Both growing national brands and large-scale international brands have tons of questions regarding product description page optimization. Some of their questions include:
Which elements can be automated?
Will it matter if there is duplication among them?
What can we do about variable products that are not listed on one URL?
Is it okay to use manufacturer-provided product descriptions?
Problems with product descriptions can be exacerbated by larger product catalogs and more complex technology stacks. Thankfully, enterprise e-commerce stacks can help you automate many product description issues.
This is where product information management (PIM) comes into play. It can serve as both an SEO tool and a user experience platform.
Product information management can be used to influence user experience and bridge the gap between users searching for products and completing their purchases.
PIM is often seen as an additional component of the tech stack. However, it is more than just that. It can enhance user experience and enrich the product details page with important information from an SEO perspective.
In this article, we will focus on a mix of both. E-commerce companies, such as Bain & Company, claim that improving customer experience with tools can lead to increased revenue by as much as 25%.
Google is constantly improving user experience on the web through Mobile Friendliness, Speed, Core Web Vital, EAT, and other initiatives. For this reason, using PIM to enhance the user experience may not be as simple as adding keywords to the page. It is often also responsible for product imagery.
Here’s how product information management can help you dominate the digital world.
What Is Product Information Management?
Before discussing how PIM can benefit your business, it’s essential to know what it is. Let’s get the basics down and define PIM first.
Product information management (PIM) is the process of managing, enriching, and distributing product information among various teams in order to create a compelling product experience and sell the product through different sales channels. It is a process- and master-data-driven strategy for putting out product content. It acts as a central platform for storing, managing, governing, enriching, and distributing product information to sales, marketing, and e-commerce channels.
How A Product Information Management System Helps
There are different ways in which you can use PIM for your business. Here are some PIM functionalities that can be beneficial to your business:
1. Automate your product title tags and meta descriptions.
Product information management will typically contain multiple fields that relate to the product. Here are some examples:
- Product Name
- Product Description
- Product Size
- Product Color
- Product Construction
- Product Identifier
These small yet essential pieces of information can be used to enhance meta descriptions and title tags. Google is overwriting these two elements, but they are still being processed and cached by Google as well. While only the title tag is considered a ranking factor, the meta description is still very important for CTR purposes.
PIM can also be used to eliminate duplication of title tags and improve document information architecture for Google. This can be achieved by having the front-end platform dynamically use the PIM information as well as the template for the product description page.
Google will also be more precise in rewriting your meta description and title tag if you include more information. Doing so will also help you avoid giving misleading information and creating a bad search experience for internet users.
2. Automate your product details page.
There are numerous product pages that contain generic product descriptions, which the manufacturer likely has provided already. Duplicate product descriptions are not usually an issue since the content of a PDP goes beyond just words. It is the page’s entire value proposition.
The goal is to make the duplicated descriptions a supporting element on the page, not the main point. John Mueller, Google’s webmaster, has confirmed this does not result in a penalty situation. This is only an issue if they don’t want multiple results for the same content.
The said issue can be avoided by using the PIM increase value. Google enhances search results for queries related to generic products by including a mix of online and local results. Google must decide whether to rank local or online sources that offer duplicate value propositions.
Most PIMs include stock data. Many businesses that operate both online and offline have integrations that enable you to add the following information to your PDPs:
- Availability at Local Stores (which can be further customized if you log in to see availability at stores near your defined location preferences)
- In-Store Pick-Up Lead Time
- Delivery Lead Time
If you include such information on your PDP, there’s a high chance for Google to rank your PDP page over other pages.
3. Define taxonomies and relationships.
Most PIMs allow you to create taxonomies or relationships with other products in the database. This information, together with personalization elements, can be used to create supplementary content blocks and value propositions on the product detail page.
Such elements can be used to encourage cross-sells or up-sells, increase user average order value (AOV), as well as help you select the right complementary products.
For instance, by purchasing a phone directly from the page that presents the earphones, the user saves time searching for the right earphones and can therefore buy them immediately.
Tags and taxonomies are also compatible with internal site searches. This means that users can use your website to find key products and variants.
The Benefits of Using A Product Information Management System For Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Customer experience and product information are interrelated. Customer experience can be negatively affected if brands fail to provide accurate, reliable, and connected product information on every channel. Product information management provides you with the support and efficiency you need to provide a winning, omnichannel customer experience.
PIM allows you to:
- Launch products quicker by eliminating manual data entry and redundant data entry.
- Protect your brand by making sure that the specifications and content are accurate. To ensure that everything is correct, your team can double-check the PIM solution.
- Enter pieces of information only once. Product information management software or tools ingest and manage product data from product lifecycle management (PLM) systems or enterprise resource planning (ERP) and then transmit it to e-commerce syndication platforms and publishers as well as print partners.
- Remove email chains that often come with proofing workflows or content requests. Everything can be stored, reviewed, approved, and accessed in product information management software or tools.
- Use automated notifications to notify product information managers, legal representatives, product marketers, and other people who must sign off before listings go live to speed up approvals.
- Win shoppers over and outcompete your competitors with better product listings. Brands can spend more time on copywriting and images when they have one product listing.
Advanced Digital Media Services Is Here to Help
Now that you know how product information management can help your business, it’s important to incorporate it into your strategy to ensure business growth and success. Seeking help from SEO experts, digital marketers, or product information managers is your best option.
At Advanced Digital Media Services, we have built websites for e-commerce businesses. We can help you ensure that all your product attributes are managed and optimized well. Our team of experts in SEO in Denver can help you improve customer experience and rankings on Google.
For inquiries regarding our services, feel free to reach out to our team of experts. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Contact us today so we can start helping you dominate the digital world. We look forward to helping you navigate the digital marketing landscape.
