Editor's Note: Mary Walton works as a professional editor for College Assignment Help Australia and writes for Academized. Today, she joins us to discuss tips for optimizing product descriptions so they sell more products.
Writing good product descriptions isn't as hard as many believe it is. But while you don't have to be an expert, you should think about your audience and what they need. For instance, what are they looking for in a product, and what can you offer them that no one else can?
Remember, your product description is only part of the puzzle. There are photos, headlines, and other aspects that will also work to sell the product. However, that doesn't mean you can skimp on the description. Here are 8 tips that will help you write the perfect description, every time.
1. Understand your customers and develop buyer personas
You aren't selling to 'everyone'. Not everyone in the world is interested in your product. This means that you'll have to do some research into who your average customer is. Look at the people who have already bought from you. What do they like? What are their needs? What are their goals? If you look into what they're researching and buying online, you can get a lot of insight.
Next, you should create 'buyer personas'. It's likely that you have more than one demographic that shops with you. Create these personas in order to help you write descriptions that are laser targeted to the right people. For example, you can write a persona for a stay-at-home mom that's interested in houseware products that make life easier, or a camper who wants products that make life easier in the outdoors.
2. Talk to the buyer directly
Now isn't the time to be coy about what you're doing. Talk to the buyer directly, and tell them all about your product. This is why you need your buyer personas. With the right customer in mind, you can create a connection with them and become more than just another dry description.
Think about where you'd talk to this customer as well. Would you meet them in a soft play area with their kids? On a construction site? In the mall? Use this to determine the tone you'll take with them, and how you'll talk to them. Will you take a casual tone, or a more formal one? Picking the right one is important.
3. Turn features into benefits
You can simply list the features that your product has, but let's be honest, it's not all that interesting to your customers. They won't need every feature that your product has, and it's boring to read about them. If you just list the features, your visitors are likely to click away before they find what speaks to them.
Instead, turn those features into customer benefits. What is it about your product that helps your customer, or fulfills a want or need? For example, imagine you're selling a portable USB phone charger. It has 2 USB leads and a 2 hour charge time.
That's great, but rather than just report those features, turn them into benefits. You can say, "2 leads will let you charge two phones at once with this device, and quick charge will let you get back to using your phone right away."
4. Hire in the experts
If you're finding it difficult to write your own descriptions, you can hire in experts to create them for you. This offers you a lot of advantages as a business. You can free up time to work on other aspects of your business, and get descriptions that will convince customers to buy once everything is done.
The best way to get an expert to write for you is to look on custom writing services, such as Elite Assignment Help and Australian Help. You give them the job, and they'll give you a description quicker than you'd think. You can hire them as a one off project or on a long term basis, depending on your needs too.
5. Don't forget the SEO benefits
As with anything you write on your website, you should be thinking about how to optimize it for SEO. You want your products to rank highly on Google, especially withing the 'shopping' section. You should think about what will bring readers to your site, and what will convince them to stay and buy from you.
That means you'll need to pick your keywords carefully, and ensure you don't over stuff them into the text. Remember, the writing needs to still feel natural when you're using them. Additionally , ensure that your description accurately describes your product so customers know you're on the level.
6. Get to the point
Remember, you don't have long to get a reader's attention online. If they don't see what they want right away, they're going to move on. The best way to keep their attention is to put the most important point in the first sentence. For example, if you're selling sports clothing, your first sentence could be 'Stay comfortable and move freely with this specially designed sportswear line.'
7. Look at what your customers are saying
If you're using customer reviews on your site, look at what they're saying about your products. You can use what they're saying to inform and shape the way you write your own descriptions. For example, if you're selling a fitness app, customers may be saying things like 'I hate the music on other apps, but this one let me use my own playlists which I liked'. You can then list that benefit for customers in your description.
8. Format your descriptions well
Finally, you need to pay attention to how you format your descriptions. The way they're laid out will help keep the reader's attention, and convince them to buy from you. Use white space, bullet points, and good headlines to lay out your descriptions well.
These 8 points will help you create descriptions that will convince the reader that they should buy from you. Keep them in mind as you create your descriptions, and you'll find that your conversion rates shoot up. Make sure that your descriptions are doing your products justice!
Learn more with these related OMI classes:
Building a Digital Persona to Drive Strategy
Fundamentals of Digital Copywriting
Integrated Search: PR & SEO to Drive Results
Visit the Online Marketing Institute to browse over 400 classes in the digital and social media marketing space.