How to write effective product descriptions in an online store?

Positioning an online store is a rather complicated and multifaceted process. Still, at the start of the activities, it is important to remember that one of its most important elements is, of course, the subsites of the products we offer.

Please pay special attention to them, both technically and in terms of content. The descriptions that we will put on the page have a double function—first, thanks to their proper optimization, we have a chance to gain an organic position and acquire traffic from the search engine, and second, the user who already hits the product page is supposed to be encouraged to buy with their help.

So, now that we know why product descriptions are so important let’s consider how to create them properly so that they are seen well, both by the search engine robot and our customers. Here are some ways:

Begin with keywords

The first step, even before you start creating product descriptions for your online store, should be to analyze the keywords you will assign to the specific goods you are selling. Sometimes, the most important keywords for a given product may be very obvious, but not always. Our reasoning will not always equal organic search trends.

To choose the right keywords for specific products, it is worth using tools that help us verify search potential, such as Google Keywords Planner, Ahrefs, Senuto, SEMrush, etc. Each of these tools has slightly different functions, but they have one thing in common—they will show us how many searches a keyword we specify has and suggest related ones that may or may not be more popular.

For each product, we want to create a list of phrases with the most searches, but we can’t overdo it either. It’s also important that our text sounds natural and correct in the language in which we create it. The phenomenon of „keyword stuffing” or „overloading” the text with keywords is a violation of Google’s rules on creating spammy content.

The keywords we choose should be very diverse so that whether the user is just looking for a product or already has a specific purchase intention, he or she can reach our site. Therefore, let’s choose both general/product, brand, and long-tail keywords.

Remember that your descriptions should be original

Google places a very high value on the originality of content to appear high in organic search results. So even though many product manufacturers also provide accurate product descriptions along with their products, we should never just throw them on the page.

We should use the manufacturer’s descriptions as a base, a source of information for the original, valuable and useful content we create for our customers to encourage them to buy.

Customize the tone of your statement to your brand identity

The product descriptions you create for your online store must be consistent with how your brand communicates online and offline. If you’re addressing a potential customer in an official tone, because you know that’s what your products’ target audience expects, you need to keep it in the content of your descriptions as well. If, however, your company’s communication, is not very formal, and you are „on a first-name basis” with potential and existing customers, this is how your content should sound.

This is very important when you are conducting communications and marketing activities in multiple channels simultaneously so that a customer may encounter your brand in more than one place. Communication everywhere should be in the same tone to build a consistent image.

indicate why your product is valuable

Product descriptions should not just be a list of functionalities but also a real incentive to buy them. So it’s worth putting the dry facts in the „product specification” section and turning them into real benefits that the customer will have from owning them in the description itself.

Example—We sell a vacuum cleaner with a power of 2300W. In its description, it is worth not only including this information but creating a whole story around it, indicating that this is one of the highest vacuum cleaner power available on the market. This will allow you to thoroughly vacuum even carpets with long hair and will be especially useful for owners of four-legged dogs to vacuum hair from furniture.

In this way, from the information „the power of the vacuum cleaner is 2300W,” which is only 20 characters long and contains only one keyword, we will be able to create several sentences of description, encouraging an undecided customer to buy while including additional keywords for which we can appear in the search engine.

Product-descriptions-develop-also-in-blog-content

Product descriptions should be developed, but they should also not be too long so as not to bore potential customers. So, in order to position a product for more long-tail keywords, it is worth creating related blog content, a little more general from the lifestyle category, but still having a connection with it.

Staying still with the example of vacuum cleaners, we can create content within the blog with advice on what cleaning equipment to choose for having pets or small children at home. For whom will the solution be a ride-on vacuum cleaner, and when is it worth buying a handheld cordless vacuum cleaner? Such content should, of course, link to subpages of individual products.

This way, we will answer many of our potential customers’ questions in the search engine without „clogging” the product description with too many keywords.

Don’t write generalities; support your words with facts

Remember not to fill descriptions with generic terms that will only be cloggers designed to make the content longer. The product description should carry a specific informational value for the user. So try to avoid using generalities, and if you mention a feature or function, support it with specific facts.

For example, if you write that a particular phone model is waterproof, expand this information with the data that the manufacturer provides in this regard, that is, to what depth and time of immersion it will be waterproof so that the user gets a complete picture of the product.

Take care that your product descriptions read well

Good product descriptions for an online store must be linguistically correct so that users can read them easily. So, it will be necessary to proofread them for grammar and punctuation.

You must also remember the proper structure of the content you create. Don’t publish descriptions that are blocks of text, as this will not hold the viewer’s attention and will make it difficult for him to get the information he is looking for. Use lists and short paragraphs, illustrate them with product photos, and remember to complete their alts when adding photos properly.

Plan a description structure that you will follow for each of the products on the site, which will be consistent with the site’s adopted layout. Remember to include an abbreviated technical specification in addition to a long description, which will allow you to get specific information more quickly.

Learn from others’ mistakes, benefit from the knowledge of the best

Before you start creating product descriptions, conduct a competitive analysis. Find out what solutions stores in your industry use in the top positions and use them. Also, look at those competitors with low visibility in the search engine to avoid the mistakes they have made.

After conducting such an analysis, write down your conclusions and try to plan a structure and form of descriptions that will grow out of the best solutions while being consistent with the structure of your site and good UX practices.

Add structural data

Structured data (schema.org tags), a group of specific HTML tags that provides additional information about the content of a given web page. Using schema.org also allows you to display enhanced search results (rich snippets) for a given page, which are very important in terms of keyword conversions. A more expanded Google result strongly encourages people to visit a given website.

There are many types of rich snippets, the most popular for online stores are:

• Product extensions – a search result using them can include, for example, the price, images or current availability of a product on a given website
• Rating extensions – allow you to see the rating of a particular product or service already at the stage of browsing search results
• Facebook FAQ extension in search results – allows the FAQ posted on the page to appear under the organic search result of a given subpage
• Video extensions – within the search result, in addition to the title and description, a video can also appear

Highlight in content the most important information for the customer

In addition to the specifications of a given product itself, a number of other pieces of information are also important to the customer and must be included in the description and preferably highlighted so that they are visible at a glance. These include:

• Product photos and videos
• Price and special offers, promotions and discount codes
• Information about delivery types and costs
• Return policy
• Product availability
• Links to similar or related products that may be of interest to the customer
• Product ratings and reviews
• Information about how to contact the store for additional questions

Who can write product descriptions for online stores?

Of course, you can write product descriptions for an online store yourself if you have the time, are fluent in Polish, and have studied SEO principles.

If you have less time, you can support yourself with AI solutions – but again, you need to know how to create the right prompt and how to verify the finished content afterwards. For more information on this topic, see our article on positioning support with AI

If you don’t have time to participate in the process of creating valuable descriptions on your own, it is worth getting help from professionals. Feel free to contact us about creating content with Up&More!