Product descriptions can play a major role in drawing organic traffic to a retailer's product pages by helping search engines better understand what a page is about and serve it to the right people. When a user has a need and they don't know which product will best fit that need, they often turn to search engines to find out. With a myriad of retailers now engaging with their customers online, how can a retailer stand out among the competition who is selling a similar if not the exact same product?
The answer is unique content. Your retail brand most likely does not cater to all people (let's be honest, trying to be all things to all people rarely works out). You probably have a select group or groups of people to which you market. The demographics and decision process of this core customer base should be at the foundation of everything you do, including creating product descriptions.
Unique product descriptions have 2 advantages. First they helps your brand stand out from an SEO perspective. Second it drives more qualified traffic to your site, ultimately increasing conversion rates. When a prospective customer conducts a search query specific to their needs, a product description that lines up with that is more likely to rank higher in SERP results.
Many search queries tend to be longer and detailed to a potential customer's needs. These are called long-tail keywords (longer, more specific keyword phrases). In fact, over 60% of keywords consist of 4 words or more. These establish better lines of communication between your ecommerce site and consumers actively shopping for what you provide.
For example, if you're selling athletic shoes, chances are you won't stand out or rank highly if someone simply searches "shoes". In all likelihood searchers aren't going to use search terms that simple because they will be served with too many options that don't meet their need. Your prospective customer is going to search for the particular shoe they need, specific uses, or features they find important. If your product description caters to that, your chances of ranking highly and getting that potential customer to a product page are much higher.
Beyond keeping your ideal customer in mind, it's important to know and track the keywords that are driving traffic to your product pages. Reference tools like Google AdWords to determine how many people are actually searching for the terms that are important to your product pages. Aim for long-tail keywords that fall somewhere in the middle in search volume. The higher the search volume a keyword has, the more people are competing for that search phrase, which will make it hard for you to rank or get traffic for that phrase. If you aren't getting ideal traffic to certain product pages, try using new keyword phrases. You may also review your competitors’ websites. What keywords are they using to describe their products? Have they highlighted any phrases in their product descriptions or page copy? Are there ways you can adjust your keywords in order to stand out?
A good product description goes beyond slapping a chart that contains information about an item's size, weight, and color. They have to be composed with your ideal customers in mind. Doing so will draw in potential customers who are searching for a specif product and are more likely to make a purchase.
