In the fast-paced world of ecommerce, a well-optimized product listing is something that can make the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity. However, companies today forget or pay little attention to certain critical aspects of their product listings that can help them secure a much-needed higher conversion and revenue.
Below are five common mistakes in ecommerce product listings and how to avoid them to ensure success:
1. Poor or Vague Product Descriptions
The Mistake: Often, product descriptions are too short and too vague. Information that’s clear and compelling can make potential customers pause or settle instead of moving on to a competitor.
How to avoid it: Develop clear, concise, and readable descriptions focused on the product’s key features, benefits, and USPs. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes – What problems does your product solve? Use bullet points for quick readability and keyword-enriched text to maximize SEO.
Pro Tip: Tell a story about how your product will enhance the life of your customer or solve a problem. For example, rather than feature-feeding, tell them how the features of your product actually translate into real-life benefits.
2. Lousy or Inadequate Product Images
The Mistake: The image quality is poor, or there are insufficient images to effectively represent the product. Online shoppers depend on an image to consider purchasing. If the image is not clear or is limited, customers would be uninterested.
How to Avoid It: Invest in high-quality product photography that shows features, and any important details of your product from every angle. Add zoomable images, lifestyle shots, and where possible, video action shots of how the product functions. All in all, use alt text for SEO optimization.
Pro Tip: You can also show your product in action through actual pictures of real-life usage, enabling a consumer to see themselves owning or using the product in a real, tangible way.
3. Lack of Adherence to Best Practices on SEO
The Mistake: Failing to optimise the product listings might lead to low search volume and thus, low visibility. So when potential customers search online, they are unable to find your product or it is appearing on a lower rank on the search page. Ignoring SEO can result in poor rankings on search engines or within ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon.
How to Avoid It: Add relevant keywords throughout the product title, description, and metadata. Research what keywords your target market searches for and include them in your copy organically. Make product titles more concise, yet keyword-rich and at the same time readable.
TIP: Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest are tools that can show you high-traffic keywords to include in your product listings.
4. Lack of Information regarding a Product
The Mistake: Avoiding to include critical information concerning a product, such as dimensions, materials, or compatibility with another product might lead to confusion among your customers. The above lack of information causes more returns, negative reviews, and loss of trust in products offered by you.
How to Avoid It: Include all relevant product details- size, weight, color options, materials, and specs like compatibility level in the case of electronics – to allow for as much necessary information as possible so you could answer some of the customer questions beforehand.
Pro Tip: Allow customer feedback and questions to guide continuous improvement of your product descriptions. Adding a FAQ section, or merely having common questions within the description, helps defuse the buyer’s apprehensions and build confidence.
5. Lack of Customer Reviews or Ratings Focus
The Error: Failure to take a focus on customer reviews or ratings, can undermine trust because customer reviews are social proof for first-time customers. No or less reviews lead to buyers being hesitant and questioning before the purchase regarding the quality of the product.
How to Avoid It: Make enthusiastic customers write reviews and ratings. Publish these on product listing pages. Photos of reviews and detailed feedbacks also help trust and credibility occur much more effectively.
Pro Tip: Respond to positive and negative reviews. You show everyone that you care about their reaction and you are willing to change their experience. This will build trust and place your brand under the spotlight of being customer-focused
A strong ecommerce product listing is a solid starting point for driving conversions with a strong ecommerce product listing. By avoiding common mistakes such as having poor descriptions, quality images missing, no SEO, incomplete product details, or ignoring customer reviews, you are optimizing listings for more visibility, sales, and satisfactory customers. Keep your product listings clear, interesting, and informative to see the benefit in your bottom line. At Love In Store (LIS), we understand the importance of detail and precision in every aspect of ecommerce management. Our expertise in creating engaging and optimized product listings ensures that your brand stands out, delivering an effortlessly enriching experience for both you and your customers.