Product Ranking Factors Study 2021

Summary

The blog post explores the key product ranking factors for Google’s organic search and shopping experiences based on insights from SEO experts. The study delves into specific factors such as inbound links, product information, reviews/ratings, and technical SEO that impact product page rankings. The post highlights top factors by category and provides valuable commentary from industry professionals on optimizing content, keyword research, image optimization, and the importance of product codes. The methodology involved surveying SEOs and ecommerce marketers to gather data and insights. Overall, the post aims to assist ecommerce businesses in enhancing their SEO strategies for improved online visibility and success.

When Google opened up their Shopping engine to organic listings in 2020 it marked a major shift in ways small ecommerce businesses could compete against major established brands such as Amazon, Walmart, and Wayfair. This new area of organic search though is not very well understood and we wanted to gather insights from the SEO community on what factors are believed to impact rankings the most in this new organic experience as well as in Google’s standard search engine when it comes to ranking a product page or product listing in the results.

These are the ranking factors or signals most important to ranking a product itself highly in Google’s standard search engine and in the new organic Shopping search experience according to top SEOs with recent experience in the field.

It is my hope and the hope of my staff and those SEOs who graciously helped us with this survey that the data below helps you better prioritize your ecommerce SEO efforts and helps power the success of your ecommerce business.

Product Ranking Factors for Ecommerce SEO in 2021

Top Product Ranking Factors for Google Organic Search by Category

Our first question asked SEOs and ecommerce marketers to select all of the the factors that impacted a product page ranking higher in Google’s standard organic search. Respondents were allowed to select all of the specific factors they believed had a positive impact on these rankings. Each specific factor was grouped into a category with other factors which helped us create a list of types of ranking factors or signals in order of most important to least important.

Top product ranking factors by category in order

Inbound Links – 29%
Product Information – 20%
Technical SEO – 17%
Reviews / Ratings – 17%
Social Signals – 6%
Product Media – 4%
Other Signals – 4%
Other Site Signals – 3%

Top 5 Specific Product Ranking Factors for Google Organic Search

When looking at the specific responses to this question our expert and highly experienced respondents clearly selected 5 ranking factors for products as more important than others. This is broken down by percentage of total respondents who selected the specific factor.

Keywords in the name of the product – 81.82%
Keywords in reviews of the product – 72.73%
Keywords in the title tag of a product – 72.73%
Number of inbound links directly to the product – 72.73%
Internal links from similar products on the site – 68.18%

Top 20 Specific Product Ranking Factors for Google Organic Search

And here are the top 20 specific ranking factors

Keywords in the name of the product – 81.82%
Keywords in reviews of the product – 72.73%
Keywords in the title tag of a product – 72.73%
Number of inbound links directly to the product – 72.73%
Internal links from similar products on the site – 68.18%
Keywords in the product description – 68.18%
Page load speed of the product page – 68.18%
Anchor text on inbound links to the product – 63.64%
Click-through rate from SERPs to the product page – 63.64%
Number of links to the product from trusted journalistic sources – 63.64%
Product availability – 59.09%
Total number of links to the website from trusted journalistic sources – 59.09%
Keywords in the meta description of a product – 54.55%
Category / Categories the product is in – 50.00%
Average Rating of the product – 50.00%
Number of reviews of the product – 50.00%
Linking domain aggregate value – 45.45%
Linking domain quantity – 45.45%
Editorial reviews of the product cited on the product page – 40.91%
Number of links to the homepage of the website – 40.91%

Top Product Ranking Factors for Google Shopping Search by Category

We asked our expert respondents to select all of the ranking factors they believe impacted how a product ranked in Google’s new organic shopping search which allowed us to group those ranking factors into categories and highlight the most important categories for product rankings in the shopping search experience. Unsurprisingly factors that are related to Google’s Shopping Feed (Merchant Center) are the top category as this is a critical component for being included in the Shopping search much like a Google My Business listing is a critical component for a local business to appear on Google Maps.

Top product ranking factors by category in order

Google Shopping Feed – 27%
Product Information – 24%
Reviews / Ratings – 14%
Inbound Links – 11%
Technical SEO – 10%
Other Signals – 4%
Other Site Signals – 4%
Product Media – 3%
Social Signals – 3%

Top 5 Specific Product Ranking Factors for Google Organic Shopping

Availability (Google Shopping Feed) – 72.73%
Product Title (Google Shopping Feed) – 72.73%
Keywords in the product description – 68.18%
Average Rating of the product – 59.09%
Country of Sale (Google Shopping Feed) – 59.09%

Top 20 Specific Product Ranking Factors for Google Organic Shopping

Availability (Google Shopping Feed) – 72.73%
Product Title (Google Shopping Feed) – 72.73%
Keywords in the product description – 68.18%
Average Rating of the product – 59.09%
Country of Sale (Google Shopping Feed) – 59.09%
Keywords in the name of the product – 59.09%
Product Availability – 59.09%
Page load speed of the product page – 54.55%
Click-through rate from SERPs to the product page – 50.00%
Keywords in the title tag of a product – 45.45%
Language (Google Shopping Feed) – 45.45%
Last updated date (Google Shopping Feed) – 40.91%
Number of reviews of the product – 40.91%
Condition (Google Shopping Feed) – 36.36%
Price of the product – 36.36%
Category / Categories the product is in – 31.82%
Keywords in reviews of the product – 31.82%
Recency of reviews or ratings – 31.82%
Linking domain quantity – 27.27%
Number of inbound links directly to the product – 27.27%

Top Product Ranking Factors for Google Organic Search When SEOs Only Select Their Top 10 Factors

Finally to figure out importance we also asked our SEOs and ecommerce marketing experts to only select their top 10 ranking factors for a product in Google Organic Search. While our previous question allowed us to see collectively what factors SEOs considered important asking a second question this way should validate the aggregate data from our previous question, challenge it, or add to it.

When looking at this data broken down by our ranking factor categories SEOs tend to put more emphasis on inbound links and technical SEO than the product related signals such as descriptions, reviews, and media.

Top product ranking factors by category when SEOs only select their top 10 overall ranking factors in order

Inbound Links – 40%
Technical SEO – 19%
Product Information – 16%
Reviews / Ratings – 10%
Other Signals – 5%
Product Media – 4%
Social Signals – 3%
Other Site Signals – 3%

Top 5 specific product ranking factors for Google Organic Search when SEOs only select their top 10 overall ranking factors

Keywords in the product description – 63.64%
Number of links to the product from trusted journalistic sources – 54.55%
Click-through rate from SERPs to the product page – 50.00%
Keywords in the name of the product – 50.00%
Page load speed of the product page – 50.00%

Top 20 specific product ranking factors for Google Organic Search when SEOs only select their top 10 overall ranking factors

Keywords in the product description – 63.64%
Number of links to the product from trusted journalistic sources – 54.55%
Click-through rate from SERPs to the product page – 50.00%
Keywords in the name of the product – 50.00%
Page load speed of the product page – 50.00%
Anchor text on inbound links to the product – 45.45%
Keywords in the title tag of a product – 45.45%
Number of inbound links directly to the product – 45.45%
Total number of links to the website from trusted journalistic sources – 45.45%
Internal links from similar products on the site – 40.91%
Linking domain aggregate value – 40.91%
Linking domain quantity – 40.91%
Number of links to the homepage of the website – 40.91%
Keywords in the meta description of a product – 36.36%
Keywords in reviews of the product – 31.82%
Linking document aggregate value – 31.82%
Customer images or videos of the product – 22.73%
Recency of reviews or ratings – 22.73%
Linking document quantity – 18.18%
Number of photos or videos of the product – 18.18%

Top Product Ranking Factors for Google Shopping Search When SEOs Only Select Their Top 10 Factors

Top product ranking factors for Google Shopping by category when SEOs only select their top 10 overall ranking factors in order

Google Shopping Feed – 26%
Product Information – 23%
Reviews / Ratings – 19%
Technical SEO – 14%
Inbound Links – 9%
Product Media – 3%
Other Signals – 2%
Other Site Signals – 2%
Social Signals – 2%

Top 5 specific product ranking factors for Google Shopping when SEOs only select their top 10 overall ranking factors

Keywords in the product description – 63.64%
Product Title (Google Shopping Feed) – 59.09%
Availability (Google Shopping Feed) – 54.55%
Recency of reviews or ratings – 50.00%
Average Rating of the product – 45.45%

Top 20 specific product ranking factors for Google Shopping when SEOs only select their top 10 overall ranking factors

Keywords in the product description – 63.64%
Product Title (Google Shopping Feed) – 59.09%
Availability (Google Shopping Feed) – 54.55%
Recency of reviews or ratings – 50.00%
Average Rating of the product – 45.45%
Number of reviews of the product – 45.45%
Keywords in the name of the product – 40.91%
Country of Sale (Google Shopping Feed) – 36.36%
Keywords in the meta description of a product – 36.36%
Page load speed of the product page – 36.36%
Language (Google Shopping Feed) – 31.82%
Product Availability – 31.82%
Keywords in the title tag of a product – 31.82%
Condition (Google Shopping Feed) – 27.27%
Last updated date (Google Shopping Feed) – 27.27%
Category / Categories the product is in – 22.73%
Price of the product – 22.73%
Keywords in reviews of the product – 22.73%
Linking domain quantity – 18.18%
Number of links to the product from trusted journalistic sources – 18.18%

Ranking Advice and Commentary from Ecommerce SEOs who participated

Todd Perry – Outdoor Gadget Review

“You’ll need to study the most common search terms used by people searching for your items to find the best keywords to target. Using Google’s automatic recommendations and “people even ask” features, you can find keywords. These give you a good idea of which keywords are the most common. You should also look at your popular rivals’ SEO strategies and see what language they’re using and imitate them. Amazon is just as popular as Google for e-commerce searches. Examining Amazon’s keyword tactics will help you learn from the best. Go to Amazon and type in keywords that define your products.”

Recommended Links: Google Ranking Factors, ChatGPT SEO, Dallas SEO Company

Joe Youngblood