The art of creating high-quality product descriptions on Amazon: how to convey value through text

Value is a very subjective concept. For one person, it is about functionality (convenience/ease of use and frequency of use), for another, it is about status or fashion, and for a third, it is about price. The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle. But one thing is clear enough: a product description on Amazon that doesn’t give the buyer information about value is doomed to failure.

How can you convey value through text? We’ll tell you in this article.

Description and Product Description

Let’s start with the basics: in which part of the listing (product card) our text will be placed. This is a common issue of confusion, especially among those who are just starting to enter marketplaces.

Because Description can mean both product information and a meta tag (a term from SEO – search engine optimization).

From an SEO perspective, Description is what the user sees in the search results.

The Description meta tag is usually not long (about 140-150 characters). It is formed from keywords (user search queries).

On the product page, we can find similar data in the product name and in the About this item section.

Please note: the information from the meta tag is similar to what we specify in the title and description

Actually, we are interested in the About this item section, because its content has the maximum impact on the decision of our customer. If the information in this section is incomplete, not convincing enough, and does not reveal the value of the product, we can assume that we have lost a potential customer.

Where can we get confused here , you may ask? The fact is that the product description on Amazon can also be detailed (full). And it can be placed much lower on the page (after the “Similar Products” block, recommendations, and other information that you can customize).

And it’s important for us to distinguish between “short” and “long” descriptions, as they have different purposes and their own limitations.

How to create a product description on Amazon

To begin with, let’s refer to the Quick Start Style Guide, where you can find information about the restrictions. So, the platform prohibits the following information in the description

• personal and contact information (seller’s name, e-mail, and other methods of communication)
• recommendations and reviews;
• links to your own or third-party websites;
• information about the company.

We do not recommend using:

• information about other products you sell;
• advertising phrases, in particular, qualitative adjectives (“the best”, “beautiful”, “perfect”, etc.)
• information about discounts, sales, delivery, prices, and information that is linked to a specific date (for example, the start date of a training);
• phrases that fall under the category of “subjective opinion”.

Other restrictions include a ban on the use of HTML tags, except for those allowed by the platform (we’ll talk about them below) and a 2000-character limit.

It is also clear that the text cannot contain profanity or offensive language, appeals, or inaccurate information. Amazon is very strict about this and quickly blocks sellers who violate internal regulations.

What is recommended to include in the Description

First, of course, keywords. We have already written a lot about how SEO optimization of product cards of online stores is carried out, where to look for and how to collect keys. We will not repeat ourselves.

Second, let’s get back to value. It can be revealed through

advantages/characteristics and benefits. And although these concepts are often equated, they are not interchangeable.

Characteristics are something that can be expressed in numbers: weight, volume, dimensions, equipment, etc.

An example of how to present characteristics in a table

Of course, such data is important when making a choice, but it doesn’t sell. Therefore, it’s a bad idea to fill the About this item section with only the characteristics. This is not enough to reveal the value and convince the audience to choose your product.

Irrational use of description opportunities (lack of value)

Therefore, to engage the audience through text, we use advantages (what distinguishes our product from competitors) and benefits (what a person gets when using it).

For example: “Saves time” is a benefit, and “with personalized laser engraving ” is an advantage.

How to create the perfect description text

First, as always, we look at the competitors and how they present their product. We write down their strengths and weaknesses in a table.

The second source of ideas is user questions. For example:

• “In which country is this made?
• What special features does this thing have?
• How ergonomic and comfortable is this product?
• How unusual can this item be used?
• How strong and durable is the product?
• Is it suitable for a gift?

Alternatively, you can ask ChatGPT to write a text description for your product. The result of the AI’s work is unlikely to be perfect, but at least it will allow you to get inspired and find non-obvious points among the target audience’s requests.

Don’t forget about keywords – they are the perfect clue to help you understand what your potential customers really want.

Using HTML tags in product descriptions on Amazon

If you use text without HTML markup, it will look like a solid “canvas”. That is, without paragraphs and indents. To add them, we use the <br> tag.

The SellerApp tool – Product Description Editor – will help you create HTML markup. This is a simple and intuitive editor, and you don’t need to know the intricacies of the hypertext markup language to use it.

Another important formatting tip: write the block name in capital letters – it attracts attention. You can also use some symbols (like the “check mark” in the example above).

4-5 advantages/benefits will be enough. Make them in a list format, indented.