Product category pages play a pivotal role for e-commerce sites. These pages showcase the different products available within broader categories and serve as the main hub for users to browse similar items. And so with effective optimization and content focused on customer needs, category pages can become high-converting and bring more qualified traffic to specific product listings.
In 2024 and beyond, there are several e-commerce category-page-best-practices that e-commerce stores should follow. Proper keyword targeting, internal linking structures, developing a mobile-friendly design, and creating compelling content are just a few examples of what will be crucial. By implementing the following e-commerce SEO and UX elements, any online business can boost conversions across their product categories.
Why Category Pages Matter for E-commerce SEO
Before jumping into the key optimization areas, it helps to cover why e-commerce category pages deserve so much attention in the first place.
These pages play a crucial role in the customer journey and overall site performance.
For one, category pages naturally attract high transactional intent visitors. When users land on a category listing, they are specifically looking to browse or purchase those kinds of products. The page brings together different options and funnels visitors closer to a conversion.
Category pages also play an important SEO role for e-commerce sites. They can target broader keywords, and user searches around general product types. For example, a category page for laptops has the chance to rank well for terms like ‘buy laptop online’. From there, internal links and proper on-page elements make it easy to guide visitors to more niche subcategories or individual item listings.
In addition to supporting keyword strategies, category pages help strengthen an e-commerce site’s overall linking structure. They function as an intermediary between high-level home and product pages. This creates a clear customer path and also signals to search engines the relevance of deeper content across the website.
Essentially, optimizing category pages comes with multiple SEO and UX benefits at once:
- Target wide-reaching product keywords
- Increase internal linkage
- Guide visitors closer towards conversion
- Improve site crawlability
For these reasons, e-commerce SEO in 2024 places heavy priority on category page optimization as a crucial sales driver.
Use Relevant Keywords in Title Tags
The first optimization for category pages should be on-page SEO. Just like blog posts and product pages, your category page titles and URLs need relevant keywords. Target one primary keyword for every category page that describes the product type.
For example, if you sell electronics, smartphone accessories could be a category page. A fitting title would be ‘Smartphone Accessories: Chargers, Cases & More’. This includes the main keyword, along with additional related keywords.
Ideally, identify a category term that buyers are searching for but isn’t too broad. You want a balance between search volume, specificity, and conversion potential.
Choose the Right URL Structure
The URL for product category pages also requires SEO attention in 2024. The best practice is to use descriptive URLs – have the category name or keyword within the URL. Additionally, use URL formatting that’s consistent across your site.
Here is an example of a well-structured URL:
www.mysite.com/electronics/smartphone-accessories
Consistency is key in order for categories to seem connected in the site architecture. It also helps search engines easily crawl and index related content together. As you build out category pages, ensure the URLs follow the same format across all levels.
Create Unique, In-Depth Content
Beyond on-page SEO, category pages should contain high-quality content that is interesting and useful, and that should be tailored to the specific product category. Avoid generic descriptions and repeat content that exists on other pages.
Start by identifying questions your target audience may have about the product type. What features do they care about? What type of specs or technical details will they research? Use these insights to craft detailed content that sets your category page apart.
For our smartphone accessories example, you may cover the following:
- Why you need phone accessories
- Factors to consider when buying chargers, cables, cases, etc.
- Differences in materials and technology for accessories
- Top accessory brands for iPhones and Androids
- Accessory essentials for road warriors and busy professionals
Include images, charts, and videos in the content when possible. Demonstrate the context in which customers will use the accessories shown on your page.
In addition to helpful information, showcase best-selling or top-rated items. Seeing specific products they may purchase increases relevance for shoppers. Just make sure not to optimize solely for sales. This is because providing valuable educational information is what usually builds authority and converts better long-term.
Enhance with Visual Content
Speaking of visual content, this is another prime area for boosting category page conversions in 2024. Simply showing grids of product titles and prices simply won’t captivate modern users or differentiate an e-commerce store anymore.
Look to include ample relevant photos, graphics, and videos across category pages. These types of visual assets provide tangible depictions of the available products. Visuals also stimulate interest and browsing behavior, which gets visitors to click through more listings.
Some types of engaging visual content to consider include:
- High-Quality Product Photos: Feature enlarged product shots as category headers or alongside listings for clear visual association. Crisp images trigger emotional responses, which can compel purchases.
- Infographics: Share interesting stats or data around product benefits, industry trends, and even seasonal demands through colorful infographic designs. These make great category page headers.
- Lifestyle Category Images: Setting the tone with category overview images that depict target users experiencing products builds connections. These images also aid search visibility.
- Demo Videos: Consider embedding short product demo reels and 360 spins for key category listings. Dynamic visual motion enhances understanding and interest
The core concept is using visual assets to educate and compel target users as they evaluate category purchase options. Images, graphics, video, and even iconography check multiple boxes to boost engagement and clicks.
Link to Specific Subcategories and Products
As you create content for product category pages, include links to relevant subcategories and products. This interconnectivity performs two crucial SEO functions:
1. Google rewards sites that make information easy to access. By linking to related content across your site, you demonstrate expertise on the topic. Visitors can easily navigate to narrower subcategories or additional products from each page.
2. Internal links pass equity around a website. When you link out to other category and product pages, you pass authority from the original pages creating a network effect. Plus, links indicate to search engines which pages cover related topics.
Continuing with our example, the smartphone accessories content would link internally to relevant subcategories or products:
- Chargers (wall chargers, battery packs, wireless chargers)
- Cables (Apple lightning cables, USB-C cables, micro USB cables)
- Phone Cases (slim cases, rugged cases, designer cases)
- Screen Protectors
- Lanyards & Mounts
- Top-Rated iPhone Chargers
- Customer Favorite Galaxy Cases
These links to narrower categories or specific products give visitors clearer paths to what they want while improving SEO.
Optimize for Mobile Users First
Recent data shows over 70% of e-commerce traffic comes from mobile users – and growing yearly.
With this shift to mobile shopping, e-commerce stores must optimize across devices. Often, category pages display as long lists of products that require excessive scrolling on phones. This frustrates users trying to browse or research products.
Here are a few ways to improve mobile experiences on category pages:
- Refine Product Filters – Site search and filtering options let users narrow product listings quickly. Test filters are frequently used on mobile and simplify the options.
- Shorten Page Length – Keep product category pages concise by featuring select products. Link to separate category listing pages for longer, paginated results.
- Enhance Visuals – Zoomed-in product images, cleaner mobile layouts, and minimal text boost engagement.
- Load Speed – Faster page speeds reduce bounce rates across devices. Compress images, minify CSS/JS, and enable browser caching to improve load times.
As Google weights page experience and site speed more in rankings, optimizing for mobile shopping ensures strong category page conversions.
Optimize Page Speed
Closely related to the mobile experience, page load times warrant separate mention. Research shows nearly half of shoppers will abandon a retail site if pages take over 3 seconds to load. For maximum category page conversions then, fast load times are an absolute must in 2024.
Start by examining site hosting to ensure adequate computing resources that prevent server lag. Next, optimize image file sizes without compromising quality. Also, minimize HTTP requests through effective page caching.
Test category page speed using Google PageSpeed Insights to catch problem areas. Sort out any issues prior to launch and keep monitoring speed over time as products and design elements adjust. Remember, fast sites rank higher in SERPs and accommodate user expectations.
Add Cross-Linking Between Related Categories
Customers often consider products from multiple categories during their buying journey. Someone shopping for a phone case may also browse chargers, cables, and screen protectors.
When categories are interconnected with links, you can capitalize on this cross-category potential. Say a customer finishes comparing iPhone 13 cases; include links to power banks and lightning cables to purchase compatible accessories.
Driving visitors between product categories boosts on-site engagement. It may convert shoppers who only planned to make one purchase initially. Linking related categories also improves SEO through greater internal linkage.
Spotlight Best Sellers and Top Reviews
Assuming your e-commerce platform tracks analytics, take advantage of this data on category pages. When visitors arrive at a product category, chances are they want to discover the most popular items.
Call attention to best-selling products and highly rated items right up front. Display badges like “Top Customer Rated” or “Our #1 Best Seller” to validate products.
Visually distinguish popular products as social proof. In our smartphone accessory example, you might bold the customer’s favorite iPhone case in search results. Making the most purchased options easy to identify taps into psychological triggers that increase conversion potential.
Structure Category Pages to Guide SEO Crawlers
To help search engine bots better understand category pages, use schema markup and XML sitemaps. Schema is code that explains the purpose of pages to Google. This includes identifying category pages with a list of products, along with proper URL structures covered earlier.
Sitemaps act as a guide pointing crawlers to all product and category pages. This ensures search engines index all pages, even ones deeper in your architecture. Submit XML sitemaps through Google Search Console for the best chance at getting category content ranked.
Proper technical setup goes hand-in-hand with optimizing content. By making category pages easy to find and interpret, you improve SEO rankings and clicks from searches.
Track Category Page Analytics for Ongoing Optimization
The final step with category pages is continuing measurement and iteration. Use analytics to identify top-performing categories that are driving conversions and revenue. Dig deeper into understanding customer behavior with specialized tools, and explore more ways of increasing conversions based on your analytics.
Uncover ways to better display popular products or desired information based on hard data. Testing visual changes, content and special offers allows you to optimize over time. What you learn may become a new best practice to implement across other categories.
You should also expand category keywords and content as your product line grows. Regularly check search results for category terms that could be better optimized by your site. Add relevant products or pages that outrank you for opportunities.
Examples of Well-Optimized Ecommerce Category Pages
To see effective category page strategies in action, let’s look at a few examples. We’ll analyze elements that make these product category pages stand out for SEO and usability.
1. Wayfair
Wayfair is one of the largest online-only retailers offering home goods, furniture, and decor. Their category pages do an excellent job showcasing curated products with inspiring lifestyle photos.
A few smart things Wayfair does include the following:
- Category pages focus on select best-selling products instead of paginated long lists
- Great visual variety with products beautifully styled in room settings
- Links to narrower categories along with smart guided navigation
- Optimized across devices putting imagery first
- Showcases customer reviews and photographs for social validation
This quality-over-quantity approach removes choice paralysis for shoppers. Images sell the lifestyle customers aspire to when purchasing furniture. Wayfair sets the standard for elevating ordinary product pages into engaging shopping destinations.
2. Chewy
Chewy takes a very different approach to optimizing their pet product categories’ homepage style. Pages feature wide product selection across popular subcategories. The benefit is increased internal links and facets to filter results.
Notable SEO and UX considerations on Chewy category pages:
- Primary categories lead to expansive niche subcategories
- Long-tail keyword optimization with category depth
- Hundreds of products listed with infinite scroll
- Faceted navigation and filters to manage volume
- Reviews are prominently displayed including photos
Chewy builds authority by showcasing a vast product selection. This strategy matches buyers’ desire to research all options for pets. Tapping into emotional connections between pet owners and animals creates strong brand affinity.
3. Lowes
The home improvement giant structures categories using multiple page templates to aid SEO. Parent categories have hub-like pages with links that push visitors deeper into subcategories.
Lower levels take a traditional approach to displaying the full breadth of inventory. Exhaustive product lists match the considered nature of home project purchases.
Key SEO differentiators for Lowes:
- Parent “hub” categories target informational keywords
- Links build a clear site hierarchy for crawlers
- Consistent templates and URL structure throughout
- Optimized facets filter product listings by attributes
Lowes leverages category pages to guide visitors across informational and transactional SERP opportunities. Funneling shoppers from upper to lower funnels increases on-site conversions.
These three examples demonstrate vastly different but equally effective e-commerce category page strategies.
Wayfair simplifies shopping through aggressive curation and lifestyle branding. Chewy impresses with an exhaustive niche selection and pet-focused content. Lowes relies on breadth, facets, and their site architecture guiding visitors.
Each approach matches the customer journey for buying products in those verticals. Testing insights from these category pages’ best practices can benefit any e-commerce site. The key is to understand your audience, products, and conversions to determine the ideal SEO and UX balance.
Optimizing E-commerce Categories is an Ongoing Process
Given the importance of category pages for e-commerce discovery and revenues, accept that optimization is an ongoing initiative with no finish line in sight.
Ecommerce evolves fast with new products, apps, and connected experiences constantly changing user expectations. What converts today in terms of category page content and functionality may look quite different 6-12 months from now.
And so revisit category layouts, content, and linking structures at least quarterly as part of your ecommerce SEO audit. And use these audits to identify new optimizations that realign pages to search demand and conversion potential.
Ongoing category iteration also provides a constructive way to counter competitor moves or even page stagnation that gradually reduces conversions over time. When it comes to the big picture, category optimization plays an indefinite role as core e-commerce experiences constantly shift.
Just remember, that category pages are not supporting content or static directories. They are living sales tools playing an instrumental role in e-commerce profits. When viewed in that context, continual optimization is simply the cost of doing business.
Recap: How to Optimize Ecommerce Category Pages for 2024
Optimizing category pages improves conversions and SEO authority. By providing a better buying experience, customers engage with relevant products longer. Pages personalized to user intent also achieve higher rankings in search engines.
As we move into the future, expectations for e-commerce sites continue growing across mobile friendliness, site speed, and visual appeal. Use these updated category page optimization tips to exceed buyer expectations:
- Craft descriptive page titles targeting primary category keywords
- Implement logical, consistent URL structures with keywords
- Create unique, in-depth content optimized for customers
- Interlink relevant subcategories and products
- Structure category listings for easy mobile browsing
- Enable faceted filters and guided site navigation
- Cross-link complementary product categories
- Highlight best-rated and top-selling items
- Use schema markup and XML sitemaps
- Continuously test and optimize based on analytics
Additionally, evaluate well-designed category pages on competitors and industry leaders. Take inspiration from their effective product showcases and content presentation across devices.
Focusing efforts on better category pages gives you the opportunity to differentiate your e-commerce site. As you drive more qualified organic traffic to personalized shopping experiences, expect greater customer retention and revenue per visitor in 2024.
So, in summary, some of the most effective strategies for optimizing your e-commerce website’s product category pages in 2024 include:
- Carefully crafting descriptive yet concise page titles targeting relevant keyword terms
- Implementing a clear, logical, and consistent internal URL structure and site architecture
- Creating unique, high-quality content tailored to product categories and shopper intent
- Interlinking related subcategories and products to facilitate site navigation
- Structuring category pages for easy mobile browsing with refined facets and minimal scrolling
- Enabling category-specific filtering options to help users narrow product listings
- Cross-linking complementary product categories to encourage multi-category purchases
- Calling out best-rated and top-selling items to social proof preference
- Using schema markup to semantically annotate pages for SEO
- Tracking and testing category page analytics to enable ongoing optimization
Hopefully, this guide gives you plenty of category page optimization ideas to boost your e-commerce SEO and website success throughout 2024!
