How to Write Category & Product Page Copy

At ROI Revolution, our search engine optimization (SEO) team helps clients from a wide range of industries by crafting content that creates desire and connection with their customers. We understand that each business serves unique clientele, and we tailor search engine optimized copy to match.

For example, engineers and plant managers who need industrial fluid handling products have very different needs from bereaved family members who are looking for the perfect cremation urn for a loved one. A person with asthma who is shopping for a high-quality air filter for their home is looking for relief while someone searching for a luxury watch has a completely different set of expectations. Their vocabularies are dissimilar, too.

We use keywords, terminology, and tone (among other tools) to write audience-appropriate content that creates desire and connection and adds to the expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (EAT) of our clients’ websites.

Let’s consider a hypothetical product from a typical shopper’s perspective.

Buying blind.

When was the last time you purchased an item online based solely on the name of the product? Even if the name was “The Most Perfect Thing for YOU” without an image and description, you’d probably be hesitant to hand over your hard-earned money for something you knew nothing about.

What if that item had an image but nothing else on the page except for the price? I doubt you’d be much more enthusiastic about adding it to your cart.

Now imagine that product page for “The Most Perfect Thing for YOU” showed photos from several angles and dimensions, along with an offer for free shipping. You might be inching a little closer to hitting that “Add to Cart” button, but there’s still that nagging doubt about whether it really is that perfect and for you.

What’s missing? What is it that makes you second-guess that purchase?

Connection.

SEO content – the copy on a webpage – can create a feeling of connection between the potential customer and the brand. How? By inviting them into a story about the product, showing them how the product will add value to their life, and making them feel like they are a member of a tribe, content creates connection.

Back in 2008, two writers decided to test their hypothesis about using the power of story to sell random garage sale and thrift store purchases on eBay. Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker posted those items on the online auction site with starting bids of no more than a couple dollars and no descriptions – just an image and a price.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that nothing sold.

Then, they asked creative writers to write fictional stories for those items – not to deceive, but to infuse the items with significance. They reposted the items with the same starting bids and the new stories, and the items sold for tens to hundreds of dollars. This experiment proved in a real way that a story sells – even if fictional!

Trust.

Glenn and Walker were honest with their buyers about the real value of the items, yet those people still made the purchase based on the connection they felt to the stories. By being honest, they built trust.

Trust is important to everyone. You feel better about a purchase when you trust the seller, right? So does your customer.

There are many ways to build trust in the online world. Here are a few noteworthy ways:

Give all the details you can upfront. Answer the customer’s questions before they even ask.
Share testimonials from past customers. Let them build you up in the eyes of future clients.
Offer a great warranty/guarantee. Stand behind it.
Use social sharing buttons on your product pages. Encourage buyers to share the links with their friends and followers.
Use internal and external links to demonstrate authority and expertise.

Desire.

If you don’t feel connected to a product or a business, you’re less likely to make a purchase. Consumers have two reasons to buy something:

A logical reason: I need a thing that does a specific task.
An emotional reason: I would love for it to be the most popular (to feel part of the in crowd), the newest (to appear on top of the latest trends), or the most attractive (to appeal visually to others).

Sure, some people are driven by the purely logical side of their brains, but most people are not Mr. Spock. We want to be excited about what we spend our money on. We want to feel that we made the right purchase. We want to believe we made the smart choice. Humans make decisions based on desire.

Twice the win!

Writing solid content that builds expertise, authority, and trust and creates a connection with your customers isn’t just a technique for selling. It’s a solid strategy to boost your website’s search engine optimization. Google’s algorithm looks for all these things when deciding where to rank your site on the search engine results pages (SERP).

A site that has well-written SEO content – or category and product page copy – using relevant, audience-appropriate keywords is much more likely to enjoy higher traffic volume and conversions than one with zero to minimal content on the pages. It’s also more likely to rank higher in search engine results.

SEO content is just one of three search engine optimization pillars. If you’re interested in learning more about the three pillars of SEO, contact us today! You can also find more of our helpful SEO resources below:

Sources and inspiration for this post: