Ecommerce Product Page Checklist

Guide to ecommerce product pages

The world shops online. Almost gone are the days of the local malls, window shopping and store loyalty. Consumers now search online for the best deals, using customer reviews and search engine results before making a purchase.

Use DTC’s 14-point checklist to ensure your ecommerce product pages follow best practices and drive the most value. But remember, not every strategy or tactic delivers results for every website or business.

1. Clean URL structure
2. Unique product URLs
3. Breadcrumbs
4. Unique page title
5. Unique meta description
6. Product images
7. Product reviews
8. Structured data
9. Product videos
10. UX + path to purchase
11. Product FAQ + support
12. Page load times
13. Share buttons

In addition to this checklist, be sure to focus on the optimal customer experience and buyer’s journey.

1. Clean URL structure

Structure URLs to be simple and user-friendly:

Best practice:
www.site.com/clothing/men/pants/five-pocket-jeans

Needs improvement:
www.site.com/clothes?pants=id?134

2. Unique product URLs

Each product should live on a single URL. If a product resides in multiple categories, it should not have multiple URLs — but rather should use canonical tags.

If products live in multiple categories and have multiple URLs, be sure to allow only one version of the product to be indexed by Google. Point the other canonical tags to that preferred version.

3. Breadcrumbs

Use schema.org breadcrumb recommendations to write breadcrumbs for simple navigation.

Best practice:
Home > Clothing > Men > Pants

4. Unique page title

Write keyword-driven unique page titles under 66 characters.

Best practice:
Shop Our Selection of Five Pocket Men’s Pants | Brand

Needs improvement:
Clothing: MEN: Pants | Brand

5. Unique meta description

Write unique, keyword-driven meta descriptions that include a call to action. Ensure they are less than 160 characters.

Best practice:
Free shipping on five-pocket men’s pants at Site.com. Shop men’s dress pants & casual pants, including cargo…

Needs improvement:
NON-TYPICAL DURA-LITE PANT with “AGION ACTIVE XL®”. $70.00. Drake Waterfowl Systems 7282 Maygan…

6. Unique product description

Include a unique product description on the page.

Best practice:
Our five-pocket, zipper-front jeans are made with 100% organic materials and are pre-shrunk, meaning you’ll never worry about guessing your size. The always durable and stylish jeans come in five colors (true denim, stone, charcoal, olive and burgundy) and are perfect for the office or a night out.

7. Product images

Include product images with file name and alt text optimizations.

8. Product reviews

Include product reviews on the product page. Ensure that each review isn’t living on a different URL, which could potentially create duplicate content.

Be sure to encourage reviews (perhaps a rewards program is right for your brand) and respond appropriately to both positive and negative feedback.

9. Structured data

Use schema.org to find the proper structured data to add to your pages. Common types include local business information, products, recipes and events.

10. Product videos

Include product videos, if you have them. Videos allow you to showcase your product more than a static image. Be sure to embed them with YouTube or Vimeo so users can watch them without leaving the page. Include the video transcript on the page as an added SEO tactic.

11. UX + path to purchase

Ensure the path from “add to cart” to confirming the order is simple. Use as few form fields and pages as possible.

12. Product FAQ + support

Include additional content about your product. Answer FAQs, “how to” questions and other topics discovered via keyword research.

Another possible content stream could be user generated photos. This content only works for some markets, but user photos are good unique content and, along with reviews, can build some brand loyalty.

13. Page load times

Use compression, JavaScript and CSS optimizations, CDNs, server optimizations and other tactics to reduce page load time as much as possible.

14. Share buttons

Employ social sharing buttons. When these buttons are near content that receives a lot of clicks, sharing is more likely.

Be sure to only use social buttons relevant to your industry and your customers.

Looking for more?

We help ecommerce clients drive more revenue from their online business.

Our strategists ensure your product pages and effectively structured, helping increase search visibility, organic traffic and, most importantly, product sales.