The goal is to help you write product desciptions that will engage, inform and convert your shoppers into loyal customers.
What are product descriptions and why are they important?
Product descriptions are the written information that accompanies your product photos on a sales page. When people visit your product page but don’t buy, it is usually due to a few reasons.
1. The product may not be what they want.
2. They may not trust the source.
3. There may not be a smooth buying experience.
4. They may not have all the information they need to make a decision.
The product description that accompanies your e-commerce product photos provides the needed information. If you nail that aspect of your page, you will see sales increase.
The good news
Most product descriptions suck. Some e-business owners simply use copy from their suppliers. This does nothing to separate your brand from another. Everything on your website needs to tell consumers your company is different and stands apart from the crowd.
Luckily you don’t have to be a literary genius to write effective product copy. There are a series of guidelines you can follow that will improve your skills. And the best news, they are right below!
Guide to writing product descriptions that sell.
How do you write good product copy?
1.) You answer consumer questions about the item.
Where do you find these questions?
In reviews, in consumer emails, in comments, and on social media. People have questions about everything. If you search for information on the type of products you sell, you will find someone talking about it somewhere.
Don’t have time for that?
I understand, but I can guarantee you it will help. If you want to cut a corner or two, keep these questions in mind when you write your copy:
What problems does your product solve?
Why is your product better than your competition’s?
What are the benefits (not features) of your product?
What will it do for the consumer to make their life better?
When you can meld this into a fun, easy to read and scanable format, you have the start of a great product description.
2.) You focus on your perfect customer.
Writing good product descriptions means putting yourself in the role of the consumer. Your product can’t appeal to everyone, no matter how much you wish it could. So focus on talking to your perfect customer.
Write as if you are having a conversation with them. Use lanuage (words) they would use. Don’t be generic, use the word “you” because you are talking directly to that perfect client. Think about what they would like and what they would want to know. Would they have a sense of humor? Talk to them as if they were in front of you.
3.) Focus on the benefits.
While features and specifications are important, you will sell more with benefits. What do the features mean to them? For example, a larger grilling space means you can grill for the whole family at once and spend time with your kids. Much better than spending all day cooking at the picnic and missing out on family time.
How does each specification make a customer’s life better? What pain points do your product solve for your customers? Addressing these in your description will help you sell more.
4.) Avoid mundane product copy.
We all do this, heck, you will even find examples of this on my website. Try to avoid copy like: high quality. Everyone says that, no one will ever say “it’s poor quality construction.”
When you write a sentence, ask yourself “so what does that mean to me?”
As examples:
“The grill’s high quality stainless steel construction guarantees you over 10 years of summer picnic fun.”
“All natural ingredients will hydrate your skin plus are safe for you and the environment.”
5.) Use an active voice.
Writing in a passive voice is a problem for most people. When you write in an active voice, your copy will flow better and people have an easier time reading it.
As an example of passive voice:
“Our grill is guaranteed to help your burgers be cooked to perfection.”
An example of an active voice:
“Our grill guarantees your burgers will cook to perfection.”
6.) Tell a story.
Emotions inspire purchases. Use your product description to tell consumers a story with them as the main character. Going back to the example in C. about spending time with the kids – that evokes the emotion of love and family. Don’t make it a long story unless that is what would draw your ideal customer.
7.) Make it an easy read.
Product descriptions don’t have to be long, as long as they address the key questions. Higher priced products may need more copy to answer all the hows and whys to convince a customer to buy.
- Consider using bullet points to highlight key feature information.
8.) Use headlines that make your description easy to scan.
Some people refuse to read copy, but they may scan the headlines. Just as I am using heading text to separate segments of this article, you can use headlines to separate sections of your product copy.
One important thing about using headline titles, try to make your information understandable in the scan. As an example, if you don’t read the information under each title beneath the headline: Guide to writing product descriptions that sell, you can still get an idea of the steps.
9.) Try to use keywords.
Using keywords in your articles is important to search engine optimization. You don’t want to stuff keywords in, but if the opportunity arises to insert them naturally, it will help search engines to find you.
10.) Use words that sell.
There are words that help drive your sales, and using them can help you be more persausive with your product descriptions. Among the words are: You, Value, And, Do, Imagine, See, Show, Hear, Because, Opportunity, Premium, Risk-Free, Safe, etc…
There is even a book titled Words That Sell. It is filled with over 6,000 enteries to help you promote your products, services and ideas. Or you could look up some using Google.
(Note that the book link above is an affiliate link – if you use this link to purchase the book, it costs you the same, but I get a small fee from Amazon for promoting it. I only promote it because I purchased it and found it extremely helpful for writing product copy!)
11.) Don’t forget the specifications.
Beneath your copy, a “Specifications” title and some bullet points are useful to let a customer know all the basic information of your product. This is where you provide specs and features.
It helps to answer any lingering questions that a consumer may have with plain facts.
12.) Test your product description.
Read your product description aloud. Is that how you would talk to a friend or customer? (Minus the headings of course.) If so, you have the start of a profitable description.
Start? Yes. As with anything on line, testing should be next. Try A/B comparisons to see what is working and what is not. Only tweak small things at a time. Change a headline or call to action and see which works best. If you change a lot, you aren’t sure which tweak made the difference.
Combine your product copy with great product images.
For a product sales page to be successful, you will want to combine your description with top notch photos of your product. Online, consumers can’t touch or handle a product like they can in a physical store. That is why it is important to show quality and angles, allowing consumers to zoom in.
That is also why great product descriptions are so important. If you are interested in discussing commercial photography for your e-commerce business, reach out! I’d enjoy talking with you and seeing if I may be of service.
Let’s Talk About Your Product Photography Needs:
Please fill out the form below to give me an idea of photographic needs. I will then call you and discuss the project in detail to create a quote that will meet your requirements.
You may also text me at: 410-596-4127 or E-mail me at: tom@tomcrowl.com