Word Count - Content site vs ecommerce site
-
Hi there, what are your thoughts on word count for a content site vs. an ecommerce site.
A lot of content sites have no problem pushing out 500+ words per page, which for me is a decent amount to help you get traction. However on ecommerce sites, a lot of the time the product description only needs to be sub-100 words and the total word count on the page comes in at under 300 words, a lot of that could be considered duplicate.
So what are your views? Do ecommerce sites still need to have a high word count on the product description page to rank better?
-
Writing very generous product descriptions can answer questions for the buyer. They can facilitate the buying decision or prevent purchase of items that are poor fits for the shopper - and thereby reduce returns.
-
Hi Bee159,
With Ecommerce, it is all about the user experience. Detail the products so the consumer knows exactly what they are buying. Even the simplest of products can benefit from a detailed description. I do not know how many times I am shopping for a product and there are many brands of the same item. What it is going to set it apart? A good description.
So its not word count... it is more like "Words Have Meaning" give value to your descriptions and more people will choose your products over the competitors.
-
I don't think that total word count is TOO much of an issue for e-commerce, however, it is key to have enough detail as possible in the description. We have products that we can't really go too much into detail as there isn't much to say, we can only write enough to ensure the pages are unique and descriptive enough to explain to the customer exactly what the product is, but often the word count is between 100-150. A key part of ranking for e-commerce is ensuring headers, page length, meta descriptions etc all up to par and make sure the page is as user-friendly and easy to navigate as possible.
We like to refer to this as a checklist when checking our product pages are as good as they can be.
https://magento.com/blog/best-practices/seo-best-practices-ecommerce-product-pages
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
On Site Errors
HI Folks I'm monitoring a small Australian site bluetea.com.au . Currently I have a SEO specialist who does month onsite maintenance work for this site. However each month I continue to see errors in webmaster tools... as an example, currently webmaster tools suggest we have 21 short meta dic and 26 duplicate title tags..... Examples given are Short Meta Discp /cleaning-products-and-our-health/toxic-cleaners/ /colour-consultant/fushia-door/ /portfolio/parisian-apartment-black-kitchen/parisian-apartment-black-kitchen/ Duplicate title tags <a id="zip_0-anchor" class="zippedsection_title"></a>concrete-kitchen | Blue Tea Kitchen Designs
On-Page Optimization | | PHD/kitchen-trends-and-material-innovation/concrete-kitchen-2/
/kitchen-trends-for-2013/concrete-kitchen/<a id="zip_1-anchor" class="zippedsection_title"></a>Potts Point Kitchen | Blue Tea Kitchen Designs
/portfolio/potts-point-kitchen/
/portfolio/potts-point-kitchen/pott-point-kitchen/My SEO tells me that he has solved all these issues but after one or two months they still remain in webmaster tools... can anybody help me understand why?Thank you
0 -
Pre-launch site or not
We are going to set up a new site in four months. Historically we always set up a simple Wordpress "Pre-launch-site" with relevant texts to start ranking in the SERP. Anyone with experience of doing/not doing this and what is had led to? A site with relevant texts also should have incoming links, which needs more work.
On-Page Optimization | | fredrikahlen0 -
Duplicate content issues?
Our company consists of several smaller companies, some of whom deal with very similar things. For instance, two of our companies resell accounts software, but only one provides after-sales support. Because of the number of different companies and websites we have, sometimes it would be easier to simply copy content from one site to the other, optimised in the same manner as, in some instances, we would want different websites to rank for the same keywords. I have been asked my opinion on the potential impact of this practice and my initial response was that we should avoid this due to potential penalties. However, I thought I'd garner opinion from a wider audience before making any recommendations either way. What do people think? Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | HBPGroup0 -
On site SEO review please
I'd appreciate it its anyone could take the time to review my on site SEO and suggest improvements. it's an adult dating site at http://www.local-sex-search. All pages can be found at http://www.local-sex-search.com/sitemap
On-Page Optimization | | SamCUK0 -
Word structure on page optimization
My question is this. I have a scrabble dictionary site and I list a ton of words on the page. I removed then as links just in case Google might be thinking i am spamming, but could there be a difference in listing words like this word1, word2, word3, word4, word5 and instead like this word1 word2 word3 word4 word5 could the first way trigger Google that I am spamming?
On-Page Optimization | | cbielich0 -
Duplicate Content - Potential Issue.
Hello, here we go again, If I write an article somewhere, lets say Squidoo for instance, then post it to my blog on my website will google see this as duplicate content and probably credit Squidoo for it or is there soemthing I can do to prevent this, maybe a linkk back to Squidoo from my website or a dontfollow on my website? Im not sure so any help here would be great, Also If I use other peoples material in my blog and link back to them, obviously I dont want the credit for the original material I am simply collating some of this on my blog for others to have a specific library if you like. Is this going to damage my websites reputation? Thanks again peeps. Craig Fenton IT
On-Page Optimization | | craigyboy0 -
Archetecture to avoid content duplicate
Hi, I have lots of duplicate stuff and I need a better site architecture. http://www.furnacefilterscanada.com/ We are selling furnace filters. All furnace filters are sold in 50 different sizes, each sizes comes in 3 different qualities, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Total: 150 products. Right now I have created many categories and subcategories for furnace filters sizes. When the client pickup is sizes, he will end-up to the products page with 3 different options, Bronze, Silver and Gold. They can then compare the filter a select the one he wants to purchase. The problem is, it is not possible to provide different content for each filters, Gold has a description, Silver has another one and also Bronze. The only text that will change in the descriptions, is the filter size. This makes Duplicates text description. Not good when you what to index your site. The positive things to 150 different products, is the page title. example 16x25x4 furnace filters. Those exacte tem get search in Google. A new site architecture with 3 categories, Gold, Silver and Bronze & 50 variables by products (filters sizes) might not be the best options, because no filter size will be index. Can you please help me to find the best architecture in a SEO point of view? Also what about the top navigation bar menu, what is the best options in using it? Right now it is use for Legal, Contact, Policy and I fill it is a wast, those page only get less then 1% clicks. It might be more convenient to use those for categories for example, what is your recommendations in a SEO point of view? Can I create a information page in the left navigation menu and includ all the standard page, like: Policy, Legal ... If I do, will I get penalize by Google? Thank you for your help. We have puts lots of money in AdWords before, but now the next step is to come home organics. I'm using SEOmoz tools, read there new book, and I want increase traffic. I just need your help. Thank you, BigBlaze
On-Page Optimization | | BigBlaze2050 -
Does putting content in tabs devalue it at all?
Hello! Still very new to the SEO world and just trying to soak in as much information as I can. The site I work for took a substantial hit with the panda update, so we are looking into adding as much quality content as we can in the upcoming months. With our current site layout, space will quickly become an issue. Assuming the content is relevant and useful for the page, will putting the content into tabs be counter productive or devalue it at all?
On-Page Optimization | | davegtt0