How to Write Compelling Ecommerce Product Descriptions That Sell
The primary goal of product descriptions is to help sell your product. It’s your opportunity to explain to your customers how awesome your product is and how it’ll make their lives better. It’s where you provide your customers with the amount of information they need to make a decision on your product.
Product descriptions have the ability to make or break your conversion rate. But if they’re so important, why are they often so poorly written and ineffective?
Obviously this isn’t intentional — no one sets out to write poor product descriptions. However, people often don’t realize how important product descriptions are, so they don’t get the attention they deserve.
Another problem is that people tend to focus on features rather than benefits. Depending on your product, it may be important to include some technical specs, but it isn’t the features that ultimately convince someone to buy from you — it’s the benefits.
Key Elements to Consider When Writing Product Descriptions
We’ve compiled a list of goals to shoot for when crafting product descriptions that lead to higher conversion rates.
Aim for product descriptions that are:
- Concise
- Balanced in length (not too short or long)
- Consistent with your brand voice
- Containing an element of story
- Unique to the product at hand
- Focusing on benefits
- Providing key data (for customers and search engines to improve organic rankings)
- Not overselling
With these goals in mind, you’re ready to get started writing your product descriptions.
Here are four key elements to consider for high-yield results when writing product descriptions.
1. Provide Info That’s Essential, Concise, and Engaging
It’s important that you include all the information a potential customer would need to make a decision on your product. But you don’t want to overwhelm them with unnecessary details. Be clear and concise with this key information, presenting it in an easily digestible way (i.e., not too long or too boring).
2. Highlight What’s Unique About Each Product
We’ve seen plenty of ecommerce sites where the product description is the same across all items in a single category or where there aren’t any product descriptions at all. Honestly, the latter may be better than the former, but don’t be one of these stores.
Highlight what separates one product from the other — and especially from the rest of the competition. The goal is to convince a potential customer to purchase your product, so make sure you say something special about it and not something general that anyone could say about a product similar to yours.
3. Focus on Story
Almost every product has a story behind it. Adding this story — the reason behind your product — adds a layer of depth to your product description. It creates an emotional connection between your product and the customer, which has the potential to dramatically increase conversion rates.
Consider Kickstarter campaigns. These crowdfunding movements are successful because of the stories behind what people are trying to create. It shows their passion and commitment as well as the benefits of their product.
We can learn from the success of campaigns like this. Just because typical product descriptions are concise doesn’t mean they need to be without heart.
4. Write for Humans First
You might think this is obvious, but many people use product descriptions just to gain search engine points and increase organic rankings.
While thinking about keywords when writing your product descriptions can be strategic, make sure to write for humans first. After all, humans are the ones who will purchase from you, write reviews for you, and advocate for your brand to others. They need to be your primary audience.
Product Description FAQs
I know we mentioned being concise when you write product descriptions, which begs the question: How short is too short?
There’s no rule of thumb for how long product descriptions should be. It depends on your brand, your product, and your audience. Think through the information you need to share about your product, and consider your target customer and why they’re interested in your product.
Some people say more expensive products need longer product descriptions. We beg to differ — price isn’t necessarily correlated to how long your product descriptions need to be. Whether your product is $1 or $10,000, write descriptions to match your specific brand, product, and audience.
What if you have hundreds, or even thousands, of products? Does every product need a unique description?
Writing can be tedious, but the good news is you only have to do this once. The initial batch of writing will be overwhelming, but keeping them updated and adding new products as they launch on your site is typically manageable.
You might consider outsourcing the writing of your product descriptions if you don’t have anyone in-house able to do the job. But make sure your team reviews them before publishing to check consistency with your brand voice.
How to Write Compelling Ecommerce Product Descriptions That Sell: Final Thoughts
Take a look at your current ecommerce site. Perhaps your primary focus has been on describing the physical features of each product you sell. Start building from there.
Can you add an element of story? Can you infuse more of your signature brand voice to add a personal touch? Do you need to set aside a focus on keywords to let your audience know that you’re writing for them?
When you weave your brand messaging and your story into all the necessary product info, you’ll see an uptick in your conversion rate. Of course consumers want to consume, but they also want to connect. Don’t miss the chance to write product descriptions that create a personal connection.
Need some one-on-one guidance to make your product descriptions the best they can be? Reach out today — our team of experts is standing by to help!
