• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, December 22, 2014

Common misspellings, nuances in Web copy and content, and incorrectly optimizing videos can drag down rankings on retail sites, contributing to underperforming pages. Here are five essential tips to help brand marketers increase visibility and rank products higher on major e-commerce sites such as Amazon, eBay, and Walmart.com. 

Content Analytics analyzed more than 17,000 e-commerce product pages to reveal the factors that make products appear higher than others on retail site search rankings. Brand marketers must know how to optimize their product pages to gain visibility on these sites and capture sales.  
 
Content Analytics found that brands miss an opportunity to rank better when incorrectly using keywords on their product pages. The research shows the most visible products on e-commerce sites are those containing the complete search query -- for example, moisturizing shampoo -- in both the title and description.

Those with the search query in just the title or the description ranked on pages three through six, and those that did not include the query or used it sporadically ranked on pages seven through ten. Product pages with images are nearly 150% more likely to appear on page-one results, and those with at least three images perform best.

Product merchandising and videos are important online, as they are in brick-and-mortar stores, because consumers want to see and understand what they buy. The study found that product listings with images are nearly 150% more likely to appear on page-one results than those without. Pages with video are 200% more likely to appear on page one, and products with more than 80 reviews are most likely to rank on page-one search results, and it doesn't matter if they're positive or negative.

The number of images also matters. Product listings with three or more images are much more visible in search rankings than those with two or fewer images.

The research also reveals that in-stock items are 700% more likely to appear on page one. Although seemingly obvious, this underscores the need for brands and retailers to keep inventory in stock at all times and remove expired product listings. 

"Online Shopping Cart" photo from Shutterstock