How to write SEO product description – best guide 2024

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Do you want to improve your webshop rank on Google? This is the perfect article for you.

We’ll show you how to write excellent SEO product descriptions or how to be able to hire and supervise someone to do that for you.

*** 9-minute read ***

Write product descriptions that sell and rank high

How to write SEO product description - Guide with examples

TABLE OF CONTENT

Before we start, here is a quick tip for you: always have in mind that people and machines judge all content on your website:

  1. Google and other search engines evaluate what the pages/products/posts are about (SEO is for that)
  2. Website visitors will stay on your website if you can solve their problems and satisfy their need that was the reason why they came
Content and SEO product description are judged by machines and people

Why is product description important

Based on research, if there are two identical products, 87% of buyers will choose the one with a good product description.

 

First, a good SEO product description will help Google and other search engines “understand” what you are selling.
If products are not SEO optimized, search engines won’t offer them to Internet users during searches.

 

Secondly, if the product is on the SERP (Search Engine Result Page) and a visitor comes to the single product page, the product description largely influences whether the site visitor will click the magic “buy button”.

 

Other factors that affect a buyer’s decision are:

  • price
  • images
  • short description
  • payment options
  • checkout process
  • shipment options
  • shipping costs

What is meta description and why is it important

A meta description is a text below the link in search results.

What are meta descriptions and why are they so important

Click on the image to enlarge

In our example above, over 590 million web pages rank on SERP for the keyword “what is meta description”.

When you search the internet for some keyword and get SERP, how do you decide which link to click?

Meta description sells your web page/product/post to search engines and internet users. Make it count – a good meta description brings traffic to your website.

Write a powerful meta description for your product with 150-170 characters (counting spaces and punctuation).

Instructions to write good meta description:

  • Tell people what is the benefit of what you sell
  • Which problem your product/service solves
  • How your product makes them more beautiful, healthy, heapy, selfless, etc.
  • Don’t lie or try to trick people into clicking on your link
  • Include your primary keyword (mandatory)
  • “Talk” to your perfect customer

If your website is built on WordPress, we recommend the Rank Math free plugin for SEO. It will help you embed meta descriptions for the page/product.

If you are a programmer, here is the article with an example of excellent meta description tags – scroll to the bottom of the article “Importance of click-worthy meta descriptions in SEO.”

Examples of great product meta descriptions:

Good short product description

A short product description is located beside the primary product image, usually on the right on the single product page.

Example of good short product description

Click on the image to enlarge

A short product description has the power to sell.

 

When a visitor comes to a single product page, he is in a hot buying cycle zone. (To learn more about buying cycles, read a part of our article “Writing for the web – buyers journey“).

 

If there is doubt, a short product description must evoke the desire to buy.

 

Here are tips for writing a great short description:

 

  • Don’t be boring. Talk to your perfect customer. Imagine their mouse pointer on the Buy button, ready to click. Give them the final push.
  • Never start with “This amazing shirt, glass, pen…”. Tell the visitor how they will feel if they purchase. Help them imagine possessing the product. Evoke the feeling “I must have this.”
  • First, address emotions – they are the dominant factor.
  • Then list benefits and major product characteristics.
  • Use bullets when possible.
  • Make it short enough to see the Buy button on the first screen.

Please, check the image below. Which product would you buy?

Example of good and bad product short descriptions

In the upper image, there is no short product description. The visitor can’t know if the baseball bat is a souvenir, a real bat for kids, or an adult bat.

 

Both images were shown to 70 people.

92% of tested visitors chose the dark baseball bet.

8% were undecided.

0% chose the product without a short description.

How to write SEO product description and why it matters

A detailed product description is below the product images.

 

Statistics show that over 80% of shoppers consider product descriptions very important. They don’t read everything. Most skim and scan, but they need info.

 

A good SEO product description has 200-600 words. It’s not easy to reach that word count.

 

We recommend first writing the description and then optimizing it.

 

Here are general guidelines for writing SEO product descriptions that will rank high on Google and help visitors click the Buy button:

  • Put all relevant data about the product.
  • Add images that show how to use the product
  • Add video
  • If possible, write what others said (don’t lie)
  • Present all the benefits the buyer will experience
  • Use emotions, power words, adjectives, and adverbs
  • Add ideas, recommendations, and expert advice
  • Use bullets, bold font to point out the essential information, and tables to present “boring” data.
Product descriptions that gets high reviews

When you have your product description, it’s time to perform SEO optimization. Without it, Google and other search engines will not know the product’s value and type. Consequently, they will not rank it and show it to potential buyers. 

Optimization of product step-by-step guide

STEP 1 – choosing keywords

 

Choose 2-5 keywords (KW). Decide which one is the primary.

  • Think as your perfect customer does. When internet users search the web to buy your product – what do they type?
  • Use the free keyword analyzer Ubersuggest.
  • The second option, probably the better, is to hire an SEO expert to perform keyword analysis and provide you with a list of keywords.

For $5-$50 per product, you can find a freelancer on Fiverr. If you decide to do that, type in “keyword analysis” in the Fiverr search field – you’ll get over 3000 results.

 

STEP 2 – writing SEO headings and product title

The title is the sentence that appears in SERP.

The product title must have the exact primary keyword somewhere.

 

Example of SEO product titles in SERP

Headings are not the same as titles. They do not appear in SERP.

Headings are important for two reasons:

  1. they help Google and other search engines to understand what the content is about
  2. they improve user experience by allowing visitors to skim and scan the text.

You should have several headings in the product description. Here is a simple recipe:

 

  • Write ONLY ONE H1 – the highest level heading. It MUST contain the exact primary keyword. It should be slightly different than the title. You can use only the primary keyword if your imagination doesn’t come with something better.
  • Write one H2 with the primary keyword. Add words such as: specification, measures, maintenance, etc. (depending on the content below).
  • It would be beneficial for SEO to have several more H2 and H3 with other keywords.

The following text must address the heading’s topic!

 

DO NOT TRY TO TRICK GOOGLE – the website will be punished severely.

STEP 3 – how to write SEO friendly product descriptions

Write as if you were talking to your ideal customer. People who read product descriptions need additional information to decide – they are still not ready to click the Buy button.

 

  • Give your potential buyers all data you have.
  • BE HONEST.
  • Include expert advice.
  • Show best practices on how to use the product.
  • ADDRESS all benefits your webshop visitors will experience.
  • Show before-after (preferably with images).
  • Use everyday language. A 12-year-old must understand your text.
  • Insert an instructional video and images.
  • Images should show your customers with a product (happy people). We tend to imitate others. If something is good for others, it must be good for us, isn’t it?
  • Since you are an expert for your products, give your opinion and advice.
  • REMEMBER – always address emotions! We shop based on our feelings, no matter how we rationalize the decision. We want to be more beautiful, healthy, energized, prosperous, pampered, etc.

 

Now, it doesn’t seem so difficult to reach 600 words. Yes, it’ll take time, but it will be worth every minute.

Google loves content, and you’ll be awarded with a higher ranking.

If you are out of ideas and have writers blockage, we recommend  Product Description Generator – Free AI Tool

Images and videos to improve product description SEO and user experience

Would you buy this product?

(Can you even tell if that is a souvenir, a kids’ baseball bat, or an adult bat?)

Example of good and bad product images 2

How about this one?

Example of good and bad product images 6

Yes, a picture speaks a thousand words. Good images have the power to sell.

 

The primary product image must be perfect. It shouldn’t be taken by a mobile phone with a blurry background. It must be clear, with high contrast, white background, and additional data, if needed.

(As the baseball bat length – so the customer will know if the bat is for kids or adults, for example).

 

Besides images on the first screen, embed photos and videos into the product description.

 

Images and videos in the product description will improve the SEO score and user experience. Photos before/after are extremely powerful.

 

  • If you sell products like coffee, show photos of a sad, tired person (before) and energized one (after the first sip).
  • If you sell technical items, furniture, or home accessories, add images of happy people holding those products (photoshop them if you don’t want to organize a shooting session).

 

IMPORTANT for SEO:

Use primary keyword in image ALTERNATIVE TITLE – ALT TITLE. In WordPress, you will find it in the Media section, when you click on the image.

ALT image title - SEO for images in product description

 

Google “sees” only ALT title and uses it for ranking.

Images can bring traffic.

Many users browse images rather than websites.

Examples of poorly written product descriptions

Figgjo porcelain saucer

Utopia Rita Cut Glass

Good product seo examples

Well-optimized product with great user-experience examples (taken from the website GDuke.com):

 

Creme brulee dish

optimized for keywords:

  • creme brulee dish (prime)
  • dish for creme brulee
  • creme brulee dishes

Wok

optimized for keywords:

  • wok (prime)
  • wok steel
  • cooking with wok

Koru Kids kitchen chair booster

optimized for KW:

  • booster seat (prime)
  • booster seats Ireland
  • booster seat for table
  • booster seat Ireland
  • booster seat table
  • kids booster seat
  • booster seat for kitchen chair

How to hire a good product description writer

How to choose a good product description freelance writer

We recommend two platforms to hire a freelance writer: Upwork and Fiverr.

You can find excellent writers on both.

 

Below, you’ll find recommendations for hiring a good product description writer.

Written by Natasa, our CEO.

 

“For years, I’ve been working as a freelancer and hiring ones. Being on both sides of the same coin, I encountered great and not-so-great freelancers and clients. My general advice when hiring a freelancer is:

  • Start with one product
  • Post a job with clear instructions – be specific about a product, number of words, SEO, and images
  • If possible, add 1-3 links to your competitors
  • Put a reasonable price – $20-$100 for 600 words product description
  • You’ll probably get over 50 offers – discard those with short or copy/paste cover letters
  • Check reviews and previous work – but don’t discard freelancers without reviews – all of us were nubies once
  • Select up to 10 freelancers and start communication
  • In the end, go with your gut and be willing to have the best product review or the worst one
  • Ask others (friends, colleagues, family) what they think about the article
  • If satisfied, stick to a freelancer and offer a long-term contract. If not, repeat the procedure until you find a good SEO product description writer.”

TEMPLATE FOR A GREAT SEO PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Template to write SEO product description
DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE

Free download.

You don’t have to leave an email, subscribe, join, or anything else.

We hope it will help you improve your webshop’s Google ranking.

 

If you have any questions, please contact us for further assistance.

 

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