Do your product pages make a good first impression? They better...

Did you know that an increasing number of your website visitors arrive directly on a product listing? New data highlights the importance of optimizing product pages to ensure making a good first impression.

by Helen Leggatt

According to data from FoundIt, many website visitors are arriving on pages that are perhaps the least likely to be optimized to make a good first impression. Up to 46% of website sessions were found to start at the product level (average 36%), compared with an average of 21% arriving at the home page. This, says FoundIt, is "driven by the growth in programmes like Google Shopping".

To this end, product pages need to be given the same amount of attention that a home page receives in terms of "merchandising, enrichment, testing, customization, optimization, analysis or anything really" advises FoundIt CEO, Warren Cowan, on the company blog.

Otherwise, product pages become what Cowan refers to as a 'cul-de-sac', where visitors arrive and can't find their way out.

In fact, this dead-end search experience may be what is responsible for the high bounce rates (nearly 70% or more) discovered by FoundIt among website visits that begin at product level. It may also be responsible for the lack of browsing activity from product level visitors.

"Products in Google Shopping may generate impressive click-throughs that are highly qualified," says Cowan. "They are however seldom product specific searches. Detailed query analysis shows, that a high concentration and wide mix of category and type related searches are producing the clicks on product listings. This indicates that shoppers want a far broader and higher level choice than the product offers."

The onus is on retailers to prepare product pages and navigation to allow consumers to access a much broader product range, and encourage further site exploration. For more advice, check out the FoundIt blog post.