A picture may be worth a thousand words, but if you want to capture the true essence of your offering, then product descriptions are equally important. A well-written description should incorporate details about the product that photos are unable to convey and pique viewers’ interest.

Here are the five golden rules of writing great product descriptions when setting up an online shop:

1. Determine your buyer persona

The buyer persona of a brand is a representation of the ideal customer, based on market research. It’s built using customer demographics, motivations, behavior patterns, and consumption preferences. A clear understanding of your target audience and brand persona will help you tailor your product descriptions to meet their needs and preferences.

2. Entice with benefits

You might be tempted to focus on observable features, but that’s something that the photo already covers—instead, focus on the benefits that that product has to offer. How can this product address customers’ pain points? What problems does the product solve? For instance, if you’re selling natural baby products targeted at health-conscious mums, then discuss how the natural and chemical-free products are good for the baby instead of just listing the ingredients.

3. Stimulate multiple senses

Just like a well-photographed product appeals to the eyes, a well-written product description has the power to stimulate other senses. This is particularly important if fragrance or feel are essential parts of your product.

For instance, if you’re selling homemade soap, then your product descriptions should convey the feeling of the product clearly. For example, instead of honey milk soap, you can say ‘a sweet blend of honey and milk with a luscious lather that leaves you with silky-smooth skin’ when describing the product.

a person writing a product description for furniture products

4. Make it easy to read

If you’re writing longer descriptions with multiple features that can’t be highlighted in the accompanying photo, then break down the details into smaller chunks. Using bullet points or bold text to highlight important elements helps get the message across much more efficiently.

5. Use keywords

Your descriptions should help customers understand the product in detail, but they can also help you target the right customers! Using keywords naturally in the product descriptions helps the page rank higher on the Google search index. Make sure you don’t add keywords unnecessarily because that can put off readers and increase bounce rates, leading to lower rankings in the future.

Build an Engaging E-Commerce Website for Your Brand

Your website design and layout are the first things customers notice when they land on it. So, before you write great product descriptions, it’s essential to create a website that’ll keep your audiences hooked.

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