What do all the "Popular Creations This Week" have in common? Great product descriptions! Customers trust products that are accompanied by clear, concise, and coherent product descriptions. Follow the steps below to up your game and present your products like a pro.

When it comes to product descriptions, what you say matters just as much as how you say it. If you have ever seen a product description that looks like it was hammered out on someone’s cell phone while they were waiting for the bus, you know what I’m talking about. Consider your own experiences as a customer—what do you look for when purchasing a product? You probably want to know what it does, why you should purchase it instead of something that looks similar but is $5 cheaper, and that there is good customer support behind it. If that information is absent, do you trust that it will do what you need it to do? What if the information on the product is riddled with typos or slightly incoherent? It would be reasonable to assume that whoever made the product did not pay attention to detail and, as a result, the product may not work properly. Your product’s description is the first interaction that a potential customer will have with you, and it’s your first opportunity to start earning their trust. When customers trust you, they are more likely to purchase the products that you have created and review you and your products positively.

This article will address the steps you can take to improve your product descriptions, which will ultimately have a positive impact on customer trust and your success as a Creator. When you pay attention to details like organization, spelling and grammar, and proofreading, both you and your product will appear more professional and trustworthy, which will translate into more sales and better reviews.

Organizing your Description

Customers expect to see certain things when they are considering buying a product, and a disorganized product description could indicate to your customers that your product is disorganized. 

For everything that you put on Blender Market, present basic product information in a logical order so that customers don't have to look high and low for what your add-on does or whether your model is game-ready. If they have to go looking for information, they probably won't. Your product description should address the following topics:

What does your product do? 

• Describe the purpose of the product and identify any key benefits to the customer.
  If your product will cut their modeling time in half, say so! Identifying the benefits that a customer will enjoy is a more effective strategy for selling your product than focusing on features.  

• What problems does your product solve?
  What led you to create your product in the first place? Was there a gap in the market or something that you were always looking for on Blender Market but couldn’t find? Identify the problem or problems that your product solves, and specify how your product solves it/them. For example: It’s hard to find a realistic walnut burl texture. This texture is generated from photogrammetry, realistic, 4K, and seamless.

• How might your product be different—or better!—than other products on Blender Market?
  This is a chance to draw attention to what sets your product apart. Keep this part positive and polite. Focus on what your product does best without speaking ill of other sellers’ products.

What version of your product are you selling?

• What changes are new from the last version that you published?
  Identify new benefits and bug fixes. Customers old and new will want to know how your current product version differs from previous versions.

• Is your product regularly updated?
  Note the frequency with which you plan to update your product. If you’re not sure when or whether you will be updating your product, don’t worry. But if you have a schedule that you plan to stick to (e.g., once per year, every six months, every time a new Blender version is released), be sure to mention it. It will make you look organized and attentive. But be careful! If you promise regular updates and then fail to provide them, customers may become dissatisfied, which could impact your seller score. Establish realistic expectations about when you expect to publish updates.

• Is there a cost to updating if customers have already purchased your product?
  Customers will want to know whether there will be additional costs associated with keeping your product up-to-date. Be upfront about the cost, if any, of updating your software and be clear about how your product updates will benefit the customer.

• Where can readers find answers to frequently asked questions? Do you update your product FAQs with each new version?
  Keeping and regularly updating FAQs on your product page will save you lots of time down the road—you won’t be answering the same questions dozens of times—and provide a more pleasant experience for your customers, who will be able to find the answers to their questions when they need them and all in one place.

What version(s) of Blender does your product work with?

Be clear and specific about which Blender versions your product works best with, which it works ok with, and which it is incompatible with. Do not assume that your customers all have the latest version of Blender. If they purchase your product and it turns out not to work with their version of Blender, they may be dissatisfied and you may have to go through the process of refunding their purchase.

How can customers get in touch with you if they have questions about functionality or suggestions for future versions?

Consider how you want to receive questions and feedback on your product. Do you prefer to receive messages through your Blender Market Inbox? Or in reviews? Or perhaps via email? If you are clear about how you want to receive questions and feedback, you will save time keeping track of everybody’s comments and will be more likely to respond to their questions and act on their suggestions. Responding to inquiries in a timely manner is a big part of being a highly rated seller, so make sure to direct customers to a feedback format that you are likely to check regularly.

The Importance of Grammar 

You may have thought you were done with grammar and syntax when you left school, but they are key to communicating effectively and accurately conveying product information to your customers. Good grammar and punctuation show an attention to detail that customers can expect to continue throughout the entire product. If punctuation is missing, or words are absent or in the wrong order, your customers may become confused and skeptical about the integrity of your product.

Punctuation and Capitalization

Maybe you're familiar with any one of a number of cautionary punctuation tales like the following: "Let's eat grandma" vs. "Let's eat, grandma." One urges cannibalism and the other simply encourages grandma to join in the meal (rather than being the meal). This example and others like it are intended to illustrate the importance of thoughtful punctuation. Here's a quick primer:

• Periods (.) mark the end of a sentence. An ellipsis—three periods in the middle (...) of a sentence or four at the end (....)—can indicate an abridging of text or a drifting pause in thought. Using too many ellipses can give the impression that you are disorganized or scatterbrained.

• Commas (,) separate items in a list and certain clauses within a sentence. Using too many, or using them in the wrong places, can muddle the meaning of your sentences.

• Exclamation marks (!) are meant to add emphasis or excitement to a phrase and should be used judiciously. It is unlikely that anything in your product description will warrant more than one exclamation mark at a time.

• Apostrophes (') indicate contractions (e.g., 'don't' for 'do not') or ownership (e.g., 'the model's vertices' are the vertices of the model).

• Capitalize the first word in a sentence and proper nouns (e.g., New York City, Ton Roosendaal, I, Blender). 

• Avoid using ALL CAPS to convey information. It reads as yelling, and you don’t want to yell at your customers. You love your customers.

Syntax

Syntax pertains to the structure of your sentence. Here are some handy tips to ensure that your text reads well.

• First rule of thumb: your sentences should all have a subject (a noun, usually) and a verb (an action word).

• Any time you use a demonstrative pronoun (e.g., ‘this’, ‘these’, or ‘that’), add a word after it to indicate what you are talking about. ‘Those cats are sitting on this computer’ is much clearer than ‘Those are sitting on this’.

• Choose words that most clearly convey your meaning. For instance, instead of ‘This add-on makes meshes smaller,’ try ‘This add-on decimates meshes.’ ‘Decimate’ is a more descriptive term than ‘make’ to describe the capabilities of the add-on.

Proofread, and then Proofread Again

You’ve finished writing your product description! Your organization is a thing of beauty and all of your sentences have subjects and verbs and don’t read like Yoda’s words of wisdom. Are you done? Not yet. Reading over your text for typos, misspellings, clarity, and organization is the finishing touch that will put the polish on your product. Ensuring that these details are correct is what will help convince prospective customers that your code isn’t littered with errors and your 3D printable model is truly watertight.

• Read over everything that you’ve written, perform a spellcheck, and look it over again. This is the point at which you will want to look for tricky words that pass spellcheck but might not be quite right. I’m talking about ‘its’ vs. ‘it’s’, ‘your’ vs. ‘you’re’, and so on. 

• Have a friend or family member look it over. Do they have questions about your product that weren’t addressed in your description? Did they notice any typos or other errors that need fixing?

Go Forth and Shine Up Your Product Descriptions

The most important lesson to take away from this article is that how you present your product to customers has a direct relationship to customer trust and satisfaction, which in turn has an effect on how successful you are as a seller. When customers trust that you have paid attention to the details in your product, they will likely trust you enough to purchase your product. 

How do you build customer trust? Present your product professionally, be clear about what the product does, and how it will benefit your customers. Don’t gloss over details—attention to organization, grammar, and punctuation will tell your customers that you did a great job with the detailed aspects of your product itself. Put just a fraction of the time and focus into your product description that you spent on the product itself, and customers will be impressed.

And remember! You’ll get better at writing product descriptions the more you work at it, so be sure to revisit your older products occasionally to update and improve their descriptions.