Product Detail<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe first allows the visitor to self-select the next step on the journey. The second provides enough information to either cement the sale or guide the prospect to a better-suited product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get those right and you will make sales. Confuse them, and you\u2019ll confuse your visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve already gone over best practices for product detail pages. As we noted in that guide, the product detail page (PDP) is where \u201cthe prospect will determine whether to purchase your product or keep looking.\u201d The PDP invites the prospect to go deeper. It provides in-depth information about the product it highlights, helping the consumer conduct their research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not so with the product category page (a point many ecommerce website designers fail to grasp). It stands at a critical juncture on the path to sales. It\u2019s an intersection where the visitor must choose a direction\u2026 but it doesn\u2019t provide detail. It says, \u201cChoose and keep moving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The job of the category page is to make that choice painless and simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s here that shoppers on a mission can quickly take the next step towards becoming an owner and browsers can decide which section of the store they want to investigate next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Category Page must be both obvious and humble:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Obvious, in that the choices it provides must stand out and be easily recognizable (this isn\u2019t a page for obscurity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Humble, in that it must never draw attention to itself; rather, it must point clearly to the product categories it displays<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Know every page\u2019s purpose, and make sure the page is optimized to carry out that purpose. That maxim is a good candidate for being named the \u201cFirst Rule of Website Design\u201d (or, in this case, the \u201cFirst Rule of Category Page Design\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having a clear path through your store also helps improve your SEO efforts, since you can use relevant keywords at each step of the journey. If a customer is searching for \u201cLadies Sandals,\u201d Google will serve your product category page for sandals where they can find the right product listing or discover other items in your collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Build a customer-centric product category page<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nYour product category page is a traffic director, and it\u2019s up to you to erect helpful road signs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, the best-designed product category pages begin with road maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One question is central to the process: what does the visitor most need to know in order to continue along the sales journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, let\u2019s say your ecommerce website sells guitars. What would your visitors most need to know at a category level?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, you don\u2019t want to try to sell guitars on the product category page (though you should use every opportunity to build confidence in your ecommerce brand and products). You want to be helpful. You want to help the prospect take the next right step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s a short list of potentials for guitar categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Electric guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Acoustic guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Student guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Youth guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Pro guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Beginner guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Guitar accessories<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Used guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Sale guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Taylor guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Gibson guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Ovation guitars<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Guitars under $500<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Guitars made in the USA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWait!\u201d you say. \u201cThat many categories will confuse the visitor.\u201d And you\u2019re right. Most ecommerce stores will need to use special features (sort by brand, for instance) on the product category page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting to the bare bones essentials requires a sound knowledge of your audience, the terms they use in search (keywords), and how they approach the task of finding products in your niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last thing you want to do is enlist categories based on terminology you use instead of on terminology your potential customers use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your products aren\u2019t findable in search, then your ecommerce store doesn\u2019t exist. It\u2019s absolutely essential that you know the words your customers use to describe your products and the way they categorize them in their minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your ecommerce job isn\u2019t to design a website that makes sense to your staff, your peers, or your industry; it\u2019s to make sense to the people who purchase what you sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That could lead us into a discussion of keyword research and user testing. For now, though, we\u2019ll not go that route. Our aim here is to focus on the elements you\u2019ll want to include on the page, not talk about how to choose those categories. Don\u2019t miss this critical point, though: effective product category pages begin with research and strategic planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s first list the common elements just about all product category pages should contain. Then we\u2019ll consider extras that may or may not apply to your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Gear4Music](\"https:\/\/thegood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-367-1024x399.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Gear4Music](\"https:\/\/thegood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-368-1024x572.png\")
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