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When you do it well, optimizing your collection pages for search can grow your traffic, sales, and revenue. But many eCommerce retailers neglect this vital search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. This guide covers collection page SEO, including what it is, how to make it work for your eCommerce site, and a few examples of what elements to focus on.
What Is Collection Page SEO and Why Does It Matter?
Collection pages are eCommerce landing pages containing groups of similar products. If you’re operating an eCommerce site with over 10,000 SKUs, these pages can be vital for improving your customer experience. Instead of navigating through hundreds of individual products, visitors can click on “women’s shoes” or “school backpacks” and find what they need right away.
Category pages or collection pages effectively target high-intent buyers at the middle stage of the funnel. Customers looking up product categories are likely ready to buy and are comparing their options. Your collection pages have the potential to rank highly in these searches.
If you’re like most eCommerce shop owners, you’ve likely spent time optimizing your product descriptions. Putting the same effort into your collection pages opens up your store to a wider customer base.
How Do You Build a Keyword Strategy for Collection Pages?
To develop your keyword strategy, start by selecting one primary keyword per collection page. Two collection pages sharing a primary keyword will compete with one another in search rankings. Assigning a single primary keyword to each collection page also helps you focus the content to put the page in context for search engines and AI searches.
For each page, conduct keyword research. Consider a user’s search intent, as well as the page’s core topic. Use an SEO analytics tool to see which keywords your page is already ranking for. Then check search volume and difficulty for your top choices and pick the best one for the collection.
Use latent semantic indexing (LSI) or related words and phrases to help search engines and AI platforms contextualize your site. Choose long-tail and short-tail keywords and phrases that match search intent to capture a broader range of internet searches.
Include calls to action that attract and direct people at the bottom of the funnel. Adding action words such as “Buy,” “Order,” or “Shop” can improve your click-through rates with shoppers who are ready to buy.
What On-Page Element Matters Most?
Your on-page SEO elements boost visibility by helping search engines crawl your page, understand it, and rank it as relevant to a query. On-page elements alone may not move your site up the search engine ranking pages (SERPs) overnight. But together, they put your site into context, improving your authority and relevance to search queries.
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are pieces of code that Google and other search engine bots read to learn what your site is about. They also appear as snippets in search results. Optimize them on your collection pages:
- Title Tags: These should be between 60 and 70 characters long and include your target keywords. Make them unique for each page. Place your target keywords up front and include your brand name at the end of the tag after the vertical bar character “|” to build brand recognition. For example: Beginner-Friendly Gel Polish – New Customer Discount | Your Manicure Brand
- Meta Descriptions: These should be around 150 to 160 characters long and describe a page’s content. Google rewrites meta descriptions based on how your page relates to a specific query. Compose the page’s description to match search intent and improve click-through rates. Instead of just naming the product, convince customers to click on your site by including your value proposition and trust markers.
Collection Descriptions and Copy
When you’re shopping in person, an attentive, informative sales associate who understands your needs can gain your trust and convince you to buy. Think of your collection descriptions and on-page copy as your digital salespeople.
Be sure to:
- Add Unique Copy: Use a minimum of 50 to 100 words to describe each collection page. Strike a balance between writing for SEO and talking to your human customers. Describe the unique features of products in the collection and outline their benefit to shoppers. Link related products in your descriptions to keep people on your site.
- Avoid Thin Content: Missing or duplicate descriptions are common gaps for eCommerce collection pages. Audit your existing collection pages and descriptions to see where you can add more relevant content. Don’t just copy and paste the same description into another collection page and do a find/replace. Make each page’s description distinctive.
Internal Links and Structured Data
Internal links and structured data help search engines and AI platforms navigate and understand your site. These elements play important roles in your collection page SEO.
Internal links help crawlers find all your pages, preventing orphaned content. Search engines can also use them to determine your site hierarchy and which pages are most important.
Schema markups serve as labels for your content. For example, schema markup can help a search engine understand whether “Apple” on your product pages refers to the fruit or the brand name.
Follow these best practices for your links and structured data:
- Internal Links: A strong linking strategy can improve your topical authority and raise your search engine ranking. Add relevant links to other pages on your website to guide search engine crawlers and shoppers around your site. Point customers to related collection pages and link various products in your descriptions. Use relevant keywords as anchor tags for your links.
- Structured Data: Structured data, or schema markup, is a piece of code that tells a search engine what your website is about. It also determines what Google will put in the rich snippets of search results. With structured data, your SERP listing could include a product photo and an average star rating, for example. Adding breadcrumb schema to your site enables Google to display your site’s hierarchy in search results to help people navigate your page.
Any Special Considerations for Shopify Collection Pages?
Shopify is a popular eCommerce platform because it’s user-friendly. You don’t need to understand coding in depth to set up and manage your shop. But some of its features can complicate your collection page SEO strategy.
URL Structures and Canonicals
Shopify’s URL structure is rigid, and you can’t customize your URLs like you can on other platforms. This can mean you risk duplicating content when setting up your collection pages. Focus on creating a clear URL handle that includes your primary keyword, and use on-page elements to enhance the collection page’s SEO.
If you end up with duplicate content, Shopify will automatically create a canonical tag. You can override them by using Metafields and adding a definition.
Template Consistency
Build SEO fields into your collection template for consistency. Create custom Collection Metafields for text to manage specific content for each page. Connect the Metafield to your theme template, so your SEO elements are automatically incorporated into new collections pages.
Choose the Right Partner to Optimize Your Collections Pages for Results
While often overlooked in SEO, collections pages have the potential to drive high-intent, mid-funnel shoppers to your website. If you need help auditing your site and improving SEO elements on your collections pages, elk Marketing is your go-to SEO agency.
Contact us to see how you can optimize your collections pages for measurable results.
FAQs
Should every collection page target a unique keyword?
Yes, targeting distinct keywords per page prevents cannibalization and maximizes rankings. Your primary keywords help search engines understand your page’s relevance to a search query. Specific keywords target high-intent shoppers looking for the products in your collection. On the other hand, duplicating them on multiple collection pages confuses search engines.
Do Shopify collection pages rank well?
Yes, with proper optimization, Shopify collection pages can compete well in search results. Target the right keywords for search intent and let your content do the heavy lifting. Focus on optimizing meta titles, descriptions, and other on-page elements to help your collection pages rank higher. Take advantage of internal links and schema markups to build authority and guide people through your site.
Can blog internal links help collection pages rank?
Yes, internal links from blogs pass authority and signal page importance to search engines. Blogs are a natural fit for long-tail keywords that attract shoppers. They showcase your expertise and help you connect with shoppers, drive more traffic, and establish you as a relevant search result.
