5 tips for creating the perfect product pages

As an ecommerce retailer, the most important thing is to sell more online. Whilst it might seem a relatively simple proposition, when it comes to marketing a product in an already saturated market, it can be difficult.

To stand a chance of beating your competitors it is not as simple as offering the most competitive price. There are a number of factors that influence the buyer’s decision, one of which is the product page and description.

If you are stocking branded goods for example, you will be stocking exactly the same products as a competing retailer. In this case, the product will already exist in Google’s index and so in effect, these retailers have already outranked you. So how to do you compete?

Creating unique product descriptions for organic search

Let’s start from the beginning. You have ordered your stock and you are now ready to add it to your website.

1. Product Names

Although it might seem obvious, your product name is one of the most important parts of the product. Not only is it a key identifier for the consumer, but it also has a significant impact on search visibility and Google Shopping Campaigns.

Supplier product spreadsheets and feeds often contain more of a description of the product rather than its true name. When naming a product to market online refer to the manufacturer’s website to ensure that the Product Name you create mirrors the manufacturers naming convention rather than the amended/abbreviated distributor/supplier version.

Best practice naming convention for search suggests that you should market your products using the following format:

Manufacturer/Brand name/model number/item type.

e.g Canon 710 Original Black Toner Cartridge (6000 pages)

2. Short Description

The short description is where you grab the consumer’s attention with USPs and keywords that they will identify with. This should be concise in order to satisfy both the consumer and search engine. The format of your short description may vary depending on your page layout.

Best practice is to create a short description that is between 20-30 words. This should include the product name and/or model number followed by the product type and key features that the consumer may have searched for. Whilst it is important to include keywords within this, do not sacrifice on readability or grammar.

3. Product Features

Bulleted product features are a fantastic way to provide the consumer with a quick overview of the products main USPs. Providing a quick snapshot, a feature list is a great way to increase conversions and reduce the bounce rate.

The consumer will not read an endless list of product features so it is best to stick with approximately 6 compelling USPs. Keep these short and concise.

4. Long description

For the busy ecommerce retailer, producing unique product descriptions can be a daunting prospect, it is however, invaluable. The long description is where you have the most influence over the originality of your copy and in turn, search visibility. Taking descriptions directly from manufacturer pages or via Javascript product feeds will not differentiate you to search engines and consumers.

If you have a large selection of products, start with your most valuable and popular. Spend the time creating unique and engaging product descriptions that contain lots of LSI and related keywords. Under no circumstances should you use your description to stuff with money keywords, this will read poorly and may also negatively affect your search ranking results.

Ready, Set, Sell!

Now you know the basics it’s time to start building your spectacular product pages. Once you are happy with the copy, make sure to get high resolution, quality product images for each of your listings. For some inspiration here is an amazing product description from Firebox.