Product descriptions are the easiest way that seasoned ecommerce veterans and online shoppers can spot an amateur site from a professional one.
Product descriptions matter whether your selling coffee cups, skateboards, or studio equipment a great product description can be the difference between a 100 and a 200 order a month ecommerce store. So how do you write a great product description and why do they matter? We did some research and compiled it all into this awesome blog post.
Why do product descriptions matter?
Before we share how to write a great product description, let’s talk about why they are important to your ecommerce site and why they can’t be overlooked.
Product Descriptions Allow you to be Found
Product descriptions allow Google to make sure you are real. One way Google does this is by checking the time spent on-site and your bounce rate. Well thought out product descriptions coupled with well thought out keywords and copy allow you to found organically. Meaning free traffic which can lead to lower cost per acquisition.
Generic Copy make Google Scream
Google hates nothing more than content duplication. Product descriptions that are the work Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V are a fast way for your products to never rank organically. As mentioned earlier Google looks for evidence that you exist and part of this check is to find unique content on your site. This is why dropshipping stores that use generic product descriptions from Oberlo fail so epically. They miss out on the organic traffic that unique product descriptions earn as they are to busy competing with other stores that have the exact same products and descriptions.
Gives you a chance to use your brand voice
Product descriptions allow you to speak directly to your buyer persona. By using your brand voice you can tap into the emotions of your prospective buyers. We will talk about this more in the following section on how to write your product descriptions.
Well thought out product descriptions show you care
If there is one thing that shows a customer that you are the real deal and a trustworthy company it is a well thought out product description. If you take the time to write a unique product description customers can see that you care. If your product description is only 3 sentences long with no thought customers will think that you put the same amount of thought into other areas of your business. Whether it’s service, product quality, customer service etc.
How to write product descriptions
Think about who, what, where, when, why
Spending 15 minutes planning who, what, where, when and why can you save your hours of headaches later.
Planning answers to these questions is the first step to creating great product descriptions.
- Who is this product for?
- What is the product?
- Where would someone use this product?
- When should someone use this product?
- Why should someone pick this product?
These questions will form the basis of your product description template when you want to accurately describe your best items.
Determine the format
The next step is to determine the format of your product description. Your product description should be a mixture of bullet points and paragraphs. Bullet points to help cover most of the information in a quick and easy manner. And paragraphs to tell a product’s story and convince shoppers that this product is right for them.
Measure with KPI’s
How do you know if your product descriptions working? Before you set out to write your product descriptions, you need goals to measure the success of your product descriptions.
Some popular KPI’s to track include;
- Conversion Rate
- Cart abandonment
- A lower return rate
- Fewer Emails from shoppers asking about product information
- Improve organic search rankings
Short and Sweet is better than long and wordy
Although long and wordy product descriptions are great for SEO they aren’t the best in terms of customer experience. It is important to keep your product descriptions short and sweet.
OBD2 Australia shows how keeping it basic can work. Their product descriptions combine conversational paragraphs that aim to engage their audience as well as dot points to for any shoppers scanning the page. This sample provides a great example of how to write a product description that is full of information yet is short and sweet.
Tell a story
Describing your product through the use of a backstory is a great way to resonate with your target audience. If you feel as though the backstory is important chances are your target audience does too. Use that story in your product description to add more character, engage your audience and win hearts minds and sales.
3Two1 drinks provide a great example of how to do this. 3Two1 put the history of their products in the product description to help set the scene of how the product is made and highlighting the quality of the product through the language used to tell the story.
Boast a bit but don’t be salesy
There is a fine line between boasting and being off-puttingly salesy with your product description. If done correctly however boasting can help you tell a better story then your competitors and position your product as the best on the market.
PickPals show us how it’s done. Their product description boasts the reasons why their Kronos product is unbeatable.
Technicals Build Trust
If you have a more technical product, don’t be afraid to get in the weeds with your product description. Prove to your customer your brand’s expertise in the industry by providing all possible details they’d need to know –– before they ever even have to ask.
Product description has a great impact on the brand image and hence it is something that needs to be taken care of. Thanks for the informative article.