A product description is the text on a product detail page that explains what an item is, what it does and how it is used. In SEO it is the content base of the product page, and it is reused in product markup and in feeds.
What belongs in a product description?
Shopify’s help center names specifications such as size, material and weight, practical applications, advantages with supporting information, and background details. Technical data works well as a list. Price, availability and shipping usually sit in their own page elements outside the text.
The description appears in three places: the visible page text, the description property in Product markup, and the product feed for Merchant Center, where a description is a required attribute. Google says that providing both markup and a feed helps it understand and verify the data, so the three versions should say the same thing.
When many stores use the same manufacturer text, the pages offer nothing that sets them apart, and Google may show another store’s version instead. That outcome is an assessment, since Google does not publish a rule for manufacturer texts. WooCommerce and others advise against copying supplier descriptions. Writing your own text that answers customer questions gives a page its own content.
Google names no minimum length for product descriptions.
Example
Instead of “High-quality backpack with lots of space”, a useful description states volume (28 liters), weight (820 g), material (recycled nylon, water-repellent) and fit (day hikes, laptop sleeve up to 15 inches).
Common mistakes
- Promotional text in the description field. Google says not to include price, sale price, sale dates or shipping in the description. Dedicated attributes exist for them.
- Links and URLs. Google does not want website URLs in the description. The link attribute exists for that.
- All caps, gimmicky symbols and keyword stuffing. Google lists emphasis in capital letters, gimmicky characters and keyword stuffing as patterns to avoid.
- Comparisons and company references. Comparisons with competing products and references to the company name or business policies do not belong in the field, according to Google.
FAQ
How do I write a good product description? State the facts buyers need before purchase, such as size, material and use, in your own words and with the terms your customers search for.
How long should a product description be? Google gives no length requirement. The text should answer the questions a buyer has about the product.
Sources
- Product structured data – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
- Free listings for products – Merchant Center Helpsupport.google.com
- Product descriptions – Shopify Help Center (secondary)help.shopify.com
- Top Nine SEO Tips for Ecommerce Stores – WooCommerce (secondary)woocommerce.com
- Description [description] and structured description – Merchant Center Helpsupport.google.com
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