As a seller, one of the greatest assets you have when selling online is your product description. This is what the customer uses when deciding to buy your product or not.
It’s essentially the link between the product and customer and this becomes even more important because they can’t physically interact with your product.
Creative product descriptions will inform the buyer about what they need to know before they buy your product and it needs to stand out from the alternatives.
The importance of product descriptions is as relevant today as ever after research carried out by the ONS.
From June 30th - 27th July 2019, the ONS reported that the UK online retail market accounted for 19.9% of all retail sales. This helps to illustrate how important product descriptions are.
In this guide, you can use these 10 tips to optimise your product descriptions and increase the probability of converting customers and improving your online reputation and sales.
Information overload can lose the interest of online buyers.
Skim reading has become a habit among online shoppers because they are looking for essential information.
By adapting your description to include certain keywords, spacing and normal sized text, it can capture the attention of the online shopper and encourage them to spend more time engaging with your product.
.jpeg)
These errors can make your product look unprofessional which affects its credibility in the eyes of an online shopper.
There are various tools you can use to identify any errors such as online spell checkers.
.jpeg)
Long paragraphs which are not broken up by spacing can put off online shoppers. Why? Your product description becomes too hard to read and/or follow.
Spacing out your copy and organising it in a way to flow well can keep the online shopper engaged.
.jpeg)
This is where you use the description from the manufacturer as the product description.
Not only can this make your product look derivative, but it can also harm its visibility. How? Search engines can penalise web pages with duplicate content.
By writing your own description, you can add your own dynamic which can help make it stand out as your brand will be able to shine through your product description.
.jpeg)
Making unrealistic claims can affect the credibility of your product and your business as a whole.
It's imperative that all claims are supported with documentation or other forms of validation. For example, if you claim the watch you're selling is working, you can include the times it's been serviced.
This helps to reassure the customer that they are buying something which is genuine.
.jpeg)
How can you sell to someone who you don't know?
Knowing your buyer is pivotal to getting their attention. If you don't know who they are, you can begin by creating a buyer persona.
A buyer persona is a profile of your ideal customer and from there, you can adapt your efforts accordingly.
.jpeg)
If you’re selling high-end or luxury products, it’s beneficial to include information which proves it's genuine. For example, a serial number, if it's been restored etc.
Online shoppers will scrutinise product descriptions of items worth a lot of money because they are expecting quality and more importantly, what they see.
By including key information, you can ease potential fears in online shoppers.
.jpeg)
Image Via - Association for Biblical Higher Education
When you're selling items, if you focus solely on the product’s features, and not the benefits, you’re not telling the consumer how the product will improve an aspect of their life.
If you include the benefits in your descriptions, the customer can get a clearer understanding of how the item will fulfil a need they have by learning what features the product has and the benefit that comes with it.
.png)
Don't underestimate the power of emotions. Why? They have the ability to transform.
If you choose not to engage with the emotions of your buyers, you're not making use of the product's desirability.
Build a story behind the product. Where have they seen it? Who owns one? Where does it come from? What can they do with it?
.jpeg)
Don’t reduce the size of the font to get more content in when you’re faced with a character limit. Why? It seriously affects the readability of your copy.
It's important to work smart. What's critical to include? What are the most important features and benefits? You don't need to include everything!
Consider the buyer persona you made. What are they looking for?
The purpose of this article was to give you ways to improve your product descriptions and increase the level of engagement online shoppers have with your products.
By optimising your product descriptions with these tips, it can provide a new experience for your online shoppers which can lead to them choosing to buy your products, now.
If you thought this article was helpful then hit the share button.