How to Write Product Content That Ranks Well on Google

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One of the most difficult tricks in the world of search engine optimization is writing commercial content. It is particularly challenging to write product content that earns a strong organic ranking on Google.

The reason creating product page content that ranks well is so difficult is because people search for that type of content when they’re ready to buy. Therefore, every other business in your industry is trying to rank well for those same keywords—and the competition is intense.

Here’s how to write product content that ranks well on Google.

Most Businesses Follow the Same General Rules

For a new business in almost any field, the standard strategy for achieving strong search rankings and generating organic traffic goes something like this:

Write the best product content that you can, but don’t expect it to rank well right off the bat.
Concentrate on creating the best non-commercial blog content possible. It’s easier to earn strong organic rankings for non-commercial content, and if the content is sufficiently helpful, it’ll earn links that eventually improve the rankings of your commercial content.
In the meantime, generate traffic for your commercial content by bidding on AdWords keywords.

But Some Cannot

There are businesses in some industries, however, that can’t follow that strategy because they can’t bid on AdWords. For example, vaping businesses like E-Cigarette Empire fall into that category. Even without the ability to bid on AdWords, though, the most successful vaping businesses receive plenty of organic traffic anyway. How do they do it?

As it turns out, it is not impossible to write product content that ranks well. This is true even if your website is new and doesn’t have high domain authority yet. It isn’t easy, though. Moreover, it may require you to put far more effort into your product pages than you currently do.

Don’t Copy Product Text from Other Sources

Without question, the absolute worst thing that you can do is copy your product descriptions from other sources. For example, it might seem a natural to copy product content from the products’ manufacturers or competing retailers. But don’t do that.

First of all, you don’t own that content and you don’t have permission to use it. Secondly, that content is unlikely to generate any traffic.

Google’s search engine works by scanning and indexing all of the text content on the web. When people type keywords, Google attempts to suggest pages on the web with text that will answer those queries. If you use copied text on a product page, Google has no reason to suggest your page as the answer for a query. Why would Google do that when its index already has at least one other page that provides exactly the same information?

If you want your product pages to generate organic traffic, the text absolutely must be original.

Make Product Content as Long and Informative as Possible

Google is a search engine that works on text. It scans the content of pages on the web and attempts to understand the text and connect it to keyword-based searches. The more text a web page has, the more keywords it has. Therefore, the greater chance it has to earn high organic ranks for lots of different searches.

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO FIND SEARCH PHRASES FOR YOUR SEO

Also, long content is informative content, and content length has been shown to correlate strongly with high organic rankings on Google. However, creating lengthy product text takes more effort. Unless you happen to have a background in writing, you may find yourself experiencing frequent cases of writer’s block.

Answer These Questions to Write Longer Product Content

Are you having trouble coming up with a sufficiently large volume of text for a product page? Then check the text to ensure that you’ve answered these key questions.

What is the product?
What does the product do?
How does the product work?
What pain points or problems does the product resolve?
What’s the best way to have a great experience with the product?
What are the product’s features and specifications?
How does the product differ from competing companies’ offerings?
How does the product differ from other offerings on your site?

Ultimately, the core goal of any product page is to convince a website visitor that the product he or she is viewing is absolutely perfect for his or her needs. In case the product isn’t perfect for that customer, though, you should also use the product page as an opportunity to help website visitors discover other products on your site.

Use Question Phrases on Product Pages

More than ever, people are searching Google not just by typing keywords, but by asking actual questions. Smartphone voice assistants have helped to drive that trend. What’s more, Google has been preparing for question-based searching for years.

For example, they have enhanced the search engine’s ability to understand and process complete sentences. Therefore, it is wise to optimize your product pages for voice searching. Do this by putting at least some of the information in a question-and-answer format.

Use High-Quality Original Photography Alongside Product Text

When you’re trying to sell a product, the best way to do that isn’t with words. It’s by showing the product to prospective customers. People want to see the product before they buy it. So make sure every product page has the highest-quality photography possible. That’s not just for the user experience, though. It’s also for SEO.

Google has the ability to recognize photos that are similar to—or the same as—photos that are already in its index. If your product photos are the same as some that are already available elsewhere, those photos probably won’t appear in Google’s image search. And people definitely use image search when they’re shopping for products.

If you have the ability to create videos demonstrating how to use your products, you should strongly consider doing so. When it comes to showing how to use a product, or showing how well a product works, nothing works as well as video.

Optimize the Product Page for Easy Scanning

Putting a large volume of text on your product pages might be good for search rankings. However, it’s only good for the user experience if the text is laid out in a way that makes sense and is easy to scan.

Therefore, use elements like grids, charts, bullet points, and subheadings liberally. This helps to maintain the viewer’s attention and make content easy to understand. Google’s ranking algorithm notes good content organization and uses it as a ranking factor. Good product organization makes bots happy—and it’s also good for the user’s experience.

Learn more about optimizing your online store or blog to attract the attention of search engines by bookmarking our blog and visiting often.