Summary: Are you using product synonyms? Scale SEO by aligning user search intent with helpful product cases for ecommerce marketing. Learn more.
Are you leveraging product synonyms in your ecommerce marketing or website? Product synonyms allow you to improve search optimization, enhance the customer experience, and increase sales. Broad match, one of the keyword match types used when advertising with Google Ads, uses synonyms to include “any word in your key phrase, in any order, as well as any word that relates to your keyword.”
On many platforms, synonyms offer growth opportunities—so what more do you need to know about product synonyms?
The Value of Synonyms for SEO
Other than offering a broad match, Google further suggests using synonyms to help people find relevant results. After all, the words “no results” is as bad for Google as it is for your ecommerce business. Google states: “You may want to help users find the information they are looking for, even if the words they use in their query aren’t exactly the words used in your content.” And according to Google, their Programmable Search Engine platform supports a maximum of 2000 synonyms per search engine.
Scale search engine optimization (SEO) by aligning the user search intent with a helpful product use case. A use case is a roadmap of how an audience interacts with a product and is a great way to utilize product synonyms.
Let’s use the example of coffee. When you describe the many ways people can use, drink, and even eat coffee, and they find it relevant to them, it feels personal to the reader. Create helpful use cases to expand how you talk about your product, and users will engage more, increasing SEO ranking and sales.
Examples of Product Synonyms for Ecommerce
When you use product synonyms for ecommerce marketing or your website, it’s all about matching the use case with similar search intent. To continue with the example above, the average consumer can use coffee in many ways. From passionate specialist coffee drinkers to people wanting to use coffee in recipes and even coffee beauty products—the synonyms you use will depend on your target market.
But let’s first start with the product synonyms that might be used when searching for coffee. It could be things like caffeine, coffee beans, roasted coffee beans, espresso, cappuccino, or Americano. From there, people could ask: “What is the best coffee to drink?”, “Where can I buy coffee beans?“, “What are the benefits of coffee?” Now, you have what you need to write a user case around these questions.
If your ecommerce platform sells beauty products with coffee as an ingredient, the product synonyms might include coffee-infused, caffeine-infused, coffee beauty products, and coffee facial. And users ask: “Which coffee brand is good for skin?”, “Is coffee facial good for skin?” Again, these synonyms and questions offer the opportunity to create use cases.
Examples of Product Synonyms for B2B
The product synonyms used in a business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce marketing strategy can be more challenging. As companies tend to search for products less than consumers, the product-related search volume will be lower, and SEO might not seem worth it. And then there are the added questions all business clients ask: “Does this add value to my business?” and “How does this increase my sales?”
In this case, research the phrases and questions business clients use when describing a product. Identify the B2B keywords that you can use to build synonyms from and create use cases your business clients can identify with. If you sell coffee in large quantities to other businesses, they might ask questions like, “Is this coffee product sustainably sourced?“, “Is the coffee supply chain cost-effective?” or “What do other consumers say about the product?”
While these questions may make finding synonyms and use cases more difficult when compared to B2C, leveraging product synonyms is still a smart strategy for B2B businesses.
Finding and Ranking for Product Synonyms
To find and rank product synonyms, you need to understand your market and the search behavior of different buyer personas. Product use cases should show your audience the multiple ways your product gives them what they want.
Let’s say that passionate coffee drinkers are your target market. What are your brand themes? Exclusivity, sustainability, coffee from a specific region? Build topic clusters based on your brand themes and describe how they each meet the customer’s needs from various angles. For a B2B business, you can cluster the product case uses in various ways. Explaining how the supply chain is cost-effective will target the financial decision-makers, while a use case focused on sustainability will draw the attention of the marketing and customer-facing client representatives.
Finding Related Searches
There are two ways to find product synonym-related searches for ecommerce purposes. Use Google search engine results pages (SERPs) and research your competition. Make a list of the words your competitors use on their website and social media pages, and do a competitor keyword gap analysis to see what they rank for. Then create new use cases and synonyms for your products.
With an 83% search engine market share, the greatest source of product synonyms is the Google SERP features, including People Also Ask, People Also Search For, Related Searches, and the Auto-Complete feature. Let’s look at B2B business. When we search for “coffee business,” there is no People Also Search For info, but under People Also Ask, you have questions like “Is coffee a profitable business?” Related searches will highlight potential opportunities that you can use to find more product synonyms.
With a B2C business, you have many more opportunities to identify synonyms as the SERPs are filled with information. Just using the search word “coffee” shows us how to make a classic Irish coffee and offers an opportunity to buy coffee tables.
Understanding the Language of your Audience
If you have an ecommerce platform and physical store, one of the best ways to find out how your customers talk about your products is by asking them. Set up feedback sessions or in-person events with interested customers and record their observations about your products. This is a great way to create goodwill and get first-party information that allows you to understand the language of your audience.
Besides your ecommerce platform, where else would you find your audience? Are they on Facebook, Slack, Reddit, or LinkedIn? Find the online communities where products are discussed and even look on platforms where people lodge complaints. You will learn how your products, marketing, or service are perceived and the product synonyms you need to know.
WSI does not believe in the “one-size-fits-all” approach to digital marketing. We make recommendations based on individual business needs and have some of the top minds in the industry working with our network of internet marketing consultants. Are you interested in learning more? Then contact us, and we’ll get started right away!
