Success in e-commerce: product texts that sell

Good content is not only important for magazines, blogs, and news sites, but is also necessary in the highly-com­pet­i­tive world of online business. Online stores need to fre­quent­ly come up with new material in order to stand up to their com­pe­ti­tion, both in the fight for customers and for the best position in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Pro­fes­sion­al product de­scrip­tions are a rather important basis for any content strategy in e-commerce. But what makes a good product text? Do you write it with the search engine in mind, or is it better to con­cen­trate on the customer? We introduce the most important types of product texts, clarify their im­por­tance for search engine op­ti­miza­tion, and give tips on how to win over Google as well as potential customers.

Product de­scrip­tions do more than just describe products: there are different ways to present the most important in­for­ma­tion to prospec­tive customers. The majority of stores tend to use de­scrip­tive texts. For most, the most important feature of a product text is that it must be in­for­ma­tive and describe the product in as much detail as possible. Depending on the product and industry, a purely in­for­ma­tive text might not be enough. Here are the different formats:

• De­scrip­tive product de­scrip­tion: this is the classic format of a product text. These kinds of texts can be found in online stores across all in­dus­tries. These de­scrip­tions provide discreet and neutral in­for­ma­tion and demon­strate all the product’s important features and functions to the customer. 

• Ap­pella­tive product de­scrip­tion: in the case of ap­pella­tive (or per­sua­sive) product de­scrip­tions, the product is promoted, rather than just described. The texts are often judg­men­tal, the style is more narrative, and more em­bell­ish­ing language is used. The texts usually address the customer and request that they do something, such as 'Order today' or 'Product X will inspire you'. It’s similar to what you see in classic TV or radio ad­ver­tis­ing.

• Ar­gu­men­ta­tive product de­scrip­tion: ar­gu­men­ta­tive de­scrip­tions can be used to win prag­ma­tists over. These texts get to the point and mention the qualities of the product, rather than offering flowery de­scrip­tions, as is the case with ap­pella­tive texts. Bullet points are fre­quent­ly used to present the facts and arguments in a quick and clear way.

• Narrative product de­scrip­tion: sto­ry­telling is one of the many buzzwords in online marketing, and is also used when writing product de­scrip­tions. The writer adds a personal touch and the customer, in turn, gets a feeling for the product when reading. Instead of arguing with hard facts, this type of text speaks to the customer on an emotional level. By ad­dress­ing their needs and sparking their imag­i­na­tion, this should win the reader over.

It doesn’t matter whether a text is de­scrip­tive or narrative; there are some re­quire­ments that are the same for all texts. They should be accurate, unique, and contain all the necessary in­for­ma­tion.

What belongs in a good product de­scrip­tion?

The classical structure of a product text begins with a detailed product de­scrip­tion in the form of con­tin­u­ous text (approx. 200-300 words). Af­ter­wards, you can reiterate the most important points in a list of keywords. Many store owners also show special features and high­lights as bullet points. The use of sub­head­ings and key points is important because readers are often quite selective in the parts they choose to pay attention to – pages are usually skim-read, long para­graphs are skipped, and bullet points are used as ori­en­ta­tion points.

The most important content elements of a product page include:

• Di­men­sions, size, weight
• Technical details
• Ad­di­tion­al in­for­ma­tion e.g. in­struc­tions, manuals
• Links to related products or ac­ces­sories

An important issue is the use of relevant keywords or keyword com­bi­na­tions. Relevant keywords should appear in the text, but make sure you don’t over-optimize! If you fill the texts with too many keywords (known as keyword stuffing), you will find yourself penalized by Google.

When on the topic of product texts, you often hear talk about Google and the ad­van­tages of producing high-quality texts when it comes to a placement in the search engine results. Although you should con­cen­trate on your position in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page), you shouldn’t forget that these texts are being written, first and foremost, for the user.

Even if the user has found their way to your web store through the search engine, the battle has not yet been won: the user needs to be inspired and be 'converted' from a potential buyer into an actual buyer. Product de­scrip­tions, along with high-quality product photos, are important for the visitor to decide whether they want to make a purchase or not. Well-written texts that inform, support, and convince, are crucial for an online store’s success. With these tips, you can write good product texts that actually work:

You should see eye to eye with potential customers– this should also be reflected in the style and tonality of your product texts. For direction, take a closer look at their buyer personas. If you want to appeal to an audience of spe­cial­ists, you have to use the relevant technical jargon. If your target group isn’t spe­cial­ized, ensure you give the basic in­for­ma­tion and use simple, com­pre­hen­sive language, ex­plain­ing any specific terms if you need to.

Flowery, emotional de­scrip­tions are ap­pro­pri­ate for stores selling clothes or cosmetics, but when it comes to IT or elec­tron­ics, the style should be more objective. It’s important to stay con­sis­tent, so it could be worth­while to create a stan­dard­ized style guide ex­plain­ing the tonality and how to address readers. It is also possible to make this guide available to all writers. Decide in advance whether you’re speaking to readers in a formal or informal way and use this tone through­out your texts.

Imagine yourself as the sales­per­son and make it clear why visitors should have your products in their home. Convince the reader that they have a clear advantage. Explain the benefits and, above all, the special features of your product.

Answer the following questions in the text:

• Why should the customer buy this product?
• What dif­fer­en­ti­ates it from other products?
• How does this product make the customer’s everyday life easier?
• Which problems can the product solve?

Ideally, your product should have a strong USP (Unique Selling Point), since a clear and unique selling point is important to gen­er­at­ing high sales figures for your product. But be careful: in order to win over potential customers, many writers rely on su­perla­tives. You should tread carefully when using com­par­a­tives in product texts such as 'better', 'faster', or 'bigger', or strongly eval­u­a­tive ad­jec­tives like 'won­der­ful', 'fan­tas­tic', 'ex­cel­len­t'.

Users want to be en­ter­tained, informed, and inspired – as a result, cre­ativ­i­ty plays an important part when creating product de­scrip­tions. When writing these texts, it’s easy to end up using flowery phrases similar to ones found in the fashion and beauty sector. Instead of writing 'absolute eye-catcher' or 'summer must-have', you should ask yourself why this product is actually a must-have. Following this logic, focus more on the ex­pla­na­tion, since this is where the real added value comes from.

By writing cre­ative­ly, you paint a picture for the user. Write actively and very detailed, avoid empty phrases, using ap­pro­pri­ate and mean­ing­ful words instead.

Among the many ad­ver­tis­ing phrases, there are numerous other no-gos that should be avoided in product texts. These include, but are not limited to, filler words and filler sentences, as well as blanket state­ments and gen­er­al­iza­tions.

There aren’t many products 'for every taste', 'that make everyone happy', and 'are useful in all life sit­u­a­tion­s' so writing state­ments like these makes no sense. It’s better to be more specific and write about the special features. The user wants to feel as if they are being spoken to on an in­di­vid­ual level. A product described as 'ideal for amateur athletes with stressful jobs' speaks to the reader more than, for example 'this product makes pro­fes­sion­als happy'.

A typical mistake is writing things that are obvious, so make sure you focus more on the specifics and avoid re­dun­dan­cies. The fact that you can drive a con­vert­ible with the roof down doesn’t need to be mentioned, just like you don’t need to mention the fact that a winter jacket keeps you warm in winter.

Don’t say directly what a product is not, doesn’t do or can’t do. Obviously it’s helpful to know that these par­tic­u­lar shoes don’t rub and cause blisters, or that a dress doesn’t cling to the wrong places. Even though these are ad­van­tages, the reader might not see them that way due to the negative wording. Instead, try to mention that the comfort of the shoes is down to the par­tic­u­lar­ly com­fort­able and in­no­v­a­tive soles. Saying that the dress flatters the figure and loosely surrounds the body sounds more at­trac­tive that men­tion­ing the reader’s problem zones and making them feel self-conscious. In short: stay positive!