Writing product pages that sell

The situation

A Surat saree wholesaler has started selling to retail buyers online. Three thousand designs, most in four to six colours. The product pages say "Beautiful georgette saree, latest design, best quality". Buyers message on WhatsApp to ask the length, whether a blouse piece is included, how to wash it, and whether the colour is really that bright. Each question is a sale at risk, and the team spends the day answering the same ones.

A product page should answer those questions before they are asked.

The structure

Title: what it is, plainly

Use the words a buyer would type. "Georgette saree with zari border, 6.3 m, with blouse piece" works better than "Royal Elegance Saree". Put the most important words first. Keep brand names and design codes for the end if you use them at all.

The first two lines

Under the price, say in one or two sentences what the product is and who it suits. "A lightweight georgette saree with a woven zari border, easy to drape and suited to evening functions. Comes with an unstitched blouse piece." Most buyers read only this part before deciding whether to scroll.

The facts, in a list

Lists are easier to scan than paragraphs. For a saree:

• Fabric: georgette
• Length: 5.5 m saree, 0.8 m blouse piece
• Border: woven zari, 3 cm
• Care: dry clean recommended
• Weight: about 550 g

For packaged goods, include the net quantity and the other declarations your products need. For electronics, include compatibility, connector, wattage and warranty terms.

Size and fit

For clothing, a size chart with measurements in centimetres and inches, right on the page. Say how the garment fits ("relaxed fit; if between sizes, choose the smaller") if you know.

Delivery and returns, in one place

"Ships in 1 to 2 days from Surat. Delivery in 3 to 6 days for most pincodes. Returns within 7 days if unused, with tags." Use your actual policy and times. Link to the full policy.

Photos that match the words

Every colour named in the variants should have a photo. If the page says "with blouse piece", show the blouse piece.

Writing the description

Write as you would explain the product to a customer in your shop. Short sentences. Concrete details: thread count, where it was made, how it was printed, what it goes with. Avoid empty words like "premium" and "best quality" unless you can say why.

A useful test: remove the product name. If a reader can no longer tell which product the description is about, it is too general.

Search basics

• SEO title. The product title plus one useful detail, under about 60 characters.
• Meta description. One or two sentences that would make you click, under about 155 characters.
• Image alt text. Describe the photo plainly: "Maroon georgette saree with gold zari border, draped".
• One page per product. Variants of the same product (colours, sizes) belong on one page, which beats ten near identical pages.

On ShopenUp, basic SEO fields for product and category pages are there from day one.

For large catalogues

With thousands of products, writing each page by hand is not realistic. Build a template in a spreadsheet: one column per fact (fabric, length, border, care), and a short description pattern that pulls those facts into sentences. Then have someone read and improve the top two hundred products by sales. Those pages earn most of the revenue and deserve the care.

Limits

A better page will not fix a product people do not want or a price that is too high. And it takes time to see the effect in search, often weeks. What it does do, quickly, is cut the number of "what is the length?" messages and wrong size returns.

Checklist

• Titles use the words buyers type, most important first.
• Two line summary under the price.
• Facts in a list: material, size, care, weight, compatibility.
• Size chart on the page for clothing.
• Delivery times and return terms stated.
• A photo for every colour and every item mentioned.
• SEO title, meta description and alt text filled.
• Top two hundred products read and improved by a person.

For how the storefront shows these pages on phones, see storefront.