Why Unique Product Descriptions Are Important For SEO

Using captivating content to bring a product to life before it has even left your warehouse can really help to swing a sale. But there’s more to gain – include unique product descriptions for SEO too, and then you’re really cooking.

Of course, making each description original could get time-consuming – especially if you have a large ecommerce store. But it’s worth the graft. Not only can a well-implemented strategy for this really boost your sales potential and rank on the search results page, it can also help you:

• Avoid getting penalised for duplicate content
• Attract potential customers by differentiating from competitors
• Build a brand identity across your product pages
• Enhance the customer experience of your online store

Let’s explore why this content is so powerful, before we show you exactly how you can amplify your own products.

Google rewards original content

SEO-optimised product descriptions will use relevant keywords to climb the search engine results. But don’t let all your efforts go to waste by copying and pasting them across each page. Get creative and mould your product description into a stand-alone piece of content to make the most out of your SEO.

Don’t forget – Google recognises duplicate content, filtering it and causing it to choose which of the pages with the same description to rank highest. In this way, unique content is rewarded.

They help you stand out from competitors

Unless you’ve just won Dragons’ Den, there’s a good chance that similar or identical products to yours are out there and fighting for attention. That’s why you need to go beyond the rigid specifications, and include unique elaborations or punchy bullet points describing the feature benefits.

By painting your product as one of a kind, you’ll set yourself apart from the competition and leave the replicas at the back of the digital shelf. When more people opt to browse your online store over the stores of others, this tells search engines that your site is more relevant.

You can build a stronger brand

Similarly, making it to Page 1 of Google implies a sense of trust in your brand. And if your target market can link your USP to their product of interest, your brand reputation can only strengthen further.

Your unique brand identity should already be vocalised through the language, tone, and topics and themes you’ve discussed through your content marketing channels. So why not treat your descriptions the same?

By embedding your personality throughout your stock, the chance of word-of-mouth recognition is heightened, providing an invaluable form of lead generation.

You’ll enhance the customer experience

Search engines like Google use user signals to determine whether or not people find online content relevant – and therefore whether they should bump it up their results pages. One of these signals is how long a person stays on your page. A high bounce rate (that is, people clicking through to your product page and immediately clicking back again) indicates that the user didn’t find what they were looking for.

So how do you ensure that a potential customer is encouraged to keep looking? By making sure they have a good time doing it! Enticing phrases and super-informative facts can give users a kind of ‘virtual reality’ of what you can offer. Project your passionate expertise in a digestible manner, and you’ll ensure they leave your site with a sense of achievement that they got what they came for – and they did it in style.

How to write a good product description in six steps

So, we’ve established the importance of ensuring this content is unique. Now let’s delve into the finer details of what makes a top-quality description.

1. Research your keywords

Solid keyword research will define how effective your SEO is, so be sure to look in the right places.
Start with manufacturer descriptions – these will provide you with base information on the product, but they’ll be bursting with relevance. Once you’ve picked out words or phrases that describe the product (say, ‘children’s toy’), head to a keyword research tool. Google Ads’ Keyword Planner, for example, can suggest keywords and even show you how searches for them have changed over time.

A few things to bear in mind are to:

• Ensure keywords are relevant, but also try out long-tail and low-competition keywords too
• Include alt-tags on your image as a text alternative for search engines
  Include tags that summarise the product

2. Know your audience

Having the lowdown on what makes your target audience tick means you can start to shape your content around them. Your product descriptions will be more targeted and likely to click with your customers.

Similarly to keywords, it’s all about knowing where to dig. Social media is your audience’s digital playground. Opinions, behaviours and motives are thrown around from behind their keyboards. The best part is it’s all free and readily available to absorb. Use this insight to build a buyer persona, and then create your content to suit.

3. Use sensory words

Earlier we discussed creating a ‘virtual reality’ to enhance customer experience. Using sensory words really brings this into play, and it’s all quite self-explanatory…

Take a surround sound hi-fi system, for instance – it triggers a different sense to a foot massager. When you describe how it feels to own and use the product, you’ll help your customer feel as though they’ve experienced it before they even add it to their basket.

4. Feature the product’s benefits

Fully represent what you’re selling with a well-rounded description. You’ve covered the specs – check. You’ve ignited your product with sensory language – check. Now ask yourself the all-important question: what’s in it for the customer?

Brainstorm the feature benefits. Imagine using the item yourself and the problems it solves. Put that into words, and it might just change your product from ‘convenient’ to ‘essential’ in the eyes of your target market.

5. Answer your customer’s questions

Are your items a little more complex than most? Maybe it’s a high-grade piece of kit with the latest technologies built-in. Niche products attract niche customers, meaning the finer details matter.

Ensure you’re matching the audience’s knowledge by understanding every single nook and cranny of your product. If you can anticipate their needs, you can answer their questions.

While you’re at it, use this opportunity to source some of those less-common keywords to optimise your SEO. Consider an FAQs section underneath to avoid bulking out your main description.

6. Make it easy to read

You may have worked hard to describe your pride and joy, but don’t put your audience to work too. To convert a customer, their experience should be almost effortless – that means creating a scannable product page with digestible sentences as well as clear sections and pictures or icons. Remember your persona, and carefully select a language style to suit them as well.

Another reader who definitely won’t stand for complicated descriptions is the search engine. Google prioritises content that’s easy to read (taking into account user signals as well as synonyms and related word use), so getting this right is a win-win.

While these tips for writing product descriptions are useful, we know that it can be a real slog whilst you’re juggling the demands of your business. Finding a balance between capturing the customers’ imagination and pleasing Google is the key.

At Making You Content, our experts pride themselves on doing just that. Get in touch to discover how we can help.