Writeup

Readers start with a summary and can dive in to the sections most applicable to them.

Overview

Product descriptions play a huge part in generating sales. But what should they say? How long should they be? What format is best? How do I make them rank high in search engines?

We suggest using the following template to ensure you are crafting the best product description.

1. Think about the who, what, where, when, why and how before writing.

Journalists utilize the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How method for getting across the facts of their stories, and following this process is the first step in crafting a compelling product description:

Who is this product for? The target audience can be a gender (women or men), an age group (college kids, retirees), a lifestyle demographic (new mothers, car enthusiasts) or some other defined group of people.

What are the product’s basic details? This includes attributes such as dimensions, materials, product features and functions.

Where would someone use this product? Is it meant for indoor or outdoor use, for your car or your home?

When should someone use the product? Is it meant to be used during a certain time of day, seasonally or for a specific type of occasion? Just as important is pointing out if a product can or should be used every day or year-round, as that will speak to its long-term value.

Why is this product useful or better than its competitors? This can be anything from quality to value to features — really think about the benefits that will speak to customers. Also consider how images can complement your product copy.

How does the product work? This may not be necessary for every product, but if you are selling anything with moving parts or electronics, it’s a must-have.

These questions are great to use as your product description template when you want to accurately describe your best items.

2. Determine the best format to describe your products.

Now it is time to craft your product description. Here are a few ideas and examples to help get you started.

The next step is determining the best format for the above information. Since some shoppers only scan text on websites, it’s a good idea to have a list of bullet points that cover the most important product details. Bullet points should generally be used for specs (like dimensions) or short phrases (like features) so that they are quick and easy to read.

Unfortunately, bullet points aren’t the best way to tell a product’s story and convince shoppers that they’re looking at a great deal. They look cold and clinical on the page instead of engaging the shopper’s emotions or imagination. This is a job for prose! By writing a paragraph (three or more sentences) or two about the product, you can set the scene and help the shopper realize why their life up to this point has been incomplete without it. It may seem daunting, but after some practice, it will become second nature and even (gasp!) fun.

This is your opportunity to be a little creative and establish a voice (personality and tone) for your brand — whether that be serious, casual or even irreverent. Just imagine you’re at a party, telling someone you’ve just met about the product. How would you describe it so that they’d understand how great it truly is?

This voice permeates every aspect of your online marketing: social media, SEO, paid search — every customer touchpoint. Unique, compelling copy makes your products more relevant for search engines and other marketing mediums that value original content.

In fact, following this simple formula below is a great way to writing compelling product descriptions:

[Paragraph(s) of Prose] + [Bulleted List of Specs or Product Features] = [Engaging Product Description]

3. Choose goals and KPIs to measure success of your product descriptions.

You need goals to measure the success of product descriptions.

“But this is going to take a long time,” you might be thinking, especially if you rely on product descriptions from your distributors or manufacturers. And you’re right, this isn’t a quick process. But, if you can commit to writing a dozen or so product descriptions a day using the formula above, you’ll begin to see a variety of benefits:

An increase in conversion rate.

A decrease in cart abandonment.

A lower return rate.

Fewer calls from shoppers.

Improve organic search rankings.

Now let’s take a look at how eight real online stores sell more with product description perfection, with tidbits you can take from their expertise to increase your own conversions.

4. Make your product description copy short and sweet.

⁠

Onzie⁠

is a great example of just how well the basic formula can work. Their

product page layout⁠

combines conversational paragraph-long descriptions that engage their fans, as well as quick bullet-points on need-to-know specs for any shoppers just scanning the page. This sample of product description bullets is an excellent demonstration of how to concisely convey the most important information:

⁠

Onzie’s⁠

product page

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.