How to Produce Engaging Product Category Page Content

“Can you produce 500 words for an ergonomic office chairs category page please?”

It’s a request that feels akin to Bart Simpson being told to write his name over and over on the blackboard. It’s not meant to be a punishment, but e-commerce category content writing can feel a bit like it sometimes.

However, if you’re a smaller or new business with less authority, longer and more valuable category descriptions are a killer method for aiding Google to notice your e-commerce site as a more authoritive source for a targeted keyword. Whereas, the larger brands such as Amazon get away with a couple sentences on their category pages, smaller sites have got to use every tool at their disposal to crawl up the search rankings. That’s where copywriters come in.

This guide aims to help you write a substantial word count of compelling category copy, no matter the subject, without tearing (all of) your hair out.

Read Around the Industry

Category content writing means that you are going to learn a lot about things that are unlikely to make you the life of the party; chairs, tiles, plumbing, office supplies. If, for example, you’re writing about car modification parts, then research the subject first to see what your audience values most. Really get into the head of that 17 year old in your neighbourhood with the enormous spoiler on his car.

If you come at this from the point of view of an enthusiast then you’ll find it much easier to write about how this category of products is going to appeal to your customers. Researching the structure and content of the site you’re producing the content for and competitors sites in the industry can also help you nail down the tone and gain valuable insight.

Research the Product Range

This one might seem pretty obvious, but it makes an enormous difference to actually look at the products in the category you’re writing the content for. Instead of writing about the abstract concept of Wood Effect Tiling, you’re deftly describing the rich, natural beauty of American Black Walnut Wood Effect Tiling and how it’s going to transform your customers’ kitchens.

It not only makes it more interesting to read, giving consumers a taste of the products they’ll be able to browse. It also aids a user to invisage their home transforming and the benefits of the product, whilst increasing the amount of relevant content on the page that is useful to the user.

Put It into Context

Don’t just drone about how great your product is, relate it to your audience. How is this product going to help them? Use your knowledge of the industry and the products and step into your audience’s shoes. This will not only make your copy more persuasive, it’ll also make it easier for you to ascertain a more authoritive and well rounded piece of content. Think of scenarios to put the product into context, so your content goes from this:

“This is a fantastic chair that you will love!”

To this:

“Complete your home office with a modern, ergonomic chair designed with comfort and health in mind.”

Praise the Manufacturers

Another great way to inch yourself towards authoritive content is to discuss some of the manufacturers or product lines contained within the category. Resrarch brands via their online presence and look at their ‘company information to get a little flavour of their history, USP’s, products and principles. They might have interesting snippets or enticing information about their quality assurance process or sales numbers. Look for anything that is interesting or is going to be beneficial to users.

Utilise a Loose Template

Once youre well versed in producing category content and found a formula that works for you or a particular client, then why not draw up a template to use on all future categories? It could be something along the lines of this structure:

Digestable Content Sections

Sub-headings are a must, especially when you’re dealing with high word counts, because no matter how beautifully written your Ergonomic Office Chairs category content is, your audience is not going to pore over every word. A large block of text with nothing to break it up is a massive turn off, whereas subheadings allow your audience to scan read. Importantly, don’t stick rigidly to your template, it’s just a handy way of getting you going when you start the process of producing a new piece of content.

I hope this has given you some handy tips. The faster you implement a methodology or process, the quicker you can increase the reputation of your site as being a more authoritive source of information. Create some content that’s going to push your site up the search rankings and inspire your customers to during the buying process.