How to Write Product Descriptions That Sell: The Wizeo Guide

Product descriptions are essential to any e-commerce business, regardless of the size of your store or the sector you operate in. A strong product description can be the difference between a sale and a lost customer, with research showing that 98% of shoppers have been dissuaded from completing a purchase because of incomplete or incorrect content.

So why are so many businesses getting it wrong? Keep reading to find out.

What Is a Good Product Description?

A product description is a piece of copy that outlines and explains the main features and benefits of your product. A great product description lists all of your product’s need-to-know information and core USPs in one easy-to-digest paragraph, with compelling storytelling that speaks to your audience’s imagination and pushes them towards conversion.

But how to go about it? How long should your product description be? How do you know what the main features and benefits are? And how can you ensure your product descriptions will rank well on search engines? If you’ve found yourself grappling with these questions, read on for a foolproof product description writing template:

Target the Needs of the Consumer

Every successful product on the market addresses one (or more) human need and solves a problem. That need can be psychological – like love, safety, or attention – or it can be physical, like functionality, convenience, or reliability. When you understand the needs of your target audience, you can write product descriptions that speak directly to your audience’s needs, solving problems they might not have even realized they had.

Go Short, Sweet, and Scannable

A high-converting product description mixes engaging storytelling with clear and concise information – ensuring the copy is optimized for both in-depth and skim readers. Start with an example of where your product can be used or open with a direct question (‘On the hunt for a show-stopping LBD?’). This will grab their attention and set the stage for the all-important features and benefits.

It’s best to display the main features and benefits in a bullet-point list, as this allows customers to scan them quickly and find what they need to know without searching for it. As a general rule in e-commerce, customers should never have to search for important information about your product – anything that’s going to encourage them to buy should be displayed front and center.

Be Smart With Keywords

Anything with a decent understanding of SEO knows that your product descriptions need to be popular with search engines as well as readers if it’s going to perform well. But not everyone knows how to achieve this. Hint: it’s all in the keywords!

If you have access to a keyword tool, do some keyword and competitor research before you start writing to see what words and phrases you need to include in your copy to attract search engine traffic. These keywords are what potential customers will be typing into Google, so you need to make sure your website is there to answer the call!

Highlight Your Unique Value Proposition

Your unique value proposition (or UVP) is what differentiates your product from its competitors and makes it the most worthwhile buy on the market. A strong UVP should also explain how your product solves a problem better than anything else can, whether that be down to its price, the speed of delivery, or its one-of-a-kind features. To win over the most possible shoppers, try to include your unique value proposition throughout your product descriptions, but especially in the first 1-2 sentences.

Use Storytelling to Your Advantage

Do you have a personal connection to your product? Was it forged out of an unusual need? If you can tell an interesting story with your copy, your product descriptions will speak to your customers’ imagination and make it easier for them to imagine having it in their own lives. Making sales is all about winning hearts and minds, and who doesn’t love a good story?

Include High-Quality Images With the Description

For some customers, seeing a product in person is crucial. Even factoring in the pandemic, a recent survey found that 46% of people still prefer to shop in stores, with 33% saying it’s because they want to see, touch, feel, and try things on.

Of course, this isn’t always possible in e-commerce (if ever). Instead, the best thing you can do is include high-quality photos that make it easier for customers to get a proper look and feel for your product.

You don’t have to hire a professional photographer to take photos of your product if you don’t have the budget. Instead, a high-resolution camera phone in portrait mode can do the trick.

Sealing the Deal

Product copy has the potential to increase sales for your e-commerce business significantly, but it can be difficult to master the art of a winning product description. However, if you know the basics, product description writing can be mastered by just about anyone.

No matter how many products you have, creating unique, customer-attracting SEO product content can be easy if you know how to approach it.