Five tips to create an optimized product page

To buy or not to buy? That is the question, when it comes to the success of your PrestaShop eCommerce shop! The reality is that a magic moment occurs when site visitors arrive on one of your product pages, and it either leads them to buy from your store - or not. So, aside from having a fantastic product to begin with, what can be done to encourage that all important add-to-basket click?

Read on to discover some great tips and learn a few new tricks that will help you to ramp up your sales!

1. Feed your customers' imagination with great visuals

Buying online is all about confidence. We all want to have a strong sense of what we are paying for, from the textures and colours, to all of the little details that can set something apart from its competition. To this end, if your pictures aren't up to scratch, you are bound to miss out on sales. It can be a time consuming endeavour but a professional looking range of images, using different angles; close, and from a distance; and importantly, in context – is undoubtedly an investment that is well worth making. 

Make sure the image quality is maintained during your upload to PrestaShop too. Huge images will slow your page down, but blurry, low quality snaps will not inspire confidence. If PrestaShop automatic image compression robs your images of crispness, you can always change the settings so that images are uploaded just as they are. As with so many things, there is a balance to be struck in making sure that your images are crystal clear, without opting for the kind of quality required for a poster print!

2. Consider the power of first impressions

Remember, Google will deliver people right onto your product page, so keep in mind that they won't necessarily have the insights that your polished home page might have offered them. Now, the latest stats tell us that we have no more than 1/10^th of a second to make a killer first impression. Yes, you read that right – the modern online shopper is a ruthless sort! 

If your precious lead is still with you after that initial appraisal, without having hit the back button, you then have a further 29.9 seconds to really capture their imagination. Knowing these stats, we can take a fresh perspective on how important it is to have all the key information, right there at the top of the page. After the fold, or when the site visitor scrolls down, you can delve into the features and benefits of your offering.

Alongside your beautiful images, a succinct initial product description is a must. Break down all the information that you want to convey into two parts – the need to know, and the want to know – and start with what site visitors need to know at the top of the page. An easy-reading and clear description of what the product is, at first glance, will hook your could-be customers, while all the nitty-gritty and in-depth details can be given further down the page.

3. Look at your page from a web designer's perspective

With so much pressure on that first impression, spread your view a little wider than the images and text for each of your products. Consider who your target audience are. Does your web design with its colour scheme, fonts, and so on – fit nicely with the products you sell, and who you hope to sell them to? Every little detail, down to the colour of your “add to basket” button will contribute towards building a strong impression of your brand. Make sure that everything ties together and is pleasing to view.

Interestingly, market research tells us that there is a trick to sizing fonts on a product page. Namely, a power to the difference between the font of the product name, and the product price. If you are selling an item from a reputable brand, make the product name larger, because that's what customers are looking for. If you are selling a high quality but little-known product, make the price larger, so your customers revel in idea that they are getting great value.

4. Let customers know that yours is the product for them

There are several little details that you can pay attention to, in order to reassure your lead that they're in the right place. Foster trust by displaying your shop's payment options, and crucially, your shipping costs. Make sure you have genuine reviews on display, as 86% of shoppers rely on reviews when choosing to make a purchase. An absence of these key elements is sure to see your site visitors navigating away!

What is your Unique Selling Proposition? Get a little creative and identify what you can do to make your PrestaShop offering unique. This might mean taking a look at what the competition are up to and working out where you can trump them, for example by adding extra-fast delivery and gift wrap options. Your above-and-beyond service might just seal the deal with your next customer! Where possible, combine your excellent USP with a sense of exclusivity, or urgency, to make your products truly irresistible. 

Your advertising needs to be honest, as modern online shoppers will sniff out the unauthentic like a hound on a scent – but sharing the ways in which buying your product is a great opportunity will lend extra value to each potential purchase.

5. Drive more customers to your product with on-point SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is just as important on your product pages as anywhere else. After all, Google indexes your product pages in the same way. Make sure your written content is polished to SEO best practice standards, with your feature keywords laced organically throughout the content, and present in the headings, title tag and meta description. Make the most of resources such as your images alt tags, and rich snippets to help Google find your product prices, availability, and reviews. Don't forget to add your product's SKU or identification code too, so that price comparison sites can find it just as easily.

Be sure to feature internal links within each product page. This will not only entice customers, but also Google's bots as they index as much of your website as possible. If you've followed all the previous points, then your performance in the eyes of Google should already be faring well, as the search engine loves to see that visitors are lingering on a page, rather bouncing back to their search results. 

Lastly, if you can handle a little investment, continue a small splurge on one of PrestaShop SEO addons, to automatically address all the bits and pieces that can push you right up through Google's rankings. Improved SEO will mean more visitors to your product page, which means more opportunity to show off everything else you have succeeded in getting absolutely on point!