The eCommerce guide to writing product descriptions that sell
What information does a consumer usually look for before buying a product online?
They would usually consider some general consumer feedback regarding the brand as well as some product reviews. And, of course, product descriptions play an important role, too.
You could even say that product descriptions matter the most to people when it comes to making a well-informed purchase decision - 76% of consumers mentioned product specifications as the most important product content.
Naturally, if product descriptions don’t present the product realistically or the product differs drastically from what is said in the description, it will undoubtedly cost you your customers.
And, on the contrary, a properly written e-commerce product description can generate new customers and even help boost sales.
Today, we want to share a small guide with you, in which we’re going to discuss step by step how to write good product descriptions that sell.
The four steps of how to write product descriptions that sell:
- Study your target audience
- Focus your product descriptions on search intent
- Tell the story behind the product
- Make your product description scannable
1. Study Your Target Audience
An e-commerce description that aims to convert your visitors into customers should target a particular audience. Otherwise, you risk writing a very vague product content that would target everybody and nobody at the same time. Consumers will still visit your page, but there is a minimal chance they will convert.
How do you define a target audience for e-commerce product descriptions?
First and foremost, you should start by researching your current audience and their demographics.
To define your target audience persona, you can answer the following questions:
● What are my ideal buyer’s gender and age?
● Where do they live, and what language do they speak?
● Where do they work, and what is their income?
● Which goals does my ideal buyer have, and what do they need to achieve them?
● Which obstacles don’t let them achieve their goals?
● How can my product answer their current needs and help them reach their goals?
With the answers to these questions, you can create an outline of an ideal buyer persona. However, if you want this description to be more specific, you can involve some data analytics.
For instance, if you want your product descriptions to target a specific audience, e.g., from Facebook or Instagram, you can visit the Analytics tab on these platforms to find the data on your follower’s demographics.
Here’s how it looks on Facebook:
Take a look at the following example of an e-commerce product description that addresses the exact target audience and its needs:
In the image above, you can see that the product description targets expecting mothers who need some extra support and body relief while resting. This is precisely why you need to research your target audience, as in your product descriptions, you will have to address their needs directly to get their attention.
2. Focus Your E-Commerce Product Descriptions on Search Intent
If you want your e-commerce descriptions to help you increase sales, you also need to improve their discoverability. And keyword optimization is one of the most effective ways to do it.
However, the good old keyword stuffing won’t work in this case. If you want to write compelling e-commerce product descriptions that sell, you need to focus your keywords on specific search intent.
User or search intent is the reason why a person is looking for something online. Based on these reasons, there are four main types of search intent:
● Informational – a user wants to learn more details about something (e.g., what is a product description, e-commerce statistics, fastest shipping service).
● Navigational – a user wants to visit a particular website or webpage (e.g., Shiptheory product updates, Facebook login).
● Transactional – a user wants to purchase a product (e.g., buy Spotify Premium, Amazon coupon).
● Commercial investigation– a user wants to get more information about a product before purchasing it (e.g., Dell Inspiron 5558 reviews, Dell vs MacBook).
Here’s an excellent example of an e-commerce product description optimized for the informational type of search intent. It targets the keyword maternity pillow, which is repeated several times in the description:
You can include keywords that target several types of search intent in your product descriptions. But it would be best if you kept in mind that they should reflect the actual reasons why your audience is looking for your product online and not misguide them.
3. Tell a Story Behind the Product
Knowing your target audience and optimizing your descriptions to search intent are good strategies to help make them more targeted. But they are not enough to write e-commerce product descriptions that sell.
A good product description should capture the consumer’s attention with something they can relate to. Storytelling can help you achieve that effect.
Below, you can see an example of a product description from Esty that leverages storytelling to describe an ideal situation in which a product can be used:
In this case, the seller uses storytelling to help the reader identify with the situation, in which using this product would be an absolute must. The story in this description also creates a positive association with the product.
How to use storytelling properly?
Here are a few useful suggestions you can take advantage of:
● Make your customer the centre of the story. In the first section of this guide, we shared an excellent example of a product description that focuses on the customer and their needs. However, you can create a hypothetical situation in which a certain need of your customer gets solved. In this case, you will create a dynamic and relatable product description.
● Tell about the idea behind the product. You can also focus more on the idea that inspired you to create your product and mention whom this product is intended for.
● Share customer stories. It’s always a good idea to feature some of the reviews provided by your customers. You can provide general information on the number of users satisfied with your product, the feature they like the most, or tell one of their stories.
Storytelling can significantly improve the quality of your product descriptions, and because it makes them more relatable, your product descriptions will also bring you more customers.
However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind before posting a product description with a story.
First and foremost, proofread your drafts. It’s easy to get carried away with storytelling and miss grammatical and spelling mistakes. So, make sure you have tools like TrustMyPaper, WowGrade, and Grammarly at hand to edit and proofread your product descriptions quickly.
Besides, don’t make the storytelling part too long. About 50 words are enough to express the idea behind your story. Also, to intensify the storytelling effect, try to show, not tell. Instead of saying that you’re offering a high-quality handbag, tell your customers of a situation in which this handbag would be an absolute must.
4. Make Your E-Commerce Product Descriptions Scannable
Without a proper product description, your customers won’t be able to make a purchase decision in your favour. However, if your product description is hard to read and looks messy, it would kill the desire to buy even in the most persistent consumer.
The structure is essential for an e-commerce product description if you want it to improve conversions and sales. So, divide your description into meaningful sections to help your target audience navigate product features easier:
You can also use images to break down your product description:
If you’re selling your products on Amazon, you can add different types of content to your product descriptions, including videos and GIFs, to show your products in use.
Effortless navigation is an important factor in creating product descriptions that sell. However, the structure of your product description also impacts whether it will appear in the featured snippets. So, use bullet lists and subheadings in your product descriptions to make them more discoverable and to increase your chances to appear on the first page of Google results.
Conclusion
Product descriptions play an important role in helping a consumer make an informed purchase decision. But for a brand, it’s an excellent opportunity to boost conversions and increase sales.
If you want your product descriptions to deliver good results, they need to be focused on a specific target audience and fit the search intent with which your audience would be looking for your product.
However, a description that truly sells a product always tells a story behind it. So, leverage the power of storytelling to engage consumers. But also, don’t forget about properly structuring your product description for easier navigation and for a chance to appear in featured snippets.
Author: Marques Coleman
Marques Coleman is a writer, blogger, and editor. He creates content for different educational platforms, such as Subjecto. He also has his own blog, where he shares growth hacks for small e-commerce businesses.