Lessons From Writing

100,000 Product Descriptions

What Converts and What Ranks

Clayton Lainsbury, CEO | Crowd Content | clayton@crowdcontent.com

About Crowd Content

We help retailers, agencies and brands

create content at scale

• 3000+ US Based Writers

• Veteran Production Team

• Over 100,000,000 words written

Who We’ve Worked With

Product Page Content Elements

1. Product Description

2. Q&A

3. User Reviews

4. Buying Guides

5. Tech Specs

6. Images

7. Performance Charts

8. Rich Media & Video

9. Metadata

Source: https://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2017/33209/the-three-content-types-that-most-influence-e-commerce-purchases

Killer content can beat

your competitors

Unique Copy Is Important

Duplicate Content Can Hurt Your Site

Internal

&

External

External Duplicate Content

It’s not going to help you get ahead

The Big Guys Use Manufacturer Descriptions Too

Keyword Research

It takes some work for a small site.

For a site with thousands of SKUs,

it’s a big task.

How Much Effort Can you Spend?

• Every page and section?

• Category pages only?

• Category Pages and high-priority

product pages?

Deciding Which Pages To Optimize

• How many SKUs?

• What are your top sellers?

• What has the highest margin?

• Do you need to tell a story?

• What’s the search traffic?

• What resources do you have?

Keyword Research Methods

1. Google Keyword Planner

2. SEMrush’s Keyword Magic

3. Moz’s Keyword Explorer

4. SEMrush’s competitor reports

5. Amazon product listings

6. Internal Search

Mapping Keywords to Content

Buying Stage Asset Type Keyword Type Example

Awareness Category Page General + Broad Tents

ConsiderationCategory or

Product PageLong-tail Pop Up Tents

Decision Product PagesLong-tail +

commercial intentBuy Coleman

Pop Up Tent

If you don’t perform keyword

research, you still need to

keyword optimize

Template for Creating Keywords

[Brand] + [Model Name/Series] +

[Descriptor] + [Generic Product Term]

For example:

[Acme] + [Lagoon Series] +

[blue] + [widget]

Tent example:

[Coleman] + [Sundome] +

[4 person] + [tent]

Template for Creating Keywords

Primary Keyword

[Brand] + [Model Name/Series] +

[Descriptor] + [Generic Product Term]

Secondary Keyword

[Descriptor] + [Generic Product Term]

Characteristics of Top Product

Descriptions

Content Length

It’s going to vary based on a few factors:

1. Types of products you sell

2. How much have your competitors

written?

3. How many words do your keywords

take up?

Don’t Write a Wall of Text

Don’t Write a Wall of Text

Don’t Write a Wall of Text

Be Mobile Friendly

Content Freshness

Photo Credit: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/freshness-update/

Let’s Get Down to The Writing

Don’t Stuff This Up

KEYWORD: Frigidaire French-door

refrigerator

VARIANT 1: 30-inch Frigidaire

French-door refrigerator

VARIANT 2: stainless steel Frigidaire

French-door refrigerator

Speak To Your Audience

If you’re selling a high-end luxury

brand you may opt for a more

lifestyle/aspirational tone:

“Wear this Michael Kors cashmere

sweater as you board your private

jet for a weekend in Dubai.”

Feature/Benefit Writing

Keep a Positive Tone

DON’T: This Maytag microwave’s

built-in crisper ensures foods won’t

get soggy.

DO: This Maytag microwave’s built-in

crisper ensures crisp foods that are

perfectly cooked.

Start Strong

DON’T: This durable Urban Armor

case protects your phone from

scratches and dings.

DO: Protect your phone from

scratches and dings with this durable

Urban Armor case.

Stay in The Present

DON’T: This PlayStation controller

will make marathon gaming sessions

more enjoyable.

DO: This PlayStation controller

makes even marathon gaming

sessions more enjoyable.

Employ Storytelling

"It’s possible a 4-panel hat constructed by

hand, with love, for a larger-than-life

character named Stormy Kromer could have

been as iconic. We’ll never know. Ida stitched

together 6-panels in 1903, and the rest is

history. Rich, warm, wonderfully-fitted history.

Few things age perfectly. This is one of

them.”https://bushsmarts.com

Let Your Brand Shine Through

"Campers of comfort. We know how horrid

it is when your sleeping bag feels like a

straight jacket. So we’ve made sure ours

are super soft and wide enough for the

most fidgety of feet.”

https://www.anorakonline.co.uk/

Conclusion