Product description that sells - 4 tips for writing

Product description is one of the things that play a critical role in the realization of the online store's customer experience and sales.

A good product description helps the customer understand the most important features of the product and convinces him of the benefit and value he receives, which increases the likelihood of a purchase. A good and convincing, i.e. selling, product description not only gives the customer reasons to buy, but also removes doubts related to the product and the purchase itself.

We have put together four money-worthy tips for creating product descriptions for your online store that will convince your customers to buy.

1. Put yourself in your customer's shoes

The first step to writing product descriptions is to know and deeply understand the target group or target groups of the online store.

This issue is certainly talked about enough, but the fact is that if you don't know exactly who you are selling to, selling will be difficult and ineffective. The same applies to product descriptions.

To convince your customers to buy, you need to know them inside out. If you try to sell or in this case write a product description for everyone, you won't convince anyone.

Therefore, writing a good product description requires stepping into your customer's shoes.

Before writing the product description, you should think about your product from the customer's point of view and draft the description through, for example, the following questions:
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What is my customer interested in and what does he want or need from the product? How does my product provide these for him?

What advantages does the product have, what benefit does it give the customer? Does it solve a problem or otherwise make the customer's life easier?

How does the product work? How easy (or difficult) is it to use? What features does the product have?

What are the expectations of the product? Will the product meet the customer's expectations or perhaps exceed them?

Is the product unique or rare? If so, bring it up. Otherwise, think about how your product differs from competitors' products, and why the customer should buy your product from your online store.

What questions or doubts can the customer have about the product and the purchase? How are you going to answer these questions in the product description?

2. Create an irresistible story for the product

A good and convincing online store product description illustrates the product's features and benefits and tells a story about how the product will affect the customer's life.

A well-written story can also help create an emotional bond and bind customers to the product and the company.

When you have answered the questions listed earlier, you already have the basis for the product story. If you also have positive experiences with the product, you should definitely use your own story in the product description.

When you start writing the story and product description, remember to choose the point of view, writing language and tone of voice that are most likely to interest your customers.

For example, the product should not be described in the same way to an expert and a consumer, the latter of whom may not care about every technical detail or understand academic vocabulary.

When writing a story, you should imagine that you are talking to the target audience face-to-face, just like in a brick-and-mortar store, and use terms that customers also use.

Tell about the features that your own customers care about the most, and use a personal touch and language in the product description. Often, for example, the tone of the product description in a consumer store is significantly more playful and humorous, although no one denies using the same approach in a B2B store.

3. Use Customer Reviews in the product description

The word of an acquaintance is always trusted more than a company, which is why a personal recommendation is still the most powerful way to sell.

Statistics also show that a whopping 95% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision , and nearly 50% of consumers trust them as much as personal recommendations .

Product reviews are an effective way to increase sales, because they tell about the product, increase credibility and increase trust in your company.

Reviews left by customers play a particularly important role online, where the product cannot be physically seen or touched. The experiences shared by others are often the best way to find out what people really think about the product and how well or poorly it works in practice.

Product reviews should be used in the product description and definitely also in their own section on the product page in a place where the customer will definitely see them.

If for some reason bad reviews dominate your product and you don't want to show them, it may be reasonable to start thinking about what is causing this - whether it is the product itself, long delivery times, the operating methods of your online store or, for example, the customer's unrealistic expectations that you have painted with advertising speeches.

You can quickly influence the latter with a well-written product description.

A disappointed customer is more likely to leave a product or Google review , so it's also possible that you just haven't encouraged your satisfied customers enough to share their experiences. It is worth automating the collection of product reviews in the online store, and responding to possible negative reviews.

If the bad reviews are due to a bad product and you know it, nothing prevents you from being honest and telling about the negative aspects in the product description.

In this way, the customer avoids disappointment, your online store's reputation from being damaged, and your company's product returns. When you tell things how they are, the customer can be even more satisfied with the order in the end, if the pre-announced framework has been compensated for, for example, by price.

4. Use pictures and videos as a product description

In an online store, words alone are not enough to describe the product. In order for your product description to work as efficiently as possible, you also need high-quality product images and videos.

The customer cannot try or test the online store product, which naturally makes it difficult to make a purchase decision.

Without the necessary information, the customer probably does not want to buy the product, and incorrect, incomplete or incorrectly communicated information increases the risk of misunderstandings, disappointments and product returns. Online, the customer needs much more information and encouragement than in a brick-and-mortar store.

With the help of high-quality product photos and videos, you show both a visually appealing and realistic image of the product and its details, such as appearance, color and material. Good product images also promote the image of product quality and reliable online shopping.

Since the images are the first thing that draws attention on the product page, it's really worth investing in them. If the pictures are somehow bad, the customer will probably leave very quickly to the competitor's online store.

Here we have collected tips for you who take the product photos of the online store yourself.

Also consider these things when creating a product description:

• On the product page, focus on a title that gets the customer interested and continues to read the product description. Like images, the title is one of the first things a potential customer sees when they arrive at your product page from, for example, Google. If you don't immediately offer something interesting, you lose the potential. Therefore, create a short and concise title for the product and product description that captures the essentials and attracts attention.

• Optimize the product description for search engines . In the title and product description, use terms that your customers use in everyday life when they search for your product online, and with which it is possible for your online store to rank high in Google's search results. Note that the product description is always made primarily for the customer and not for the search engine, because of course its goal is to sell the product and not just to find it. It may make sense to optimize the product description only after it has been completed, in order to avoid over-optimization . In relation to search engine optimization , remember to add a descriptive meta title and description to the product page that is attractive to the customer to click.

• Optimize your online store for conversions . Of course, the title and images are not the only factors that affect the bounce rate and actual sales. In addition, other things, such as usability, visuals and checkout process, need to be fine-tuned. Product descriptions alone are therefore not enough to increase sales, if you have not first ensured that the experience your customer gets is seamless and that any obstacles to buying have been removed from your online store. To increase the conversion (sales) of your online store, read more about conversion optimization or leave the optimization to a professional (like us).

• Test and update the product description . You can continue filing the product description indefinitely, but it is of course not profitable. Instead, you should boldly test even a finished product description, analyze its performance and make changes to the description over time. Try changing, for example, headlines, images, videos or text content, point of view and tone of voice to find the combination that most effectively appeals to your own customers.

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