Page Analysis - Helping Product Pages Outrank Search Results Pages

[TheCraig]

Hi!  We have a lot of our search results pages that have been indexed and outrank our product pages and in some instance the actual product pages barely show up at all.

Here is an example query that includes our brand name:

http://goo.gl/cgB6W

So, we have loads of actual product pages, video pages, etc that should be showing up here, but are not and this is just one example.

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of these Search Results pages out there and utlimately we would love to de-index them altogether, but it's going to have to be carefully done.

So, was wondering if anyone would want to check out one of our product pages and give any feedback as to what we could change to possibly improve rank or to make them more search friendly or hopefully to help them rise above these indexed search results pages?

Here is an example product page:

http://goo.gl/2R4IT

Thanks!!

Craig

[TakeshiYoung]

Maybe it's just the case that Google thinks that the search results page provides a more relevant result for searchers?

Think about it: if someone searches for "fishing boat videos" on Google, are they really searching for any one particular video on your site, or do they want to browse through a selection of videos? In that case, a search results page is probably the best page from your site to display.

Rather than fighting against this trend, you should run with it and create category pages based around your most popular categories of search results. Add a unique text descriptions to each of the category pages, to make them even more relevant for search.

As for the product pages themselves, they need more unique titles. Rather than titling each video "Fishing Boat Video" you should give each one a unique title that describes what the video is about, such as "Small Wooden Fishing Boat in Caribbean Video". That way, people who are searching specifically for that type of boat will land on your product page. Also, try to add more unique text content to the product pages, because right now they don't contain much unique content.

[TheCraig]

Thanks for chiming in Takeshi!  Very much appreciate it!  We have thought about that, but there are a few issues with keeping it as it is:

1.  From what I understand, Google's terms state they don't want Search Results being indexed.  We are concerned that these Search Results pages could incur a penalty via Panda at some point because of this.

2.  Our product pages have videos on them that also are indexed, or should be.  A thumbnail/video result is a much better item to be showing up rather than a text only Search Result page.

3.  While I would agree that the customer would likely want to see more options, our analytics show that the product pages convert considerably better than the search pages do.

I totally agree with you on the titles, but our site is a dynamic contributor based site.  Those who upload and sell the content title their items.  Most do have more specific titles, but there are definitely cases where their titles are lacking.

On the product pages, we do show the keywords related to the item and then link back out to the Search Results pages from these.  Wondering if this could be a problem area for us.

Thanks for your response!

Craig

[TakeshiYoung]

1. Yes, too many search results being indexed could be problematic. That's why you would create category or topic pages around the most popular search results pages. Then you can de-index all the search results pages and have your category pages rank instead.

2. It looks like the search results pages also have videos on them? Maybe I'm looking at the wrong page.

3. Product pages may have a higher conversion rate, but is it may not be an apples to apples comparison. The search terms that are driving people to product pages may be more specific than those that are driving traffic to search results pages.

The product titles is a tricky issue. Maybe you can append 3 of the most relevant keywords to generic titles to make them more descriptive? Also, the product pages could use more content. Images and videos are fine, but Google still understands text the best. Maybe offer incentives to customers to leave reviews, so you can have more unique UGC on your pages.

[CleverPhD]

I agree with Takeshi, couple additions.

If you do go the route of changing your search URL structure etc. I would not deindex your old search pages, I would 301 redirect them to the new pages you are creating.  I would then setup new search pages behind a folder that you disallow in robots.txt to keep Google out of those results and into your more important pages.

The apples to apples comparisons make sense too.  Product pages always convert better as it is the page where the product "lives"

I can see why Google ranks your search result page for "RevoStock Fishing Boat" as it gives users the best options for accessing all your fishing boat videos.

http://www.revostock.com/SearchResult-Empty.html?text=fishing boat&cat1[]=1

If you look at any of your fishing boat video pages on that search result page, they are pretty much identical examples I see at least 40-50 product pages like this

http://www.revostock.com/Stock-Video-Footage/229719/Fishing-boat.htm

http://www.revostock.com/Stock-Video-Footage/229730/Fishing-boat.htm

http://www.revostock.com/Stock-Video-Footage/229746/Fishing-boat.htm

same URL, title tags, h1, even the slug at the end Fishing-boat.htm etc just the variation with the ID in the middle of the URL and on the page.

Google is looking for the authority page on your site for "Fishing boats", but with all the product pages almost the same, I can see why it would point to the search result page as it is a major hub for your content   You also mention that "On the product pages, we do show the keywords related to the item and then link back out to the Search Results pages from these. "  This is another signal to Google that those search result pages are important.

Getting back to the conversion point again, you still should look towards using a category page to rank on your head terms vs the product pages due to your inventory.  Lets say you wanted to rank for "Fishing Boat Footage".  What product page would you send someone to?  You have a ton of choices on your site and so seems to make sense to have a great category page to get people to the site on a given KW and then make it easy to then let them browse your inventory.

You can then use all the videos/product pages themselves to focus on the long tail searches. You need to work on differentiating the videos.  They need descriptions and more information around them.  I can see the differences in the videos by looking at them, but Google will not due to the lack of text.  Outsource some writers to work all of this up and it should not only be good for Google, but for users.  All of the detailed descriptions around the videos would help for those longer tail searches and you could end up with more search volume long term.  I help run a site where we have "contributor submitted content" as a part of information about their products.  The stuff we got submitted sucked.  Poorly written, typos, not helpful, etc.

We hired some contract writers on the cheap and they cranked through stuff and the site is doing much better for having clean up to date content.   I know you are saying, "That is crazy" but it is just the thing that will also differentiate your content from others and ultimately gain more customers (IMHO).

My best advice is to read everything that Adam Audette has ever written.  I kid you not.  He gets into details around pagination and structure for exactly the type of questions you have.

This article should nail it right on the head for you

http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/site-search-dynamic-content-and-seo/01032013/

An oldie but a a goodie

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2097061/SEO-Techniques-for-Large-Sites-How-to-Maximize-Product-Visibility-in-Organic-Search

Cheers!