How Ecommerce Geniuses Write Eye-Catching, Conversion-Inducing Product Descriptions

In many ways, selling a product in a brick and mortar store is easier than selling a product online for one simple reason – instead of relying on your written product description, customers in a brick and mortar store can see, hear, touch, smell and examine a product in 3D until they decide whether or not to buy. If they have questions, you, the salesperson, are on hand to answer them.

Not so at an ecommerce store. You may be getting thousands of clicks but no conversions simply because a customer hasn’t quite been sold on a product. And even when you have a prominent email or live chat link on your site, a customer might think it is just as easy to move on to an ecommerce store where the answers to any questions they have are spelled out right there in black and white in the product description.

That’s the power of an effective product description.

To write effective product descriptions for your own site, strive to duplicate the experience of picking up and looking at a product in a brick and mortar store all the while harnessing the unique features of the internet to provide production information a harried sales clerk would never have time to get to.

Here are a few tips for doing just that:

1. Describe the product physically – The easiest way to do this is with a picture, but even a picture might not be enough. If consumers might wonder how big the item is, show a picture of it next to a common household object to provide scale. If it’s a product with a scent or taste, use comparisons so that they customer comes away with a good idea of the products smells and flavors. If the product does something, describe that action in detail. Which leads to:
2. Describe why the customer needs the product – This is where you hook your shoppers. Telling a customer why he needs your product or what the product will do for him is a great subject for the lead on your product description. If you are selling vegetable choppers to household cooks, your lead might say “Never again spend all evening in the kitchen chopping vegetables.” This sentence appeals to a customer’s sense of practicality – they will no longer have to spend so much time on prep when cooking if they buy your product – and to their emotions – with your product, they will have more family time and less cooking time.
3. Set your product apart from the crowd – In the world of ecommerce, you are sure to have competitors, so why should customers buy from you and not them? Describe why your product is superior. If you and your competitors sell products that are exactly the same, explain why your store’s customer service, shipping times, or return policy or superior.
4. Don’t forget the technical details – Define the product’s exact dimensions, and tell where it was made and out of what materials. Describe what types of instructions or peripherals come with the product. Include information on protection plans or warranties and anything else that a customer might wonder about.
5. Use the “e” in ecommerce to your full advantage – There isn’t a packet of important information sitting just behind every item in a brick in mortar store, but in an ecommerce store, there can be. Include links to articles about the products you sell, touting their uses, their unique features, and their superiority to competitors. Include an FAQ or testimonials from previous satisfied customers. If you are selling a product that is uncommon or hard to describe, provide a video demonstration or tutorial. The sky is the limit when it comes to extras on your ecommerce site.
6. Order your product description carefully – If you start a product description off by talking about warranty information, chances are your customer’s eyes are going to glaze over before they even get to the part telling them why they should buy this product. Appeal to the customer first, and then describe the product’s various features. Leave the technical information for last. Only if your customer has been sold on the item will they be interested in the dry stuff.

Once you have your product description written out, let it gel for a day. Don’t look at it, don’t edit it, simply go away and work on something else. When you come back to it, view it through the eyes of your ideal potential customer. Pretend you are the type of person that would desperately want or need this product, but you’ve never seen it before. Then ask yourself these questions:

1.) Does the description explain what this product does?
2.) Can I imagine seeing, hearing, touching, and in some cases, smelling and tasting, the product?
3.) Does the writing style in the product description “speak” to me?
4.) Did I get tired reading all the way through the product description?
5.) Do I have any questions after reading the product description?

If you feel too close to the product and don’t think you can do the job yourself, rope a friend or five into being your “test audience.” Have them read your product descriptions and instruct them to answer the above questions openly and honestly, explaining that the success of your ecommerce store depends on it. Take their feedback and tweak your product description. If possible, test the descriptions on more friends before publishing on your site.

Finally, keep in mind that product descriptions are organic. If customers start asking you questions about your product, go ahead and add the answers to your product description. If a competitor comes out with a rival product, go back in and add some language ensuring the superiority of your own product. When those conversions start adding up, you will be glad you took such care with your product descriptions.

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