Online Success 3: Make Your Product Listings Stand Out

October 01, 2024

An Example of Online Product Excellence

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Alex is a successful drop-shipper, which means he presents and promotes products online and a supplier ships directly to the customer. Alex gets his cut, the supplier gets theirs, and the customer gets the product within the expected time frame. But what makes Alex so successful? It’s not because he’s a drop-shipper; it’s his exceptional online product presentation. He invests time crafting superior product listings. Search engines have learned that people like the content he creates, so they send more traffic his way.

How Does Alex's Example Apply to You?

Even if your business model differs from Alex’s, you’re probably competing with other retailers to sell the same, or similar, products. Unless your business model sells only products made by and exclusive to you, there are hundreds or even thousands of competitors out there. How can you be successful with so much competition? There are a lot of different approaches, but you need to do what Alex does with his product listings. You’re going to make your products more appealing than the other guy's, even though they're the same products.

Eight Ways to Succeed with Your Product Listings

Here are some areas we strongly recommend focusing on to make your products stand out:

Detailed Titles - This is one of the most important things you can do for your products! The manufacturer might title the product the same as a code or manufacturer ID, or might use a very simple name. You want your titles to be meaningful to your target audience. Make sure you include the full name of the item and possibly even the product line. Longer names are better because those keywords go into the URL for the page, and the search engines give those priority, so make sure yours are as complete as possible.
High-Quality Images - Manufacturers often provide only mediocre images of their products. Invest in professional-level photos capturing the product from multiple angles with some close-ups. Depending on your product, it might be beneficial to take lifestyle shots that show your product in a real-world situation. However you take your pictures, make sure you’re consistent with the lighting and style to strengthen your brand identity. After all your hard work getting great images, consider using an image-editing tool like Photoshop, Canva, or Pixlr to add your logo or a watermark. Part 5 of this series goes into more detail on this, but here are some tips for great images:
- Use proper lighting, (preferably in natural light).
- Keep the focus on the product, not the background.
- Pictures should use a high resolution and maintain clarity at different sizes. JPG and PNG are great formats to use.
- Maintain color accuracy as much as possible.
- Edit thoughtfully to maintain authenticity.

A great example of improving on the manufacturer-provided images is often seen in stores selling fabrics. Most retailers use only the manufacturer-provided image, typically a close-up of the pattern. To stand out, provide pictures that highlight the print, the size of the pattern, the detail of the fabric material, and how the fabric drapes. If the fabric is part of a collection, include a photo of the collection together. And if you have a picture of something made using that fabric, include that, too.

Often, shoppers will spend more with sellers offering a lot of compelling pictures than they will from sellers who give them the bare minimum.

Complete Meta Descriptions - In Rain POS, the product Meta Descriptions are provided to the search engines as primary SEO Descriptions. Search Engine Optimization is an important element of your marketing, so make sure you get all of the key details of the product into your meta descriptions. When critical to the product listing, include the full product name, product line, designer, manufacturer, sizing, weight, or other key details your customers would need to commit to purchasing without having to read a long description . The meta description is one of the first things search engines look for when indexing your pages; doing this well will ensure more shoppers find your store.
Compelling Product Descriptions - While not as critical to grabbing the attention of your shoppers as the title or meta description, a good product description can seal the deal on a sale. The manufacturer description is a good start, but you’ll see a higher return rate by writing your own and telling your customers why you love the product. Plus, you’ll be able to sprinkle in your well-researched keywords.

Consider including multimedia options in your long descriptions. Include videos, 360° views, or related materials in your listings. If you make your own videos, upload them to social media and put it in your Long Description to improve your SEO rankings. Pages with video or other multimedia content have better search relevancy than those without.

Break your product descriptions into easily digested blocks of information using bullet points or paragraph breaks. List technical specs, dimensions, materials, and other details to inform and build trust with your customers.

A Wealth of Suggested Products - Consider how you shop online. If you're like most shoppers, you search for an item you want, but you actually buy from the list of suggested products. It's in your best interest to Offer Suggested Products with each listing. Don't simply include similar items, also include add-ons (need a stick bag for those new Vic Firth drumsticks?) and unexpected things that market to online shoppers’ tendency for impulse-buys. They'll be thrilled to have made the find, and your bottom line will grow.
Competitive Pricing and Promotions - Online shoppers love deals, such as discounts that go up with spending, free shipping, and gifts with certain purchase levels. Incentives like that can inspire loyalty, and should definitely be things you consider when building your marketing strategy. Don't like the idea of eating shipping cost? It may be a necessary marketing expense on today's internet. Make this expense work for you by offering free shipping for orders over a certain amount. Seven or eight out of ten online shoppers are most likely to buy where free delivery is offered. That's a number you can't afford to ignore, so make sure you incorporate this into your website and let your visitors know!
Customer Reviews and Experience - Customer Experience is huge. Shoppers can choose where they buy and they'll choose the best experience every time, take a look at these 50 statistics for omni-channel retailing online. One key way you can improve the experience of your customers is to clearly provide your policies on things like shipping and returns. Make them easy to find and customer-friendly and you'll start building loyalty. It’s also a great idea to allow customer reviews and then showcase the ones that are really positive on your product pages. Allow your customers to post text and photos/videos in their reviews to really engage other shoppers. Most online shoppers will spend at least a little bit of time reading product reviews so having fantastic reviews can really help sell your products. And, for reviews that aren’t so great, think about responding in a professional way to mend the fences with disgruntled shoppers.
Multi-Pathway Marketing - One of the best things you can do for your products is offer your website visitors multiple ways to get to them. List your products in multiple Categories. Use the Web Marketing Modules and put them on tons of your site pages. Start writing a blog and link to your products from there, and do the same thing on your Facebook and other social media sites. The more pathways you create, the more ways your visitors will have to get to whatever products they love!

Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? Hopefully this is a labor of love for you, but even if it's just labor, it's effort worth expending because over time, it will pay off. Customers will begin to rely on you for having the best listings, and that's where you want to be. All of this effort is building your brand, and the more exposure and prestige you can build, the more revenues you'll bring in. If you make a habit of putting in the work to make each of your products stand above listings by your competitors, the search engines will notice, and will serve up your links ahead of the competition's.

By consistently enhancing your product listings, you'll build brand loyalty, attract more visitors, and improve search engine rankings. Over time, your efforts will pay off with increased visibility and sales. Focus on delivering the best experience, and customers will return again and again.