6 Crucial Points To Consider When Writing A Product Description For Your Online Store

What does it take for any E-commerce website to improve its product page?

Some great product images, positive user reviews, delivery information, and of course, effective product descriptions that can list down all the product features and how it can benefit the buyer.

According to a 2017 study by Salsify -  Cracking the Consumer Code, 87% of the online shoppers rate product description content as an important factor while making a purchase. Product descriptions have been found to be very effective in improving the level of incoming web traffic and growth in online sales. The online retail company, Overstock.com recorded an 84% increase in their organic traffic directed to their website in just one month, following product description optimisation on their ten most visited pages.

So, in addition to the benefits of optimising product descriptions for search engine optimisation (SEO), what are the main points that any content writing team must keep in mind when writing good product descriptions for any E-commerce retailer?

Here are six few points that are sure to give you a head start!

Knowing your target customer

The basic mantra for any online retail store is to know their customer profile before offering their products. Creating a detailed buyer persona for your E-commerce business can go a long way into understanding the product features that are of potential interest for your buyers.

For example, a new mother looking for baby products would probably be focused on the safety aspects of the products. Your product description for the baby product must include the safety-related features for this buyer profile. Similarly, product description for fashion apparel (targeted for younger customers) should stress more on what makes the apparel stylish and trendy to wear.
 

Focus on your product benefits

Among the most common mistakes in product description writing, focussing merely on the features of a product (particularly if it is a feature-rich product such as the latest OLED televisions), leads the line. While it is fine to talk about product features, product descriptions must also translate these features into how they benefit the customer.

Product descriptions must answer customer’s doubts such as “how does this product solve my problem?” or “How does your product make your customer’s lives better?”
 

Use of a natural and consistent tone

Does your product description have a natural feel to it or does it feel like you are talking to a computer bot?

A natural flow of language in your descriptions can help connect your brand with the customers. While maintaining a flow of language, the tone of voice used in your product descriptions can also influence how the customer develops a perception towards your brand. This is particularly relevant for millennials browsing through your site, who are highly conscious of the company and the brands whose products they buy.

Additionally, online shoppers are also looking for consistency in your product descriptions with the same language and tone across all the products in the E-commerce site.
 

Use a combination of formatting styles

To make it easier and engaging for online shoppers, write your product descriptions using a combination of short paragraphs, bullet points, and other formatting styles like tabs.

Effective use of formatting can ensure that your product descriptions are easy to read while being detailed and informative at the same time. A good example for this can be Health Warrior-  the superfood company that makes its product description easy to scan for the shopper by using a combination of different font sizes, bullet points, and short paragraphs.

With the reducing attention span of an average individual, most online readers read less than 20% of the content on any web page. To increase the reading ease of your product description, you can use the formatting techniques such as:

• Using an easy and readable font for your product descriptions.
• Adding subheading text that is slightly larger in font size than the body text.
• Selective use of bold and coloured text to grab the reader’s attention.
   

Use specific words

As an e-commerce seller, you may believe that your product is of “high quality” however using such words in your product description may not mean anything to your reader.

Be specific with regards to the words that you use to describe the products. For example, use of power words and phrases such as “durable,” “stunning,” and “never seen before” to describe your product can push online shoppers towards exploring your product details. Use of words that add to the specificity factor of your product description, instead of using empty words can demonstrate the overall quality of your product. Additionally, avoid the use of extra or redundant words from product descriptions.
 

Make SEO-friendly product description

Finally, product descriptions must be optimised for search engines by including common keywords that online buyers are most likely to use when searching for your product. Some time invested in keyword research is always useful in selecting the keywords that work best for your product offering.

As a good practice, ensure that the keywords are not repeated more than twice and fit naturally into the flow of SEO product descriptions. In addition to your product description, place your keywords in the page titles, meta description, and ALT image tags.
 

Conclusion

You can use these key points to improve the readability and marketing effectiveness of your product descriptions and cater to the needs of your online customers.

Additionally, as an E-commerce retailer, it is important to keep track of E-commerce industry trends and adapt your product descriptions according to the evolving demands of your customers.

Are you happy with your product descriptions? Do you think you are making the best out of them?