How to write effective product descriptions in WooCommerce

It’s crystal clear that product descriptions play a significant role in online shopping. Just take a quick peek at the top eCommerce sites, and you’ll see how they invest time and money in creating compelling texts that boost sales.

WooCommerce, the widely-used WordPress eCommerce plugin, gives you the freedom to create different types of product descriptions. You can create both short and long descriptions to help customers make informed buying decisions.

In this article, we’ll look into product descriptions, how important they are, and how you can create exceptional descriptions to boost your store’s success.

Why are product descriptions so important?

To write effective product descriptions, it’s crucial to grasp their purpose. Many sellers consider it a waste of time and money as they believe the product title, image, and price are more critical. But, let me tell you, quality product descriptions can make a huge difference in your sales.

According to a study conducted by Salsify in 2017, 87% of customers carefully consider the product information provided before buying. Hence, product descriptions and positive reviews play a crucial role in boosting conversions on your store.

Interestingly, younger customers are more attentive to this information than other age groups. In fact, they pay up to 40% more attention to this aspect of the product.

When shopping around online we usually check the price first, right? Well, it turns out that after the price, customers pay a lot of attention to product descriptions! In fact, they often care more about the description than the reviews and ratings.

In some industries like electronics, clothing, and food and wine, customers tend to be interested in the internal components or ingredients of the products. It’s worth keeping this in mind while creating content for these sectors.

And don’t forget about how this impacts your SEO indexing! Being at the top of a Google search is a great way to attract new customers. Did you know that only 0.63% of people even bother to look beyond the first page of results? So, it’s important to make sure your website is ranking in those top spots. After all, that’s where your potential customers are looking!

Thankfully, WooCommerce places great emphasis on SEO and provides a variety of plugins to enhance your performance in this area. To make sure your online store gets good indexing, it’s important to write optimized product descriptions. They usually make up the biggest chunk of text on your site, so it’s worth paying attention to them.

So, let me tell you what great product descriptions can do for your online business:

• Firstly, they can drive more traffic to your website by boosting your SEO.
• Secondly, they can increase your conversion rates, which means more sales!
• And finally, by providing all the necessary information on your product page, customer service demand will be reduced.

Now that we’ve emphasized how crucial product descriptions are, let’s see how you can excel in this area.

Use psychology to write excellent product descriptions

When it comes to product descriptions, they’re not just there to give information, they’re also meant to persuade customers to make a purchase. So it’s important to make sure the information is presented in a way that convinces them to buy.

Many successful eCommerce stores actually use neuromarketing techniques in their product descriptions. Since customers are already interested in reading these descriptions, it’s smart to make them persuasive and enjoyable to read at the same time.

Cialdini’s neuromarketing

If you’re looking for a place to start, studying the principles of industry experts like Robert Cialdini could be a great option. Two of Cialdini’s well-known principles are those of Social Proof and Scarcity, which can be effectively integrated into product descriptions.

When it comes to persuading customers to make a purchase, highlighting the popularity of a product through previous purchases is a highly effective strategy. Additionally, creating a sense of urgency by mentioning limited stock or temporary promotions can also encourage customers to take action — give it a try!

Problem and solution

If you’re selling products online, there are a few tricks of the trade that you should definitely know. The most important one is to focus on what your customer needs, instead of just listing off your product’s features. It’s a tried and true method that can really make a difference in your sales game.

Let me give you an example: to sell a household cleaning product, it’s better to focus on how it can solve common household problems rather than listing out all the ingredients in it (which can be mentioned separately). This way, you can grab your target customers’ attention and show them how useful the product can be.

So, when trying to sell a drain cleaner, it’s more effective to share a relatable scenario like a clogged drain with stagnant water and how the cleaner quickly resolves the issue. This approach helps to convey the effectiveness that can be expected from the product.

Words and moods

Did you know that the words you choose in your writing can actually influence how your reader feels? It’s true! So it’s important to be mindful of how the language you use might affect your audience.

For example, to create a feeling of urgency and apply the Scarcity Principle, you can use certain words like “immediate,” “limited,” “offer,” “free,” “immediate savings,” or “today only.”

You can even try using intriguing and enigmatic words to capture your reader’s interest like “behind the scenes,” “in confidence,” “forbidden,” “confession,” and “secret.”

According to the analysis provided by The Persuasion Revolution, there are several moods and relevant keywords that can really benefit your store.

How to sell a product through an effective description

Apart from the tips we shared above, there are two key points to keep in mind when writing product descriptions that sell:

• The description should be read – It’s important to make sure your description gets read. We all know customers have a short attention span, so taking a few extra steps can really make a difference. Don’t let all that hard work go to waste from just a quick scroll-through.
• The description should sell – It’s not just about describing the product but also about selling it. Of course, you should include all the necessary information, but the main goal is to persuade customers to make a purchase.

Easy-to-read descriptions

Here are some suggestions we can give you to improve the readability of your product descriptions.

First of all, avoid writing long blocks of text that can be a total snooze-fest. Online shoppers usually skim through content, so break it up into smaller paragraphs and avoid using justified lines. Just remember, your customers want relevant information, not a book to read. Keep it short and sweet!

In order to make your content more effective, it’s best to use short paragraphs that feature strong, persuasive language. Additionally, it’s a good idea to break up longer sections of text with headings and subheadings. This approach will help to keep your readers engaged and make it easier for them to digest your message.

To make sure your product page is effective, try scrolling through it at a medium speed. If there’s any information that doesn’t catch your eye, chances are it will be ignored by most readers. Keep it engaging and make sure all the important stuff stands out!

By improving the readability of descriptions, we can boost sales by highlighting positive aspects and downplaying contraindications or less popular ingredients (not hiding them, to avoid legal problems).

To sum it up, ensure that your product descriptions are simple to comprehend and highlight anything that should catch the attention of your target audience.

The description should sell

Clearly, this is what the whole article revolves around. When you write a product description, you have a very limited number of words, and knowing which ones to use will help you achieve the ultimate goal: sell the product.

But what elements should you keep in mind when writing to increase the description’s conversion power? In addition to what we mentioned above, here are some practical tips:

Become a storyteller: storytelling is a powerful technique to sell a product or service. As humans, we have had a natural inclination toward stories since ancient times. And success stories are more interesting to us than a list of features.

A great example of this is Travelers’ “Legacy” ad, if you remember, it was a simple one-minute ad that told a father and daughter story that ran a family business. The concept of keeping safe what’s important and the family bond shown was a way to bring attention to the company’s mission and get the audience to relate to the story.

But how do you use storytelling in product descriptions? Consider a dietary supplement with a Chinese root, rather than just stating its advantages, incorporating it into a story context can create a more powerful impact.

Instead of saying “Supplement X has Y, which helps you control your intestinal flora,” the text should say “The root Y, found in supplement X, was used by Chinese emperors for better health and is now available for you too.”

By combining the “problem and solution” technique with this one, you can create perfect product descriptions that sell.

In addition, it’s important to provide information about how the product is created or produced, its mission, and any other relevant factors. This transparency helps to establish a sense of trust and confidence in the product.

Create a template for product descriptions

Once you have a clear idea of what you need to say, create a product description template you can customize as needed.

By using this method, you can speed up the whole process and optimize each product page effectively. This is crucial for managing hundreds or thousands of products efficiently.

While this is true, you should be cautious when using the same text on your website, even if you change the name of the product. Repetitive content can negatively affect your website’s ranking in search engines.

The best approach is to develop a reusable template that should only provide guidance. You should create unique product descriptions for each item you sell.

Another very common element you can include in your template are FAQs. They are useful as they can address common pre-sale questions that your customer support team receives repeatedly. Answering these questions directly on your product page can save time and provide helpful information to potential customers.

Think of this: for every customer that you win by answering their questions through email or live chat, there are nine others that do not ask and leave the site without making a purchase.

We recommend using the FAQ for WordPress & WooCommerce plugin to insert FAQs in different areas of your website, including product pages.

What should not be missing in a product description

To sum up, what are the elements that must absolutely appear on your product page? A good tip is to always answer three questions:

• What it is: a product description should have a brief overview of the product and its key features, including relevant details like material, ingredients, origin, etc.
• Who it is for: specify the target audience and its issues. Younger audiences require a different language and have different demands compared to older customers.
• What it does: to effectively market a product, it’s not enough to simply list its technical specifications. It’s equally important to highlight its benefits, intended usage, and specific applications. For instance, a microphone’s technical details should be accompanied by its ideal uses, such as music production, podcasting, live streaming, and so on.

So, when writing a description, be sure to include all this information summarized in these three categories.

Products’ features and benefits

Speaking of features and benefits, don’t forget to also use the built-in functions of WooCommerce itself. In the product data section, for example, you can enter basic product features such as dimensions, sizes, colors, and more.

This way you can make product descriptions more effective, by prioritizing the most important information. As for the product benefits, make sure they are clear and easy to understand for customers. You can also consider using a visual format to differentiate them within the text.

It’s no wonder that copywriters and graphic designers are often paired together given that the visual aspect of advertising is just as important as the written content. In fact, sometimes it’s even more crucial.

This means not only including eye-catching images, but also using colors and badges to immediately shift attention to a product feature.

A great option to highlight certain features of your products is WooCommerce Badge Management. With this plugin, you can create and add all kinds of badges to your products.

How to use short descriptions in WooCommerce

We previously mentioned that WooCommerce offers a long and a short description for each product you are going to publish in your catalog. But what is the difference between these two descriptions and how should you use them?

While the product title is important as it should accurately describe the product in a few words, the short description is used to briefly describe the product in one or two lines.

This description is the one that will appear in the first part of the product page and, in some themes, it may also be shown in the catalog as an introduction to the products.

Since we’re talking about a very summarized description, it’s important to choose carefully the information you are going to include and the power words you are going to use.

How to use long descriptions in WooCommerce

Alternatively, your long product description should include all the necessary info knowing that it will be in a secondary part of the product page and it will only be read by those customers who click through.

This might be confusing sometimes so it’s important to mention: the long description is at the top of the product creation page, even though customers will see it at the bottom of the product page.

As you can see, the long description is the first thing you get to edit after the product name but it’s then displayed below the product:

So, in the long description, you should include everything else. This is where you can use your storytelling technique and add lists of ingredients, components, and more.

When it comes to the short description, think of sales and problem-solving. As for the long description, it’s all about being informative while still keeping the cautions we’ve just mentioned in mind.

FAQ

What’s the best method for finding relevant keywords to include in product descriptions?

You can find many online tools that allow you to search for keywords related to a particular product, for example, Google’s Keyword Planner. Just make sure the product page text naturally integrates the keyword without forcing it in.

How can I improve the readability of my product descriptions on WooCommerce?

You can use different font sizes and colors, bold text, and even write short paragraphs with lots of spaces.

Should I include detailed technical specifications in each product description?

Make every product page count! Unique descriptions not only help with indexing but also help sell your site. Pay attention to each one and make them unique.

What are the most common mistakes to avoid when writing product descriptions?

You should avoid focusing on the negative aspects; don’t use ambiguous words or phrases that may scare the customer away either. It’s essential to use a language register that’s appropriate to the type of product you are selling — a luxury product requires a different register than a children’s video game, doesn’t it?

How can I make sure my tone is consistent with the brand in all product descriptions?

Think about how you would talk to your customers normally and you will notice writers tend to keep the same register when writing. Read what you write aloud as many times as needed and try to connect with your customers (you can also read it to someone that belongs to your target audience and ask for their opinion).

What are the benefits of using keyword analysis tools to improve product descriptions?

The benefits include better indexing, more users on your site, and consequently more sales.

Should I use preset templates to write product descriptions on WooCommerce?

We recommend using them to get an idea of what to say and what topics to talk about, but the type of text may vary based on the product and the eCommerce identity, so you should still customize your descriptions.

How can I optimize product images to improve the SEO ranking of my descriptions?

You can make sure to include alternative text and a caption for each image that is in line with the rest of the text and contains keywords naturally.

Is it important to provide information about shipping and refund policies in product descriptions?

A good deal of potential buyers will abandon the purchase if they fear a scam or are not sure when they’ll receive the product. If you offer a good refund and shipping policy, you should include it to push the sale. If not, we recommend you just limit it to its dedicated page. For example, “100% satisfaction guaranteed or your money back” is a statement that helps make the sale, “no refunds” is not.

Conclusion

As you can see, it’s important to pay attention to every single line of text in your store, especially those that will be read by customers just when they’re deciding to buy the product or not.

Our best suggestion is to invest time, and when necessary money, to write persuasive product descriptions. Trust us, your efforts will surely pay off big time!