Ecommerce Meta Description: Home, Product, & Category Pages

Updated on November 1, 2022 in Ecommerce by Nishant Shrimali

For many SEO enthusiasts, writing an eCommerce meta description might not be a breeze.

After all, we are confined by characters, have no idea what to share, and also – will Google even crawl the description or pick something from within the page?

I understand.

But I have started seeing creativity brewing under confined spaces.

In this article, I’ll be sharing how to write absolute eCommerce meta descriptions for your Home page, Product pages, and category pages.

While the characters are limited, there’s a lot that we are going to discuss here. So without taking any more time, let’s get started.

What is a Meta Description?

A meta description is a short description of the content that viewers can read and learn about the particular search result before they decide to click on it.

A meta description helps both the user and the search engine to determine the relevance of the page according to the search query and intent.

Here, the search query is generally the keywords or phrases you are targeting to rank that page one.

How Long Should a Meta Description be?

SEO guidelines say your meta description should be 160 characters or less. But often times we observe that descriptions above 155 characters tend to get trimmed down. It is important to know this and place the important information (and keyword) at the beginning of the meta description.

160 characters are not always visible in the search result. Instead, they are replaced by dots… That is why one must also frame the copy of the description in a way that pursues people right from the beginning.

I’ll also recommend creating a spreadsheet and adding the top 10 meta descriptions, titles, and URLs of the pages ranking for your keyword.

It helps in drawing out similarities between what people and Google prefer. Once the intent is clear, working in the content will be much easier.

Also, don’t just copy the top results.

Figure out the similarity, like:

• Common keywords
• Number of times keyword is used
• Number of characters
• The intent of the meta description
• CTA of meta description (if it has one)

Using Chrome, you can also use the META SEO Inspector chrome extension. It will show you the title, URL, meta description (that the competitors have written), and the whole structure of the page.

Why are Meta Descriptions Important?

Meta descriptions are an essential part of on-page SEO. It helps the user searching for the query and the search engine understand what the page is about concisely.

Because a viewer is presented with top 10 search results, meta description gives a sneak-peek into what that particular result is sharing and if it is relevant to them.

This makes it easy for them and gives a better context of the information about the page—which makes the meta description essential.

According to SearchEngineLand, your meta description is the most important factor in improving your click-through rate.

That means if you can craft an impactful eCommerce meta description, you are likely to attract more customers to your page.

How to Write Ecommerce Meta Description?

Writing an eCommerce meta description is tricky. Agreed. But just because of that reason, you should not skip writing it or randomly fill it up.

The three most important pages for eCommerce are the Home page, product pages, and category pages.

You’ll be learning how to craft your eCommerce meta description that both search engines and your customers would love.

1. Home Page

Search Query Example: Nike, Sezane, Zara, alo, etc.

For an eCommerce, the homepage is like the front view of your amazing shop.

Just like customers walking down the street peek through the window to look at the products and learn about the shop, your eCommerce home page meta description helps customers learn about the brand.

Remember, it’s about the brand and how it caters to the audience.

I’ll also recommend you to add some kind of experience, some emotion within your meta description.

Focus on the tone and word choice you pick to build a brand voice.

For a luxurious brand, it can be a little sophisticated, on the other hand for a casual wear brand, the tone, and word choice will be more chilled out, relaxed, and fun.

Similarly, there will be a difference in the emotion between an athletic brand and a leisure brand.

Remember one thing.

It’s not about you or your brand. It is about placing your brand right where your customers’ emotions are.

Let’s look at some examples here:

Alo is a yoga wear brand. So, their description shares a focus on activity (Wear-tested by yogis) and aligns with what people want—which is looking like a celeb while working out (celeb-approved yoga pants).

Now let’s have a look at another brand; Sezane here:

Sezane is about warmth, being easygoing, and sticking to the classics. And if you are reading this home page eCommerce meta description, you’ll know it reflects just that.

Let’s break it down.

• Born in Paris – sticking to classics by sharing the origin and inspiration of their fashion.
• Quality & creativity at the heart of everything – sharing warmth and a sense of being easygoing.
• Free returns and shipping for orders over $200 – lastly, they place their brand exactly where their customer wants with an offer.

2. Product Page

Search Query: Air Jordan 12 Retro Twist, Louis Vitton Brown Drum Bag, Gymshark vital seamless 2.0 shorts, etc.

Unlike the home page, if someone is reading your product page meta description, they are more interested in the particular product rather than your brand.

If you are an already established brand in the industry, your mention in the URL and title might be effective. But specifically for eCommerce meta description, share information about the product.

In recent Google SERP updates, it was also seen that the product images will be visible in the search results as well.

Your product page eCommerce meta description would further help the interested customer better understand the product.

Rather than emotion or branding, focus on information.

In the description, you can share specifics like the color, material, ratings, name of the product, brand, size, features, etc.

Here’s an example:

When one searches for “Gymshark vital seamless 2.0 shorts”, the meta description of the page is – 1 pair of shorts. 2 layers. All the possibilities. The Vital Seamless 2.0 2-in-1 Shorts feature an inner layer made from the classic seamless, sweat-wicking…

If we break it down:

• The entire focus is on features(1 pair of shorts. 2 layers, classic seamless, sweat-wicking).
• Uses the keyword once for SEO (Vital Seamless 2.0).
• No use of brand name instead of title.

3. Category Page

Search Query: alo yoga pants, daniel wellington watch for women, sneakers for men, etc.

Category pages are complex. People are looking for the products and sometimes are specific as well.

You may also note that your eCommerce category pages are probably also the most traffic-generating.

They reach more audiences, and your eCommerce meta description will have to be very much what your customer wants.

That is something afloat.

You don’t have to be specific as we did on the product page, but you also should not be brand-originated.

The best way to go through this challenge would be to use the keyword, align it with the brand, and deliver it with what your customers want.

Here’s an example.

When one searches for “daniel wellington watch women”, the meta description of the page is – A beautiful women’s watch from Daniel Wellington is more than just a watch. It is a piece of jewelry that makes the ultimate style statement about who you are.

If we break it down, 

• They begin with their target keyword (A beautiful women’s watch)
• Align it with their brand (from Daniel Wellington)
• Delivers it with what the customer wants (makes the ultimate style statement about who you are)

Bonus Read

Writing an eCommerce meta description can be challenging. But if you are running an eCommerce, the meta description is a window to allow customers to engage with your brand.

It is probably among the first interaction your customers might have.

So make sure, you don’t skip it and let Google pick random info to show to your customers.

If you have a large inventory, I’ll also suggest you create a skeleton on your meta description.

With all the other information being intake – like brand name, product name, and keyword – you can add the features specific to the product like the color, size, etc.

This is only for the product page. For the category and the home page, ensure that you are writing something unique about the category and do thorough research before you start.

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