Standing out on Amazon is becoming increasingly difficult.

Today, there are more than 500 million products for sale on the site, which means the competition is fierce. Getting products in front of as many people as possible is crucial for sellers that want to stand the test of time.

But getting visitors to your product pages is only the first hurdle. After that, you have to convince shoppers that your product is the product for them and provide everything they need to click “add to cart”.

This means optimizing your product descriptions so that they are clear and concise, giving shoppers all the information they need, and gently nudging them to transition from browser to customer.

If you didn’t know already, your product descriptions are a vital touchpoint in the sales cycle. They mark the point where prospects qualify your products and compare them to competitor offerings. They can also help you rank well on Amazon search results, which will attract new customers.

Here’s a guide to making sure your product descriptions are the best they can be so you can get the results you want.

First Things First… Who Are Your Customers?

Knowing exactly who your customers are means you can target your messaging accordingly.

Certain types of customers will place emphasis on different product benefits, and uncovering the benefits that are most important to your most valued customers will help you showcase them.

Start by creating customer personas.

These are profiles of your ideal customers, including their demographic information, like location and age, as well as behavioral attributes, like why they buy from you, what they value, and what problems they are looking to solve with your products.

This helps you position your products in the right way and make sure your descriptions show that you really understand your customers’ wants and needs.

Now that you know who your customers are, you can start optimizing your product descriptions.

Here’s how:

1. Talk About the Benefits

Most consumers are more concerned with how a product will benefit them rather than the features it has. Unfortunately, most sellers tend to focus mostly on the features. This is where you can stand out. Instead of listing off what your product has, try outlining what it does and how it helps instead.

For example, if you sell easy-to-assemble vacuums with removable heads that get to hard-to-reach places, think about highlighting how much time they save and how they make vacuuming easy.

Standard Amazon listings have a featured bullet point section where you can present the most important features of your products. These are limited to five, so make sure you pick the features that are most important to your target customers (you can use your customer personas to determine this).

2. Implement Keyword Research

Keywords will help your products rank on Amazon and Google searches. The key is to use words and phrases that are regularly searched for by your customers and sprinkle them throughout your product descriptions and titles.

Getting your products on the first page of Amazon search results for relevant terms is important considering that only 30% of shoppers make it to page two.

You can use an Amazon keyword tool to dig into the keywords that shoppers are using the most, but you’ll need to get some inspiration first. Start by researching 10-20 of the trending items in categories related to your products. Checking out the “most gifted” and “most wished for” sections of each category can go a long way in showing you what keywords are most prevalent.

Make a list of the words that crop up the most. Once you’ve got a long list of potential keywords, run them through a keyword tool to find out which ones have the highest search volume.

3. Use Formatting Devices to Make Descriptions Scannable

Consumers today are busier than ever before and will rarely have the time to wade through reams of text about your product. Instead, they want to digest information as quickly as possible to make instant buying decisions.

This is why it’s important to make sure your product descriptions can easily be scanned. This might involve implementing bulleted lists to highlight the main benefits, incorporating other devices, like bolding keywords, and breaking up text with images and other visual elements.

4. Clear and Concise is Best

Busy consumers want information quickly.

Our clients at Urtasker find that shorter, snappier descriptions are most effective. Conveying the most important information first gives customers a quick overview of whether your product is the right fit for them.

You can then expand on the different features and benefits further down the description for shoppers who are more detailed oriented.

5. Spend Time on Your Product Titles

Your product titles are just as important as your product descriptions, and creating engaging, eye-catching titles will ensure your products get more click throughs. Remember, your titles are what potential customers are most likely to come across first as they’re running their searches, so make sure yours stand out.

As a general rule, try and keep your titles under 200 characters in length, but use that space to clearly explain what customers can expect when they click through into your product listing.

Your product titles are a great place to incorporate keywords, too.

6. Inject Brand Personality

Personality is important on Amazon since the majority of product listings all look the same. It also helps you stand out against competitors that are selling similar products.

While you should definitely incorporate keywords into your product descriptions, you should also try and make them as human as possible. Try using a conversational tone to describe your product and use words that you would use if you were talking to a potential buyer in person.

This will let buyers know you understand them, build brand trust, and create robust customer relationships.

7. Leverage Amazon’s A+ Pages Feature

Amazon’s A+ Pages feature allows sellers to create product listings that stand out. Instead of following the standard listing layout, brands are able to incorporate visual elements and craft stories around their products.

Like this example above, it allows sellers to add multiple images, create lightboxes to showcase features, and add other visual elements that will attract and engage potential buyers.

What’s more, A+ Pages can help you increase sales. According to Amazon, they can boost the amount of products you sell from 3% to 10% or more, depending on the quality of your listing and products.

8. Use Videos, High Quality Images, and Reviews

Images are just as important as the text in your product descriptions. This is because customers can’t touch or see a product in-person before they buy, so they rely on visuals to get a feel for it instead.

To get the best results, make sure you use only high-quality images of your product that show it off from every angle. You can also incorporate videos to showcase your products in action and weave in positive reviews throughout your descriptions to instil customer confidence in your brand.

Create Product Descriptions That Sell

Your product descriptions mark one of the most pivotal parts of the sales cycle. This is where browsers choose to become customers – but this will only happen if your product descriptions are persuasive enough.

The key is to provide potential buyers with all the information they need to move forward. This includes highlighting the benefits of your products, putting the most important information first, and incorporating visual elements.

Schedule your free 30 minute Amazon Listing Optimization Amazon Listing Optimization consultation today.