Making the Most Out of Your Online Store’s Product Descriptions

Published on July 1st, 2009 by michelle

Too often, online stores do not take the customers’ interests in mind when they describe their products.  It’s not uncommon to find stock descriptions of the same product across several online stores.  What if your customers have one question that is not included in the stock description?  Will they have to go from site to site with the same question?

Here are some things to remember when writing product descriptions:

1. Original content is better for search engines.  Google wants to show the freshest content to people using its search engine, so it actually penalizes duplicate content.  If you copy someone else’s descriptions, their products tend to show up first show up first in search engine results because they were archived first.
2. Your product descriptions should answer questions people have about your products.  If you sell shirts, give the exact dimensions for each search size.  Include washing instructions.  If you sell electronics, give all the technical specs as well as the dimensions and warranty information. If someone’s already at your site, you don’t have to sell them that hard.  Just give them all the info they need to make an informed decision.
3. Consider video.  If a picture is worth a a thousands words, a video is worth a million more.  Video demonstrations and reviews can inform your customer the same way you could if they were in your brick-and-mortar store.  Consider putting these videos on video sharing sites as well to drive traffic to your store as well.
4. Collect feedback from phone calls, emails and live chats.  If someone has a legitimate question about your product, there’s no use in letting others have the same question.  If you update the product’s description, you’ll improve the experience for others as well as cut down on the time you have to spend on customer service.
5. Tracking progress is key. If you install Google Analytics or a similar service, you can track to see if people are dropping off on your product page and then make proper adjustments.  If the product is one of your big sellers, consider testing two different variations of a description to see which one works best.

Shopping at your store shouldn’t be a chore for your customers. Insuring your product descriptions are complete as possible will mean higher conversion, less returns, and happier customers.