Conversion copywriting in e-commerce – 14 rules for writing copy that sells

Sometimes changing or adding a few words on your online store’s site can bring you tens of thousands in additional revenue.

Your online store may well contain plenty of copy that lowers conversion. For instance: the error message on the order page form may be unclear to users, which can make them abandon their purchase.

In this article I’ll focus on copywriting in the context of conversion optimization (CRO). I’ll give you 14 pieces of advice on how to write so you turn visitors into buyers.

So forget copywriting in the SEO sense for a moment and focus on the fact that copy (and microcopy) is one of the most important factors driving e-commerce sales.

An underrated way of growing e-commerce sales – conversion copywriting.

One myth is that raising your e-commerce conversion rate is simply a matter of improving the store’s design, features and performance… Well, that isn’t quite how it works. 

Optimizing your copy is an equally important part of effective conversion optimization (CRO).

The words you use have an enormous effect on sales in your e-commerce business.  Good copy sells. 

Copywriting has a genuinely powerful effect on conversion and can push customers toward buying or away from it. 

Changing a few words on your online store’s site can significantly lift sales.

Example:

In the store of one of our clients, who sells glass Christmas ornaments, we tested adding the line “Safe packing guaranteed” in a visible spot on the product page and in the top bar, above the menu.

The result? Order volume up by low double-digit percentages.

14 rules of conversion copywriting for online stores

All right, let’s get to the 14 rules of conversion copywriting in e-commerce:

1. Copywriting is NOT ONLY about SEO copy. 

If you’ve associated copywriting exclusively with SEO until now, I’d encourage you to change your thinking. The words you use have an enormous effect on conversion in your e-commerce business.

2. Your copy has to focus on the customer. 

If you’re creating content, the customer (and their convenience) should be the center of attention. Not your product or your brand. 

If you’re writing a product description, for instance, tell your customers how your products can meet their needs. 

Show them what problems you solve and what benefits they get from you. Don’t focus on telling them how great your company is — you’ll scare them off.

Ask yourself whether, on all your most important pages (homepage, categories, product pages, cart, order), you’re giving customers the information they actually need.

3. Speak in terms of benefits.

Your products’ specifications matter, but benefits matter more. People online have very short attention spans and get bored instantly… Especially when a sales page doesn’t show them what matters to them.

Very few people want to read about a product’s specs and features. Everyone wants to know how what you’re offering will improve their life.

When you write about a product’s features, think about what benefits they deliver to customers and highlight that in the descriptions. 

Connect features to benefits. Explain exactly what the customer gains from your product.

Example: 

“A laptop with an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X processor clocked at 4.5 GHz with 16 cores” doesn’t tell the average laptop buyer much. But when you add that: “this processor is 2x faster than the market average”, people will understand what’s going on.

4. Be specific.
Don’t use empty, meaningless messaging. Specifics sell. Generalities don’t. 

• Instead of “Extended returns”, write: “30 days to return”. 
• Instead of “Express delivery”, write: “Pick up in an hour” or “Next-day delivery”
• Instead of “The best customer service”, write: “We reply within 5 minutes, maximum”

5. Write clearly and plainly. 

The clearer and plainer your copy, the better the chance customers understand everything and convert.

“Complicate it and you won’t sell it.” Confusion and misunderstanding are the enemies of business. 

Unfortunately, the content online stores produce is often comprehensible only to their owners, employees and copywriters. 

To keep your audience engaged and bring them to conversion, you have to write clearly, plainly and comprehensibly. 

Example:

Some time ago we worked with a winter hat store that, alongside selling products under its own brand to retail and business customers, also offers made-to-order hat production. Put differently, they produce ‘made-to-measure’ hats for other brands – you can send them a logo and a hat design and they’ll make it for you.

They used to communicate this service in their store menu under the name “Individual order”, which – let’s be honest – didn’t say much. What does “Individual order” even mean?

We changed the name to something clearer and more precise: “Your hat design”. Clicks doubled.

6. Deliver all the essential information in your copy.
Research by the International Data Corporation (IDC) found that 50% of abandoned online purchases came down to a lack of information. 

If visitors read the content on your site and can’t find the information they’re after, they won’t buy from you.

On the other hand, you can’t swing to the opposite extreme either – too much data can overwhelm the user.  

7. Avoid incomprehensible industry jargon. 

In most cases, writing in jargon can lower conversion. If you write in jargon, only people who also speak it will understand you. 

If you write in language everyone understands, you automatically raise your chances of conversion. (Industry specialists understand plain language too ;)) 

8. Write to people the way you’d speak to them in ordinary conversation. 

If you force your writing to “sound clever”, you’ll probably do yourself more harm than good. Avoid using elaborate, unusual words.

9. Don’t use worn-out phrases like “the highest quality at the lowest price” or “the best store/product on the market”. 

Sure, you can say your store is the best. But nobody will believe you if you have no way to back it up. 

Only use phrases like “the best store” if you can support them somehow (if you’ve actually won an award saying you’re the best in a given area, for instance). If you’ve won awards, write specifically which award you won and in which category.

10. Your copy has to communicate value and be convincing.

11. Don’t pad – focus on what matters most to your customers. 

If you’ve been padding your copy until now, simplify and cut the amount of text on your site so it’s more pleasant to read and more valuable to the user.

12. Your copy has to be readable. 

Avoid walls of text. Make sure longer pieces have enough paragraphs and white space. Where possible, use bullets and short lists with icons. 

13. Your prospective customer doesn’t have as much time to read your site as you do. 

It may sound obvious, but plenty of people working in e-commerce seem to forget it. 

Your store’s users won’t pore over every sentence you write. You have to be specific and know which information is most valuable to your customers.

14. Don’t put copywriting off. 

I know that writing good copy for every page of your store is a lot of work, but sooner or later it pays off.

Conversion copywriting in your store.

I hope these 14 tips lift your store’s conversion and sales. 

Want to know what else you can do to turn more visitors into buyers? Have a look at our other articles on conversion optimization: https://digispot.io/blog-2/