How To Write Copy For Product Pages

The primary purpose of a product page is to encourage visitors to make a decision about whether or not a product is the right fit for them. Since this page is pivotal in the decision making process of the potential customer, it must have all the information they would require in order to convert.

The product page is possibly the most important page in terms of page hierarchy for eCommerce stores. It is where your visitors spend the most amount of time on an e-commerce website. On the product page, visitors get to read about the features, the use cases, the benefits of the product to them, read through testimonials from customers, and much  more.

Truth be told, anyone can write copy for product pages, but it doesn’t guarantee that the copy will be good. The problem of coming up with a good copy is something a lot of people face, and most are not willing to admit that it is an extremely tedious task.

“You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of producing successful advertising unless you start doing your homework. I have always found this extremely tedious, but there is no way around it.”

— David Ogilvy, The Father Of Modern Advertising

Writing Good Copy For Product Pages

The best copy for product pages rarely ever comes from intuition/gut alone but involves a systematic approach to it. Keep in mind that there is no single right way to do it. 

The copy for your product page must convey value, have clarity and allow your potential customers to imagine what it is like to own the product. If your product pictures help them visualize, the product description and other associated copy helps them complete the scenery  they are already painting in their head.

According to a study by the Nielsen Norman Group, results showed that 79% of people don’t read, they just skim. However, 16% read everything. Everything!

This does not mean that the Readers are your main target group, Skimmers buy products too. You should give them as much information as possible about the product in a format that makes it easy for Skimmers to skim through and see the information they need and for Readers to find the information they want to read.

You need to understand the process involved in writing good copy for product pages and not depend on intuition or inspiration alone. This process I will share with you is easily applicable on any product page.

There are six steps involved in this process, these are:

1. Outline.
2. Research.
3. Draft.
4. Conversion boost.
5. Revise, Rewrite, Rearrange.
6. Test!

Outline

Your outline will form the background of what your research will focus on. This outline can be modified to fit your specific needs but it helps you have a better understanding of what you need to write.

1. Headline: The end benefit in one short sentence. The attention grabber.
2. Value Proposition: A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered. It’s the primary reason a prospect should buy from you. The value proposition is usually a block of text with a visual.
3. Product description: A specific explanation of what your product is, for whom, and why is it useful.
4. Bullet points: A list the key benefits or features.
5. FAQs: This is usually where you answer questions your potential customers want to know.

Research

You cannot write good copy for your product page unless you can accurately answer these questions:

1. Who are you writing for ? (Customer profile)
2. How does this person think? (Helps you understand what you need to address in the copy)
3. What does this person need ? (The key problems the product solves)
4. What does the product help you do ? (Tells you the words your customers use to describe your product)
5. What makes them choose our product ? (Tells you your key advantage)

These questions will help you understand more about the audience you are writing for. You might be able to answer the first question on your own, but answering the others will involve communicating directly with customers. You need to speak their language and understand the information they need so you can give them. The copy needs to match the conversation going on in their head.

Draft

Now that you are done with your research, and you have collated your data, you should have a pretty good idea on how to form the outline of what your copy should contain. The following tips should help you come up with a good draft.

1. Engage first!  — This will involve you getting your customers to believe in your message. People tend to agree with statements that are in line with what they believe in. If you can get them to believe in your first statement, they are more likely to agree with the rest of your message.
2. Avoid jargon and Superlatives  —  Using complicated and fancy words will not make you sound smarter. You should avoid superlatives unless you have proof to verify it. Your copy should be a natural conversation between you and your customer. The more complex your copy is, the less likely you will retain the attention of your audience.

Compare these statements, and pick the claim you believe more:

• “Number one scented candle brand in the USA” vs “6 million candles sold to people who love us“.
• “We are the best Indian restaurant in Europe” vs “Our restaurant has won 6 Golden Curry awards in the Indian Food category“
• “Cheapest video streaming plans” vs “Our monthly plans start from $1.9”.
• “ We are the number one Amazon repricing software” vs “We are backed by more than 15,000 Amazon stores who love and use our software”

3. Be Specific  —  Go straight to the point. If your copy is about you (your product, your company) and not the prospect (his/her problems, his/her life), you will fail. Make it about them.

4. Be Honest, Always  —  The best way to be honest and authentic is by being honest and authentic. It’s that simple.

Conversion Boost

This is where you implement your call to action, with a juicy offer that serves as a trigger for their motivation. People want to feel they are special, so offer them an incentive to boost your conversion.

• Fast shipping / Next day shipping
• Free setup / installation
• No setup fee
• Money-back guarantee
• A discounted price (for a product)

Revise, Rewrite, Rearrange

Like the heading suggests, you revise what you have written, rewrite where you feel you can improve and rearrange your sentence structures. It helps to mine for feedback and objective opinions from customers in your target market by running usability tests.

Test!

As with all things involved in Conversion Optimization, you publish your copy and test to see how well it performs and note the areas you can improve on.

“Human relationships are about communicating. Business jargon should be banished in favor of simple English. Simplicity is a sign of truth and a criterion of beauty. Complexity can be a way of hiding the truth.”  —  Helena Rubinstein

Conclusion

Remember, there is no single right way to do it. Each product is unique and customers have different perceptions for each, having a framework you follow when writing for product pages goes a long way in helping you narrow down the information your customers need to see.

Alright! That was fun. I hope you learned something today.