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Strong images, headlines, and calls-to-action are key if you want to make sales online. However, when it comes to increasing conversions, product descriptions are just as important. Still, it can be challenging to write descriptions that are persuasive enough to drive purchases.
The good news is, when you follow a few simple tips, you can write compelling product descriptions that are difficult to resist. For instance, you can optimize your descriptions with keywords, harness the power of storytelling, and use power words.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at why product descriptions are important. Then, we’ll share five simple tips for writing product descriptions that convert. Let’s get started!
Why Product Descriptions Are Important
The purpose of a product description is to communicate the features of an item and highlight the benefits that come with purchasing it. A well-written description can play a major role in your overall buyer’s journey, as it can help move the customer through the conversion funnel.
Just like images, good product descriptions can make your pages more engaging. Plus, with the right language, you’re able to make your offer appear more valuable:
Additionally, product descriptions provide the opportunity to improve your website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO). By including targeted keywords in your descriptions, you can gain more visibility in the search engine results pages.
What’s more, you’re able to use product descriptions to strengthen your brand’s story and values. This way, you can establish a strong bond with visitors.
For example, you might showcase your personality or add humor to your descriptions. Alternatively, you could focus on building trust by solving your customers’ biggest pain points.
How to Write Product Descriptions that Convert (5 Tips)
Now that you know why they are so useful, let’s take a look at five simple tips for writing product descriptions that convert!
1. Keep It Short and Scannable
Typically, when visitors come to your online store, they want to find the information they need as quickly as possible. Therefore, it’s important to write your descriptions with readability in mind. As a rule of thumb, try to keep it short and scannable.
That means users should be able to easily pick out the key details about your product. With this in mind, it can be a good idea to list features or benefits in bullet points:
You can also increase the font size to make your text more user-friendly. Plus, if you’re writing longer descriptions that require more detail, you might want to use headings to break up the content. When you leave plenty of white space, your descriptions may appear less intimidating to users.
2. Optimize for Search Engines
SEO is one of the easiest ways to attract users to your website. Then, the more visitors you have on your pages, the more likely you are to increase your conversion rate.
Therefore, it’s wise to use targeted keywords to optimize all written content on your site, like blog posts and product descriptions. What’s more, users who find you using a search engine may be more likely to convert, since they are already interested in what you have to offer.
To get started, you’ll need to research keywords using a tool like Google’s Keyword Planner:
After you discover the right keywords for your business, you can incorporate them into your product descriptions.
Typically, one or two keywords or phrases are enough. In fact, you’ll want to avoid keyword stuffing since it can make your writing seem less natural, and is actually a negative ranking factor.
If your website is relatively new, you might want to focus on long-tail keywords, which are more specific. While these terms usually have a lower search volume, they tend to be less competitive and easier to rank for.
3. Tell a Compelling Story
A Harvard Professor claims that 95 percent of purchasing decisions are subconscious. That means that when we buy a product, we usually aren’t relying on logic. Instead, we’re driven by emotion. This is why telling a compelling story in your product descriptions is key.
For example, it can be easier to sell luxury goods when you advertise the lifestyle associated with those items. This way, you can appeal to your customer’s sense of self-worth and status rather than describing the product itself:
Alternatively, athletic brands can make their products seem more desirable by creating a sense of adventure, competition, or glory within their advertisements.
With this in mind, a list of product benefits probably won’t be enough to inspire your visitors. You’ll likely be much more effective when you harness the power of storytelling.
To get started, consider a way to create a narrative for your product. You might think about who the product was made for, or what inspired the product. Additionally, it can be useful to think about what the item looks like in day-to-day use.
4. Use Power Words
Using power words is another excellent way to write high-converting product descriptions. You can enrich the copy with language that is more impactful to trigger a psychological or emotional response in your visitors.
There are many ways you can do this, but to boost conversions, it’s a good idea to use power words associated with scarcity such as “best-selling”, “frenzy”, and “giveaway”. This can make your products seem more valuable while creating a sense of urgency:
On the other hand, you might prefer to incite curiosity in your buyers by using powerful words like “extraordinary”, “eye-opening”, or “astonishing”. This is a great way to enhance the reader’s experience.
5. Strike the Right Tone
Since your product description is essentially recommending the item, it’s important that your copy strikes the right tone and comes across as natural. You don’t want to sound like you’re giving a sales pitch, because customers are less likely to connect with this.
Instead, it’s best to come across as though you’re recommending a product to a friend:
Additionally, you should ensure that the tone of your product description matches the overall character of your brand. This will create a more consistent and memorable shopping experience.
For instance, if you use humor throughout other marketing materials or your website, you can inject some witty puns into your descriptions. Meanwhile, if your business is more professional, you’ll probably want to avoid jokes. However, in this case, you can still add personality to your descriptions by exuding a sense of authority in the text.
Conclusion
Product descriptions aren’t just a space to describe your goods. If you treat them as such, this will likely do little to inspire your visitors. Instead, product descriptions offer an opportunity to convey the value of your items and motivate users to act.
To recap, here’s how to write product descriptions that convert:
- Keep it short and scannable.
- Optimize for search engines.
- Tell a compelling story.
- Use power words.
- Strike the right tone.
Do you have any questions about writing product descriptions that convert? Let us know in the comments section below!
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