How Do You Use Meta Tags To Improve Product Page Rankings?

Story Based Question

Imagine you’re the owner of an online store that sells eco-friendly home decor. You’ve spent months curating the perfect collection of products, but despite your efforts, your product pages aren’t ranking as well as you’d like. You begin to wonder: “How can I use meta tags to help improve the rankings of my product pages and attract more organic traffic?”

Exact Answer

To improve product page rankings using meta tags, focus on optimizing the meta title and meta description. Include relevant keywords, keep them concise, and ensure they align with your page content.

Explanation

Meta tags play a crucial role in SEO by providing search engines and users with information about the content of your product pages. Here’s how you can use them effectively to boost rankings:

1. Meta Title:
   • The meta title is the most important meta tag for SEO. It appears as the clickable headline in search results and directly impacts both SEO and user engagement.
   • Include primary keywords that describe the product and are likely to be searched by potential customers.
   • Keep the title concise (between 50-60 characters) to ensure it displays fully in search results.
   • Example: For a product page selling eco-friendly throw pillows, the title could be: “Eco-Friendly Throw Pillows – Sustainable Home Decor | YourStore”
2. Meta Description:
   • The meta description summarizes the content of the page and appears beneath the meta title in search results. Although it doesn’t directly impact rankings, it influences click-through rates (CTR).
   • Include secondary keywords, emphasize the value or unique selling points of the product, and provide a compelling call to action (CTA) to encourage clicks.
   • Aim for 150-160 characters to ensure the description doesn’t get cut off.
   • Example: “Shop eco-friendly throw pillows made from sustainable materials. Perfect for adding comfort and style to your home. Free shipping on orders over $50!”
3. Alt Text for Images:
   • While not technically a meta tag, alt text for images helps search engines understand what the image is about. Use descriptive keywords for the product’s images, but avoid keyword stuffing.
   • Example: “Eco-friendly throw pillow made from organic cotton fabric.”
4. Open Graph & Twitter Cards:
   • These meta tags are used for social media sharing, but they can also help drive traffic to your product pages. Make sure the Open Graph (for Facebook) and Twitter Card tags are set correctly with a catchy title, description, and image.
   • Example: “Shop Eco-Friendly Throw Pillows at YourStore. Sustainable, stylish, and comfortable.”
5. Canonical Tags:
   • If you have similar products or duplicate content (like multiple color variations of the same product), use a canonical tag to tell search engines which page is the “preferred” or original version to avoid duplicate content penalties.
   • Example: <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.yourstore.com/eco-friendly-throw-pillow">

Example

Let’s return to the home decor store owner. They sell an eco-friendly throw pillow made from organic cotton. When they first launched the product page, they didn’t pay attention to meta tags. As a result, the page wasn’t getting much traffic, and its rankings were low. Here’s how they used meta tags to boost their product page rankings:

1. Meta Title: They changed the title to include target keywords like “eco-friendly throw pillow” and “sustainable home decor.” The new title was:
   • “Eco-Friendly Throw Pillows – Sustainable Home Decor | YourStore”
     This helped the page rank higher for relevant search terms.
2. Meta Description: They wrote a description highlighting the unique selling points of the product, including its sustainability and the comfort it provides, along with a call-to-action for visitors to make a purchase:
   • “Shop eco-friendly throw pillows made from sustainable materials. Perfect for adding comfort and style to your home. Free shipping on orders over $50!”
     This improved their click-through rate (CTR) because the description was both informative and enticing.
3. Image Alt Text: For the product images, they used alt text like “Eco-friendly throw pillow made from organic cotton fabric” to help search engines understand the content and improve image search visibility.
4. Open Graph and Twitter Cards: They optimized their Open Graph tags for social sharing by using the following:
   • Title: “Eco-Friendly Throw Pillows at YourStore”
   • Description: “Sustainable, stylish throw pillows perfect for your home.”
   • Image: A high-quality image of the pillow on a living room couch.
     This made their product page look appealing when shared on social media.
5. Canonical Tags: Since the pillow came in several colors, they used canonical tags to indicate that the main product page was the preferred version, avoiding duplicate content issues.

After making these changes, the store owner noticed a significant improvement in their product page rankings and traffic. They were able to drive more organic traffic to the product page, and customers were more likely to click and purchase.