While optimizing a website according to search engines, one often arrives at a Decision Paralysis –
Whether to promote a Category Page or a Product Page?
To get out of this dilemma, one needs to dive into the details of exactly how and why a common user visits a Category or a Product Page.
So, how the digital marketplace is approached by potential Clients?
Before a User Intent is developed, an extensive online research takes place on the part of the potential client to decide what exactly he wants to buy. A typical user would visit a number of websites to screen various models of a product, look through comparative price tables, read reviews and check out ratings etc. to finalize a product.
Now, when the user specifically searches for his preferred product, then he would see already visited websites on SERP (Search Engine Result Page). As when he visited the Category Pages of these websites, the cookies got saved.
This phenomenon reinforces the fact that a Category Page holds strength over a Product Page. Had the user not visited the Category Pages of the websites before, he would not have been redirected towards the same websites again
As explained above, it is a common habit of a user to usually search by category. Just like a buyer approaches an aisle in a store by checking out the Name of the Section (Beauty, HealthCare, Food, Electronics etc.), he would do the same thing while shopping online.
In such a scenario, Product Page will always be considered as an extremely niche page.
More niche the title of the page, lower will be the Website Visitor Rate. There will always be a higher probability of potential clients visiting your website through a Category page as compared to a Product Page.
There are many more other reasons which let the category page have an upper hand over the Product Page.
Optimizing a Product Page is a cumbersome task. Whereas, Category Pages can be optimized very easily.
Given these facts, it becomes plausible to optimize Category Pages as compared to Product Pages as it increases the Website Visitor Rate. A well-optimized Category Page enabled with user-friendly navigation will effectively reduce the Bounce Rate and increase the Conversion Rate on your website.