eCommerce isn’t just here to stay. It’s taking over retail.
Experts predict that annual eCommerce sales will exceed $6 trillion dollars by 2023.
Retail conglomerates and small businesses alike turn to online stores to sell products to a wider audience and increase their revenue.
However, as more eCommerce websites pop up each day, staying competitive can be challenging.
When it comes to your online store, you don’t have the luxury of an in-person sales team to close the deal. Conversions come down to the effectiveness of your product page and product descriptions.
Keep reading to learn:
- The essential elements of an eCommerce product page
- How to write a product description for an online store in four steps
- Strategies to make your online descriptions stand out
Elements of an eCommerce product page
In addition to the product title, or name, your product page includes other essential elements, such as:
- Image
- Description
- Call to action
Product Image
The product image shows shoppers what your product looks like in action. Most eCommerce businesses include multiple photos to show the product from different angles or in different colors. You can also give shoppers the option to zoom in and see details of the product.
eCommerce Product Description
Your product description, or product copy, outlines your product’s features and tells shoppers why they should buy it. A great product description indicates what the product is and what it does while enticing the reader to make a purchase.
Call to Action
Your call to action is how you ask for the sale on your product page. For many eCommerce products, this is your purchase or add to cart button. It doesn’t have to be complex, but it should be easy for shoppers to find and click.
How to write an eCommerce product description
Don’t let a lousy product description sabotage your eCommerce website.
Once you learn how to write a product description that sells, creating pages for new products becomes more straightforward.
Here are the four essential steps that make up the perfect product description formula.
1. Know Your Target Audience
Always start with your audience, by which we mean your ideal buyers. If you’re going to convince shoppers to buy your product, you need to understand how to write a product description that resonates with your buyer.
To create an effective buyer persona, you should consider the following for your ideal customer:
- Pain points
- Objections
- Budget/price sensitivity
- Identity
- Aspirations
- Demographics
- Lifestyle
Once you have a clear picture of who you’re writing for, you can start crafting a compelling product description.
2. Translate Features Into Benefits
As a small business owner, you know everything about your products and what makes them great. However, a potential customer on your website knows almost nothing about your product.
Your job is to create a product description that highlights the features of your product that matter for your target customer.
The secret?
Turn all of your product features into benefits.
Shoppers generally don’t care about features. They care about what your product can do for them.
Create a list with two columns. In the first column, list your product’s features. Use the second column to write out the benefit each feature provides to your ideal customer.
3. Craft a Story
After you turn your features into benefits, it’s time to tie all of that information together. The best way to write enticing descriptions is by telling a story.
Storytelling makes your content more memorable, which is excellent for increasing eCommerce conversion rates.
So, how to write a product description that uses storytelling?
The elements of storytelling you need to include are:
- Character
- Setting
- Conflict
- Solution
As a product description formula, the elements look something like this:
Your product empowers the character (your target customer) to solve their unmet need (conflict) in a given situation (setting), so they can achieve their aspirations (resolution).
Ultimately, your story should communicate to shoppers that they are making a smart purchase decision.
4. Add SEO Keywords
Now that you have your story, you’re almost done. No eCommerce product page is complete without search engine optimization (SEO) keywords.
Knowing how to write a product description for search engines can boost your website traffic and overall conversions.
You should already have a list of relevant keywords you want to optimize for your brand and products.
Make sure you incorporate keywords into your headers and description text so customers can find your product in their search results.
Examples of Effective eCommerce Product Descriptions
Compelling product copy can be the difference between losing website viewers and gaining loyal customers.
Here are some excellent examples to help inspire the descriptions for your online store.
Anticipating Customer Pain Points
One of the best ways to turn features into benefits is by telling shoppers how you’ll solve their problems.
Hyphen Sleep creates a unique product description by focusing on sleeper’s pain points, such as night sweating and allergies.
Identifying pain points helps shoppers imagine how your product will make their life easier.
Product description template idea: List your ideal customer’s top three pain points and use them as the sections for your product descriptions.
Leveraging Social Proof
Frank Body doesn’t tell you how amazing its product is. It lets other customers do the job.
Word of mouth marketing is one of the best ways to build trust and fear of missing out (FOMO). Positive reviews and testimonials reduce the friction in the buying process and increase your conversions.
Product description template idea: Start your product description with customer ratings or a testimonial highlighting your product’s best features.
Make Your Case With Metrics
When most people envision eCommerce, they think of consumer products. But B2B software and services are increasingly purchased online.
Since B2B sales tend to be more complex and costly, you have to work even harder to gain your target customer’s trust.
DocuSign does an excellent job of incorporating quantitative data and results as proof of its product benefits.
DocuSign’s product page tells a straightforward story of customers that save time and money. Using measurable benefit statements is an excellent strategy for increasing conversions if you sell a complex or expensive product.
Product description template idea: Measure customer performance before and after using your product and report results on your product page.
Leading With Powerful Descriptive Language
Affinity Photo incorporates strong aspirational word choice on its product page to create a better emotional connection with shoppers.
Words like “stunning,” “dynamic,” “beautiful,” and “unlimited” immerse target customers into Affinity’s brand story.
Powerful words engage your audience’s feelings and help create a sense of urgency when purchasing.
Product description template idea: Look at the adjectives in your product description and run common words through a thesaurus to see where you can be telling a better story.
Tips for writing eCommerce product descriptions
Now that you have a step-by-step guide and some great product description examples, you’re almost ready to get started.
As you progress, writing product descriptions becomes more of an art than an exact science. However, there are some tips to follow to help you get your product description just right.
Find the Right Length
Your product description needs to tell a compelling story while also outlining product details and key benefits. You don’t need to write a novel, but you need enough content to close the sale.
In general, a good product description is somewhere between 300-400 words in length. This gives you enough space to craft a story for your target customer without overwhelming them with text.
Depending on your brand and industry, you may find that your description lengths are different. If you’re unsure, check out your competition and see what works for them.
Make It Readable
In addition to keeping your product descriptions concise, you should also focus on readability. In particular, use simple sentence structure and avoid large blocks of text.
While your customers might read at a high school level, it doesn’t mean they prefer it. The sweet spot for content complexity is somewhere between the 6th and 8th-grade reading levels.
Use tools like the Hemingway Editor to remove added complexity from your descriptions.
As for avoiding large blocks of text, bullet points are an excellent choice.
Bulleted statements make your text scannable. They’re especially helpful for listing the technical details of your product.
Pay Attention To Tone
Your product description should be written for your target customer, but it should still be consistent with your brand voice.
The personality and tone of your product description should also be appropriate for your product.
For example, a description for professional software might project authority and expertise. In contrast, consumer products might incorporate sarcasm, playfulness, or even jokes based on the brand’s image.
The tone of your descriptions needs to represent your brand well and resonate with your shoppers.
Stay Away From Self-Centered Language
The best product descriptions focus on the customer. In other words, it’s not about you.
Look through your current product descriptions and see how many times you use the words “our” and “we.” Change your sentences so they’re focused on the ultimate benefits shoppers receive.
Yes, you want to talk about your product. But if you can describe it from your target customer’s perspective, you’ll do a better job selling it.
eCommerce continues to grow as a valuable sales channel. Opening an online store lets you reach a wider pool of target customers without the need for local brick-and-mortar shops.
But it still takes effort to make your eCommerce website profitable. You need to know how to write a product description that converts website traffic into a predictable revenue stream.
Learn how you can set up your online store and start selling with reliable WooCommerce hosting from Bluehost.
Highlight Unique Selling Points
Clearly communicate what sets your product apart from competitors. Focus on its key features, benefits, and how it solves customers’ problems
Use Persuasive Calls to Action
Encourage customers to take action by including clear and persuasive calls to action, such as “Shop Now,” “Limited Stock Available,” or “Add to Cart.” Make sure that your calls to action align with your brand and messaging.
FAQs regarding product descriptions for online stores
Make your product descriptions more engaging by using descriptive language, telling a story, highlighting unique features, and focusing on the benefits that resonate with your target audience.
Differentiate your product descriptions by highlighting what makes your product unique, focusing on the value it provides, using persuasive language, incorporating social proof, and showcasing how it solves customers’ problems.
Use a combination of both. Use short paragraphs to provide context and create a narrative, and utilize bullet points to highlight key features, benefits, and specifications for easy readability.
Incorporate relevant keywords naturally into your product descriptions. Focus on providing valuable and informative content that helps both customers and search engines understand the product.
Regularly review and update your product descriptions to ensure accuracy and relevance. Consider updating them when there are changes to the product, customer feedback suggests improvements, or when launching new marketing campaigns.
