Hi there, and welcome to issue #14 of the Outranked SEO newsletter.
In this issue, I’m sharing new data that gives an insight into how much content top-ranking eCommerce category pages really have on them, and why I believe removing 'filler' content from these should be high on many store's list of SEO priorities.
You’ll learn:
- What a study of 300 category URLs that rank in position 1 shows about how much content high-performing pages really have on them
- Why you should avoid turning category pages into hybrid buying guides
- What to focus on when writing eCommerce category page content
Let’s get into it.
The average length of content on top-ranking eCommerce category pages is 310 words.
I've seen a trend amongst category pages that have seen ranking drops for commercial terms in recent algorithm updates ... they have way too much content on them in comparison to the pages that now rank in the top spots.
Here's what I think is happening:
- Category pages with lots of text on them usually end up being hybrids of a product grid and a buying guide. Lots of sections of text such as "What is [X]" or "How to choose [Y]" etc.
- These pages end up being less relevant to the query being searched than pages with less content that exists as a short description or intro to the collection (with key USPs highlighted), because they go broader into more informational topics.
- In recent Core updates, Google's rewarded pages that are more closely aligned to the query; both in terms of relevance and intent. Category pages that try to go too broad and essentially add buying guides below the grid are losing ground.
But as a starting point, I wanted to understand just how many words of content top-ranked eCommerce category pages have on them.
I analysed the top-ranked URL on the UK SERPS (mobile) for 300 category-level terms. Think queries like ‘gym leggings,’ ‘earrings,’ or ‘kids bike’ from across different sectors.
The ranking URLs were collected on August 13th 2025 from the UK SERPs; these were collected using Semrush and each one verified manually for consistency and accuracy.
Page content, in this case, was taken to mean any content that is unique to the page which is not part of the product grid (e.g. product titles or prices), buttons or faceted navigation. The page content includes text both above and below product grids, as well as any FAQ sections on the page. H1 headings were excluded, as these are typically in place as standard.
My goal for conducting this study was to showcase that you don’t need to add excessive amounts of content to a category page to rank in the top spots, and to know what the current benchmark is.
Here's what I found…
The average eCommerce category page that ranks in position 1 on Google contains 310 words of content.
That’s often split between an intro above the product grid and an FAQ section below (where it’s relevant to do so).
That said, the research shows that most top-ranked eCommerce category pages commonly have no more than 200 words of content, with 44% of the pages analysed having a word count of between 1 and 200 words.
In fact, a total of 66% of top-ranked category pages have less than 400 words on the page.
Interestingly, 10% of the analysed results had no content on them at all, outside of a H1 heading on the page. You can rank at the top of the SERPs without any content, but it’s definitely not recommended. But neither is putting in place too much content.
Of the 29 category pages with 0 words of content on the page except the H1 and product grid, 18 of these are what I'd consider mega brands ... household names. The authority of these brands, alongside user signals biased towards brand people know (brand + category searches), likely explains why they're ranking so well without any text content on the page.
I also don't think it's a coincidence that only 13% of the URLs analysed have more than 600 words of content on the page, and only 6% have more than a thousand.
It's the relevance of the content to the query, and it's usefulness to the user, that's more important than word count.
In most cases, your potential customer doesn't want to browse a full buying guide on the category page. If they want to read a buying guide, they'll either search for that or click onto it on your site.
This content doesn't (usually) belong on the category page.
The takeaway…
If you've seen drops in category-page terms, take a look at the length of your content compared to those who now rank top.
Think about whether you're straying too far from what the query actually needs, often around informational sections.
Based on my analysis of these 300 top-ranked category pages, here's what this means:
- eCommerce category pages should have some text content on the page, but this should be a descriptive summary of the products being sold.
- Rather than writing a few hundred words of generic content about the product category, use it as a space to shout about why a customer should buy from you, what they need to know about your range and the things they need to consider when finding the right product. Think of this as information gain for these pages.
- If your category page content could be lifted pretty much word for word and placed on your competitors' site, it's too generic. This sounds simple but it's a good measure of how valuable your content is in the context of your own site.
- Most eCommerce stores should expect to have no more than 400 words of content on category pages, with less than 200 words being more likely for most sites. The average number of words on the pages analysed was 310, but the most common word count grouping of these pages was 1 - 200.
- Create category page content that helps your customers to shop and to buy from you first and foremost. Nobody wants to read a section on "what is [X]" on these pages. If they've found the page, there's a pretty good (almost definite) chance they already know what the product is.
- Don't fall into the trap of publishing 'buying guides' below product grids. This is very rarely what a customer wants to see. Instead, focus on a value-packed intro above the product grid, with FAQs used below this where needed (avoid generic FAQs such as 'what is...' and tailor these more to your own USPs).
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If you learned something from this issue or it’s made you think about SEO a little differently, please consider forwarding it to someone else on your team.
I’m on a mission to make sure more SEO investment actually has an impact on real business metrics.
Appreciate you making it to the end; same time next week?
- James Brockbank
P.S. If you ever need expert support with SEO or digital PR and want to drive results that actually matter, I’d love to chat. Let’s talk.
✍️ From the Loft...
I'm hosting a webinar with Digitaloft's SEO Lead, Liv Day, next Thursday:
How to Get Subject Matter Experts Bought In and Actively Contributing to SEO & PR Initiatives.
- 9.30am (BST)
- 21st August 2025
- Sign up here.
We’ll show you how to win buy-in from internal experts, and how to make it easy for them to contribute meaningfully to your content and campaigns.
Whether it’s product specialists, advisors or even sales teams, their insight can transform your output… but only if you can get them on side. In fact, many in-house marketers tell us that getting such buy-in is one of the hardest things to make happen.
We’ll walk through proven methods to extract their knowledge without slowing down delivery or taking too much of their time, and show you how to build repeatable collaboration systems that result in expert-led content and PR campaigns that set you apart from the competition, help you create something that LLMs couldn’t produce and add real value to your audience.
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📌 This week’s bookmarks:
If I could only send three links to a fellow marketer this week, it’d be these…
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👋 Hi, I'm James...
Managing Director & Founder at Digitaloft.
I've spent the last 10 years building an agency that's perfectly positioned to help ambitious brands to drive real business growth from SEO and digital PR.
You might have seen me speaking at events like BrightonSEO, SMX and the International Search Summit.
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