Category Pages up - Product Pages down... what would help?

[xoffie]

Hi

I mentioned yesterday how one of our sites was losing rank on product pages.

What steps do you take to improve the SERPS of product pages, in this case home/category/product is the tree.

There isn't really any internal linking, except one link from the category page to each product, would setting up a host of internal links perhaps "similar products" linking them together be a place to start?

How can I improve my ranking of these more deeply internal pages? Not just internal links?

[RyanKent]

If your site is small, let's say 5 categories with 7 products each, you may provide multi-level navigation links so all your products can be reached from any page of your site.

If you have a larger site, there are some other tactics which can be used. On the home page you can share a "new products" block linking to your latest few products. You can also share a "popular products" block linking to your most popular products.

On your product pages you can offer similar blocks for "similar products" or "people who bought this product also bought....".

Of course it is always helpful to earn external links to these deeper pages. Another idea is if you write any blog articles about your products you surely should link directly to them.

[xoffie]

Hi Ryan,

OK, basically I have a lot (say 250,000) products open to me, but as we're doing every single product page by hand with unique content, it would take lifetimes or an army to fill out all these pages so maybe its time to get super selective. Basically, we're up against a lot of companies all with the same product, so I want to stand a chance to rank 1st page, perhaps being selective in the products we choose will help us out.

Any other ideas besides internal linking and obv external links?

[RyanKent]

At a high level, SEO is based upon 3 factors: website architecture, content and site promotion (i.e. links + social media).

With any site, but especially a large one, it is critical every aspect of your website architecture is solid. There are tons of design issues which, once resolved, help a site to rank better. A few quick examples:

• are coding errors or site speed issues interfering with the way search engines crawl your site?

• do you have an automated process for internal linking? (i.e. like Wikipedia)

• do you offer users the ability to sign in with 1 click from their social account?

• do you have a mobile website?

• do you offer solid social engagement? comments? etc

The above are just a few sample questions. Anything which can be done via code should be perfect on a large site like yours. The changes effect every single product offered on your site.

Next, evaluate your content. How good is it really? Good is not good enough, and neither is great. You need "absolutely fantastic" and "best on the web" content to rank at the top. Being unique is only the beginning. Be "engaging". Offer detailed pictures of not only the products but images of the products being used. Allow users to share their experience with testimonials / comments, etc.