This week’s Ask an SEO question comes from a medium-sized ecommerce site manager who’s run up against a common problem:
“Our product pages rank well, but our category pages rarely appear in search results. What specific optimization strategies would you recommend for category pages to improve their visibility?”
Thanks for the question!
It’s a common issue for ecommerce site managers. You have lots of category pages that would present a good opportunity for driving traffic, but they just don’t seem to be getting visibility in the search engine results pages.
First Thoughts
If your product pages are ranking well but your category pages are struggling more in search results, it’s likely due to the greater competition for broader, middle-of-the-funnel keywords.
While product pages can capture long-tail, bottom-of-the-funnel queries, category pages often struggle with more competitive, high-traffic terms.
Here are a few key reasons your product pages might be outshining your category pages, along with some tips to give those category pages a boost:
1. Technical Accessibility
There might be incorrect indexing directives. Category pages won’t rank well if basic technical elements aren’t working correctly.
To ensure your category pages are fully crawlable and indexable by search engines, check these aspects:
- On-page directives: Ensure noindex tags aren’t blocking your category pages from appearing in search results.
- Robots.txt file: Double-check that your robots.txt file isn’t unintentionally blocking important category pages.
- Canonical tags: Confirm that canonical tags are correctly set to point to the preferred version of each page.
2. Site Architecture And Internal Linking
It’s possible that your site architecture is designed to give more link equity to product pages rather than category pages.
To improve category page visibility, focus on linking more frequently to those category pages, especially the ones that have the ability to drive the highest amount of revenue.
This can be done through linking from other categories, blog posts, guides, and more. By ensuring category pages are linked to more often, you help search engines understand their importance and authority.
This is why conducting an opportunity analysis early in your SEO strategy is crucial. It helps identify the category pages that should receive the most internal linking support.
A final point on linking: Make sure your breadcrumbs are optimized and visible. Not only does that help visitors understand where they are on your site, but it might also encourage them to explore more of what you have to offer.
3. Issues With Faceted Navigation
Faceted navigation is an essential feature for large ecommerce websites, allowing users to filter product searches. However, if not properly managed, it can pose significant SEO challenges.
One of the primary concerns is “index bloat” – the creation of multiple, often duplicate URLs for each possible filter combination.
It can exhaust your crawl budget, and then search engines can potentially overlook critical pages.
Also, improper implementation can result in duplicate content, cannibalize rankings for category pages, and dilute internal link equity.
To avoid this, I recommend limiting the number of indexed filter combinations at any given time – ideally no more than two.
The specific number will depend on the range of filters available, but it’s crucial to prioritize filters that align with search demand.
For example, avoid indexing a combination like “size 7, green, wide fit, running shoe” if there’s minimal search volume for it.
However, “green size 7 running shoe” could be a valuable combination to index, as it has higher search intent.
4. Insufficient Or Low-Quality Content On Category Pages
Over the years in this industry, I’ve seen firsthand how impactful on-page copy can be for category pages. It helps to provide extra context that helps search engines better understand the focus of your pages.
After all, search engines prioritize pages with valuable content that provides context for users.
Many category pages are nothing more than long lists of products and icons. That’s a real missed opportunity – and also makes them less likely to surface in the SERPs.
Here are a few ways to boost their chances:
Short Introductions At The Top
On many ecommerce sites, you’ll notice there’s often a short block of intro copy at the top of the page.
This doesn’t need to be more than 100 words or so and is an effective way of helping search engines understand the page’s context. Avoid fluff or boilerplate copy; it needs to be unique and meaningful.
Tip: Explain what the category is, and the broad range of products or brands you sell.
Say the category page was “running shoes.” The intro could talk about all the materials the running shoes are made from, colors available, types of runs they can be used for, and so on.
Guidance Lower Down
Further down the page, you can include additional content modules to help the customer make an informed decision.
Ecommerce stores often use things like:
- FAQs.
- Feature comparisons.
- More information about your brand.
- Information on how to choose between products.
- Videos.
- Delivery information.
5. Lack Of On-Page Optimization
Your on-page optimization for category pages might not be fully aligned with search intent, so it’s worth reviewing and refining it to better match what users are searching for.
Page Titles
If category pages have generic or poorly optimized page titles, search engines may struggle to understand the page’s relevance, and users won’t feel enticed to click on the result in SERPs.
When creating them:
- Review current SERPS to see what’s working for competitors.
- Keep titles unique for each category to avoid duplication, and aim for 50-60 characters to prevent truncation in search results.
- Ensure your titles reflect what users are looking for – like specific product attributes (e.g., color, size) when relevant.
Meta Descriptions
A compelling meta description for a product listing page (PLP) should give users a reason to click, showcasing its offering and value.
Keep the meta description within 150-160 characters to avoid truncation, and craft it to answer potential user queries, like “best for [specific need].”
Header Tags
When you’re reviewing header tags for categories, the key is to capture the essence of the entire category while speaking to the intent of shoppers browsing or filtering options.
Start with a clear, keyword-rich H1 that tells users exactly what the page is about, like “Men’s Running Shoes.”
Then use H2 tags to break things down further with subcategories or popular filters, such as “Top Rated” or “Shop by Brand.”
For product detail pages (PDPs), header tags become more specific to the individual product.
6. Low-Quality Or Missing Schema Markup
Now, we’re getting into some of the more technical tasks to improve your category pages’ rankings.
It might be that your schema markup is better for PDPs than your PLPs, or your PLPs just need some more tweaks or additions.
Here are some simple actions that can make a difference:
- Consider adding the BreadcrumbList schema to your category pages. (It helps search engines understand the page’s position within your site’s hierarchy, improving internal linking.)
- Consider collection-level structured data if applicable.
- Review if category pages have any missing structured data.
7. Content Freshness Signals
All too often, people create category pages, then basically forget about them.
However, regularly updating them will show that the page is actively maintained, increasing your chances of appearing in SERPs.
Keep Category Pages Dynamic
Highlight trending products, top-rated items, or seasonal goods, surfacing them at the top of your category pages.
Include Recent Reviews
Getting positive reviews for products? Insert them as content blocks within your category pages. The more recent the reviews, the better.
Refresh Copy
Trends come and go, stock gets replaced, and new products get made. Refresh your category page copy to reflect these changes.
Final Word
I hope these tips can help you get more visibility for your category pages – and complement your already successful product pages.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
