Five tips for writing better product descriptions

Online shopping is on an upswing. But the comfort of shopping on the go comes at the cost of the ability to ‘touch-and-feel’ products before purchasing. No wonder, product content, including images, product descriptions, and videos, become crucial in influencing buyer decisions and product sales. Research shows that consumers consider products descriptions a ‘very important’ factor before making a purchase decision. In fact, a study conducted by Nielsen Norman Group has shown that 20% purchase failures are a result of incomplete or poorly-written product descriptions.

If you’re looking for advice on how to write more effective product descriptions, here are some tips that can help. But, before you begin, here’s what you need to do:

Before you get started 

• Create a buyer persona: A product description is of no value if it does not cater to the target audience. To capture your target audience, you must define who comprises it. This is where buyer personas can act as a guide to writing the best-in-class product blurbs. A buyer persona will define your audience (location, age, gender, education level, income level, and language), their interests and therefore the products they will be most interested in, their buying habits, etc. Buyer personas will help you streamline all factors you need to consider before creating the product content.

• Create a checklist: This brings us to the next step, creating a checklist of all key pointers your product description should include. A checklist is a very handy guide to ensuring that your product descriptions don’t miss out any crucial information. Every time you create product content, you’ll need to have a reference list to cross-check if you’ve included everything or not.

Writing product descriptions

With these two ready at hand, you can move on to the next step i.e. writing the products descriptions. Here’s a stepwise breakdown of features every good product description must have:

1. Identify essential information. Your buyers do not have the time to swipe through bulky prose. Naturally, you cannot include everything about the product in its description. Decide on the essentials, which should include:

Product detail: Don’t skimp on important product information. Everything from dimensions to shape, size, material, expiry (where applicable), usage etc. comes under this section.

Feature bullets: Instead of just listing the features, try supporting them with the benefits they offer. For example:

Strong rubber seal guarantees air-tight and leak-proof storage

0.5mm pen point provides a smooth writing experience

Research customer reviews. Research customer reviews of similar products to understand which attributes matter most to customers. If you’re selling plastic bottles, for example, you might find attributes such as “BPA-free”, “easy to clean” and “leak-proof” appear quite often in customer questions and reviews. Ensure that your product description includes this information.

2. Echo the brand’s identity and tonality. Brand awareness drives purchase decisions. If your brand is well-known, chances are your products will have greater credibility among buyers and prospects. The language you use to write product descriptions must mirror the brand’s core values and ideals.

3. Write simple, crisp, comprehensible, and catchy sentences. Today’s shoppers are overwhelmed with information. Avoid wordy prose if you want to keep them engaged. Provide information that is to-the-point and easy to read.

4. Product information should be accurate. You cannot misguide your buyer. Verify the information you include in your description by referring to the company website before including it in your content. For more information about the product, it’s always wise to reach out to the company to ensure that the information is accurate.

5. Create unique content. Duplicate content can affect your product’s SEO performance, which means your products might not appear in search results. Creating unique content, though time-consuming, increases your product’s search visibility and creates a lasting impression on customers.

Netscribes provides e-commerce content solutions to help retailers and brand manufacturers build awareness and differentiation, drive traffic and increase sales. For more information on how your e-commerce business can benefit from smart strategies, contact info@netscribes.com.