Product Detail Pages (PDP) Best Practices, Examples for SEO, PPC & Video

Product Detail Pages (PDP) are the lifeblood of your Ecommerce store. They're where visitors turn into buyers. In this guide we cover the basics every page must have and also Pro Tips that only the best stores are doing.

Tl;dr Summary

Amazon PDP pages should have only 6 images because any more will limit your product review videos from showing up.

Shopify PDP pages should focus on taking the best product imagery possible and including 3-5 Sets for each of their products, drastically increasing conversion rates.

Now, grab a notepad (I prefer Huhuhero), and start a list of all the items your PDP pages are missing that you're going to add once you work through this tutorial.

When you're done, your PDP pages can easily double your sales, especially when you consider the average conversion rate on stores is 1%.

When you make these changes, a 1% increase to 2% isn't out of the picture at all.

Shopify/BigCommerce PDP Page Must Haves

1. The header menu

The menu is a necessary navigation tool for clients to navigate through your website. The menu will provide rapid access to various parts of the website, such as the homepage, product categories, and the customer's shopping basket.

Your logo and branding should be readily viewable.

Pro Tip: The smartest brands are using their header menu as another opportunity to personalize the shopping experience.

Mr. Porter converts the header into their client's last name, in my case, Mr. Wise.

2. A breadcrumb for SEO purposes

But on the web, a breadcrumb is a word used to indicate the path a user followed to reach the product page. It will display all of the web sites that a buyer visited prior to settling on a given product.

When browsing Amazon.com to look at an air conditioner, for example, you may notice a path heading to that product at the top of the page. “Home > Shopping > Home & Kitchen > Air and Heating > Portable Units” would be an example.

The reason it's important is for SEO purposes. It's been rumored backlinks are dead and the way to rank in 2021 is to own your internal linking structure.

Breadcrumbs send more internal links to all of your pages since they're present on every PDP page.

Pro Tip: Instead of just the basic navigation structure, write some copy that is compelling but also includes multiple product page links in the description like Mr. Porter does above.

3. The name of the product.

This should be the most visible and accessible text on the page. A product title identifies the item being seen, allowing customers to know exactly what they're looking at. Try to be as specific as possible without overcomplicating things.

4. Detailed product descriptions

Product descriptions, while not need to be lengthy, should accurately describe the product and define its features and benefits, as well as its functions and limitations. This is where smart copywriting comes in; knowing what your customers want and how to appeal to them in the proper way can truly attract them to buy more things from your online business.

Any major complaints or worries that someone might have about the product should be addressed in the description. If you're selling air conditioners, for example, you might want to address a common client issue about energy use by discussing your product's Energy star rating.

5. Size/Color Options

A product's color and size options.

Pro Tip: If your product comes in sizes other than US, then include a size guide that helps consumers understand what exactly a UK 10 means.

6. Purchase Quantity

Allows consumers to choose how many of the same product they want to buy.

7. Sizes and colors are available in this product

Different sizes and colors of a product that a client is looking at are available.

8. Delivery timeline

An estimated delivery timeframe for a product; often includes a zip code submission box to adapt the delivery estimate to a customer's location.

9. Reviews

Product reviews by verified purchasers of that specific product are shown in this section of the PDP.

A longer, more detailed description of a product, generally including the make, style, care instructions, and other details.

Information about shipping and returns, including costs, choices, and the brand's return policy.

Pro Tip: New products are less likely to have reviews, so in these cases, include TrustPilot or other trust metrics.

10. On-site services that are useful

Sizing guides, compatibility with other products in the brand's inventory, and other features vary each site.

11. Recommendation widgets

A widget that displays personalized recommendations based on a customer's profile or items that are frequently purchased together underneath the important product page text.

Widget with the most recent views: A widget that appears below the essential product page information and promotes products that a site user has recently browsed.

12. Customer photos

Real, confirmed purchasers post photos of themselves with a certain product.

Shopify has 1000s of free plugins for this purpose. Instafeed has 888 reviews and a 4.8 rating and is an easy way to add Instagram feed photos to your product listings.

Post-purchase, encourage your customers to use your hashtag to tag their photos on social.

To give them incentive, offer to feature them on your social or run a giveaway.

OrlebarBrown does an excellent job of this with their #OBsAroundTheWorld campaign.

13. Email Notifications

Customers can set up email notifications to be notified when a specific product is back in stock or when the price of a product reduces.

14. Store contact information

Allows customers to contact the company via email or live chat with product questions.

How to Generate More Sales from Your PDP Pages

Now that we've covered the essentials, let's get to the elements that increase our Conversion Rates (the amount of sales you have divided by the amount of people who visit your site).

They say the average conversion rate on the internet is 1%, which means 99 people will not buy when they visit your store.

Here's how to change that, by adding:

1. Spectacular photographs of the product

Customers can get a good look at your goods if you have nice, high-quality photographs of it. Make sure to show photographs of the goods from various angles if you want them to feel like they're looking at it in person.

Digital buyers expect to view between 5 and 8 photographs on each product description site, according to eMarketer. If you're sharing product descriptions with others, don't forget to give correct credit or copyright to the image's creator.

Pro Tip: Have your photography team take photos using different Sets. A Set is a backdrop for a product. It could be a kitchen counter, tabletop, picnic table, etc.

What it does is offer more chances for your customer to envision the product in their life. The ideal number of Sets would be 3-5, but the great thing is, you can always add more Sets as your store grows.‍

2. Optimized CTA: Call to Action

This is the most split-test-able element on the page because it has the largest impact. You get to instruct your consumers to "add to cart" here! A call-to-action is a brief request that prompts customers to do just that – take action. This usually requires adding a product to their shopping basket.

Pro Tip: Add to Cart is not one-size-fits-all. Every store is going to have its own optimal call to action button, so ensure you test all sorts of variations. Great places to start:

• Add to Cart
• Add to Bag
• Add Item

3. Compelling pricing

To your customers, this is perhaps the most crucial factor on this page.

Your product or service's price should be prominent and easily visible. You may also use price anchoring to show any discounts or price reductions to help drive conversions, i.e. employ price anchoring that looks like this: $39.99 $29.99 $29.99

The pricing should also be close to the "Buy" or "Add to Cart" button. This is to aid the page's natural flow and encourage people to move from viewing the pricing to adding the item to their shopping cart.

4. Social proof

For your conversion rates, social proof can be a game-changer. Hearing positive feedback from previous purchases is the best way to persuade a potential buyer to buy a product. From average star ratings to industry awards, social proof can take various forms.

Pro Tip: Include specific product details about your reviewers. Bonobos includes the weight and location of their reviewer, because if I'm 160lbs, I want to hear reviews from other people who weigh about the same.

5. Urgency and scarcity signals

Showing that a product is in short supply or that it is being seen by numerous individuals at the same time is a simple and easy technique to show a consumer that they may miss out on the goods and that they must move quickly if they want to receive it.

Cross-selling is number ten. If a consumer is on a product detail page, it's evident that they're serious about buying your product. With effective cross-selling or upselling methods, you can make the most of this intent.

Trust badges and seals are the 11th and 12th items on the list. Another quick and easy technique to reduce any hesitation to buy from your website is to use trust badges. Users will feel much more comfortable purchasing from you if you emphasize that your website is secure.

According to a poll done by Econsultancy, trust badges reassure 48 percent of respondents that the site is secure and trustworthy.

Product Detail Page Amazon FAQ

Amazon PDP pages are a completely different animal, because they are controlled by Amazon and you're much more limited.

But with that limitation comes massive reach and 200 million members in the Amazon Prime program.

Best Practices for Amazon PDPs

You'll need the product title, photos, brand, description, and bulleted lists to make a high-quality detail page. This data can assist a detail page appear higher in search results, increasing the chances of product discovery and customer clicks.

We've produced category style guides, which include image and description guidelines, among other things. We utilized the PDF format to make it easier for you to download and print. To discover the basic style principles that apply to all categories, consult the Amazon Services Quick Start Style Guide.

For each field, see the best practices listed below.

Product titles should be written according to the category's rules.
Images should have a white backdrop and fill at least 85% of the image area to accurately portray the product and show solely the product for sale.
The product's description and bullet points should include thorough information about the product's characteristics and usability, as well as specific product information not found elsewhere on the website.

Product Titles Should Include Maximum Detail

In this example above from Amazon's PDP page, you can see the superior title includes the following:

• Size of item (22")
• Resolution/features (1080p, 60Hz)
• Color (Black)
• Model (2011)

Keyword stuffing may be frowned upon by Google, but if you got features, stuff them into your Amazon product title.

The Best Selling Products Have 6 Images

62% of the top listings on Amazon tend to have 5 to 8 images.

More images obviously costs more, so is there a limit to this?

According to Sellerapp, they found that 6 images was the sweetspot.

The Best 6 Amazon PDP Images Should Consist Of

Since we're using data from Sellerapp to inform how many images to use, let's take a closer look at the exact types of images, so we can have our photography team create these for us.

Image 1

Your hero shot. This should be the best photo of your product. If you sell a variety or different colors, this is your Image number 1. Take into account the size of the image. It's a square, 2500x2500 resolution.

Which means, instead of displaying your products horizontally, instead stack them so that you get the largest version of your products in your customers face.

Image 2

Now comes your next best shot. If your products are stacked, then display them horizontally. Again, you want to include all SKUs you have for sale in this second image, as it'll increase the chance your buyer purchases.

If your product has important features that need to be called out, create a Text Callout Image.

This works for almost any product. I bet for your Owl Pots, you could callout that "the plant goes inside" or "perfect for succulents."

Image 3

Is your chance to show your product in-use or in its native state. In our Owl Pot example, we see the pots stacked on top of each other, with no plants in them.

If your product has a new look, feature the old packaging, to ensure your customers that they're buying the same product they know and love.

Image 4

Nutritional facts are an easy go-to here for any food product. What's important here is to callout the important macros:

• Calories
• Protein
• Fiber

Or if your product has 0 fat, 0 sugar, etc. you want to call those out. You don't want to make your customers squint or think you're hiding anything from them.

Image 5

This is your chance to display Lifestyle Images.

Lifestyle Images are photos that mimic reality. A great place to see examples of lifestyle images is on Instagram. Influencers take photos of real products in their natural setting, where your customer would actually be using them.

You can digitally create these Lifestyle Images or have your photography studio create them in-studio.

Either way, this is a big way to differentiate your product.

Image 6

Showcase your product in multiple uses. This gimbal above both charges iPhones, power blocks, and it has multiple angles it can shoot at.

By showing your customer more in-use images, it helps them envision using and owning this in their real life.

Videos

Videos are what the best Amazon Sellers are using. They're expensive to produce, but impactful.

In order for videos to show in your Image Block, you must have no more than 6 images.

You can, however, upload 10 videos to your carousel.

• Videos can be any length, from 30 seconds to 30 minutes
• Our recommendation is to create videos that are 90 seconds long
• Videos should be well produced and showcase features, brand and benefits
• Videos are the same size as Youtube and you should cross-publish video content on Youtube

Best Practices for Amazon Product Images

If you want to max out your available product images, which is 9, because more is always better, then here are the guidelines you should apply to having your photographs taken:

1. Close-up and clear shot of the image
2. Images should never be blurred (tell your photographer to shoot at f/16 or higher)
3. The product should be well lit, focused and shot in a studio
4. Do not attempt to take photos with an iPhone, the resolution will be too low
5. The product should occupy 80% of the space (photos can be cropped to meet this requirement)

FAQs on Product Detail Pages

📃 What is the difference between a product detail page (PDP) and a product information page (PIP)?‍
A PDP, or product detail page, is a web page on an eCommerce website that gives details on a specific product.

❓ What exactly is the distinction between PDP and PLP?‍
A Product Detail Page (PDP) is a page that contains information on a single product. A Product Listing Page (PLP) is a page that lists all of the products in a specific category or that have been filtered.

✔️ What characteristics distinguish a great product page?‍
A great product page will have all of the information a user needs, presented in an interesting and easy-to-understand manner. For further inspiration, see our template below.