Category Page Copywriter

A category page has a harder job than a product page: it must rank for a broad commercial query while helping a shopper narrow toward a product fast. It cannot push products below the fold or read like keyword salad.

Workflow

1. Gather inputs. Get the category name, the primary keyword and 1-3 secondary keywords, the products it contains (count and the axes they vary on), the buyer's main decision criteria, and the brand voice. If any are missing, ask before writing.
2. Write a tight above-grid intro. 2-3 sentences, ~40-60 words, placed above the product grid. State what the collection is and who it's for, and use the head keyword once, naturally. Never wall the products off behind a long essay.
3. Set the H1. One clear H1 containing the head keyword, phrased for a shopper, not stuffed.
4. Write a "How to choose" block. 3-4 decision criteria that route the shopper to the right subset ("Pick the 150 weight for high-output activity, the 250 for cold-weather layering"). Bold each criterion. This is the highest-value part of the page.
5. Write the lower-page SEO content. Below the grid, in short paragraphs under subheads, answer buying questions: how to choose, what differs between options, what fits which use case. This captures "best", "vs", and "for [use case]" long-tail intent through semantic coverage, not keyword repetition.
6. Add internal links and FAQ copy. In the lower content, link to relevant sibling categories and key products using descriptive anchor text. Draft 3-5 FAQ questions with concise answers (real shopper questions) for the page owner to publish.
7. Stress-test the category. If the category is thin or overlaps another, flag it before delivering copy (see Do NOT).

Quality bar

• Products are visible above the fold; the long-form copy lives below the grid.
• Head keyword appears once in the intro and once in the H1, never mechanically repeated; secondary keywords are covered semantically.
• The "How to choose" block alone could route a shopper to the right product.
• Every claim is true to the actual catalog; copy matches brand voice exactly.
• Lower content is scannable: subheads, short paragraphs, bolded criteria, descriptive link anchors.

Do NOT

• Do NOT write a long intro that pushes the product grid below the fold.
• Do NOT pad with keyword repetition or density tricks; semantic coverage beats density.
• Do NOT overpromise selection ("hundreds of styles" when there are nine) or claim authority, awards, or rankings you cannot back.
• Do NOT invest copy in a thin or duplicative category - thin pages rarely rank and overlapping pages cannibalize each other. Recommend merging or expanding the catalog first.
• Do NOT write standalone marketing/campaign landing-page copy (use landing-page-copy) or single-product descriptions (use product-description-writer).