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9 Expert Tips for Writing Product Descriptions That Really Sell

Your products are game-changers, your online store looks amazing and your social channels are filled with enthusiastic fans. You should be drowning in orders, but for some reason sales are not doing as well as you expected. Why? The first thing our eCommerce experts will suggest is to check how well your product descriptions are written.


While for you may it may be perfectly clear that your products are spectacular, your customers will need some extra persuasion. You need captivating product descriptions to give them that extra push towards making the purchase. With the right words and the precise tone of voice, you could see a significant increase in your online store sales. Follow these tips and learn how to write powerful product descriptions that can convert even a skeptic into a satisfied customer.


01. Understand your shoppers


To write product descriptions that boost sales, you need to get a good grasp of who will be reading them. Not all shoppers think the same, and your task here is to be able to get into your target market’s head and understand what they want to hear.

Start by sketching a profile of three different individuals that are all a part of your target audience. Work with questions such as: How old are they? What line of work are they in? How do they spend their free time? And what’s their favorite TV show? Once you have these characters figured out, you can find commonalities, see where their social circles converge and what concerns or problems they have in common. In other words, this first step is about getting to know your shoppers better so you can relate to them in a way that will make them immediately click with your products.


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02. Highlight the value of your products


A successful product description communicates to shoppers exactly how thrilling it will be to own and to use this product. Tell them what they have to gain from clicking the purchase button, but don’t just list a bunch of features. You want to emphasize the benefits that make your product outstanding.


Consider the difference between these two descriptions for a dog mat:

“This machine-washable mat is made of high-quality cotton and polyester. The bottom is layered with silicone to prevent slipping. Fits dogs who weigh between 40-90 lbs.”

“Highly durable and easy to clean dog mat. Made of great quality materials that every dog loves to snuggle with. Perfect for medium and large dogs. Our unique non-slip design keeps your family and your dog safe and steady.”

Both speak to the same qualities, but while the first speaks to the details, the second emphasizes the value.


03. Excite visitors with your words


As with any other element in marketing, strong and motivating language is absolutely crucial for product descriptions. Take into account that your store visitors are experienced shoppers who may be comparing your products to others available online. If you want your products to make an immediate impression, use your words to make that happen.

You can, for example, describe your jewelry as “unique earrings,” but it would be so much more powerful to use language like “statement earrings.” Or when describing a nice bottle of wine, instead of speaking of it as a “great pairing with pasta,” write that it is “the perfect companion for your pasta dinner.”


04. Compliment your product images


As every online store owner knows, every product must be displayed with a great visual. Both the image and the description are equally important to capture the shoppers’ attention. But you can’t treat them as two separate parts. The real magic happens when the image and the text work together, each strengthening the other. For the description, you want your words to be in dialogue with the image and to compliment it. You can use the text, for example, to address aspects of your product that are not obviously displayed in the image.


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05. Offer solutions to your shoppers


Shoppers come to your online store with a task or a goal, and your job is to lead them right to the successful resolution and to answer their needs. When we speak of needs, we’re not referring strictly to such products that solve an immediate problem, the way a shower curtain prevents water from getting your bathroom all wet. Not everything for sale in this world works this way, but you can nevertheless present your products as problem-solvers.


For example, a shopper on the search for a new set of headphones doesn’t have an actual problem. But they will be happy to learn that your amazing headphones offer the perfect listening experience, answering the need of listening to music without losing any bit of the sound quality, and with minimal audio-leakage.


06. Make it all about them


Your products are not made in a void. They’re meant to be used, observed, consumed or operated by real people. Your product descriptions should speak about these interactions and put your potential shoppers in the spotlight. After all, they don’t want to hear about the genius of your pillow designs or the assembly of your flashlight parts. They want to know how these products will benefit them personally.


Make sure that all your product descriptions contain some reference to the relationship between product and person. You can do this either by directly referencing the shopper in the second person (“A detergent that keeps your hands soft and your house smelling fresh”). Or you can also use adjectives that imply a positive, human-centric connection between the two: comfortable, smooth, beautiful, pleasant, refreshing, pampering, funny – to name only a few!


07. Keep it simple


One of the main challenges when writing product descriptions is to keep them clear and concise, but nevertheless compelling and forceful. The secret to great writing, however, is to say more with less, and you need to assume that your online shoppers are not reading each and every word with great patience.


So how do you handle the experienced online shopper that is ready to jump away from your page and more on to another store? First, keep your description scannable so that they can easily skim through it and get their interest piqued. Use short sentences with a straightforward structure, and bullet points when describing technicalities or features. Second, keep your products’ greatest strengths visible by putting them at the start, or separating them from other paragraphs. You want to use them to hook the readers, but that only works if they can be spotted right away.


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08. Incorporate storytelling


Instead of writing like a salesperson, be a storyteller. Give your shoppers a taste of how this product will enter their life and make it so much better. You want to get your readers’ imaginations going and help them visualize a real-life scenario and how your product fits in it.


Let’s say you’re trying to sell them a coffee container. Don’t settle for providing details of the materials, dimensions and colors. Tell your shoppers about how this coffee container guarantees that every cup of coffee they have every morning will be fresh and aromatic, and that this container will look great on every shelf in their kitchen. Plant the actual image in their mind of them standing in a beautiful kitchen, holding a cup of coffee in their hands. Marketing, after all, is all about telling stories that your customers want to hear.


09. Optimize to improve SEO


Here’s a little secret about your product descriptions: They’re not only useful for making a pitch, they can also get your online store a better ranking on search engines. Find a clever way to integrate the right keywords into your product descriptions to increase your visibility on search results.


Here are some key points to keep in mind:

Be subtle: You can’t turn your product description into a clutter of keywords. This is a major turn-off for shoppers (not to mention Google!) and will really damage your credibility with them.


Use keywords that work: Utilize words that shoppers would actually look for when they are trying to reach your products. Be specific enough so that you’re not competing over search results with very broad search terms. Learn more about long tail keywords and how to use them in this helpful article.


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