My Product Sells Itself! Why You Actually NEED a Good Product Description

by Sheral DeVaughn April 27, 2021

Imagine this scenario.

You're out walking your dog, and it hits you out of nowhere.

The next big thing.

You invest in product development to create it.

You spend the money to design a stunning website.

You even hire a freelance copywriter like myself to handle your email campaign to get the word out.

You promote your new product and business, generating huge amounts of interest.

Then the customers show up on your website to order.

They click on the product description and see an unfocused picture of the product. Underneath it there's a hodgepodge of technical terms and specifications. It looks like a jumbled heap of words and numbers generated by a robot.

They don't click buy.

They don't buy your product.

Instead they go back to their search engine and find a similar product. They buy from someone selling out of their garage on Etsy. It's a product half as good as yours.

Why?

Because their product page looked and sounded better.

Are product descriptions that big of a deal?

Yes! They are one of the most important details entrepreneurs overlook. Yet those descriptions are an integral part of content creation if you want to make the sale.

According to a survey, 82% of consumers say product descriptions are important to their buying decisions. (source emarketer.com)

If you're not paying attention to your product descriptions, you're losing money.

Your product does NOT sell itself.

So how do you write a product page that creates consumer clicks to sales conversions?

Know Who Your Ideal Customer is. Think the 5 w's (who, what, when, where, and why). Who is most likely to want/use your product. What are they using it for? When would they most likely buy and use it. Where are your ideal customers located? Why are they wanting or needing a product like yours?

Describe Features and Benefits. Don't throw out a bunch of dimensions, numbers and jargon. Describe the top feature and explain why it's a benefit to your customer in simple language. An example would be the flattening iron I purchased. It has "ceramic irons and ionic precision." I have no idea what that is, but the description said it would leave my hair smoother with less damage. SOLD! I don't know why nor do I care what the feature does those things, but I want the benefit. Customers don't have to understand the technical features. They just need to understand the benefits of those features!

Use High Quality Images. It's not going to help you if your product picture is blurry or in the distance. It's like bathroom mirror selfies...no one wants to see it. Invest in a high quality digital picture. In fact, use 3-4 pictures from different angles. 62% of millennial consumers make purchases after searching for a product using image search. That's a sizable amount of potential sales you don't want to lose out on.

Tell A Story. Sometimes features and benefits aren't enough. Paint a picture in your ideal customer's mind of what their product experience could be. Does your brand of cereal give them "super energy" to win that 5k they signed up for? Will your slimming dress make me look like I have the body of a 20 year old for my 30th high school reunion? Tell that story and put your customer in the middle of it as the hero. (Spoiler alert: no dress has that power).

Use Conversational Language. Short and sweet is the name of the game when it comes to copy content for sales. Don't use jargon. Don't go on and on with your description. Most people have short attention spans. A few well written sentences can go a long way in making the sale.

Break things up visually. Bullet points. Two to three sentence paragraphs. White space. These things make your descriptions easier to skim through and read. Again, think short attention spans. Customers will look for the highlights to see if your product meets their wants and needs.

Optimize with SEO Keywords. How will anyone buy your product if they can't find you when they run a search? Add SEO keywords and phrases not only to your descriptions, but also with the images. It's called Alt Image Text. Placing SEO keywords in the picture descriptions boosts your search placement. If you're not sure which words to use, a simple trick is to type your product into a search engine and look at the results. In the descriptions of those products, you'll see words set in bold. Those are the words that are trending higher in searches currently. Use those words in your descriptions to increase your product search results.

Your product is what your business is all about. You wouldn't HAVE a business without it! Give it the showcasing it deserves by using the tips above when writing descriptions.