How A Category Tree Can Improve Your SEO Strategy

The category tree helps the user browse the website’s content using the category approach. We can call it a 360-degree approach to the website. When we browse a website’s contents using the category approach, it’s easier for the user to find relevant, content and more. With a category tree, we can classify a website into a variety of categories. The groupings help the user to understand the website better.

What Is A Category Tree?

A category tree is a sequential grouping of products into categories. A hierarchy is being created which helps the user navigate from bigger groups (category) to smaller ones (product). In short words, categories & even subcategories can be called the types of products through the expression of a noun.

Why Is Making A Category Tree Important?

Having a category tree of products is important due to the following reasons:

• Having a user-friendly website will likely increase the conversion rate. As per the study, 38% of users leave a site that has a poor taxonomy.
• Having a site that possesses characteristics like dimensions, material, color & size) would help in guiding the consumers to find the product that’d be the right fit for them. There’s a subliminal aspect to this feature that helps consumers make a decision.
• Category tree helps in the internal navigation both for google & for the consumer. For Google, it’d show how properly you outlay your site & for the consumer, different filters & facets would help them narrow down their search to the product they’d be looking for.

What Mistakes Brands Normally Make While Making Category Trees?

Categories division is one of the key features of online shopping that can help brands in SEO. Yet, many brands make mistakes by either not having a category tree, or if they have, the structure isn’t well thought out.

Categories Void

What brands normally do is solely focus on the appearance for visual appeal, but they don’t pay much attention to the structure (that is normally a replication of what the competitor did). Because of this, a conflict arises with the brand having a range of products that don’t include what the Competitor Brand has.

Categorizing Based On Wrong Characteristics

The issue may arise when the categorization is done based on the characteristics of a wrong feature, products targeting different age groups & possibly a different range of products i.e. If a brand is selling apparel, the categorizing the products range based just on age groups like kids, adults & seniors would be wrong. It also needs to have subcategories, dimensions, colors, etc.

Too Much Categorisation Depth

Having a diversified products range & extensive category depth aren’t proportional. The brand could be using the extensive category and even subcategories for the range of products that have less diversification. Instead, to make the category more natural & less artificial, a well-thought-out division into wide & better-suited categories can be proved fruitful, that brands miss at large.

Category Tree Mismatch To The Industry

This problematic practice is yet another one causing brands to lack the right offerings. This problem normally occurs when the menu appearance, browsing feature, etc are replicated from the competitor’s structure, which possibly may not match the profile of the brand i.e getting inspired from a competitor that offers shoes, clothing & accessories extending to subcategories that take product material into account. On the other hand, the Influenced brands only offer accessories made of suede material, so creating the divisions based on material wouldn’t be right for the brand.

Why does your Brand need a good category tree?

Having a brand that has a huge digital presence, the only thing you would want to work on will be user experience. User experience is about how a brand can make the product search & buying process on your website convenient & breezing for a potential consumer.

The need for having a category tree is to make an accurate navigational path for your consumer, that does not make them feel lost & frustrated. If it does, then they might want to jump to your nemesis.

Preparing a Category Tree

Main Category

The main category is the first level of your category tree. This category is based on a broad collection of product groups. The concept behind is to give a bird’ eye view to new visitors of what your brand offers.

If the potential consumer is looking for a men’s jacket and if your main category is based on jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts then it would be easy for the visitor to navigate & go for the jackets to find the exact product they’re looking for.

Subcategory

This is the second level of categorization. At this level, the main categories are further divided into a group of products called “Sub Categories” which can help the consumers in comparing & choosing whatever they want.

To keep the navigational path as short as possible, it is recommended to stick to a 1–2 clicks strategy which means covering the product range within two stages.

Featured Categories

The featured category is the one for unique products grouping that isn’t normally in main & subcategories. For example — your brands start a clearance sale that won’t include all of your products, but only a few ones. So, your brand would need to group all those products that are on sale.

How Can BoostRoas Be A Valuable Partner In This?

BoostRoas can be your valuable partner in establishing a category tree for your eCommerce brand that will be fully optimized for SEO to enhance the brand’s visibility & increase conversions.

Keyword Optimising

Building SEO visibility, you need to have optimized keywords. We write optimized phrases that quickly float the content & idea of the subcategories. Also, we use competitive phrases for the main category. Optimizing your meta descriptions, headers, titles, product descriptions & URLs is part of the process.

Three Clicks To Buy Strategy Implementation

Keeping the user experience insight, you wouldn’t want your customers stumbling over your smaller products groups & completing the product listing to find the right product. Plus, consumers can only memorize only five to nine items and anything beyond could possibly fall off. So, at BoostRoas we’ve devised a strategy called three clicks to buy, in which we place the products into categories in a way that they can locate the products within three clicks from the starting point.

Optimizing The Category Pages to Increase Traffic & Conversions

As per the study, categorized pages drive 413% more estimated traffic. Category tree is exceptionally necessary as it is optimal for the conversion optimization goals. At BoostRoas, we’ve solved this puzzle through strategizing & simplifying the shopping process for the visitors. Through this, we help in benefiting search rankings and increasing traffic.