by Karon Thackston 2004 http://www.marketingwords.com It only makes sense. You have an e-commerce catalog site. Youwant lots of visitors to come to your site and buy. The best(and most cost-effective) way to do that is with great searchengine placement. However, search engines are text machines, andmost catalogs don't have a lot of text, so herein lies theproblem.The obvious answer is that you need more copy on each page.However, the pictures of your products are just as important asthe copy, so they can't be removed to make more space. Thatdoesn't leave a lot of room in the product description area,does it? Maybe not, but who said all the copy had to go in thedescription area? Who said you have to create a site the sameway a paper catalog is created?Sometimes we view our site's pages with a very narrow vision.This causes us to have an "it's always been done that way"mentality. While direct mail catalogs may be sorely limited onspace and require short sections of copywriting, Web pages haveinfinite room for copy.Your Home PageMost often, online catalogs have a home page that is almostexclusively graphic. There may be short blips of copywritinghere and there, but not much. Since your home page is the mostimportant page to have optimized for the engines, you'll want toinclude a minimum of 200 words of SEO copywriting there. Don'tpanic it doesn't have to all be in one place.You can create a short section of keyword-rich body copy as anintroduction to the site. Then, under a graphic of your newspring additions, include some SEO copy explaining why yourvisitors will just *have* to have these products. You can thenadd a sentence or two of copy under the graphics in yoursidebar. Lastly, give the highlights of your customer-serviceprogram or money-back guarantee and an invitation to clickfurther into the site to shop around, and you're all done.Obviously, where the copy goes is dependent on your site'slayout, but you get the idea. Spread the copywriting around. Youdon't have to put it all in one lump in the middle of the page.Category PagesWhat traditionally happens with online catalogs is that youclick from the home page to a "category" page. That categorypage usually just has links on it to other individual productpages plus perhaps a picture or two. That's a shame becausecategory pages are another perfect place for SEO copy. Since keyphrases are often highly descriptive of products (i.e.,crew neck sweaters, six-disc CD players, etc.), they workwonderfully on category pages. Because category pages areselective (they only show products within a certain category),they are exceptional arenas for SEO copywriting.Let's say you have a catalog site that deals with interiordesign accessories for the home. One category might be Tiffanylamps. Because the phrase Tiffany lamps is also a wonderfulkeyphrase, its inclusion in the category page copy comes quitenaturally. This means you can create SEO copywriting for the topor middle of the page (just a short paragraph or two) and alsowrite blips of copy for each product description. For example:=================================== The Tiffany Lamp - ATimeless Masterpiece =================================== Tiffanylamps have long been considered icons of style. While certaincharacteristics are constant (that's what makes a Tiffany lamp aTiffany lamp), there is also tremendous variety. From Tiffanylamps for your floor to those made to adorn your ceilings,you'll find one reflective of your own personal taste and style.Next you could list all the individual products (floor Tiffanylamps, ceiling Tiffany lamps, desk Tiffany lamps, etc.) and givebrief, keyword-rich descriptions of each one.Product DescriptionsWhen you get to the product description level, you'll want toinclude enticing, keyword-rich copy with each listing. However,you'll also want to include more text on each product page. Consider that most people shopping online don't have the benefitof being able to touch, feel, smell, taste, or see the actualproducts. Use the lack of human senses to develop moredescriptive information for your visitors.You might also want to include any technical information youhave for your products on the same product description page.Contrary to Internet myth, people don't mind scrolling one bit*IF* there is information they want to see on other parts of thepage.By reconsidering your catalog-copywriting techniques when itcomes to the Web, you can get your e-commerce catalog rankedhighly in the search engines. It just takes a littleopen-mindedness and a willingness to break free from the ways ofthe past. When you do, more customers and higher sales levelsare bound to follow.