Optimising Category Pages with High-Intent Keywords to Boost Traffic and Sales in 2025

Category pages in eCommerce are often overlooked, but they’re where a lot of shoppers begin their journey. These pages group products by type, making it easier for buyers to find what they need quickly. Using high-intent keywords on these pages helps target customers who are ready to buy, not just browse.

Optimising category pages with the right keywords improves search engine rankings, which means more targeted traffic. This traffic is more likely to convert, boosting sales and improving overall site performance. In 2025, focusing on category pages is a straightforward way to get better results from your SEO efforts and increase revenue.

For a practical guide on optimizing pages for keywords, check out this video: On-Page SEO Pt 2: How to Optimize a Page for a Keyword.

Identifying and Selecting High-Intent Keywords for Category Pages

Choosing the right keywords for your category pages is like tuning a radio to the exact frequency your potential customers are on. Targeting high-intent keywords means you’re not just attracting visitors—you’re inviting ready buyers. These keywords reflect a user’s readiness to purchase or seriously consider products, which is exactly what category pages should capture.

Characteristics of High-Intent Keywords

High-intent keywords signal a customer’s focus on buying or researching a specific product or service that’s close to a decision. These often include action-packed terms and product-specific details. Here’s what to look for:

Words like “buy,” “shop,” “best,” and “top-rated” — these clearly show purchase intent.
Specific product descriptors or models that reflect an exact need, such as “wireless noise-cancelling headphones” rather than just “headphones.”
Phrases that include price ranges or discounts, eg. “affordable running shoes under £50.”

For instance, a shopper searching for “best waterproof hiking boots for women” is further down the funnel compared to just “hiking boots.” This level of precision makes these keywords perfect for category pages that cater to distinct product groups.

Using Advanced SEO Tools for Keyword Research

Pinpointing these keywords involves more than guessing. Modern SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google Keyword Planner allow you to explore a rich pool of data to find keywords that match buying intent. Here’s an effective approach:

Start with broad product terms relevant to your category.
Use filters to sort keywords by search volume (to ensure traffic) and keyword difficulty (to assess competition).
Look specifically for terms with transactional or commercial intent—words indicating the searcher is ready to buy or compare options.
Analyse the competitive landscape: see which keywords your competitors target and how they rank.
Check out related keywords, questions, and long-tail phrases for untapped opportunities.

By combining these approaches, you ensure you don’t just chase popular keywords but find those that deliver the best chances of conversions.

Mapping Keywords to User Journey and Category Pages

Matching keywords to where users are in their buying journey is vital. High-intent, transactional keywords belong on category pages because these visitors are ready to shop or evaluate products directly. Examples of these keywords include:

“Buy affordable DSLR cameras”
“Top-rated cordless drills 2025”

On the other hand, informational keywords like “how to choose a DSLR camera” or “benefits of cordless drills” fit better on blog posts or guides. These educate potential customers who are still exploring options but not ready to purchase—thus keeping your category pages sharp and focused.

Categorising keywords this way ensures that search engines and users find exactly what they expect when they land on a page—whether it’s a solid product offering or helpful advice.

For more insight into targeting high-intent keywords on category pages, exploring guides on the latest practices of optimising ecommerce category pages for SEO can be especially helpful. Additionally, understanding how to use search intent to increase sales provides a solid foundation to align your keyword choices with buyer behaviour.

When used right, these tools and strategies transform category pages from simple product lists into powerful drivers of targeted traffic and sales.

Technical Optimisation of Category Pages for SEO

Technical optimisation lays the foundation that supports all your efforts to rank category pages for high-intent keywords. Without a solid technical base, even the best keyword strategy can struggle to perform. Ensuring your category pages have clear URL structures, fast loading speeds, mobile accessibility, and well-implemented schema markup boosts both user experience and search engine understanding.

Optimising URL Structures and Site Architecture

A well-organised site architecture combined with clean, keyword-rich URLs helps both visitors and search engines navigate your website intuitively. For category pages, focus on creating URLs that clearly describe the content, avoiding confusing symbols or unnecessary numbers.

Use a logical hierarchy reflecting your site’s structure. For example:

/women/shoes/walking-boots

This tells users and search engines exactly where they are.
Keep URLs descriptive but concise, incorporating your target high-intent keywords naturally.
Avoid messy parameters, session IDs, or excessive subfolders that make URLs unwieldy.

Remember, a clear URL structure works like a roadmap, guiding search engines to understand your site’s layout quickly and give the right pages priority. As Backlinko explains, a strong site architecture directly impacts crawl efficiency and ranking potential.

Improving Page Speed and Mobile Usability

Speed matters. More than half of all website visits come from mobile devices, and slow pages frustrate users — making them bounce before seeing your products. Google recommends pages load within 2.5 seconds to keep visitors engaged.

To hit this target, apply these strategies:

Compress and optimise images without losing quality.
Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML to reduce file sizes.
Enable browser caching so returning users don’t wait unnecessarily.
Choose a responsive design that adapts fluidly to different screen sizes, ensuring no pinching or zooming is needed.

Meeting Google’s Core Web Vitals standards isn’t optional — it’s essential to stay competitive in search results. Resources like the Marketing Insider Group’s guide on page speed and mobile optimisation offer practical tips to improve your site’s loading and responsiveness.

Schema Markup for Category Pages

Schema markup adds a layer of code on your category pages that helps search engines better interpret page content. This can turn your ordinary listings into eye-catching rich snippets in search results, increasing click-through rates.

Key schema types to consider for category pages include:

Product schema, highlighting product names, prices, availability, and ratings.
FAQ schema, answering common questions related to the category or products.
Review schema, showcasing customer ratings and testimonials.

These enhancements make your listings visually richer and more informative in SERPs, which builds trust and stands out among competitors. Implementing schema correctly can be the difference between a plain blue link and an engaging snippet that draws users in.

By focusing on these technical elements, your category pages become both easier to find and richer in content. This technical backbone supports your high-intent keyword targeting and elevates your chances of ranking higher in search results.

Content Strategies to Maximise Keyword Relevance and User Engagement

To truly optimise category pages for high-intent keywords, it’s not enough to just insert keywords here and there. You need content that keeps your visitors hooked while satisfying search engine signals. This means balancing clear relevance to what users want with engaging information and visuals that encourage them to stay longer and explore further. Below, we explore key strategies that both highlight your target keywords clearly and enrich the user experience.

Crafting Unique and Intent-Aligned Titles and Descriptions

Titles and descriptions are your first chance to talk directly to both search engines and users. Your H1 tag should be a clear, concise statement that exactly matches the high-intent keyword you want to rank for. Think of it as a beacon: it signals to users and Google exactly what this page is about.

Avoid vague or generic headings. Instead, be specific and direct. For example, a category page could have a title like Affordable Running Shoes for Men 2025 instead of just Running Shoes. This sharp focus helps search engines accurately match the page to relevant queries.

Meta descriptions should complement the title with useful information that nudges the user to click. Write descriptions that reflect the searcher’s intent and include your main keyword naturally. Keep these under 160 characters to ensure they display properly in search results.

Tips for effective titles and meta descriptions:

Use your primary high-intent keyword near the front of the title.
Make meta descriptions persuasive but informative, like a mini sales pitch.
Avoid duplication across category pages to keep each one distinct.

Clear, intent-driven titles and descriptions are your ticket to attracting the right visitors and encouraging clicks. For guidance on these elements, you can check the detailed SEO tips about optimising category pages.

Leveraging Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) Keywords

Keywords are more than isolated phrases. Search engines have grown smarter and now look at related words and concepts around your target terms to understand context. These related terms are known as Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords.

Adding LSI keywords around your main keyword helps search engines understand your page fully, increasing topical relevance and avoiding keyword stuffing. For example, on a page targeting “wireless headphones,” related LSI terms might include “Bluetooth,” “noise cancellation,” or “wire-free sound.”

Using LSI keywords naturally in product descriptions, headers, or FAQs broadens your page’s coverage without diluting focus. This practice also helps capture long-tail searches and nuanced queries that your main keyword alone might miss.

Remember:

LSI keywords improve semantic richness and user satisfaction.
They help your page appear for a wider range of relevant search terms.
Avoid forcing LSI keywords; these should fit naturally within content.

To understand LSI more deeply and how it affects SEO, explore the insights shared by Backlinko on LSI Keywords.

Using Visual Content to Enhance Engagement and SEO

Words are essential, but a picture is worth a thousand clicks. Visual content like original images, charts, and infographics do much more than make your category pages look nice — they boost user engagement and offer SEO benefits.

Engaging visuals:

Help users quickly grasp information and product features.
Increase the time visitors spend on pages, signalling value to search engines.
Make your category pages stand out in search results when optimised with relevant alt text.

Original images specific to your products or category add authenticity and reduce bounce rates. Infographics summarise complex info clearly, helping shoppers make decisions faster. For example, a comparison chart of best running shoes can guide buyers right on the category page.

Don’t forget to optimise image file sizes for fast loading and include descriptive alt attributes with your target and related keywords. This improves accessibility and gives search engines more clues about your content.

A recent analysis by Search Engine Land highlights how well-chosen visuals can drive click-through rates and keep visitors engaged longer.

Measuring Performance and Continuous Optimisation

After setting up your category pages with high-intent keywords, the next step is to track how well they perform and keep making improvements. Without measuring results, you’re flying blind. Continuous optimisation is about monitoring important signals, testing what works, and tweaking your pages until they bring in the traffic and conversions you want. Let’s break down how to measure success and use testing to boost your category pages.

Key Performance Indicators for Category Pages

Keeping an eye on the right metrics will tell you exactly how your category pages are doing. Here are the most useful KPIs to track:

Organic Traffic: This shows how many visitors come from search engines. An increase means your SEO is working to draw in more buyers.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing just one page. A high bounce rate can suggest that your category page isn’t meeting expectations or that users don’t find what they want quickly.
Conversion Rate: The portion of visitors who take a desired action, like clicking through to product pages or making a purchase. This metric is crucial since category pages aim to guide shoppers closer to buying.
Average Session Duration: How long visitors stay on your site during a visit. Longer sessions usually indicate better engagement and interest in your offerings.

To collect these metrics, tools like Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console are your best friends. They provide clear insights and allow you to segment data so you can focus specifically on each category page. Setting up tracking with proper goals and events lets you measure conversions efficiently.

Monitoring these KPIs regularly helps spot patterns or sudden drops. For example, if organic traffic is steady but conversions fall, it may hint at issues with page content or usability that need fixing. Learning from this data keeps your category pages sharp and buyer-friendly. For a detailed guide on setting up and interpreting SEO metrics, Carnegie Higher Ed provides solid advice on measuring SEO performance.

Implementing A/B Testing for SEO Improvements

One of the smartest ways to boost your category pages is to test different page elements and see which version performs best. A/B testing lets you compare two variants — such as different titles, descriptions, or layouts — without guessing what works.

Here are some practical ways to apply A/B testing on category pages:

Meta Titles and Descriptions: Experiment with wording, length, and keyword placement in titles and meta descriptions. Sometimes a small change in phrasing can improve click-through rates from search engines.
Page Content: Try different header tags, product descriptions, or calls to action. Does highlighting key benefits or popular features keep visitors engaged longer?
Internal Linking: Test how menu placement or adding links to related categories or products affects user navigation and conversions. Effective linking can guide visitors deeper into your site and improve rankings by signalling page importance to Google.

To get accurate results, split your page traffic randomly between variations and run tests long enough to collect meaningful data — at least a few weeks depending on your traffic volume. Avoid changing too many things at once; test one element at a time for clear insights.

Keep in mind, A/B testing for SEO needs care to avoid any negative impact on search rankings. Follow best practices like using canonical tags properly and not blocking Googlebot. Google’s own guidance on A/B testing for search is a helpful resource to ensure your tests don’t hurt your rankings.

SEO testing platforms like SearchPilot and SEOClarity provide dedicated tools to streamline this process and track results in one place. Their updated guides explain how to run effective SEO split tests and interpret the findings.

By combining solid KPI tracking with ongoing A/B testing, you create a loop of improvement. Every change is backed by data, so category pages keep evolving to attract, engage, and convert shoppers better than before.

Conclusion

Optimising category pages with high-intent keywords remains a key strategy for driving targeted traffic and boosting sales in 2025. These pages act as crucial entry points for ready-to-buy shoppers, so getting your keywords, content, and technical setup right makes all the difference.

Keep refining your approach based on performance data and testing, and stay open to changes in search behaviours. SEO is always shifting, and adapting keeps your site competitive and relevant.

Make your category pages a priority by combining clear keyword focus with strong user experience and smart site structure. That way, you’ll turn browsers into buyers more effectively and build lasting growth for your store.