Right Image Format: Modern formats like WebP are ideal for balancing quality and size. JPEG works well for photos, while PNG is suited for images requiring transparency.
• Compress Images for Faster Load Times: Large image files can slow down your page, affecting both user experience and SEO. Tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality. 
• Implement Lazy Loading: This technique ensures images load only when they come into the user’s viewport, speeding up initial page load times.
• Ensure Mobile Responsiveness: Optimize images to adjust seamlessly across devices and screen resolutions for a better user experience.
• Submit an Image Sitemap: Provide an image-focused sitemap to Google Search Console to help search engines locate and index your images effectively.

By optimizing product images with these steps, you not only enhance SEO but also improve user engagement, leading to higher visibility and conversions.

11. Add Breadcrumbs to Every Product Page

Breadcrumbs are links that show users the path to their current page, typically displayed as a horizontal line of links, such as “Home > Category > Subcategory > Product.”

The reason they’re called breadcrumbs is that they provide an easy path for a user who wants to go back a step.   

However, breadcrumbs also help search engines understand your e-commerce site’s structure, which is great for SEO. I also love that these links make it so easy for Google to crawl your site and move around it just like one of your users would. 

12. Optimize Page Speed (within Reason)

No blog post about SEO would be complete without talking about page speed.

However, this is yet another occasion where I need to depart a bit from one so many of my colleagues recommend. 

While I respect that a webpage – especially a product page – that loads quickly is certainly Google’s preference, I think too many business owners pursue fast page speeds to the detriment of other SEO priorities.

In short, despite what you may have heard, page speed isn’t everything.

Sure, back in 2017, Google found that as page load times on mobile increase from 1 to 10 seconds, bounce rates increase by 123%. But a 10-second load time is also fairly unrealistic. If you find that any webpage on your site is taking that long to load, fine – definitely address this problem ASAP.

Other than that, here’s my shocking advice: if you think your product pages are taking too long to load, check to see how your competitors stack up. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights report to check the top-ranking product pages. If those pages have better vitals than yours, okay. Sounds like you might want to work on that. Otherwise, focus on the other factors we covered above.

To optimize your product page’s loading times, consider:

1. Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs distribute your content globally, reducing latency by connecting users to servers closest to their location. They also cache pages for faster delivery.
2. Optimizing Assets: Streamline images, JavaScript, and CSS by compressing and minifying them. Use “lazy loading” for elements below the fold to prioritize visible content, loading less critical assets after the page renders.
3. Implementing Browser Caching: Enable caching for commonly used assets like logos and stylesheets, allowing browsers to reuse these files without re-downloading them, reducing redundant requests.

But as always, step one is checking on your competition first.

13. Use Canonical Tags Correctly for Product Variants

If your e-commerce store has product variants, you need to use canonical tags. 

In short, these tags tell Google, “I know these two pages are basically the same, so please focus all of your attention on this page and ignore this other one.”

The reason we want to do this is because when you have multiple product variants (e.g., different colors, sizes, or configurations), each variant often has its own unique URL. This can lead to duplicate or near-duplicate content across your site, which may confuse search engines and dilute the ranking potential of each of these pages. 

Canonical tags signal to search engines which URL is the “preferred” version of the page, consolidating SEO signals and ensuring better rankings.

Any CMS will make this as easy as possible to do, but the one piece of advice I don’t always see SEOs give is to use self-referencing tags for the “main” product page that you want Google to give its full attention to – ignoring the rest.

14. Canonicalize products that are in multiple categories

There’s one other really important way to use canonical tags for your product page SEO.

It’s extremely common that companies may list the same products across numerous different category pages on their e-commerce websites.

For example, maybe you can find the same golf club under the Men’s Golf Club subcategory on a website, but you’d also be able to find it under just its Golf Club category. Maybe it’s also listed under the site’s “Sale” category, too.

It’s perfectly fine to have the same product showing up in numerous categories, but in this case we either want all of the links to point to the same URL or we want canonical tags to tell Google which of these URLs is the one that you want Google to focus on.

15. Make Sure There’s Always a Link Pointing to Each Product Page

Managing a large and dynamic product catalog can sometimes lead to products being overlooked, especially when a parent category is removed. This can result in what are known as orphan pages – pages that lack internal links.

Orphan pages are problematic because they typically receive less visibility from search engines, which can result in lower rankings and, in some cases, may even be de-indexed by Google. The absence of internal linking makes it difficult for these pages to gain authority or discoverability through search engine crawlers.

Building a solid internal linking strategy is essential for boosting the ranking of product pages. Keep an eye out for pages that may have become orphaned due to structural changes in your site, and make sure they’re included in navigation menus, related product sections, or relevant category pages to improve their discoverability and SEO performance.

16. Use Blogs to Improve Product Page Traffic

I love using blog posts to increase traffic to e-commerce websites.

However, my focus is always on using blogs to increase traffic to pages where conversions actually happen. Generally, this means category pages because they tend to have the highest potential for traffic. But at times, this can also mean using a blog to link to product pages where competition may be difficult to overcome without these valuable links.

In fact, when trying to beat a competitor’s product page, I’ll usually start with Ahrefs’s internal link checker to see what these companies may be using to help bolster their chances of ranking these products. 

Just be careful that you don’t target these blog posts at the same keywords you want for your product pages. This kind of keyword cannibalization is how you can end up confusing Google and hurting your chances of ranking either page at all.

17. Consider a Sitemap Just for Your Products

Finally, here’s an idea that may help getting all of your product pages indexed but, at the very least, will definitely make it easier to review your Search Console’s Indexing Report and assess if/why you’re having any issues getting these pages in front of customers in Google.

First, credit where credit is due. While plenty of companies create sitemaps specifically for their products, I don’t think anyone has articulated the value of this strategy better than Oliver Mason. In fact, I’d wager most aren’t doing it with any real purpose in mind other than convenience. So, if you’re looking for a more detailed breakdown of this approach, check out Oliver’s article on XML sitemaps for product pages.

Okay, so the main reason I often suggest e-commerce companies create numerous sitemaps is because it makes it easier to use Google Search Console’s Indexing Report, which is designed to show you how Google is treating every page it finds.

While this includes pages that aren’t “Submitted” through your sitemap, it’s vital to look at what Google does with those pages that you have deemed important enough to include in this important file.

For example, if Google is telling you that it can’t index one of your sitemap pages because it returns a 301 code, that page probably shouldn’t be in your sitemap. The URL you redirected Google to definitely should be, but the one producing the 301 code doesn’t belong in that file.

So, it’s wise to break out separate sitemaps into separate types of pages. Products would be an obvious one. You can have another for the rest of your “CMS” pages (i.e., your homepage, Category Pages, etc), and one for your blogs (you are using blogs for your e-commerce site, right?).

If you do end up with indexing issues, it will be a lot easier to widdle down your list of culprits if you can just toggle through your various sitemaps. 

And then there’s the reason Mr. Mason recommends them, which is that it appears as though Google has an easier time working through your website’s pages if they’re disbursed over separate sitemaps of no more than 10,000 pages.

According to Google, your sitemap can be 50,000 URLs – and I’ve definitely seen plenty that big.

But limiting them to 10,000 may make them more accessible to Google and easier to crawl, which could have the final benefit of ensuring that more of your pages get indexed. 

Here are Oliver’s thoughts on why this might work: 

So, there it is. 

If your inventory exceeds 10,000 pages, creating separate sitemaps is a simple way to potentially improve how many of your pages get indexed.

What to Do if a Product Is Sold Out

If you follow all of my advice above, it’s inevitable that you will sell out products. 

Sorry about that.

Here’s what I recommend you do for the sake of your SEO.

• If Restocking the Product Is Possible:
  • Keep the page active and maintain the product page if you plan to restock
  • Label the page clearly as “out of stock” and remove the ability for customers to purchase it
  • Hide the price and prevent adding the product to the cart
  • Update the Product Schema markup to remove the “Offer” property to avoid SEO penalties
  • Inform visitors about potential restocking or offer notifications for when the product returns
  • In the meantime, feature alternative products on the page to maintain user engagement (hopefully, you are already recommending similar products like we covered above)

• When Products Won’t Return
  • If the product page still generates traffic or has backlinks:
    • Remove internal links to the product
    • Remove the product from the XML sitemap and on-site search
    • Add a `noindex` directive to prevent it from appearing in search results
    • Redirect the URL (301 redirect) to a relevant alternative product or a similar page.
  • If there is demand for specific model-related search terms, create a blog post like “What Happened to [Product Name]?” and redirect the old URL there. This keeps the traffic and offers context about the product’s discontinuation while suggesting alternatives. You can then list alternative products and link from it to send traffic to those pages.

• When Products Rank for Broad Terms (i.e. the general name for the product), redirect to a newer, similar model that’s still available. This helps maintain SEO equity and keeps relevant traffic on your site.

There you go. Running out of products is a good problem to have and a problem that you can easily handle.

Create Product Pages That Actually Drive Traffic (and Conversions)

Well, there is: a complete checklist you can use to improve the SEO of your current product pages or a guide to help you create them for the first time.

While it was probably a lot to read, implementing these tactics is something you can pretty much do on a template level, creating rules for your team to follow to maximize your products’ chances of ranking and attracting the kind of traffic that converts.

If you have any questions or want any help, you can always contact us.