You copy the description from the manufacturer’s website, upload it and move on to the next product. Makes sense - you have 500 items. The problem is that the same text sits on fifty other sites, Google doesn’t know which one to rank, and the customer can’t find an answer to their question and leaves. Here’s how to write descriptions that both rank and sell.
Why a copied description costs you
Three reasons, each of which is enough on its own. SEO: duplicate content doesn’t rank - Google shows the original or the most authoritative site, which is rarely you. Conversion: the manufacturer’s technical spec lists features but doesn’t answer “is this for me?”. Differentiation: if your text is the same as your competitor’s, all that’s left is to compete on price - the battle you’re most likely to lose in e-commerce.
The structure that works
1. First sentence: who it’s for and what it solves
Not “Model XR-200 with 1200W power”, but “A vacuum cleaner for homes with pets that picks up hair from carpets without clogging”. Customers should understand within the first two seconds whether the product is for them.
2. Benefits before features
The feature is “1200W”. The benefit is “pulls fine dust particles from deep in the carpet”. The rule: after every spec, ask yourself “so what does that mean for the buyer?” and write down the answer.
3. Specs in a separate, scannable block
Technical data matters to people comparing products - but it belongs in a table or list, not in the middle of a sentence. That way both people and Google can read it more easily.
4. Answer the objections
Every product has three or four questions that stop the purchase: “will it fit me?”, “how long does the battery really last?”, “does it work on a ceramic hob?”, “what’s the return period?”. Answering them in the description cuts both lost sales and the calls you get.
5. The customer’s language, not the catalogue’s
People search for “laptop for students” and “shoes for wide feet”, not “portable computing system”. Real search analysis shows the exact wording - and that wording should appear in your descriptions too.
The SEO side of things
Unique text
Even two or three rewritten sentences are better than copy-paste. Start with the products that bring in the most revenue.
Product schema
Price, availability and ratings in structured data - that’s how Google shows stars and the price right in the search results.
Alt text
Describe what’s visible, including the brand and model. Google Images is an underrated channel for online stores.
Customer reviews
Free, unique content that grows on its own and builds trust at the same time.
We explain how all of this fits into a complete store strategy in SEO for online stores.
And when you have 2,000 products?
You don’t write them all at once - that’s the trap where most stores give up. The approach that works is prioritisation:
Category pages first - they bring in most of the organic traffic, and there are about twenty of them, not two thousand. Then the top 50 products by revenue and by traffic in Analytics. Next, new arrivals, while they’re still current. The rest - a few a week, as a routine. For similar items you can build a good template with real variables (material, size, use), as long as it doesn’t turn into a text assembly line where everything sounds the same.
One really good description of a product that sells is worth more than two hundred auto-generated ones for items nobody searches for.
About AI - honestly
AI helps with the first draft, especially for a large catalogue. But raw generated text shows: generic information, no specifics, enthusiasm without substance. The process that works is for a person to provide the facts and edit the result - adding customers’ real objections, local details (Econt courier delivery, warranty) and the brand’s tone of voice. Unedited text will give you volume without sales. By the way, AI search engines are also more willing to cite specific content - see how AI systems read websites.
Conclusion
The formula is simple: who the product is for, what it solves, why buy from you, answers to objections, specs in a readable format. Start with categories and top products - that’s where the effect is fastest and most measurable.
No time for 500 descriptions? That’s exactly the work we do - copywriting for online stores. Write to us with what you sell and we’ll suggest a prioritised plan.
