Before your customers buy a product from your online store, they’ll want to know everything they can to help them make a decision. The Product Detail Page (PDP) is your opportunity to inform your customers so they’ll feel confident buying from you.
If you’re new at creating product description pages, you might be wondering where to start. What details do you need to include? Which design layout is most effective? How do you take a new visitor to a customer?
Whether you’re a solopreneur or a micro-business owner, knowing how to create a well-balanced, effective PDP will lead to more sales and repeat customers. Here are some best practices to develop your PDPs and write product descriptions like a pro.
What is aProduct Detail Page (PDP)?
A PDP is a product detail page or a product description page. It gives your online store visitors the information they need to make a buying decision.
Online shoppers can’t physically experience or try out your product before buying. So successful online sales depend on complete, clear, and easy-to-navigate product detail pages. A well-written, well-designed PDP achieves the following:
Informs your customers
Converts visitors into buyers
Separates your product from competitors
Builds trust and confidence with your brand
Shows buyers how they will benefit from this product
Avoids misunderstandings and minimizes returns
Enhances SEO to help more people find you
Professional-looking store pages get attention and keep visitors browsing longer, boosting both your SEO and your sales volume.
The anatomy of a PDP
Every successful PDP shares a set of essential elements that work together to engage shoppers, build trust, and ultimately drive sales.
Here's a breakdown of what a successful PDP should include:
Quality product images that are clear and match your brand personality
Clear, descriptive product titles that speak to customer interests
A detailed product description, free of typos
Easy-to-find pricing information
What options are available (such as size, color, dimensions)
Customer reviews
Shipping and return information
We’ll cover each of these elements in detail.
7 essential elements of a high-converting PDP
Think of your product detail page (PDP) as a highly skilled salesperson. Each section guides a visitor toward becoming a buyer.
1. Product images
High-quality product images are a key part of any PDP. Your customers want to see clear images that show a product from different angles.
What makes great high-quality images? While professional photography is ideal, you can still achieve excellent results without a pro. Here's what to focus on:
Clarity: Images should be sharp, well-lit, and free of distracting elements.
Lifestyle photos: Show your product in use to help shoppers visualize how it fits into their lives.
Multiple angles: Show your product from various perspectives to give a complete view.
Context and scale: For larger items, use reference photos to convey size.
Detail shots: Zoom in on unique features or textures to highlight craftsmanship and quality.
Video overview: A video overview of your product can also help boost engagement.
By following these tips, your product photos will tell a story and complement the details in every other section of your description page.
Learn how to take your own product photos
2. Product titles
Come up with a compelling product title that’s clear, descriptive, and accurate. A great product title will:
Resonate with your target audience. Create a title that accurately reflects what they’re looking for.
Include relevant keywords. Including common search phrases for your products can boost your SEO and help your PDP show up more prominently in search results.
Match your brand voice. Your tone should be consistent across your site, which includes your product names.
For example, a shop selling denim jackets might use a product title like: “Distressed black denim jacket” instead of “Rock Star jacket, black”, if their target customer is more likely to be looking for distressed denim and their tone is less quirky.
Finally, make sure your PDP url slug matches your product title for consistency and SEO purposes.
3. Product description
Your product description is your chance to answer the buyer’s primary question: Why should I buy this?
Information you can include in the description:
Overview of the product
Dimensions
Size information
Benefits and uses
Make your description scannable with bullet points and subheadings, so that shoppers can find key information faster.
Include storytelling elements that bring the product to life and persuade someone who’s on the fence that their life will be better with this purchase. A great tip is to address the exact problem this product solves for the potential buyer.
Get a product description template and tips
4. Pricing and variations
Clearly display the price prominently on every product detail page.
If your product comes in different sizes, colors, dimensions, or configurations, make sure the options are easy to understand and select. Squarespace makes it easy to set up variants with an intuitive user experience.
Or consider adding a subscription option for products customers might want to reorder regularly. It’s convenient for shoppers and helps you make consistent revenue.
Additionally, always keep your inventory status up-to-date. Clearly indicate whether an item is in stock or sold out to manage customer expectations.
5. Customer reviews
Social proof comes from reviews by unbiased customers, and goes a long way in persuading other shoppers to buy. Including testimonials from satisfied customers is a great tactic to increase sales.
Collect customer reviews by sending an email to customers after their order arrives. Customize the email to go out automatically and request their candid feedback on your product or service.
6. Shipping and returns information
Clear shipping and returns information gives shoppers confidence in your business. Knowing they can return something makes them less likely to abandon their shopping cart before checkout. Make the shipping details crystal clear.
What shipping options are available?
How much do they cost?
How long will it take for a shipment to arrive?
Ease your customers’ worries by clearly explaining how to return purchases. Make your return policy easy to understand and be clear about how refunds work for your store.
See an example return policy
7. Other elements
While these additional elements are optional, they can go a long way in educating customers about a product or persuading them to purchase.
Related products: Showing related products, like drinking glasses to someone buying dishware, can increase your sales.
Videos: Videos give shoppers an even more detailed look at a product, and can be especially helpful for fabrics and clothing.
Size guides: Guides with measurements help customers feel more confident in their selection.
Social media sharing buttons: Give your customers the option to show off your product to their own followers.
FAQs: Tackle common questions about a product in advance, so customers know what to expect from the item.
PDP best practices
You now have a solid foundation for your PDP. Use these best practices below to ensure each product you sell is easy to discover and navigate.
Clear categorization
Organize your products into intuitive categories and subcategories. This helps customers quickly find what they're looking for and encourages them to browse related items.
For example, a bakery might have a vegan category and subcategories there for cookies, cakes, and cupcakes.
Mobile optimization
Optimize your PDPs for mobile devices, where many people browse and buy. That includes:
Ensuring important information shows up higher on the page
Testing the page’s functionality on a mobile device
Quick loading speeds for product photos
Easy-to-use website navigation on a device
Read our guide to designing a store for mobile commerce
SEO considerations
What search terms are people using to find products like yours? Start by brainstorming a list of search terms you think would lead someone to your site or researching common phrases on similar stores. Include those keywords in your product detail page descriptions. You can optimize your page descriptions, too.
Connect your website to Google Search Console and Google Shopping to better understand what keywords are sending people to your site and ensure your products show up in shopping searches.
Learn more about selling products on Google
Description length
It’s always safest to assume your site visitor is distracted or browsing multiple items at once. With that in mind, shorter descriptions are better.
Depending on what you sell, 100 words may be enough to educate visitors. More complex offerings will benefit from additional words, but cap descriptions at 300 words max.
Q&A or contact options
Make it simple for customers to ask questions about your products. Consider adding a FAQ section to your PDP and provide a clear way for customers to contact you for more information. User questions can help you understand what information is important to show on your PDP.
Read Squarespace’s guide on optimizing product descriptions
SEO tips for product pages
We don’t want to overlook SEO. By applying these SEO tips below to your product detail pages, you can significantly boost your traffic and conversions.
On-page optimization
Optimize each of your product description pages just as you would any other website page. At a minimum, do the following.
Add keywords to headings and subheadings
Optimize each product’s SEO title & description
Simplify page URLs and make them match the product title
Blogging for SEO
Even if not every customer reads your posts, search engines do. When you create a blog with SEO in mind, search engines may rank some of your most relevant posts.
This is a great way for new customers to discover your store. Create blog content around your products, like closet organization or styling tips for a clothing store. If it makes sense, you can link back to your product pages.
Internal and external linking
In addition to linking from blogs to product pages, cross-link to related products from other pages when possible. This is where displaying related products or linking your products from your social media can be helpful.
Linking back to your store from other legitimate sites helps build your website’s trustworthiness in search.
Get more SEO tips for online stores
Squarespace resources and tools for PDPs
Squarespace has a full range of features, resources, and tools for creating effective product descriptions and PDPs.
Product gallery features can streamline your product page setup process.
Inventory management tools simplify running your shop and tracking your inventory.
Browsable templates make it easier to come up with great ideas for your own store design.
Mobile device features allow you to create mobile-optimized PDPs while staying on brand.
Squarespace AI and Brand Identity can help you create effective, on-brand product descriptions quickly.
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