Whether you’re requesting this yourself, or you’re on the receiving end of this request, this will hopefully give you a bit of insight into the age old issue of “I want category descriptions at the top of the page"

Content that’s higher up the page may have a slight priority over content that’s placed further down. However, search engines are getting better at understanding page layout and most importantly, UX; so this “priority” that’s given to content placed higher up the page is diminishing

When looking at your content, Google will focus on the quality, context and relevance of it. Its position on the page is much less important than the actual quality of it. So, if you have poor category descriptions, it’s not going to make one iota of difference where it is anyway

As long as the content is good and remains in the HTML and isn’t hidden behind a read more link or anything, you’re winning!

This for me is the most important; user experience!

Yes, category descriptions can be important for SEO, but they can also push products below the fold. Especially on mobile. Landing on a category and being faced with a wall of text instead of products is much more likely to lead to higher bounce rates and send your engagement rates down the pan.

Again, it’s up to you, but I’d much rather my users be presented with what they’re looking for, rather than what they’re not

When was the last time you landed on a site’s category page and thought “Ooo, there’s no description on here. I’m gonna go to a different site”?

Only you can make the decision where your category descriptions live. I just hope this might give you some extra things to think about, whilst also pointing out the potential harm this can have on UX