Hi, everybody!
My name's Matt, and I'm the Social Media Manager here at Volusion.
Welcome to Two Minute Tuesdays, where we give two minutes of ecommerce advice to bolster
your online success.
When it comes to merchandising your products, SEO is the name of the game, and more often
than not, we use our product descriptions as an afterthought instead of tools in our
SEO arsenal.
Well, forget that bad habit, because today I've got five SEO mistakes that you're making
in your product descriptions.
First on our list: Never use manufacturer's descriptions.
This is probably the biggest SEO no-no when it comes to your product descriptions.
Why?
Because everyone else is using the exact same copy that you are.
This is not good because it doesn't allow for your site and your product descriptions
to stand out from the crowd, and Google doesn't like seeing too much of the same thing.
Secondly, and this usually happens with good intentions, make sure you're not inadvertently
using duplicate content.
For example, if your product descriptions have similar bits of content throughout each
of them, like "money back guaranteed" or "we offer only the finest ingredients," that still
counts as duplicate content.
So go through and make sure that you're not repeating yourself whenever you're trying
to upsell yourself.
Mistake number three is not writing like your customers think.
It's really easy for you, as the owner of your business, to get swept up in industry
jargon and think of products as you and other people in the industry would think of them.
The only problem with that is that people in your industry typically aren't buying from
you.
So think like your customer, and as a bonus tip, look out on other websites and look at
customer reviews for the same products that you're selling.
This might give you some keyword research ideas that you can incorporate into your product
descriptions.
Number four, and this is just an overall rule for anything when it comes to SEO, don't keyword
stuff.
Your website is not a Thanksgiving turkey.
In other words, if your keywords are being used four to five times throughout your product
description, it's not helpful for your users, and Google's going to catch you, and knock
your website down a couple pegs.
Last on our list, beyond keyword stuffing, you want to make sure that your keywords are
not too generic.
This is especially true if you're in an industry where there are lots of competitors, since
several of them are probably using the exact same keywords in their product descriptions.
Get yourself ahead and go a little bit beyond.
Add brand names in there if they apply.
Add high quality qualifiers to your keywords.
That way you can get more out of the "long tail" keywords and show up in search results.
Keep these five SEO no-nos in mind when you're creating your product descriptions.
Have any questions?
Just leave me a comment in the box below.
I'll get right back to you.
From me to you, happy selling.