After knowing how to build customer’s desire and reduce their barriers of purchase, it’s a good time to know some copywriting rules so we can deliver the points more effectively.

Copywriting is persuasive writing with the intent of driving action, and in our case, drive shoppers to buy the product.

Here are some general rules to help you write better for your Etsy product listing:

Avoid Big Words & Complex Sentences

Use “get” instead of “obtain”, “help” instead of “facilitate”, or “use” instead of “utilise”.

If there is a simpler, shorter word that has the same meaning, use it. Your objective is to make the writing easy to understand.

Also avoid using complex sentences. You don’t want your target customer stopping and struggling to understand your writing.

And avoid using passive voice in most cases time because it weakens your messaging. Imagine if McDonald’s change their slogan from “I’m lovin’ it” to “it’s being loved by me”.

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Power Words To Use In Your Product Listings

These power words can help trigger an emotional response and push shopper to press that 'buy' button. I would sprinkle a few of them in your headings and other important text, but not overuse them.

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• You
• Hidden
• Proven
• Discover
• Free
• Little-known
• New
• Secret
• Limited
• Instantly
• Powerful
• Trusted
• Before/After
• Bonus
• Value
• Unlock
• Easy
• Painless
• Quick
• Simple
• Fail-proof 
• Guaranteed
• Improved

For example:

“Discover this simple night routine for smoother skin in 2 weeks”

“Our improved tea blend helps you sleep better at night”

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Write Short Paragraphs With Only 1-3 Sentences

Your customers don’t want to read a wall of text.

As a rule of thumb, try to keep each paragraph under 5 sentences. If it gets too long, you are probably trying to say too many things in one paragraph. Break them into separate paragraphs to help customer understand better.

Avoid Overusing Intensifiers

These words are ok when used in moderation.

But if you overuse them it can make your writing very difficult to read and seem really exaggerated.

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Some of the common intensifiers include:

• Very
• Really
• Totally
• Extremely
• So
• Super

Talk To One Person & Use The Word “You”

If you target everyone, you are targeting no one. This is true for product listing as well.

It’s a good idea to use “you” whenever possible so that you are addressing your target customer directly. For example, “Treat yourself to a spa day at home with this 100% lavender bath bomb.”

Also, customers will find your writing more relatable if you use their language. This includes their choice of words and phrases. You can get them from their reviews for related products.

Use Headings To Separate Sections

Although Etsy doesn’t allow headings and bold text in the product description, we can still put emphasis on headings with

• *symbols*
• emojis ✅
• CAPITAL LETTERS.

And separate different sections with ------ or ……… to make it easier to read.

Proofread For Mistakes

When I’m trying to catch mistakes in my writing, I read it out loud and see if it sounds natural. Also, you can use online tools like Grammarly or Hemingway App to spot mistakes.