Common Mistakes When Writing Product Descriptions
Use Strong Words That Sell
Words that elicit an emotional or psychological response are known as powerful words. These are frequently used in headlines, calls to action, and buttons to compel readers to act. In that situation, utilise powerful words in your product descriptions to attract customers to buy(product features).
Take note of the sensory phrases Dove chose to describe the major ingredient, dark chocolate, and how eating it will make you feel. The product is not visible, tactile, or palatable. However, the copy appeals to practically all of your senses simply by utilising the appropriate phrases.
However, avoid employing too many adjectives in your writing. Adjectives can either strengthen or weaken your product descriptions, depending on whether they contribute anything to your content. There are no hard and fast rules about which power words you can use and which you cannot, but here are 700+ power words to get you started.
Write Product Descriptions That Are SEO-Friendly
It’s not only about writing persuasive text when it comes to writing good product descriptions for online stores. Search engine optimization is also required for product descriptions. But how can you write product descriptions that are SEO-friendly?
Product descriptions with keywords in the title appear to be more effective than those with keywords in the details, which are frequently in bullet points, in my experience. However, there are certain instances where the keywords are included in the product description. Regardless, make it a point to include your main target keyword in the product title, product information, image alt texts, and meta descriptions.
Good ecommerce keyword research should be the first step in any SEO product description writing. It’s your best chance to learn what terms your target audience uses to look for a product similar to yours. If you’ve had your business for a while, you can use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to see what keywords you’re ranking for and how many clicks and impressions you’re getting.
Check out this Shopify SEO Guide to understand how to rank your online store if it’s built on Shopify.
We haven’t forgotten about WooCommerce site owners. Here’s a link to our WooCommerce SEO guide. It details the SEO steps we used to get our client’s website to page one of Google.
Make it easier for the bots to interpret the website while creating product descriptions for search engines. Designing a naming convention for all of your items is one of the greatest ways to do this.
Support Texts with Visuals
Icons, photos, and videos are used to break up long blocks of text. Use images to substitute or support text if your product description content is becoming too verbose, even if you’re already utilising bullet points.
Add Social Proof to Your Content
Customer reviews, star ratings, newspaper mentions, and accolades are all examples of social evidence that motivate consumers to buy. They assist shoppers in determining whether your product is worth purchasing, particularly if the shopper is unsure about your goods. Online reviews are said to influence 93% of purchasers’ purchasing decisions.
Customer evaluations or press mentions are not required forms of social proof. It could also be honours you received for your outstanding work. Like ErgoErgo, a company that isn’t afraid to brag about their ergonomic stool’s success.
Common Errors in Product Description Writing
Now that we’ve covered the best principles for product description copywriting, let’s move on to the next step. Let’s take a look at some of the most typical errors that organisations and copywriters make when writing product descriptions.
1. Search Engine Overoptimization
Long gone are the days when keyword stuffing could easily get you to the top of Google’s search results. Surprisingly, a large number of product sites are still littered with keywords, inviting Google to derank them. Keyword stuffing isn’t going to cut it these days.
As much as feasible, use your main target keyword naturally in the title, URL, and product description/details/overview. You may also add your target keyword in the body copy, depending on how you build your product descriptions. Overoptimization for search engines is not only off-putting to search engines, but it’s also off-putting to your audience. Bounce rates and conversion rates can both be affected by poorly worded product descriptions. Who would want that?
2. Obtaining Generic Copy from Vendors
The usage of boilerplate product descriptions from manufacturers or suppliers is just as bad as keyword stuffing. It screams “I-don’t-care-if-you-buy-this-product-or-not” in the eyes of customers.
Make no mistake, even if the manufacturer’s product description is speckless (which rarely happens). Other vendors are likely to use it. As you may already know, search engines despise duplicate material, and if you’re lucky, you’ll be buried six feet deep in search results.
3. Benefits are not included
It’s one thing to write a product description that focuses on features rather than advantages. Another example is a product description that does not mention any benefit at all. Sure, listing all of the product features is the simplest approach to build product descriptions. Boom. Done. However, this is a severe error. You must ensure that your target audience is aware of the functions of these elements. What’s in a feature that will make your audience’s life easier? That’s an advantage!
This has already been discussed, but it is worth repeating. Using characteristics as the focal point of attention is less effective than emphasising benefits. Benefits appeal to people’s emotions, whereas features appeal to reasoning.
Source: product rule , product features