Are you neglecting to create compelling product descriptions for your ecommerce website at a heavy cost? If your sales funnel isn’t giving you the results you think it should give it is high time you went through your online inventory and checked out how you have described your individual products.

Ecommerce is a $ 250 billion industry just in the USA (source) and many experts believe that we are at a nascent stage. Markets of gargantuan proportions still remain untapped in the fast-emerging Asian countries like India, China, Brazil, Argentina and a horde of other countries in South America and Africa. As it becomes easier and more secure to purchase products and services online via computers and mobiles how you create and maintain your online presence matters a lot.

What do you think helps you sell your product through your ecommerce website? Putting aside your branding and customer’s comfort level with your previous products the following play a big role:

• Visual representation of your product
• The headline or title of your product
• The description of your product

The visual representation of your product gives your customer an idea of how the product looks in terms of shape, color and texture. The headline or the title normally consists of the name of the product (iPad Air 32 GB White). The description contains vital information such as what are the various features of your product, how these features help you improve your experience, what are the technical specifications and what are the physical attributes. The importance of visual representation and the appropriate headline/title is well understood by everybody; it’s the description part that people often end up ignoring because to be frank, for an average seller, this is the part where one needs to use language skills convincingly as well as efficiently.

Whether you have your own ecommerce website or you are selling your product from eBay (for example) your description needs to appeal to the customer in a convincing manner. In the virtual world personal contact is missing. You cannot directly talk to your customer and convince him or her into buying your product. This job is done by the three elements mentioned above. Give a complete visual representation of your product. Then give a precise headline that fully represents your product. Then describe your product. Your ecommerce website fully relies on these elements when your customer is browsing through your shopping cart.

Why it matters you create the right product descriptions for your ecommerce website?

• You exude professionalism: Writing crappy product descriptions means you do not take your product listing seriously, and if you don’t take your product listing seriously, why should your customer?
• You entice the right customers: Clearly-articulated and well-structured product descriptions attract the right customers – customers who are actually seeking information included within you description. There are no ambiguities and there is no miscommunication gap. They find in your description exactly what they need.
• You increase your sales: When the right customers read the apt description, they are more prone to buying from you. Quality product descriptions can increase your sales.
• You encourage social sharing: Lots of information is exchanged between prospective customers through social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. If you have product descriptions that are very user-friendly people can straightaway use them to recommend your products rather than having to write on their own.

How to create compelling product descriptions for your e-commerce website

When someone comes to your website she is very unsure whether she should buy from you or not. For instance, if I’m looking for a new HTC phone, why should I buy from you and not from another seller? There might be many factors – price, choice of colors, assurance of after-sales service, quick delivery and quick redress in case of some problem, proximity to the physical store, and so on – but the most important factor is, how you describe your product. You can either simply list the technical specifications and features, or you can actually have a conversation with your customer. When multiple vendors are selling practically the same thing, it’s your description that gives you the advantage. Here are a few things that can supercharge your ecommerce product descriptions:

1. Associate benefits and advantages with features and specifications: Simply saying that your phone comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, quad-core CPUs might not mean a lot to many, but if you can add that this means exceptional image capturing (even when you’re trying to click small kids and animals) and image manipulation, unparalleled 3-D gaming and one of the fastest processing chips in contemporary phones (which may mean you can install and uninstall apps basically indiscriminately without making your phone feel sluggish), it can help the customer decide whether she wants this particular device or not. The basic idea is, create a description your customer can relate to rather than bombard her with geeky jargon. I have taken example from technology, but this can be applied to any field.
2. Keep the most important things at the top: Although people prefer to read the descriptions of expensive products carefully, initially they normally browse. They don’t go through the entire thing. This is why it’s important that you mention all the things that may impact your customer’s decision in the first sentence of your product description.
3. Don’t repeat text: When the same sort of words appear in the descriptions of various products, their importance diminishes. Keep your content unique. If your ecommerce website lists scores of products and your customer often has to use the search feature, having similar-sounding descriptions may end up confusing her.
4. Follow a consistent pattern: Whether you have longer descriptions, or shorter, maintain a consistent pattern. If you normally have descriptions of say, 80-90 words, stick to that pattern unless it’s absolutely necessary to create a 200-word product description.
5. Use the language of your customer: It doesn’t mean you need to use every colloquial language in the world; use simple language your average customer can easily understand. Remember that you don’t intend to prove your literary potential when you’re creating descriptions. Yes, you can be imaginative and creative, but not at the cost of sales. Carefully go through all the words and expressions you are using in your product description and chuck out every bit of detail you think your customer won’t be able to understand or relate to.
6. Make an emotional connection: Purchasing expensive products is always an emotional decision for an average customer. When you’re going to purchase a $600 phone the phone is going to remain with you for a long time. You will get attached to it. You will store lots of your personal information on that phone. You will carry out professional and personal interactions via this phone. It may be the last thing you see before going to bed and the first thing to see when you wake up. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and then write accordingly.
7. Focus on the “you” part: Make everything about the customer because she is the one who is going to make the ultimate buying decision. Why should she buy your product? What sort of experience is she going to get out of it? What has been her history (suppose she is starting a new, ambitious business venture and needs a new mobile phone for that)? Talk to your customer as much as possible.

Creating compelling, unique and well-written product descriptions for an ecommerce website often takes a backseat because normally there are scores of products (I’m talking about a small-and medium-sized business) and it seems like an uphill task involving lots of effort and financial investment. But this is a strategic mistake because most of the buying decisions depend on the way you have gotten your product descriptions written.