Most small stores paste the manufacturer's description, which means the identical text appears on every competitor's site and adds nothing. A description that sells answers what the specification cannot: who it suits, what it replaces, what people get wrong when ordering, and how it compares to the alternative on the same page.
The manufacturer copy problem
It arrives with the product, it is accurate, and it is on every other site selling the same item.
Two consequences. Search engines have no reason to prefer your page over the twenty carrying identical text, and the visitor learns nothing they could not learn elsewhere, so the decision comes down to price.
Keeping the specification is right, since people need it. The mistake is treating it as the description rather than as a table underneath one.
What to add
Who it is for and who it is not
The most useful sentence on most product pages. "Suits standard residential installations; for anything above two storeys you want the heavier gauge version." That is knowledge from doing the work and no manufacturer writes it.
What it replaces
For parts and consumables, the question is compatibility rather than quality. Listing what it fits, what it supersedes, and how to check saves a return and frequently a phone call.
The mistake people make ordering it
Whatever you find yourself explaining repeatedly. Wrong size, wrong fitting, needing two rather than one, needing an adapter as well. Putting it on the page reduces returns and reads as expertise.
How it compares to the one next to it
Where you sell three versions, the customer is choosing between them and usually cannot. A sentence on each explaining who should pick it does more than three sets of specifications.
What is actually in the box
Sounds trivial and it is a frequent cause of complaints. Whether fixings are included, whether it needs anything else to work, and whether installation is required.
Structure
People scan product pages harder than any other kind, so the order matters more than the prose.
- One line saying what it is and who it suits. Above anything else.
- Three to five bullets covering the points that decide the purchase.
- The full specification, as a table, below the useful content rather than instead of it.
- Compatibility or sizing, where relevant, stated plainly.
- What is included, explicitly.
A visitor who reads only the first line and the bullets should be able to decide, which is how most of them will read it.
Length
Longer for considered purchases, shorter for reorders.
Someone buying a replacement filter they have bought before needs compatibility confirmation and nothing else, and a long description gets in the way. Someone choosing between three unfamiliar options needs help choosing.
The test is what question the buyer arrives with. Confirming a known item needs brevity; choosing between unknowns needs explanation.
Writing without being a copywriter
The material is in what you already say.
Whoever answers your phone explains these products several times a week. Record yourself answering the three questions customers ask about an item, and the description is in the transcript. It will be plainer than marketing copy and more useful, which is the correct trade.
The same applies to photographs, where your own images of the item in context beat the manufacturer's studio shot for exactly the same reason, covered in product photography on a budget.
What to avoid
- Adjective stacking. Premium, high-quality, durable, professional-grade. Every competitor uses them, so they carry no information.
- Claims you cannot support, particularly about performance or lifespan.
- Copying a competitor's description, which has the same duplication problem plus a copyright one.
- Burying the compatibility information below a wall of prose, since it is the thing most buyers are actually checking.
- Leaving items with no description at all, which happens on stores with many products and produces pages with nothing to rank on.
Where to start with a large catalogue
Not everywhere at once. Sort by what sells and rewrite the top twenty properly.
The rest can keep the manufacturer text until they earn attention. A store with twenty genuinely good product pages and two hundred adequate ones is in a considerably better position than one where every page is identical to a competitor's.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the manufacturer's product description?
As a specification underneath, yes. As the description itself it appears identically on every competitor's site, so the page offers nothing distinctive and the decision comes down to price.
What should a product description include beyond the specification?
Who it suits and who it does not, what it replaces or fits, the mistake people make when ordering it, how it compares to the versions beside it, and exactly what is in the box.
How long should a product description be?
Depends on the purchase. A reorder needs compatibility confirmation and brevity. A choice between unfamiliar options needs enough explanation to decide between them.
How do I write descriptions if I am not a writer?
Record yourself answering the three questions customers actually ask about the item. The description is in the transcript, and it will be plainer and more useful than marketing copy.
What should I avoid writing?
Stacked adjectives like premium and high-quality, which every competitor uses, unsupportable performance claims, and burying compatibility information below prose when that is what buyers are checking.
Where do I start with hundreds of products?
Sort by what actually sells and rewrite the top twenty properly. The rest can keep the manufacturer text until they earn the attention.
West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.
Product pages reading like everyone else's?
We rewrite the ones that actually sell, using what your own staff explain on the phone every week.
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