Product descriptions! Is there anything more boring than writing texts for the products in the shop? Does anyone even read the texts, or are they just there for the search engine? The truth is, you may have a lot to gain by spending a little extra time and being a bit more personal in the texts.
This is a problem for many when it comes to texts in e-commerce. Your SEO consultant will tell you that you must have unique, well-written text that clearly and thoroughly describes your products and categories. On top of that, you need to have the right keywords in the text, in the right amount, absolutely not too many. You should have subheadings, and then you should also write something interesting.
All pages need static content
It is true that you need static content on all pages. So what is static content? We use the term to describe text that does not change dynamically, for example on a category page. All the small text snippets that describe the products – maybe it’s a headline, maybe it’s a price, and maybe it’s a few lines of text that describe the product. All of these are dynamic content on the category page. They will change when products are added or removed, and the order may change when a new bestseller rises to the top. In many ways, the category page resembles a search result – it is a search in your store for all products that match that category. Here, too, you need text that does not change all the time, which describes the category. This applies to all pages, and product pages need their descriptions if they are to perform well in Google.
Your content must not be copied
It is possible to rank even with duplicate content, but it will be yet another obstacle to good visibility. It is possible to compensate with other factors, but if you want the easiest journey possible, you need to have unique content.
Your texts need to be as interesting as possible
In the best of worlds, your product descriptions would captivate the reader, who just has to read one more chapter. Of course, that’s rarely the case, but there are good reasons to be as interesting as you can. Aaron brought this up in SEOkliniken and raised an idea that is not very common. If you have products that lend themselves to a bit of fun, then it might be time to be personal in your texts. Watch the video, because you probably haven’t thought about the questions he raises.
How long do the texts need to be?
The real question here is how much information the text needs to contain. It is not the length itself that matters. The more and fuller information about the product or category, the better, and in theory it should make no difference whether you manage to convey that information with a single sentence or with a whole thesis.
In practice, it does not quite work that way. It is difficult to include all the nuances of SEO in a single sentence, which is why sometimes you need to write a whole guide just about body text. This means that often the one with a longer text has a greater advantage. Simply because it is easier to bring up more important aspects of the subject in a larger article, it almost happens by itself.
Text is hard work
It can be both expensive and hard to keep adding material. It is difficult in product texts to compete with so much other text that exists on the internet. If you have ten thousand products, it is rarely reasonable that they are all as well thought out as a campaign from the communications department. Here, you need to find a golden middle way. One way is to hire a service for it. For example, we have a collaboration that aims to produce text and translations as cost-effectively as possible. Check the articles below if you are interested in more information about these:
If you want to delve further, I suggest this article on Content for E-commerce where we talk with Tore Friskopp, a veteran in the field.
Magnus Bråth
Consultant & Adviser
Magnus is one of the world's most prominent search marketing specialists and primarily works with management and strategy at his agency Brath AB.