Effective ecommerce product page management can be tough for big brands. For even the top online brands, ecommerce profit margins are notoriously low, lower than they are for brick-and-mortar brands, where margins typically hover in the low single digits. For example, after over two decades in operation, Amazon’s operating margin was only 4 percent in North America and -1.4 percent internationally by 2016, The Motley Fool reports.
Margins this tight mean that every advantage you can gain can make a big difference. One area where most brands have room to improve is product page maintenance. Here are three keys to maintaining your pages efficiently, effectively, and profitably.
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Simplify Your Product Update Process With a CMS
One of the major challenges for effective ecommerce product page optimization is the enormous task of updating product pages. The bigger your brand, the more product SKU numbers you need to manage, each of which may have multiple variations. Moreover, each of your products may be featured across many online venues, including your own website, sites of other ecommerce retailers such as Amazon and Walmart, social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram, and PPC ads. This can make updating product details and prices extremely tedious, time-consuming, and error prone. Failing to address this effectively can make it impossible for you to keep your pricing in sync with online rivals, crucial for staying competitive.
To simplify the task of product page management, successful big brands employ ecommerce content management system (CMS) platforms that empower them to update all their pages from across the internet using one integrated interface. A CMS tool can connect with your inventory management system, enabling you to manage your product pages by SKU number. Top CMS solutions also supply you with analytics displaying key product page information, such as on-page optimization performance and produce review ratings. Using a CMS platform can save you countless hours maintaining product pages.
Use Your CMS to Optimize Your On-page SEO and Sales Copy
Using a CMS platform can also make it easier to optimize your product pages’ SEO and sales copy. Competitive SEO performance requires you to stay on top of market trends and keep your product pages current with the latest keywords. A keyword that was hot last holiday season may have dropped in volume this year, necessitating an adjustment. In addition, to be effective for generating sales, your product pages must be optimized to appeal to human visitors as well as search engines.
The simplest way to optimize your SEO and sales copy is to use your CMS solution to make periodic updates. Important elements to review include page titles, product descriptions, and lists of features and benefits. Images and rich media also need to be optimized. To assist you with optimizing these and other key elements, ecommerce product page optimization provider Content Analytics offers a whitepaper you can download to read a case study on the winning formulas used by top-ranking retailers.
Keep Your Inventory in Sync With Your Product Pages
It’s also important to keep your digital product pages coordinated with your physical inventory. This allows you to keep track of how much inventory you need for different items to keep up with market demand. It can also help your sales, since some customers will be more inclined to order if they see items are immediately available in stock. This is why top ecommerce retailers such as Amazon often list how many units of a given item are currently in stock.
The easiest way to keep your inventory and product pages in stock is to use a CMS solution that comes with built-in inventory management features. You can also set up your own custom integration with popular inventory management software. For maximum efficiency, use a solution that syncs with your accounting and point-of-transaction software.
Streamlining your product page management with a content management system, using your CMS solution to optimize your SEO and sales copy, and keeping your inventory synced with your product pages are three keys to effective ecommerce page maintenance. Implementing these strategies will save you time updating your pages, optimize your pages’ SEO and sales performance, and keep your inventory in sync with your online customers’ demand.
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