5 tips for writing product descriptions that convert

Product description is one of the most relevant factors in any e-commerce. Get to know this 5 tips and optimize your descriptions and increase sales!

EBANX
August 31, 2020
6 min read

Product description is one of the most relevant factors in any ecommerce store, since it is the gateway that allows the customer to go further in the purchasing journey and hit the buy button. Still, many online store owners have not yet figured out all the benefits that investing time and efforts when writing product descriptions can bring to their businesses.

More than talking about all of the technical characteristics of a product, you need to show your customer how the product you sell can change their life.

Let’s say you are selling a dual air conditioner unit that also provides heating. The most obvious approach is to describe it as a machine that uses a refrigeration cycle to regulate the temperature of a room. A creative approach would be to describe it as a solution that makes your customer’s home cozy and warm during winter and cool and comfortable during intense summers.

This slight change of tone can cause an enormous positive impact in your online store’s sales. That’s why we’ve listed 5 tips on writing product descriptions that (really) convert.

5 steps to writing the perfect product description

1. Create content for your customer, not for yourself

It is very common to adopt a descriptive posture when thinking about selling a product. As a result, we have those boring, extremely technical descriptions, such as “8 GB RAM, 1T HD, i7 generation”, when talking about a computer’s features.

Sure, this information is essential. But, it can be restricted to the title of the product and written differently in the description. You could add more value to the product describing it like this: “With 8 GB of RAM memory, this notebook allows you to use multiple computer resources at the same time without compromising speed. Add to that the Intel Core i7 processor, that will potentialize the navigation, making it more agile and efficient”.

Aligned with the product photos, product descriptions become even more relevant to attract customers to your online store and generate conversions, since the combination of visual and textual communication aspects helps to fire imagination and raise interest.

Simple information can be become a great selling argument if well crafted. I mentioned the example above so you can see how important it is to leave behind simplistic reproductions of the product’s instruction manual and start creating smart, appealing product descriptions.

2. Make a list of the product’s benefits and features

The art of writing amazing product descriptions is a skill that can be developed with time, as your measure the results that your changes are bringing to your sales. The best way to promote a product is by knowing it deeply in order to understand the customer’s perspective on the good.

When we become the user of a product, we are able to list all the benefits that it brings to us. So, if you have a online store focused on cosmetics, try to use them daily (at least for a while), so you can tell if the results promised by the fabricant are true or not. As you give the product a try, create a list with the benefits you’ve noticed.

When listing the benefits, try to leave behind sensationalist speeches and focus on what is true about the product, highlighting pros and cons in a very impartial way.

To increase ecommerce reviews, consider sending digital influencers products and ask them to give their honest opinion by publishing a review. This is a strategic way of creating product and brand trust and convincing visitors to buy your products.

3. Optimize product descriptions with SEO techniques

Ecommerce SEO is important whenever you think about increasing sales. In case you are not familiar with it, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a set of techniques that will help people find your website when looking for related topics on search engines. Following these techniques will help you improve your website content and make it more attractive for both customers and search engine’s robots.

When thinking about on-page SEO, the basic premise is to use keywords that are commonly used by consumers when searching for products that are the same or very similar to those that your store sells online.

When Google performs an index of your page, it scans your content and records these keywords. When the consumer is looking for the product, using these specific words, the well-optimized websites will appear as the top search results of a Google search.

Besides, SEO will guide your product description to be aligned to the customer’s main expectations. For instance, let’s say that a user is looking for red leather sneakers. The first thing consumers will type will be something like “buy leather sneakers”. Including these words in the product’s title and description is essential to reach this particular buyer, after all, you are showing him where he can find exactly what he is looking for.

4. Don’t go overboard

You have certainly come across some “miraculous” products online. Creams that promise to rejuvenate your skin to look 10 years younger, pills that will make you lose tons of weight in a week, and so on.

These kinds of over the top descriptions of a product can backfire on you, since customers that have already used the product can leave negative comments denying the claim, after all, most product can’t guarantee these sort of results. And worse, comparing your website’s description with what other people are really saying about your product won’t take a prospective customer more than two seconds to develop a lack of trust, consequently ruining the sale and hurting your reputation.

Another quick warning, just in case you are considering selling your products abroad. Some countries have strict regulations about the advertising of beauty & health products. In Brazil, for instance, it is forbidden to use “before and after” publicity, and big social media platforms such as Facebook block this kind of content.

Therefore, our tip here is to avoid crossing over the line with your use of adjectives, instead keep the information you are presenting to convince your customer to buy as clean and function as possible. Say your product is the better option on the market only if there is proof. Use superlatives only if really needed.

Informative content brings more reliability to your products and allows the consumer to be informed with more precision about their benefits.

5. Create stories

Storytelling techniques are quite effective when aiming to create an emotional bond with the audience. An online store that sells artisanal products, for instance, can develop stories that showcase the person who made the product, where their ideas came from, the creation process and even some curiosity elements that holds your reader’s attention.

Using stories when describing a product is super effective. Imagine you own a wine store, where instead of only informing your customer of the grape’s origin and the date of bottling, you tell them about the family that owns the winery, their unique production process, and add other personal details.

These simple stories must be passionate in order to allow the customer to connect with the product. The desire of buying something comes with this sense of identification, so, invest in your creative side!

I hope this article will be useful for you when writing new product descriptions or updating current ones! For more relevant content about ecommerce, continue visiting our blog.

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