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Imagine walking into a store where the products are priced incorrectly, descriptions are incomplete, and shelves lack items to look at and instead just show a vague text description.
You'd probably leave without making a purchase, right? Now, think about how your customers feel when they encounter similar issues when visiting your online store.
Incomplete product details, inconsistent information, or missing images will send potential buyers scrolling for their browser’s back button in seconds.
If you know your e-commerce catalogue data quality it poor or just want to keep on top of it in a standardized way, consider implementing a product content audit process.
What is a Product Content Audit?
A product content audit is like a health check for your e-commerce catalog. Think of it as an opportunity to identify gaps, optimize your product pages, and ultimately create a better shopping experience that will give customers the confidence they need to make a purchase.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through the process of auditing your catalog, filling in the gaps, and fine-tuning your product detail pages (PDPs) to maximize your sales potential.
Step 1: Define Your Audit Objectives
Before you dive into the audit process, it’s important to clearly define the goal(s) you are trying to achieve. Examples of audit goals include:
- Improving search rankings
- Increasing PDP conversions
- Enhancing product discoverability.
Your objectives will help you prioritize which gaps to address first.
Key questions to ask
- What business objectives are we aiming to achieve with this audit?
- Which product categories or pages need immediate attention?
Step 2: Review Product Content Consistency
Consistent product content across your catalog ensures a seamless experience for your customers. Lack of consistency in descriptions, images, or specifications leads to confusion and abandoned carts.
Actionable Steps
- Check if product descriptions are clear, accurate, and consistent across all categories.
- Ensure that product images are high-quality and match the description.
- Verify that technical specifications (e.g., size, color, material) are included and accurate.
Checklist
- Consistent use of brand tone and voice
- Uniform product descriptions
- High-quality, consistent images
- Clear technical specifications
Step 3: Conduct Keyword Optimization for SEO
Effective search Engine Optimization (SEO) ensures your products are easily discoverable on search engine results pages (SERPs). During the audit, focus on ensuring your product titles, descriptions, and metadata are optimized for relevant keywords.
Actionable Steps
- Identify the top keywords relevant to your products.
- Ensure that product titles are unique, descriptive, and include target keywords.
- Confirm accessibility elements, like image alt text, also include target keywords.
- Review product descriptions for keyword relevance while avoiding overstuffing (this will be penalized by search engines).
- Verify the presence of meta titles and descriptions and ensure they include your target keywords.
Checklist:
- Keywords included in product titles and descriptions
- Meta titles and descriptions are optimized
- Image alt text contains relevant keywords
Step 4: Check for Missing or Incomplete Product Information
Missing and incomplete product information lead to customer confusion and lost sales.
It’s important to make sure key details are provided for every product in your catalog to improve customers’ experience and earn their trust.
Actionable Steps:
- Review product pages for missing key attributes such as size, color, material, and brand.
- Verify the inclusion of additional content such as product videos or how-to guides, where applicable.
- Ensure every product page includes availability, pricing, and shipping details.
Checklist
- Complete product attributes (size, color, material)
- Product videos or guides (if applicable)
- Pricing and availability should be clearly stated
- Shipping and return details where applicable
Step 5: Assess User-Generated Content (UGC)
User-generated content includes content you don’t provide, such as customer reviews, testimonials, and ratings. These are valuable resources that enhance a product’s trustworthiness and encourage purchasing decisions.
Actionable Steps
- Encourage happy customers to provide reviews of their experience with your products.
- Review the number and quality of customer reviews for each product.
- Ensure reviews are visible on the PDP and easily accessible.
- Check for missing or inconsistent review information that could impact credibility.
Checklist
- Reviews are visible and accessible
- Product reviews are comprehensive (e.g., pros, cons, and ratings)
- No missing or unverified reviews
Step 6: Evaluate the Mobile and Cross-Device Experience
The share of purchases made on mobile devices is steadily increasing. To ensure you capitalize on this shift, it’s crucial to ensure that your product pages are fully optimized for mobile users.
Actionable Steps
- Check the mobile responsiveness of product pages.
- Test product images, descriptions, and buttons for clarity on smaller screens.
- Make sure that the checkout process is smooth on mobile devices.
Checklist
- Mobile-responsive product pages
- Readable product descriptions and images on mobile
- Streamlined mobile checkout experience
Step 7: Measure Performance and Identify Low-Performing Products
After identifying content gaps, the next step is to measure how well each product is performing. Using tools like Google Analytics and heatmaps to track user behavior will help you to identify which pages have the highest bounce rates or lowest conversions. Then, you can explore changes to reduce those occurrences and improve PDP performance.
Actionable Steps
- Use analytics tools to review bounce rates, session times, and conversion rates for product pages.
- Identify underperforming products and review their content quality for potential issues.
- Prioritize content improvements for the most underperforming products.
Checklist
- Analytics data reviewed (bounce rates, session duration, buy now clicks, and add-to-carts)
- Low-performing product pages identified
- Prioritized list of pages for content enhancement
Step 8: Make Continuous Improvements
An audit is not a one-time task. Similar to running a. warehouse inventory check, regularly revisit your product content to ensure that it stays updated and optimized is essential to smooth operations. Schedule periodic audits based on product category, sales cycles, and evolving SEO trends. Breaking these checkups into smaller efforts over time, rather than one large project at once, will help to maintain operations throughout the year without interruption.
Actionable Steps
- Set up a routine for quarterly or bi-annual content audits.
- Stay updated with SEO trends and algorithm changes to adjust product content accordingly.
- Implement a system to flag outdated content or products for updates.
Checklist
- Regular audit schedule in place (quarterly or bi-annually)
- Processes in place to flag outdated content
- Continual training for content teams on SEO best practices
With these elements of a strategic product content audit clearly mapped out, evaluating PDP performance becomes a structured, executable, and expedited task for anyone in e-commerce.
Use this checklist alongside a product content audit to improve the customer experience and increase sales.
