Give the product line that matters most its own page: what you carry, prices or ranges, real photographs, the questions buyers ask before choosing, and a clear next step. One page cannot carry every line.

One page, a paragraph each

A business sells five or six lines. The website has one page called Products, with a heading and a paragraph for each, and perhaps a manufacturer's logo beside it.

Somebody searching for the one line they want lands on a paragraph, if they land on the page at all.

The paragraph says the business carries it, in a range of styles, at competitive prices. It does not say which styles, what they cost, or how to choose.

Often that is the line the business most wants to sell, given exactly the same space as everything else.

Why one page cannot carry every line

A page has one title and one main heading, and it ranks best for one main subject. A page about six things competes weakly for all six.

A buyer comparing shops wants detail: models, sizes, prices, what is in stock. Six lines' worth of that on one page becomes a wall nobody reads.

And one page cannot show enough photographs of any single line to help somebody decide.

Somebody who searches for one line and lands on a paragraph about six often goes back to the results and tries the next shop.

Choosing the line

The second is the most reliable guide. A line that keeps the phone busy with questions is one people are already researching, and a page that answers them reaches buyers while they are still choosing.

What buyers ask before choosing

For two weeks, ask everybody who serves customers to note each question about the line: at the counter, on the phone and in email.

The list will be shorter than expected and more repetitive. Sizing, fit, compatibility, how long it lasts, how to look after it, what is in stock, and which one is right for me.

The last question matters most. Behind it sit two or three decisions every buyer has to make, and the page should walk through them in order.

Note the words customers use, too. They are the words they type into a search box, and often not the words on the manufacturer's brochure.

What goes on the page

What you carry: the brands, ranges, sizes and colours you usually stock, and whether you order in.

Prices, or at least ranges. A buyer who cannot tell whether the line starts at fifty dollars or five hundred will go somewhere that says.

How to choose, in plain words, followed by the services around the line: fitting, rental, repairs, warranty, trade-ins.

Stock: what is usually on the shelf, how to check a size or model before driving over, and how long special orders take.

And one clear next step at the end, whether that is calling to check a size, booking a fitting or coming in.

A worked example

A surf shop in a small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island sells boards, wetsuits, clothing and accessories, rents gear and runs lessons. Its site had one Shop page with a paragraph for each line.

Wetsuits mattered most. In that water nobody surfs without one, weekend visitors often arrive needing one, and questions about thickness and fit filled the phone.

The wetsuit paragraph said only that the shop carried a full range of men's, women's and children's suits.

The shop wrote a wetsuit page: which thickness suits which months, why winter needs a hood, boots and gloves, how a suit should fit, the brands and sizes usually in stock, price ranges, renting versus buying, and repairs.

Photographs came from the shop floor and from staff in the water. The page ends with the shop's number and an invitation to call before driving out to check a size.

Photographs of the real thing

Manufacturer images are on every competitor's site too. They can supplement a page, but they cannot show what buying from you looks like.

Photograph your own stock in your own shop, close-ups of the details buyers ask about, and the product in use by customers or staff, with their permission.

A few good photographs placed beside the questions they answer do more than a gallery at the bottom of the page.

Linking it in

Keep the overview page. Shorten that line's paragraph to two sentences and a link, and add the new page to the menu.

Link to it from related pages, such as lessons or rentals, and give it a title that names the line and the town, the way a buyer would search for it.

Point a post on the Google listing at it when the season comes round.

Keeping it current

A detailed page goes stale fastest where it names exact models. Write the lasting advice in general terms and keep model details in one short section somebody updates each season.

Put a date in the calendar before the busy season to read the page against what is actually on the shelves.

When a buyer asks something the page does not answer, add the answer. The page should keep growing from the counter, the way it started.

The counter-case

A line chosen almost entirely on price, with few questions asked, gains little from a long page. A clear paragraph with prices may be all it needs.

A shop with a full online store already has category pages. There the work is adding buying advice to the category page rather than building a separate one.

And building six thin pages at once helps nobody. One complete page, then the next.

For the line that matters most, though, a page of its own with real detail is worth more than any amount of space on the overview.

Building the page

  1. Pick the line customers ask about most.
  2. Collect their questions for two weeks.
  3. List what you carry and typical prices.
  4. Explain how to choose in plain words.
  5. Photograph your own stock and customers using it.
  6. End with one clear next step.
  7. Link it from the overview and the menu.

Step two is what decides whether anybody reads the page. A page built from real questions answers what buyers are already asking; one built from the brochure answers what nobody asked.

Deciding when in the year each line deserves attention follows the same thinking as seasonal content for a trades business.

Frequently asked questions

Why give one product line its own page?

Because one page about every line can only say a little about each, and a buyer researching the line you most want to sell needs detail, prices and answers.

Which line should get a page first?

Usually the one customers ask about most, since their questions show people are already researching it. Margin, expertise and the coming season count too.

What should the page include?

What you carry, prices or ranges, how to choose, services such as fitting or repairs, what is usually in stock, your own photographs, and one clear next step.

Where do the buyers' questions come from?

From the counter, the phone and the inbox. Ask everybody who serves customers to note each question about the line for two weeks; the repeated ones belong on the page.

Should we use the manufacturer's photographs?

As a supplement at most, since they appear on every competitor's site. Photographs of your own stock, and of customers using it, show what buying from you looks like.

Should every line get a page at once?

No. Build one page properly, link it from the overview and the menu, and add the next line only when the first is complete and current.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

One products page for everything?

Tell us which line matters most. We will help you plan a page around the questions your customers ask.

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