Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions

Transcription

1 Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions

2 A number of enterprise clients have asked us to help them quantify the value of having unique product descriptions on their product pages. In response to these queries we ve put together the following information to demonstrate the increased revenue you can obtain from optimizing those descriptions for both your consumers and the search engines. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 1

3 First, we ll refer to the online practice of duplicating content from another website or an original source. Google does not approve of duplicate content, and penalizes websites by demoting their potential rank position in the search engine results pages. The first major algorithmic change by Google to deal with duplicate content occurred with the roll out of the Panda algorithm in February 2011 to lower the rank of lowquality sites (those with unoriginal content), and thin sites (those with little to no text based readable content). Thousands of sites were affected by this change, and it is this update by Google that spawned the increasing focus on content marketing and fresh, original content by webmasters and online marketers all over the world. What does this have to do with product descriptions and product pages? Here are three simple yet startling connections: Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 2

4 1 2 3 Product pages are essentially very powerful landing pages. As the final pages your customers view online before entering the cart, these landing pages need to be optimized to maximize conversions into the cart. If you think of them as mere product pages, it is likely that their importance in the customer s decision making journey and in the sales funnel will be devalued. Second, if you think about these pages as landing pages, you know that unique content that is compelling, consumer benefit focused, and engaging is far more likely to solidify positive emotions towards the brand and result in higher addto-cart and conversion rates. Knowing this is the case, it makes sense that every product being unique should have a unique description highlighting its benefits to the prospective customer. Generic product descriptions not only don t do this, they can also increase bounce and exit rates. Finally, an unfortunate and costly oversight by many ecommerce sites is their utilization of manufacturer descriptions. Bear in mind that these descriptions are copied and used by hundreds of other retailers online (ergo duplicate content many times over) not only potentially causing the application of a filter, but also confusion on the search engines part as to which website s page to include in the results. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 3

5 Google is simply never going to include 10 different web pages that have exactly the same product and the same description in the top ten consecutive positions of its search results that would be an appalling experience for Google s users. Google is going to choose one, and you want that result to be yours. Manufacturer descriptions are also in most cases focused on the specifications of the product in question meaning there are no end user reasons to believe, no benefits, nothing compelling, nothing that builds an emotional connection. We refer you to the following landing page test aimed at improving conversion rates: Version A, Site Security: Attempted LOGO A LOGO B to reduce anxiety by using security seals Version B, [Product] Specifications: Highlighted compatibility by illustrating the product is multi-device friendly Version C, Description: Provided a synopsis of the content to help customers determine if the e-book would suit their LOGO C LOGO D interests at the top of the page Version D, Shipping [Access] Time: Emphasized quick accessibility to the product upon purchase Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 4

6 78% Relative Increase in Conversion VERSION CONVERSION RATE % RELATIVE CHANGE Control 1.92% Version A: Site Security 2.56% 33.4% Version B: [Product] Specification 2.29% 19.1% Version C: Description 3.42% 78.0% Version D: Shipping [Access] Time 2.35% 22.5% The variation with the unique, compelling description outperformed all other variations of the test increasing conversion rates by 78%. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 5

7 The second overwhelming reason for unique product descriptions is the need to build positive emotional connections with your audience. Regardless of what they are purchasing, most people want to feel valued and understood, and they want to be able to implicitly trust the brand from whom they are purchasing. Personified brands build emotional connections, have higher than average life-time value and retention rates, and engender more positive sentiment than non-engaging brands. Part of personifying your brand is story-telling. When people can relate to a product, when they can align themselves with the brand and other customers, they are likely to feel less reluctance to purchase. Have a look at the following two examples: Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 6

8 1 Raven+Lily is a fashion store that employs atrisk women in developing countries and sells their handmade products. A few years ago, they decided to redesign their site so they could better connect with their customers and make it easier for them to purchase their products. They employed storytelling (see source). The emphasis on storytelling drove a 150% increase in online sales over a two year period. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 7

9 2 Whipping Post continued to sell effectively even with more than 100% difference in price over Amazon, simply because they connect. Here s Whipping Post s description...(good!)...and here s Amazon s. Yawn. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 8

10 Third, we ve already mentioned that people want to have more information. That apparently simple fact results in a state of confusion for many ecommerce businesses due to a multitude of voices in the marketing space saying less is more, people want more, give it to them, more is better, there s no such thing as too much information, don t overload them, attention spans are decreasing, and so forth. We ll simplify what needs to be done. Your copy must be unique to facilitate search engine rankings. Be concise use the 7 second challenge to determine if your descriptions have the great headlines and bulleted content so value propositions resonate within your audience s attention span. Your CTA should always be in close proximity to your image and description Tell stories to build emotional connections and focus on the consumer not the product both in the description and in the imagery. The result is applicable, compelling, concise content that speaks to your audience. Final note beware of adjectives; use verbs instead. See the example on the next page. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 9

11 ? Which would you buy? There s no right answer here, it just illustrates the point we ve been making. This cute, little sleeping bag is perfect for your one year old baby. Your baby needs plenty of room to kick and wriggle without your worrying about him getting tangled in bedding, or kicking it off and getting cold. He ll also settle down when you re out and about because in this sleeping bag, he s always at home. Take a break. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 10

12 The final reason to utilize unique product descriptions is simply one of economies of scale. As you know, Google uses around 200 ranking factors in their algorithm (we refer to this list a few times below). There does however continue to be some contention around the impact and importance of Meta Descriptions. So we asked an expert. Laura Callow, our VP of Marketing, is also a member of the online faculty for the Universities of San Francisco, Notre Dame and Villanova. She was a lead contributor in the development of the first ever online courses for the Advanced Professional Internet Marketing and Advanced Search Engine Optimization certification programs utilized by all three universities. With more than 15 years of hands-on SEO experience working for numerous golden retail brands including Pampers, Dell, Rolex, Honda, QuickBooks and TurboTax, she believes that while Meta Descriptions do not directly have an impact on rankings, they most certainly have an indirect effect. Her position is two-fold: Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 11

13 1 2 A listing in the search results that has an engaging, compelling description will increase relative click through rates when compared to surrounding listings. CTR has a direct impact on rankings (#129). Also, when those Meta Descriptions are closely aligned with the actual content on a page, time on page (or dwell time - #137) will increase and bounce rates (#130) will decrease both of these have a direct impact on the page s listings in the results. The key takeaway here is that unique, compelling Meta Descriptions that support and complement on-page content are important to SEO success. If you are creating compelling product descriptions for your landing pages, which as we ve shown is highly advisable, leveraging some of that user targeted content to populate your Meta Description tags not only makes sense, but will save both time and money when it comes to full on-page optimization; you don t need to recreate the wheel when you already have great content. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 12

14 Show me the money! We need to make a few assumptions to create a realistic illustrative example of the impact to your bottom line of ensuring your content is unique, marketing focused, and ranks well. First, let s think about Google organic search results. The #1 listing gets around 30% of all clicks The top 3 positions combined get +50% of total clicks Only 8.5% of traffic makes it past the first page of Google Now let s consider conversion rates Branded and highly specific transactional terms are 3.5x more likely to convert than more generic non-branded keywords Let s apply an average of 5% conversion rate on non-branded terms (Adwords data, so probably significantly lower than that received on an organic result) This implies a 17.5% conversion rate on transactional and brand terms Finally, let s assume the following: We sell 40 different products Our average order value is $ searches for each type of product per month Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 13

15 If we apply the above information to a number 1 listing, due in part to a great product description and an optimized landing page, we get the following: 2200 searches x 50% clicks x 17.5% conversion rate x $50 = $9,625 Looking at the bigger picture, if we were to have number one rankings with unique meta data and product descriptions for all our products, that would (theoretically of course) generate incremental revenue of $385,000 per month (40x$9,625) that would otherwise potentially have gone to one or more of your competitors, simply because they showed up in Google, and you did not. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 14

16 Tying it all together If you ve been uncertain of the benefits to your business of employing unique, original, compelling product descriptions online, rest assured there are many reasons to embrace them, we reiterate the most crucial in the summary below: Unique product descriptions allow your customers to find you in the search engines without fear of a duplicate content filter. You can leverage them to create enticing Meta Descriptions which encourage search engine users to click your listing over others, leading them to an emotionally engaging landing page. Here, your story solidifies your prospects trust in your brand and their association with the value you provide and the people you serve not just the price. Utilizing unique descriptive content on your product landing pages has been conclusively proven to drive higher conversion rates when tested against noncommittal generic copy or non-compelling manufacturer descriptions. All of this means more revenue. Ecommerce: The Added Value of Original Product Descriptions 15

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