Something I’m learning a lot about is optimising your resources for online stores SEO. Sometimes, we worry too much about putting in keywords, optimising crawl budget and improving load speed. However, we forget a fundamental part that many SEO experts overlook when they think it’s a task for UX. I’m talking about product tiles.
There are three capital sins that are typically committed when designing product tiles, and while I’ll talk about them later, the most serious one is distracting the client from what’s important. And yes, it affects SEO if the visitor leaves because they can’t find what they’re looking for, or because we’ve made it too difficult. Think that a good design of a product tile can speed up the purchase and reduce calls or emails with doubts.
Analysing a product tile
As I said, there are three basic errors that we can see repeated ad nauseam. Leaving aside the fact that we need to go for high-quality content, the fatal error is usually a lack of attention. A good product tile structure should condense all the power of the product in one glance; without moving the finger or mouse.
I want to give an example of HSN, I’ve been looking at some of their SEO and CRO strategies for a while now and I like how they’re approaching things. If we take a look at any product tile from this store, we’ll see that everything is literally perfect.
Product tile on HSN.
If you analyse this product tile, you can identify all the information you need to make a purchase without scrolling down.
- To the left, the product image and gallery.
- Then the title with a good H1 and ratings.
- This part is my favourite, a well-written description. Straight to the point.
- Addition information like the legend.
- To the right, the elements relating to payment. Price, quantities and shipping.
If we look at the mobile version, the order is similar, with the price fixed at the bottom so the customer can easily see it.
Irrelevant, at the bottom
We’re falling into the error of thinking that a product tile has to be loaded with elements. The more it’s loaded, the cooler it feels. It feels less empty, right? Wrong. The clearer the possible customer is about what they’re buying, the better.
That’s why it’s a good idea to use short descriptions, a clear message and the rest at the bottom. Generally, users don’t scroll more than halfway down the page, so the initial message in the short description needs to be convincing. Never mind if we apply this to mobile. There will always be users who ask about the “biorganic encephaloide astral” compound in your olive oil, but that information can be at the bottom and not in the first contact.
Opt-in and popups on the product tile
Watch out for this point, it’s a mistake to use it. Whatever you thought was a great idea to put a popup inside a product tile, you’re wrong. The customer can’t be bothered when they’re buying. I’ll give you an example that will make you understand it quickly:
Have you ever been to a Chinese market? Have you felt like you’re being haunted and watched? That’s what a visitor feels like if they get popups when they’re buying.
You can use them, but it’s better to do it with a clear head. For example, if you want to offer a discount, set up the popup to trigger when the user is about to close the page or change tabs. Or do it when they’re about to leave a cart. You have a thousand ways to do it well, even after making a purchase. But dare you do it when they haven’t even added anything to the cart? Forget it.