SELL MORE ONLINE: 8 TIPS FOR YOUR PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS

For most online merchants, product descriptions may seem like a no brainer, an obvious necessity to selling online. However, too many merchants are missing out on sales and traffic as a result of poor quality product descriptions or even worse - copying the manufacturer’s generic content.

The good news, well-written product descriptions can give you the competitive advantage, helping you rank higher on search engines and increasing your bottom line. Draw in customers and sell more online with these must-read 8 tips for your product descriptions.

1) Wear your Customer’s Shoes

Figuratively speaking, that is. No matter what you’re selling online, you should have a very good understanding of your target customer. Reflect that in your voice, language, and style. I strongly recommend creating an online persona, an imaginary customer, who absolutely loves to buy your products.

This Forbes article “Online Personas: The Key to Converting Customers” will help you fully understand your target audience. As a result, you’ll write unique product descriptions that effectively converts visitors into paying customers.

2) Persuade with Benefits

Now that you are familiar with your online personas, you know which benefits will sway your customers to make a purchase. Highlight benefits by addressing questions such as: How is your product better than the competitor? How can your product solve a problem for your customer?
Check out how this PrestaShop store, Gretel Home, presents the benefits of their Diamond Box to appeal to customers.

In just 3 sentences, Gretel Home was able to point out 6 different benefits: multiple functionality, safe, seamless, perfect gift, inexpensive, and small. They also used sensory words to touch the soft spots of their customers - hold that thought, we’ll talk more about sensory words in just a bit.

3) Tell Stories

Tap into your customers’ imagination. Transport them to a place and time where they see themselves using your product. Start a story and let customers fill in the details wherever they can relate. For some inspiration, look at how this PrestaShop store, Planete Chocolat, tells a story that stars their Box of Easter Chocolates.

Planete Chocolat created a product description that puts the product in the customer’s life. By using just the right amount of details they planted the seed of a story. They then let customers fill in the details of a perfect Easter morning.

4) Stimulate Your Customer’s Senses

Let your customers feel. Do this by using sensory words that appeal to any of our five senses. Easily appeal to auditory senses with onomatopoeias, words that imitate the sound it makes. Some examples? Clocks tick, cell phones buzz, jewelry jangles and steaks sizzle. Each item you read made a sound you can hear.

As you stimulate each sense, you bring another dimension of your product to life. Want to feel the Nourishing Body Milk on your skin? Read the product description from this PrestaShop ecommerce site, Tahitian Secrets:

Most people know what velvety, silky, and smooth textures feel like. These descriptions allow customers to literally feel the product through their screen.

5) Details, Details, Details.

What are the FAQ’s for your product? Product descriptions should answer all the basic questions a customers would ask. Start by answering a relevant question from each of these 5 categories:

- Who - Who needs it? Who is it made for? Who made it?

- What - What is the product? What features does it have? What is it for?

- Where - Where is it made? Where should it be used?

- Why - Why do customers need it? Why it is better? Why purchase it?

- When - When was it made? When should they replace it?

Answer as many as possible while staying relevant. (By addressing commonly asked questions in product descriptions, you also save time on customer service.) See how this PrestaShop store, WhatGoesAroundNYC describes their Vintage Chanel Bag:

As a Vintage Luxury goods retailers, it is especially important to include the product’s condition. By listing the condition of each part, it shows that the product has been carefully inspected which increases trust - making a customer more likely to make the purchase.

6) Use Original, Keyword Rich Content

SEO is all the rage! With most customers using search to find products, it is important to rank high in these search results. Increase your page rank by using keywords to improve your SEO. First step? Do away with generic manufacturer descriptions. With so many online merchants already using them, duplicating them on your site hurts your SEO.

Instead, view manufacturer descriptions as inspiration for your original content. But before you start writing, find relevant keywords for your product. Google Adwords’s Keyword Planner is a great way to start. You can also check out alternatives suggested bySocial Media Today such as Keyword Eye. Here’s their suggested top 10 keywords for “sunglasses”:

As you write descriptions, pick a few relevant keywords to include. Each original, keyword rich product description you write will help to increase your SEO.

7) Be Easy on the Eyes

It’s easy to get carried away with writing product descriptions. There are so many details you can include. Make sure your product descriptions are displayed in a format that is easy to read. Break up large paragraphs with bullet points. This allows customers to quickly scan through and find what they need. If you have lots to say, create both a short and long description. Check out how this PrestaShop bike store, BTWIN extensively details a product in a reader-friendly format.

8) Let Customers Review

Want free and original descriptions for your products? Look no further than product reviews. Content written by other shoppers seem more trustworthy because lying does not benefit them. Customer reviews can also provide information from a user’s perspective, addressing questions online merchants often forget.
See how these customer reviews help JustFab FR, another PrestaShop merchant, with describing their product.

By addressing concerns about height and comfort, the customer reviews add helpful information for customers. Their praise for the product also helps to convert shoppers. The unique content in customer reviews helps with SEO!