These Elements are Simple but Often Overlooked.

Whether you’re actively recruiting press placements for your products or just want to make the most of your website, here are some simple elements you should consider.

Each product page should feature descriptions that include size, weight, design and inspirational details. Was your candle featured on a top-rated blog, magazine, TV show or used by a celeb? What was the inspiration for creating or carrying the product? Is it a favorite of yours or one of your team members?

Every detail that brings the product to life helps editors and writers understand what is different and unique about it. These descriptions not only help your media writeups to glow, but they will boost your SEO by helping Google to find your product keywords based on the details you provide.

Don’t skimp on images! Include silo’d shots as well as pretty lifestyle photos for each item. The more the merrier! Try to post them in jpg or png formats that can be saved directly from your site.

This can be tricky depending on the hosting platform that you use – many, including Shopify will automatically post in WEBP formats which can’t be saved directly. WEBP can usually be copied and pasted into programs like Canva but the process can complicate an editor’s job if they are working on deadline and need to grab images quickly.

If your brand participates in a popular affiliate program like Share-a-Sale or AWIN, include it on your website. You can post the links to your affiliate pages on a special page on your site that you can link on your footer menu.

Great products often get overlooked by some popular media commerce editors who are seeking to incorporate commissions into their gift guides and shopping lists. Share-a-Sale and AWIN are the programs of choice. A link to your Amazon store can also be helpful on your special affiliate page.

Test the social media links and emails posted on your site often to make sure they point to the correct accounts. I cannot tell you how many times I find outdated social media links posted on brand websites. Be sure to check both your header and footer links, as well as the email address you’ve listed on your contact page.

Editors often look to Instagram and TikTok as social proof that a brand is popular enough to merit being listed on a gift guide. They reason that they will get more hits on their stories if they incorporate popular brands. Having a good following is key - but more importantly audience engagement with your posts illustrates that your products are interesting, and your brand is focused on your customers.

While you’re checking your outbound links, like to your TikTok and Instagram accounts, be sure they are set to open in a new tab. If your website is not set to automatically open all outbound links in a new tab, you’ll need to find the setting that controls this function. That way when customers and editors are browsing your site and they hit the link to one of your socials they won’t be directed away from your site.

Make sure you have your favicon correctly sized and posted – this is the teeny-weeny picture that shows up on the browser tab and beside the name of your site on search results pages. It may seem like a minor point, but that itsy bitsy favicon helps editors with lots of tabs and bookmarks to recognize and find your website. Think of it as the needle finder in the haystack.

Not only does it help editors stay organized, but it makes your website look more polished. Tabs that display a generic Shopify or Wix logo where yours should be can look incredibly amateurish, and not having one at all can make your site look suspicious to consumers unfamiliar with your brand when they see you on their browsing results page.

Lastly – be sure to link your website in the profile section of all your social media accounts. This includes LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok (even if the link isn’t live, list it anyway).

Happy website auditing!