If you have any experience with online shopping, you’ve probably found yourself in a situation similar to this:
You’ve found what looks like the perfect piece of furniture. You click on a link to find out more about the product and…nothing. Not even the measurements.
How likely are you to make a purchase with nothing but a manufacturer’s picture for reference? Like most shoppers, you’re probably not willing to roll the dice when it comes to making an online purchase.
In a sales environment where shoppers prefer to be able to fully experience a product before making a purchase, online retailers face a unique challenge. By incorporating rich, informative product descriptions, you can:
- Enable a potential buyer to recognize their need for your product or service
- Give a shopper the ability to purchase with confidence
- Minimize the risk of having the order cancelled or returned
Why Are Unique Product Descriptions Important?
Developing fresh product descriptions for your entire inventory can be a challenge. Nevertheless, you can significantly improve your bottom line by simply taking the time to educate your customers about your products.
Search Engine Optimization
According to Heidi Cohen’s article on Content Marketing Institute’s blog, adding product descriptions and details are an effective way to improve search optimization. By now you know that your search engine rankings have a direct impact on your sales. As an online merchant, you have two SEO opportunities: regular blog posts and unique product descriptions. By ensuring that you utilize SEO strategies in your product descriptions, such as long tail keywords, you can catch the attention of search engines and shoppers alike.
Identify the Need
Traditional brick-and-mortar stores rely on their sales teams to identify and find solutions for a customer’s needs. However, as an online marketer, you have minimal contact with most of your customers. An effective product description is one of your business’s most productive “employees.” It guides your customers in recognizing a need, while providing them with the appropriate solution.
Stand Out From the Crowd
As Trond Lyngbo explains, when you copy a manufacturer’s product description, you publish duplicate content. Because Google filters duplicate content, using a manufacturer’s product description is a surefire way to miss out on sales. Even so, manufacturer’s descriptions are widely used by many online retailers. Not only does a fresh product description ensure that you are not penalized by search engines, but it also allows you to stand out from your competitors by demonstrating an accurate understanding of the product.
How to Write Unique Product Descriptions
Creating product descriptions that sell is easy when you follow a few guidelines:
- Understand the needs of your target audience.
- Use rich verbs and adjectives.
- Use bullet points, lists and short sentences.
- If you must use the manufacturer’s description, tweak it to make it as unique as possible.
At the end of the day, fresh product descriptions are a simple and effective way to build credibility while showing your customers that you understand what matters to them.
