Rashida
You may have an amazing, life-changing product that your target audience will just love! But unless you convey this to them, they aren’t buying.
Product descriptions are one of the keys to conversions.
If you have excellent photos and a great product but still aren’t converting, it’s time to write great product descriptions.
Search engines are not mindreaders. One of the best ways to climb the eCommerce search results is with well-written product descriptions.
Take your online store to the next level today by learning how to write high-converting product descriptions.
Why are eCommerce Product Descriptions So Important?
Product descriptions aren’t just fillers used to describe your product in boring words. Quite the contrary, they should excite potential customers.
Great product descriptions answer questions your potential buyers may have. They help people determine if your product is for them. Furthermore, converting descriptions are compelling. They give people reasons why they should buy your product.
Last, but CERTAINLY not least, strong product descriptions are appealing to search engines. They help your listing climb the search results.
A well-written product description is a powerful weapon in the wild west of online shopping. It will help you increase your conversions with potential buyers. On the contrary, a poorly written product description can hurt your sales, prompting potential customers to look elsewhere.
A Simple Recipe for a Winning Product Description
Each product description is unique, but this general template is a good starting point. The simple recipe for a strong product description is:
- Compelling headline. Connect emotionally with your potential customers with a descriptive headline.
- Drive home the benefits. Use a short, sweet paragraph to tell your potential buyers how they will benefit from the product.
- Benefit bullets. Follow up with a bulleted list of key features, details, and benefits. Features are the “what” while benefits should be the “why.”
- Shrink the hurdles. Address potential purchase objections with a sense of urgency, FAQ section, social proof, and more.
How Long Should a Product Description Page Be?
Product descriptions are a lot like Goldy Lock’s porridge (stick with me here). Too little, and it’s not enough. Too much and it won’t be effective. The product description should be juuuuuust right.
But what is “just right”?
You guessed it, there’s no objective answer. They need to be as long as they need to be. Cover all of the essentials but be concise.
People skim text when reading online, so skip the extra words and get to the point. Use the first few lines to help the potential customer understand the product and why it will benefit them.
Formatting is just as important as length, as bullets, bolded words, etc help draw and focus attention. Opt for short sentences and short paragraphs to improve skimability.
Tips for Writing a High-Converting Product Description
Create an Ideal Customer Avatar
Before you can get into the copywriting and formatting nitty-gritty, you’ve got to know your ideal customer. “Millennial females” is not enough. WHO are you really targeting? Dig deep to create ideal customer avatars.
Do the work to document who your target prospect is. Give them a name, age, job, hobbies, and more. A valuable customer profile includes their goals, challenges, and more. Knowing who you are selling to will ensure you write in a way that speaks to them.
The men’s swimsuit brand, Chubbies, nailed their potential buyer persona to a T. Just take a look at how they describe basic old boring swim trunk features.
“These bad boys have a 5.5″ Inseam, just like your dad wore.”
That tone and style wouldn’t work for everyone, but their target audience loves it. It’s crystal clear that they spent the time and effort to learn about their ideal buyer, and this certainly pays off in the form of high-converting product descriptions.
When in Doubt, List it Out
Another “boring” planning phase is to streamline your product description writing. List out all of your product information. The last thing you want to do is leave out key details that can help your potential buyers make the purchase decision.
List out all of the product’s details in a simple spreadsheet including the name, manufacturing date, features, benefits, measurements, etc. Then, add a spot to indicate if that feature is added to the product description.
Sniff Out the Competition
Learn from your competitors. Search their product descriptions from the view of a buyer. Note any aspects that are especially compelling and may help you create an informative description. However, you should also look for gaps.
What are your competitors missing in their product descriptions that you can add? Turn these findings into a handy checklist that you can use to write your descriptions.
Keyword Research
Don’t wait to optimize your product descriptions. Great product descriptions are written with SEO in mind from the beginning. Identify transactional keywords that will improve the conversion rate of your listings.
Keywords with transactional intent are associated with making a purchase. They may not always be the highest rank keywords, but they will be the ones most likely to lead to a purchase.
Use the keywords to write your description title and subtitles. Then, implement transactional keywords in the details and descriptions to ensure high search rank and greater conversions.
Benefits or Features?
A big debate in the product listing world is whether to list benefits or features first. Many marketers and copywriters drive home the importance of benefits over features. In many cases, this is true. However, for some products, it’s better to include the features first.
Think about what customers will be looking for first. If you sell something like a mobile phone or digital camera, they will want to see the specs first. However, for many beauty products, customers may be more interested in the benefits of the product.
Keys to Compelling Copywriting
Quality is crucial when it comes to product descriptions. Follow the 4 Cs of copywriting to ensure well-written content:
- Clarity: Clear and easy to understand.
- Concise. Get creative and use as few words as possible.
- Compelling: Your copy should make customers feel like they are looking at the best product for them. Use your words to address buyers’ needs, expectations, concerns, and demands.
- Credible: Accuracy matters. False promises lead to unhappy customers and bad reviews. Surely emphasize the benefits of your products, but only make accurate claims.
Formatting Matters
The best information won’t save you from bad formatting. You don’t need to create a fancy custom layout to have excellent formatting for your listings (although doing so can help even more!) Instead, focus on ensuring that the description is visually inviting by:
- Using clear subheadings
- Listing out features and/or benefits in bullet points
- Keeping paragraphs small
- Using small words and short sentences
Product Description Writing Help
Writing great product descriptions takes time and a bit of a nack for writing. Whether you are looking to save on time or leverage a professional writer, Content Cucumber is here to help. Work with your dedicated writer to craft compelling product descriptions, engaging blog posts, web copy, and more.
Try us out for yourself by requesting your free sample article today!
