Creating an online shopping experience that yields repeat customers involves more than just product content alone. Try boosting your e-commerce site with a little something extra: category content. By definition, it's as simple as it sounds — short, informative copy located on the category level of your website that centers on a particular assortment. As consumers browse your site, this copy gives them a greater understanding of the products or services offered in each general category, helping them find exactly what they're looking for while strengthening your online presence.
What Do I Need To Know To Produce Effective Category Content?
The style and tone used in this copy varies from brand to brand and should be consistent and unique throughout. Figure out what works best for your e-commerce site and get the ball rolling. If you're just starting out, here are some simple guidelines to follow:
- Be Informative: On the most basic level, the main goal of a category description is to inform consumers about the products you offer in a broad sense. For example, you can list the main types of items offered in that particular location of your site with a brief description of each, or suggest potential uses for your products. The more your customers know about your offerings, the better.
- Positively Influence Decisions. Category content helps consumers make buying decisions that best suit their needs. By offering simple purchasing tips and information, you’ll be able to foster a positive shopping experience. Consider using category copy to compare and contrast products, materials and features in a particular assortment and answer common questions about product types. The idea is to give customers context across various content categories rather than to push for the purchase of any individual product.
- Add Internal Links. Simple navigation encourages customers to add more products to their virtual shopping carts. As consumers browse your content, help them find exactly what they're looking for by interweaving links to subcategories and related product assortments throughout your site. Shoppers will be able to find what they need quickly, and you'll help your site rise in the SERP ranks. Pro tip: add links that look natural. Instead of hyperlinking phrases like “click here,” try to link words and phrases that appear naturally within your content. This enhances readability and makes it easy for your customers to spot links they're specifically looking for.
- Boost SEO. The stronger your keyword game, the better your site performs in search results. However, forcing loads of keywords into your content is counterproductive and will diminish the quality of your pages. Using category-level copy to naturally add keywords to your site helps drive traffic by enabling search engines to find your website for consumers. For best results, do your research. Discover the most effective keywords for your site and weave them into your copy in a thoughtful, organic way. Remember: the less you sound like a spambot, the better. Never stuff content with every keyword possible — instead, include common search terms while maintaining a compelling voice.
- Be Authentic. Your company is more than just a never-ending list of products. Use this opportunity to let your brand shine! Adding personality to your site helps build relationships. As consumers browse your copy, they get a real sense of who you are as a company and relate to you on a more personal level. Shoppers should leave these pages with a feeling of confidence in your knowledge and a sense that the copy they've consumed was useful and meaningful to them. In short, your brand should seem like a trusted ally.
What are your preferred methods for guiding consumers to and through your product assortment? Feel free to share any tips, ideas and questions you may have with our readers in the comment space below, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to stay up to date on future posts.
Data integrity, time to market and increased conversions are vital to all e-commerce retailers. Our product data management and unique content creation program ensures consistent product names, robust product descriptions, complete and accurate product attributes and an array of digital assets are at your disposal, providing time to market and quality improvements that will outpace your fiercest competition. Contact our team and get started with Virtucom Group today.
