10 August 2010
Five Ways to Get Unique, Keyword-Relevant Content on Your E-Commerce Site
Search-engine optimization (SEO) can be challenging for e-commerce sites because they tend to lack unique, relevant content. Many e-commerce websites contain mostly navigational pages (with little content) and product pages (with mostly duplicate content). The challenge can be overcome with a simple content strategy. This article outlines five content techniques you can use to get unique, keyword-relevant content on your site:
1. Write Category Descriptions
For many e-commerce websites, optimization for primary keywords will focus on their category pages. The problem is that most category pages have little content, comprising mostly images and links.
An effective way to overcome that challenge is to write descriptions or introductory copy for each category, to be displayed above or below the product listings.
2. Rewrite Product Descriptions
Although category pages may be the focus for primary keywords, product pages offer a wealth of longtail keyword opportunities. The challenge, of course, is that in many cases product pages use manufacturer-provided descriptions, which are duplicated across many other e-commerce websites.
One solution is to rewrite product descriptions to make them unique. Although that may not be practical to do for every product on your website, you could start with a short list of the products that offer the greatest SEO opportunities. Select the products for which your site isn't ranked No. 1 but which would bring excellent returns if they were ranked higher.
3. Write Expert Product Reviews
A good strategy for adding keyword-targeted content to your e-commerce site is to write and publish expert product reviews. Those in-depth product reviews could include images, video, detailed product testing and analysis, and other value-added content that shoppers would find useful.
4. Create Mish-Mash Pages
Mish-mash pages are pages that include various types of content targeted at a specific keyword.
To create a mish-mash page, start by selecting the keyword you want to target. Then write a very short article or relevant content about that keyword and place it at the top of the mish-mash page.
Below that introductory content, include links to relevant products or product categories on your website. Elsewhere on the page, include images, videos, reviews, guides, or any other relevant content you may have on your site.
The result is a strong keyword-targeting page filled with relevant content—perfect for search engines.
5. Write Buyer Guides
Buyer guides are in-depth articles teaching consumers what they need to know to select and purchase the best product for their needs. The guides are especially useful for products that may require specialized knowledge to understand.
For example, consumers on average know very little about computer specifications or how to choose the right computer for their needs, so a buyer guide may be very useful for a website that sells computers. Buyer guides can very easily be optimized for primary or secondary keywords because they typically have keyword-rich content.
Source: Marketingprofs