371. How to Optimize Your eCommerce Product Page

The closest thing you have to a one-on-one conversation with your customer – without actually speaking to them directly. It’s doing the job of a sales associate, answering questions, building confidence, and helping someone decide to buy. 

If you think in terms of being in a brick and mortar store, as we have been doing so far in this series, think of your product page as the conversation you’re having with the customer on the sales floor, or in the fitting room. 

So whether you just launched your Shopify store or you’ve been at this for years and possibly skipped a few steps along the way… let’s get this right.

Prefer to listen to the episode? Click here.

Product Photography for eCommerce

Even if you don’t sell something visual like apparel or jewelry, your photos are still one of the most important elements of your product page. Not only does the human brain process images faster than words, the quality of your images subtly hints at the quality of your products or the reliability of your business. 

If you’ve got product images that are poorly lit, blurry, inconsistent across products, etc. that doesn’t always translate to “Oh, here’s a small business doing their best” They might be thinking, oh this stuff is cheap, or I might not get what’s being advertised. 

That’s not to say you have to run out right now and pay a professional photographer, you can do a lot with a pop-up tent, an iPhone and some editing software. The point is to be intentional with your photos and how you’re presenting your products.

At a minimum you want a clean product-only shot on a white or light neutral background, a lifestyle or in-context shot showing the product in use, a scale/size reference shot (especially for anything where size matters – jewelry, bags, home goods) and close-up detail shots for texture, material, or craftsmanship. 

Video will also do a lot of heavy lifting on your product page. Even if it’s just a short 15-30 second clip. It doesn’t need to be fancy, or even have your face in it. But, showing the product in use, from different angles, with a voiceover describing the scent, or flavor, or just showing scale can go a long way to giving the customer the experience of touching and feeling your product like they would in a store.

If images are something you struggle with, check out Shopify’s newest app Tinker. It’s an AI tool designed to help you create product images and videos. For example, taking a plain product-shot and putting it in a lifestyle flat lay or on a model. I was pretty impressed with the results when I tinkered with it (no pun intended). I wouldn’t rely on it as much for video, it had all the hallmarks of AI generated video with disappearing objects, etc. but the image capabilities are really good.

Writing Good eCommerce Product Descriptions

Once your photos draw them in, your product descriptions need to keep them there. And your descriptions need to sell, not just describe. Selling means leading with the benefit, not the feature.  

The truth is, your customer doesn’t care of your candle is made with a coconut soy wax blend. They care that the scent fills the entire room, burns clean, and last 60 hours. The wax blend is the reason why it does things, but that’s the supporting detail, not the headline. 

Your shirt isn’t “100% organic cotton.” It’s soft, breathable, and doesn’t irritate sensitive skin. Because it’s made from 100% organic cotton. See the difference? The feature backs up the benefit. It doesn’t replace it.

Not sure what benefits to lead with? The best way to figure it out is to read your own reviews. Your customers are literally handing you the copy. If every other review says “this is so much softer than I expected” or “the color is even better in person” — that’s what your description should be saying. Use their language. That’s what resonates with other buyers, because they’re the same type of person with the same concerns.

Structure of Your Product Descriptions

While what you write is important, the way you structure your descriptions matters just as much.

You’ve got two types of shoppers on your product page: scanners and readers. Scanners are scrolling fast, looking for the key details. Readers want the full story before they commit. Your description needs to work for both.

Start with a short, punchy opening — one or two sentences that hook them with the biggest benefit or the most compelling reason to buy. Then a brief paragraph that hits the key selling points. And then bullet points for the specs, the details, the stuff that scanners are looking for — dimensions, materials, what’s included, care instructions, whatever applies to your product.

That way the scanner gets what they need from the bullets, and the reader gets the full picture from top to bottom. Nobody has to work to find what they’re looking for.

Now depending on your product and how much information you need to include, you might also want to use accordion sections — those collapsible tabs on the product page. This is especially helpful if you have a wider product assortment or products that need more detailed specs, ingredients, care instructions, that kind of thing. Accordions keep the page clean without hiding important information. The customer can open what’s relevant to them without having to scroll through a mile of text that doesn’t apply.

There’s no one right way to set this up. Some stores do great with a solid description and bullet points. Others need accordions to organize everything clearly. It depends on what you sell and how much your customer needs to know before they buy.

Answering Objections in Your Product Descriptions

Your description should also be answering objections before the customer even has to ask. Think about the questions that would make someone hesitate. Will this fit? Is it worth the price? How long will it last? Is it easy to use? Will it work for my specific situation?

If you sell apparel, that might mean calling out the fit — “runs true to size” or “we recommend sizing up if you’re between sizes.” Obviously you want to have a size chart with measurements, etc. 

If you sell skincare, maybe it’s “gentle enough for sensitive skin” or “no burning or tingling.” If your product is on the higher end price-wise, your description should be reinforcing why it’s worth it — the craftsmanship, the longevity, the materials.

Now, your description doesn’t have to do all of this heavy lifting alone. Some objections are simple enough to handle right in the copy; a quick line about fit, or a note about materials. But if your product has a lot of common questions or needs more detailed explanations, that’s where a strategic FAQ section on your product page comes in. We’re going to talk more about that in a bit. The point is, between your description and your FAQs, every major hesitation should be addressed somewhere on that page. Because every unanswered question is a reason for someone to leave. And most of them won’t go hunting for the answer.

Social Proof on Your eCommerce Product Pages

While powerful descriptions can do a lot to convert a customer, but at the end of the day, people trust other customers more than they trust you. 

Let’s transport back to the brick-and-mortar scenario. Let’s even put you in the shoes of the customer. If you’re in the fitting room trying something on that you’re even slightly unsure about, the sales associate telling you how amazing you look can help… but you know what really seals the deal? When another customer shouts out, that looks amazing on you. 

As the customer, you know the associate is trying to sell you something. But a random compliment or encouragement from a stranger, you automatically trust that more. 

That’s what product reviews do on your page. 

If you’re not already collecting reviews, please start doing that now. My favorite review app these days is Judge.me. You can get started for free, but they have one rate for their pro plan. I’ll stick my affiliate link in the show notes, I appreciate your support. 

If you have products that turnover quickly, you might want to focus on store reviews instead of product reviews so you don’t lose all that great feedback.

If you haven’t been collecting reviews, or you’re struggling to collect them, don’t panic. Screenshots of comments on social media or in your DMs are a great place to start.

Removing Friction for Buyers

So your photos, your description, and your reviews are doing the heavy lifting on your product page. But there are a few other things that, if they’re missing or hard to find, can create just enough hesitation to cost you the sale.

Shipping & Returns

Let’s start with shipping and return information. Don’t make people leave your product page to figure out how long it will take for them to receive the item or what your return policy is. If you offer free shipping, say it right on the product page. If you have a free shipping threshold, say it there. If your product ships within one to two business days, say that too. The more clarity you give people at this stage, the less likely they are to abandon their cart later because of a surprise at checkout.

Same goes for returns and exchanges. You don’t need your entire policy on the product page, but give them the headline version — “free returns within 30 days” or “easy exchanges, no questions asked” — with a link to the full policy if they want it. A visible, clear returns policy reduces the risk of buying from you. And reducing that risk is one of the fastest ways to increase conversions, especially if someone has never purchased from you before.

Certifications

If your product has relevant certifications or third-party credentials, make sure those are on the product page too. Things like Leaping Bunny for cruelty-free, Fair Trade certification, B Corp status, USDA Organic — whatever is relevant to your product and your customer. If you’re selling CBD or supplements, that means your third-party lab testing results. If you’re selling something with sustainability claims, back it up with the actual certification.

These are different from those generic trust badges you see everywhere; the ones that say “100% Secure Checkout” or “Satisfaction Guaranteed” that literally anyone can put on their site. Those don’t carry a lot of weight. But a recognized certification that your customer actually cares about? That builds real credibility because it’s something you had to earn, not just copy and paste.

Frequently Asked Questions

Now let’s circle back to FAQs, because I mentioned earlier that your product description doesn’t have to handle every single objection on its own. A FAQ section right on your product page is a great place to address the questions that come up over and over — things like “what size should I get,” “is this compatible with,” “how do I use this,” or “what’s the difference between this product and that product.”

The key here is to make your FAQs specific and strategic. Don’t just drop your general store FAQ onto every product page. Think about what someone needs to know about this particular product to feel confident buying it. If you’re constantly answering the same questions in your DMs or your customer service inbox, those are the questions that belong here.

An accordion format works well for this. It keeps the page clean, lets people open only what’s relevant to them, and doesn’t add visual clutter.

Creating Landing Pages for Your Best Selling Products

Now, everything we’ve talked about so far is what I’d consider the bare minimum for the majority of your product pages. But if you have a super small product assortment, or you have a handful of evergreen best sellers that consistently drive the bulk of your revenue, you might want to take it a step further and create a dedicated landing-style page for those products.

This is where you go beyond your standard product page template. More storytelling, more social proof, more lifestyle imagery, maybe a comparison section if you have similar products, or a deeper breakdown of what makes this particular product worth it. Think of it less like a product page and more like a sales page built around one product.

Your Next Steps

Start by doing a mini-audit on your site. If you have a wide-product assortment start with your top 5-10 best selling products. 

Look at your product pages through the lens of the elements we talked about here today. Your photos, your descriptions, shipping and returns info, reviews, FAQs, etc. 

Make a note of what needs to be updated and set aside dedicated time to actually do it. Start with the easy stuff first, updating a description, adding a FAQ section, making your shipping info visible on the page. Leave any photo updates for last since those tend to take the most time and effort.

And don’t forget to check out Shopify’s new app Tinker if product photography is something you struggle with; it can help you get a lot further than you might think without hiring a photographer.