Product page and category page SEO

The search results are by far the best guide here. It doesn't matter how good your category page is if Google only shows single products for that search. So search the phrase yourself and look at the first page. If Google shows mostly category pages from other shops, it has decided people want a choice, and your category page is the one to set up. If it shows single products, a product page fits. If it shows guides, neither will rank easily, and a buying guide that links to both might.

• Title: the broad search phrase, then your store name. For example Linen Bedding | Larch Lane Supply.

• Heading: the plain name of the category, matching the title.

• Text above the products: two or three short paragraphs. Say what is in the range, how to choose between the products, and what sizes or materials there are. Write for a shopper deciding, and keep the first lines short so the products still show on a phone screen.

• Text below the products (optional): longer buying help, care notes and common questions.

• Filters: useful for shoppers. Keep the filtered addresses out of Google's index unless a filter matches a real search.

• Number of products: a category with two products looks thin to shoppers and to Google. Merge small ones.

• Links: link to subcategories and to the best sellers. Breadcrumbs (Home > Bedding > Linen) help shoppers and Google see where the page sits.

• Title: the product name with its key detail (material, size, type), then the store name.

• Description: your own words. Maker text appears on every store that sells the product, and Google tends to show only one copy.

• Details in text: materials, sizes, care and what is in the box, written out so they can be read and searched.

• Images: clear file names (white-linen-duvet-cover.jpg) and alt text that says what the picture shows.

• Reviews: shown on the page as text, from real customers.

• Product markup: price, currency, stock and reviews, matching what the page shows.

• One address: links, sitemap and canonical tag all agree.

To have your own category and product pages checked against this list, ask us to review your pages.

Start with the words a shopper would search, then answer the questions they would ask in a shop: what it is made of, how big it is, how it feels, how to look after it, and who it suits. Short paragraphs and a list of specifications both work. If you sell hundreds of near-identical products, write fully for the best sellers first and give the rest a shorter, still original, line or two.

Keep variants on one page unless people search for one by name. Keep out-of-stock pages live if the product is coming back. Redirect discontinued products to their closest replacement. The full detail is on our technical SEO page. For the rest of the store, work through the full checklist.

DEMONSTRATION STORE Both examples are from Larch Lane Supply, a store we built to show this work. They are not client pages.

Send us your store and we will look at your category and product pages against everything on this page.

For the whole store, from crawling to product data, see the ecommerce SEO audit.