How to Improve Product Descriptions for an Online Shop

Choose a page with a clear reason to investigate

Shortlist pages for which the business has records of customer questions or search visibility. A return reason does not, on its own, show that the description caused the return. Check whether accurate information on the page could have helped set expectations before purchase.

• Repeated enquiries: shoppers regularly ask about the same dimensions, material, compatibility, package contents or use.
• Recorded return reasons: the records are detailed enough to help identify what information might have been missing before purchase.
• Relevant search impressions: queries may suggest something worth checking on the page. They are clues, not copy to paste into the description.

For the page you select, note the URL, review date, published specifications and known customer questions. Record any other changes planned for the page, too; this will help you interpret subsequent changes in its measures with care.

Verify product details before editing

Identify a source that can confirm each product detail you plan to add. Check internal product records against manufacturer or supplier information. If a specification is uncertain, ask the colleague responsible for the item to verify it. Do not repeat an unverified claim simply because it appears in an old description or supplier feed.

Reviews and support enquiries can show what shoppers want to know or how they interpret the page, but they do not establish a product’s dimensions, composition or compatibility. If you cannot confirm an answer, record the gap and ask the appropriate colleague. Do not ask a writer to infer a specification.

Use Google Search Console for search observations

Google Search Console’s Performance report for Search results can group data by page and query, and show measures including clicks and impressions. It can help you see which searches are associated with a product page. It does not explain why someone bought or returned the product, and it does not include every question a shopper may have. See Google’s guidance on the Search results Performance report.

1. Open the Performance report and select Search results. Choose a date range that suits your review.
2. Open the Pages tab and find the product URL. If it is not listed, filter the report by page or URL.
3. Select the page row to restrict the report to that URL, then open the Queries tab. Review the related queries alongside clicks and impressions.
4. For each query, check whether it genuinely relates to the product and points to a question the page should answer. Compare your observations with support enquiries and return records.

Do not treat a filtered query list as a complete record of interest. Google notes that filtering by query or URL can affect report totals because of data truncation and omitted anonymised queries. See its guidance on advanced filtering and comparison in Search Console.

Turn customer questions into a content brief

Put each verified answer where a shopper is likely to look for it. Dimensions and materials may belong in the specifications; package contents may be clearer as a list; compatibility and limitations may need a short explanation.

For each item in the brief, record the customer’s question, the verified answer, the source used to check it, where the answer belongs on the page and who is responsible for confirming its accuracy. Mark unknown details as unresolved rather than asking the writer to fill in the gaps. This matrix is a working template, not the result of customer research.

Use precise wording and avoid repetition. If the specifications already answer a question clearly, repeating the same information in several paragraphs adds little. Search queries can help you understand how people describe a need, but they do not replace fact-checking and should not be forced into the copy.

Check structured data separately

If customers can buy the product on the page, check whether Google’s Product structured data for merchant listings applies. Google’s documentation sets out requirements and the product information that may appear, such as price and availability. Meeting the requirements may make a page eligible for certain search features; it does not guarantee that a rich result will appear. See Google’s merchant listing structured data guidance.

Compare the marked-up product name, description, price and availability with the information shoppers can see on the page. If you use this markup, test it with the Rich Results Test and check that it matches the current page content. Do not add unverified specifications, reviews or ratings. Structured data does not replace useful visible content or correct inaccurate product information.

Review the updated page

• Confirm that the page shows the intended product variant and its correct specifications.
• Compare the revised description with the sources used to verify its claims.
• Check that important answers are visible to shoppers, not only present in technical data.
• If the page uses structured data, check it separately against the visible content and current product details.

Record the publication date and what changed. Then monitor the page’s search measures separately from store data, such as enquiries about the same details or recorded return reasons, if the business keeps those records. Compare periods that are reasonably similar, and take other page or catalogue changes into account. A change after an edit does not prove that the wording alone caused it. Do not assume that a rewrite will improve rankings or sales, or reduce returns.

If you need help preparing a brief or reviewing product page content, see SEO.LISA’s SEO content writing service. Start with one page and the customer questions your business can answer using verified information.