SEO Focused Product Optimization in E-Commerce Brands

SEO frameworks for product detail pages (PDP), structured data integration, and conversion optimization.

Speakers: Ozan Ketenci

Content author

18 Oct 2023

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⏱ 22 min read• 3,918 words

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Hi everyone. Welcome. Let’s get started. I’m Ozan. Some of you know me. Some don’t. Welcome back to those who know me. I’m the VP of Strategy and Consulting at Zeo. Today’s topic is e-commerce SEO. How do we optimize products? What should we watch out for? I’ll cover some basics and a few clever tricks. We have about 50-55 minutes. My presentation will take around 30 minutes. Then a team member will join me. We’ll have plenty of time for Q&A. We want to answer all your questions.

Also, visit our stands during coffee breaks and lunch. You can chat with the içerik.com team, our rank tracking tool WOP, or Zeo consultants. Ask us anything. First... There’s always that rumor: "SEO is dead." You know how it goes. Is SEO dead? Should we invest in SEO? Or has PPC taken over completely? It’s a constant debate. In our experience, SEO investment is actually growing in e-commerce and other sectors. I was just talking about this with an attendee earlier. You should have received an email from us this morning or yesterday. It’s about our industry report and the data. We’ve broken our participants down into 10 different sectors.

Let’s look at the numbers. Let’s see what percentage of traffic comes from organic channels. Let’s see if SEO is worth discussing and how important it really is. Look at furniture and home decor. We analyzed the top 20 sites. We also included our participants. 43% of their traffic is organic. Hobbies and toys hit 40% organic. Insurance is at 38%. Jewelry and accessories are high at 45%. Fashion and apparel sit at 35%. Airlines and transport are strong at 44%. Personal care and cosmetics hit 40%. Consumer electronics reach 44%. Tourism is 38%. Marketplaces see 37% organic traffic.

Every sector is clearly above 30%. When planning your SEO, keep this in mind. Always consider where your traffic originates. Small and mid-sized brands often overlook SEO. They shy away from the competition. But the market is massive. Internet penetration in Turkey keeps growing. Don't miss out on this. Invest in your team or agency. Google constantly updates the SERP. Look at international SERPs for even more variety. SERP stands for Search Engine Result Page. It has many different sections. Look at this. A MacBook Pro search shows FAQs and People Also Ask boxes. It’s clean. But search for a red dress or backpack? The SERP looks totally different.

The first four results are product searches. MacBook Pro, backpacks, red dresses, and L-shaped sofas. These are keywords we naturally target on our category and product pages. But look at global SERPs. You’ll see informational queries driving massive traffic for e-commerce sites. Like a search for the best running shoes. Or the best outdoor jacket. Global e-commerce sites are integrating these now. Brands used to be hesitant. It’s a completely different space. You need blog content. You need a solid content team. You also need a different site structure. You can't just strip products from a category page and dump content there.

Use lists for this. Use tables for comparisons. Try different product photo strategies. We see a global trend here. Major e-commerce sites are integrating informational queries now. Google cares a lot about e-commerce. They have specific guides for certain ecosystems. E-commerce is one of them. I’ll share the links. I forgot to add them here. I usually put short links at the bottom. The links will be in the presentation. Check them out yourself. See what they mean and how to optimize your subheadings. I want to combine this guide with our industry experience. Let’s cover a few key points.

What can we do? I want to focus on product-specific items. I won't dive into category pages. Let’s talk about making your products more visible. Specifically for SEO. First, every SEO project needs solid keyword research. But keyword research isn't just a list. It’s not just 1,000 keywords and search volumes. Don't just look at who gets 1,000 or 500 searches. You can't segment based on that alone. You have different categories. You must segment by category first. If they are two different categories, target them on two different pages.

You need to know this. You must understand this to optimize your category content. Use these keywords to optimize your page titles. You might have many categories. Target similar segments across different page types. Target some on category pages. Target others on product pages. Use informational blog posts or comparison pages. We did this for a major brand going global. It was for the UK market. We collaborated closely with them. We shared a lot of data. We mapped out their entire user journey. We identified our keyword filters. We defined our personas. We mapped out the paths. We decided which page types to target at each step.

Do we have these pages? Do we need to create new ones? Or should we optimize existing ones? This process answers those questions. You should definitely include other metrics too. Don't just rely on keywords and search volume. You likely use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush. They provide data in bulk. Say you search for "L-shaped sofa." You'll get tons of related keywords. Some might be irrelevant. Others might be highly relevant to your niche. How do we handle keyword research here? We like to include as many competitors as possible. We build custom metrics from this data. For example, we track how many marketplaces appear for a specific term. We use that as a key metric.

We also check how many of our 10 competitors rank in the top 10. We look at the top 20, too. We track if they appear in the top 100. We calculate their average positions. Then we apply specific weights and formulas. If average position is critical, we might square or cube it. We add that to other weighted metrics. We divide and balance them to create a final score. What does this give us? We call it a relevancy score, or an X-score. It ranks the relevance of every keyword. This should guide your next steps. A high-volume keyword might not actually be important for your business.

Deep analysis and custom metrics make your work much easier. You’ll clearly see where to optimize. You’ll know exactly what to focus on. I’ve laid out the process step-by-step here. The key is picking the right competitors for keyword analysis. Especially in niche sectors. If you don't pick the right, relevant sites, your analysis will be totally off. You'll end up with irrelevant data. So, competitor selection is vital. Creating custom metrics is vital. You need a metric that drives your strategy. This is a sheet shared by Aleyda Solis.

The link is below. Go ahead and copy it. She did a great job segmenting by intent and page type. Translate it, use her patterns and identifiers. Figure out which keywords fit which page types. It's simple. First, optimize your product titles. Most systems auto-generate these as product name, pipe, and brand name. But you don't have to stick to that. SEO competition is heating up. Title tags are a major ranking signal for Google. We constantly tweak and test our titles. We run constant optimizations. We test different variations. Use colors, sizes, and gender. Use product types if you have them. Mix in attributes like price, category, and brand.

Testing is crucial here. Avoid bulk changes on massive sites. This applies to marketplaces or sites with thousands of products. Always test these changes first. Look at this SearchPilot Twitter poll. They tested changing "price" to "cost." It works better in English than in Turkish. It’s a subtle shift. They asked what happens if you swap price for cost. Few expected a positive result. Forty-two percent predicted a negative impact. I honestly didn't expect such a negative outcome. Changing price to cost really hurt. We like to think Google is smarter now. We assume Google understands context without us spelling it out.

I add product schema to these pages. The price is already there in the code. We expect Google to get it. But it often doesn't. Even small changes can be costly. Let's talk schema markup. You’re likely using schema markup already. Website markup is standard on most homepages. E-commerce sites use product schema too. But it’s often incomplete or implemented incorrectly. Schema markup is a Google favorite. It’s the primary way Google understands semantics. It’s just as important as your content quality. You’re using machine language to explain your content. You’re telling the machine exactly what it is.

Let’s talk about which markups to use. I’m sharing all the links. I’m sharing Google’s official resources. Clicking these links takes you straight to schema.org. You can see different use cases there. Local business is huge for brick-and-mortar brands. If you have a branch or a shop, use local business markup. It’s the only way to get these specific search results. Think about map searches. When you search for a location, Google’s first instinct is a map result. Even in standard Google search, it prioritizes maps.

You must use local business for physical stores. Look at this MediaMarkt example. It includes the address, phone, and hours. It even has coordinates. It’s all there. Google pulls this data directly into Maps. Product markup is the most important one. If you aren't using product schema, start today. Talk to your developers and get it implemented immediately. Developers might push back. We see that a lot. You have to be persistent. It’s a must-have for e-commerce sites now. What about the product side? There’s a schema called offer schema.

You can specify everything related to pricing. Any discounts? How long is the price valid? Is it in stock? You tell Google all of this directly. Google then evaluates the page. It confirms it’s a product page. It knows how to rank it for relevant queries. Shipping details are a newer markup. Online shopping is booming. We’ll see features in Google Shopping soon that aren't in Turkey yet. Google wants to improve the SERP experience. They want you to see details at a glance. That’s why they added offer, shipping, and return markups. You can see how many days shipping takes.

You can see if returns are free. There’s also a pros and cons schema. Google displays this in the SERP sometimes. I think it’s mostly visible in the US right now. I haven't seen it in Turkey yet. It usually starts with English-speaking markets. Then it rolls out to German, French, and eventually Turkish. Consider this a heads-up. You should definitely look into these. Energy consumption and sustainability are becoming huge. Adding these details boosts your semantic relevance. It aligns your page better with Google search queries.

Think of this like boosting your content depth. You often see competitors with more content. You want to add category text or improve product descriptions. You want to add paragraphs and keywords. This is similar. We are adding useful info for the user. Then we mark it up properly. Review schema is just as vital as product schema. Reviews define the quality of e-commerce pages. This is especially true for high-traffic sites. New reviews are constantly flowing in. User-generated content is great when moderated well. Don't just leave reviews as plain text. Use review schema to show them to Google. This helps Google understand each individual review.

There are two main types. They are often used together. You can see how they nest reviews within the product. This example shows a restaurant, but the logic holds. There’s also aggregate rating. It lets you show Google your total review score. How-to schema is another newer option. It’s a great addition. It helps you improve your product page content. If you can create how-to content for a product, do it. You’ll get value from the content itself. Plus, you can use how-to schema to tell Google it’s a how-to guide. You’ll get these specific SERP appearances.

FAQ schema has been around for a while. We saw it in the early slides. You can show up to three FAQs under your result. You need FAQ schema to make that happen. Ranking on Google isn't just about the position. If you’re first with just a title, you’re losing out. A competitor below you with images and three FAQs takes up more space. They’ll get more clicks even if they’re in second place. Use as many schema markups as you can. They unlock SERP features like snippets, FAQs, and sitelinks. Schema is the key to getting all these extra visual assets.

Our fourth point is improving product content. There are many ways to do this. Take Amazon reviews, for example. Those reviews are crucial. Amazon uses a simple voting system for them. It reorders rankings based on votes. It acts like a summary. You can see the most asked questions here. It’s incredibly useful. Here is a second example from Decathlon. Focus on highlighting truly useful features. Don't just write long product descriptions. Highlight key features with punchy copy. This boosts user signals. Google loves this approach. Don't just focus on writing massive amounts of content.

I know that in Turkish, more content usually pays off. But that won't last forever. Things are shifting. AI is changing the game entirely. Prioritize these types of displays. Here is an example from Trendyol. It’s a standard reviews section. Some sites hide reviews on separate pages. That’s a mistake. Get the technical structure right. You want user-generated content on the main product page. Don't bury reviews on a separate page. Without proper canonicals, you’ll run into issues. Your review page and product page will compete in the SERP.

They will cannibalize each other. Watch your technical setup closely. Recently, Hakan worked on a project like this. He used AI to summarize reviews. I did this really quickly. I grabbed about 50 reviews. I told ChatGPT to group them. Then I asked it to write three-sentence summaries for each group. It gave me this output. I asked for more detail. It’s like what Amazon does with votes. We feed it all the review content. We tell it to group them and add bullet points. This creates extra, structured content for our product pages. It’s super useful for users. They don't have to read 50 reviews. They can see if it's a good gift.

They can spot packaging issues instantly. You can build this too. These services are popping up everywhere. You just plug them into your stack. They generate a summary snippet for you. You can embed it right on your site. Look at these comparison sections. This is straight from Amazon. They have much longer tables for complex products. This mouse example is a bit limited. This is my favorite part of Amazon. I use it for every tech purchase. I check for alternatives and better deals. I look for extra features and higher ratings. It’s the final step before I buy.

We covered user reviews. But I have a specific point here. Yes, keep reviews on your site. We know some people outsource review writing. There are services for this. Sites with few reviews might pay for them. Be very careful with this. It is definitely not recommended. Google has rolled out many product review updates lately. They start in English and expand to other languages. There was a major update in April. I shared the link. You should definitely read it. It is not just about user reviews.

Don't just think of it as user feedback. We talked about creating content for informational queries. You might write review articles. You must be careful when writing those. Otherwise, you risk hits from helpful content or E-E-A-T updates. These guidelines are critical now. High-quality images are a must for e-commerce. Use interactive, high-quality visuals. UX experts prefer accessible images over simple next buttons. I wanted to mention that. Let me speed up. Focus on speed for your conversion pages. Site speed is obviously crucial. You might have seen the latest Core Web Vitals talk on Twitter.

People wondered if page experience was dropped as a ranking signal. It wasn't. It just moved under a different umbrella. It used to be its own category. Now, it’s basically part of helpful content. Site speed still matters. We’re all users too. We know how frustrating slow sites are. We get impatient fast. You must optimize speed for conversion-focused pages. Focus on product pages more than categories. Points 8, 9, and 10 are technical. Watch out for duplicate products. If you index every color variant of a phone separately, you’ll hit cannibalization. Google will struggle to rank them.

These pages will compete against each other. You need to manage this well. Look at major e-commerce sites. They pick one main variant. They use canonical tags for the rest. They keep the content consistent. They tell Google these are just variants. They point to one main URL. It works. They consolidate all their authority and traffic into one URL. Out-of-stock items are a huge pain point. Many systems aren't built for this. We see it all the time. The product just vanishes from the site. You can't find it anywhere. It disappears from the sitemap. It should be removed from categories, too.

You don't want out-of-stock items in your category. It hurts conversions. But don't delete them entirely. No need for 301s or 302s yet. Think about it first. Say an iPhone 14 is out of stock. People will search for it for years. It might be back in stock in two months. Or maybe just five days. Deleting it for five days makes no sense for Google. You’ll lose all that page authority. Redirecting it causes issues. Google has to re-index it later. That’s a headache. For high-volume searches like iPhones, you’ll see major losses. Seasonal pages are where people mess up the most. What do I mean by seasonal?

New Year’s, Mother’s Day, or Valentine’s Day. People make URL mistakes here. They create a page for Black Friday 2021. The URL becomes Black Friday-2021. What about 2022? You’d have to build a new page. Why do that? You don't need the year in the URL. Just use /blackfriday. Update the title instead. Update the headings for 2021, 2022, and 2023. Keep one permanent page live. You’ll avoid those temporary losses we discussed with stock-outs. Plus, there’s the Google shopping side. Paid shopping ads are currently disabled in Turkey. But there's also free listing. Many people don't realize this. Shopping isn't just a paid service on Google anymore. This is a major move by Google to improve the e-commerce experience.

What is Google shopping? It's the tab you see after searching. You switch from global search to the shopping tab. You'll see a carousel of paid ads at the top. Below that, you have free listings. These pull products directly from your Merchant Center feed. Think of it as a free marketplace for your e-commerce site. It's like having another storefront. It's like listing on Trendyol or Hepsiburada, but on Google. You should definitely use it. Usage is growing fast. Google wants to handle everything in one place.

I'll show you some features not yet in Turkey. Search for a product, click it, and pay with Google Pay. Then you're done. Google wants you to finish everything without leaving their site. Markup, feed, and Google shopping updates are all part of this. But there's a catch. If everything happens on Google, you lose traffic. That's the SEO dilemma. But the sale is still yours. The goal isn't just an organic click. The goal is selling that product to the searcher. I think this is a major Google effort. You can reach free listings through Google Search and rich results.

You can also reach them via Images. Like I showed before. Look at that red dress image. You see product tags underneath. These pull data like images and prices directly from your feed. Visual search is huge now. Say you're looking for a product you don't know well. Maybe a formal dress. Or I wear sneakers, so I don't know what shoes go with a suit. I search for those shoes. Then I check the images. I try to find the product I like. Or I search for similar images to find it. You need to leverage this. If your product matches a YouTube search, you can rank there too.

Two features aren't in Turkey yet. One is the popular products feature. The other is what we see here, the shopping knowledge panel. When you click a product on desktop, it takes up massive space. Search for a product and the right side fills with info. You see various price options. We see this in Google Flights too. You get a list of different flight options stacked together. Google wants to do the same thing on the SERP. Just like marketplaces do. You can track this right in your Merchant Center. We’re talking about massive click volume here. Tracking all that data is a huge plus.

You can see exactly how your hard work pays off. Check your Merchant Center right now. You’ll likely see it under free listing traffic. I also have a few UX tips for product pages. Avoid dropdowns for product variants. That’s a standard UX rule. Use separate buttons for colors and sizes. Look at this example. It shows two different models. There are tons of colors here. They use distinct buttons for each one. When you select one, the buttons for size update below. You need to make all that data visible to the user. Sizing is a nightmare for fashion sites.

Especially on global sites. You must include size guides and international conversions. It’s crucial for the user experience. I’m seeing "how to measure" content on more sites lately. These are super helpful for users. Always list model measurements and their size. Even some massive sites skip this. I don’t know why. There must be a reason. To me, it feels essential. We see an image here. Someone is wearing something. But what’s their height? What’s their size? What are they wearing? We need these details. Some sites even list multiple people.

This is a great practice. Unisex items often show both men and women. They list the height and size for both models. It makes choosing so much easier. It also builds credibility for the site. Use alternative and complementary products. Think "you might also like this." In fashion, suggest matching bottoms for a top. You must use these sections. Finally, show previously purchased items. This is key for marketplaces. Users might share accounts. They might want to reorder the same item. Or they might want to avoid buying the same thing twice. They could also make mistakes based on past orders.

Adding labels to product cards helps users see if they’ve bought it before. I’ve included a link to a checklist. We won't go through it now. It’s a very long UX checklist. It’s focused on conversion rate optimization. The link is in the presentation. You should definitely check it out. It includes great examples. You can even use it to build your own plan. Evaluate it yourself and assign a score. It calculates impact, cost, and priority. It basically gives you a roadmap. We’re outside. Check out the Woop, içerik.com, and Zeon booths.

We have 10 minutes left. That’s it for my presentation. Any questions? Thanks.

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Ozan Ketenci

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