# Category Page Brief Skill

Category pages are the workhorses of e-commerce SEO and discovery — they rank for high-intent "buy" searches
and decide what a browsing shopper sees first. A good one balances **search relevance** (the right keywords,
copy, and structure) with **merchandising** (the right products, order, and filters). This skill briefs that
page so it earns traffic and converts it.

## Working from a brief

Given "a category page for women's running shoes", **produce the full brief anyway** — infer the search intent,
likely keywords, sensible filters, and merchandising logic, marking inferences. Don't invent search volumes or
inventory; flag them to confirm. Never withhold for missing detail.

## Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided (else infer and label):

- **The category** — what it covers, and where it sits in the catalogue hierarchy.
- **The shopper & intent** — who lands here and what they're trying to do (browse vs. specific need).
- **Inventory & attributes** — roughly what products/variants exist and their key attributes (for filters).
- **SEO context** — target keywords if known, and the platform (Shopify, Magento, custom).

## Output Format

### Category Page Brief: [category]

- **Search intent & keywords** — the primary head term, secondary/long-tail terms, and the intent (commercial). Note any to validate with real volume.
- **Page H1 & intro copy** — the H1 and a short (skimmable, keyword-aware) intro that helps shoppers *and* SEO — placed so it doesn't push products below the fold.
- **Merchandising & default sort** — what shows first (bestsellers, new, margin, seasonal) and the rule behind it; promoted/pinned products; out-of-stock handling.
- **Filters & facets** — the filters shoppers need (price, size, colour, brand, attribute), and which should be crawlable vs. noindex to avoid thin/duplicate pages.
- **Internal linking** — links to subcategories, related categories, and key products; breadcrumb structure.
- **Trust & conversion elements** — reviews/ratings on cards, badges, shipping/returns reassurance, a strong category image.
- **SEO / technical notes** — title tag & meta description, canonical strategy for filtered URLs, pagination, and structured data.
- **Supporting content** — an optional bottom-of-page FAQ/buying-guide block for long-tail terms.

Mark inferred keywords/inventory *(confirm)*.

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Target keyword and search intent are explicit and reflected in H1, intro, and title tag
- [ ] Intro copy serves shoppers and SEO without pushing products below the fold
- [ ] A default sort/merchandising rule is defined with its rationale
- [ ] Filter/facet strategy addresses crawlability (avoids thin/duplicate filtered pages)
- [ ] Internal linking and breadcrumbs connect the page into the catalogue
- [ ] Technical SEO (title/meta, canonical, pagination, structured data) is covered; invented data flagged

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not dump a keyword-stuffed paragraph above the products — it hurts UX and rankings
- [ ] Do not let every filter combination create an indexable URL — that spawns thin/duplicate pages
- [ ] Do not default-sort by accident — choose and justify the order shoppers see first
- [ ] Do not invent search volume or inventory — flag for validation
- [ ] Do not ignore out-of-stock handling — dead-end products lose the click and the ranking

## Based On

E-commerce SEO & merchandising practice — intent-driven category pages, faceted-navigation crawl control, default-sort strategy, and on-page/technical SEO.
