Optimum length of product description

[digicam]

That is my question, how long does a product description need to be - and none of those "the longer the better" answers!.

Is 150 words enough if it is unique, after all these things take up loads of time to write and I need to keep things to a minimum as I have loads to do.

cheers

[Bones]

I started rewriting all of our product descriptions a few weeks ago (only 500 more to go!).

I've been aiming at 150-200 words for each, although on some products even this has been difficult and very time consuming (particularly when it's just a Ball or something!). Others however I've easily got up to 300 words and from what's been crawled so far, it's the ones nearer the 300 mark that have been ranked better.

There's definitely a knack to writing good copy with all the required keywords, which I still haven't fully grasped. But by a process of trial and error and by seeing how things rank and then re-tweaking, I'll hopefully get there in the end.

[digicam]

That is interesting that the 300 worders rank better - lots of work.

Do you also go for unique metas aswell?

[pageoneresults]

That is interesting that the 300 worders rank better - lots of work.

The more the merrier! < Pun intended. ;)

Do you also go for unique metas as well?

I use the Inverted Pyramid approach to setting up product pages. Primary content first, fluff last. In using this approach, that first and second paragraph on the page are where you pull your meta description from.

If you were to look at these first four elements, they should all be highly focused for that particular page...

<title>
<meta description>
<h1>
<p1> or <list element>
<p2> or <list element>

<title> and <h1> are married. Same goes for the meta description and those first few lines of content on the page which is usually a <p> or some sort of list.

The key to all of this is balance and natural writing. No forced use of keyword phrases, just let them come naturally. Sure, you can tweak, but it needs to read properly to the visitor.

Optimum length of product description

I'm not too certain there is an optimum length. I think it is more of an optimization of the content you have to work with and the structuring of the product pages.

I look at it this way, if I view source of the pages I develop, what I see in the "immediate" viewing area, above the fold, is what matters the most. Its a simple formula that works for both the visitor and the bots. ;)