Product Listing, Getting Started

Creating a new e-commerce product listing isn't as easy as you might think. With a few simple mistakes, it's easy to create an entry which is either unappealing or doesn't contain enough information for your target audience to make a purchase.

"93% of consumers consider visual appearance to be the key deciding factor in a purchasing decision." - Grant Thomas, 65 E-Commerce Statistics about Consumer Psychology

That's why we here at Process Street created this e-commerce product listing checklist. This will take you through every step of the listing process, from deciding what to sell to finding your perfect keyword, to taking killer pictures and much, much more.

What are you waiting for? Let's get selling!

First, you need to take a moment to record the details of the online store(s) you'll be listing your product on. Do so using the form fields below.

We then automatically back all of this up for you in Google Sheets!

This will make it easy to keep track of your e-commerce product listing checklists over time, and of which products have been uploaded to a particular store account.

Next you need to decide what product you'll be listing. Record your choice and any rough details using the form fields below.

If you don't already know which product to list, consider looking through the best selling products of your chosen ecommerce platform and picking out options which you could either add value to or sell cheaper by contacting a particular manufacturer.

Next you need to decide on a price for your product. This will depend on the nature of the product, cost of material, the time and expertise going into its creation, and the regular order size (eg, single or bulk), but record it in the form field below once you're finished.

Next it's time to calculate your product's shipping details and record them in the form fields below.

As with your other preparations, this will save time and effort later on when you'll need to state these on your online store, but also make it easier to refer back to this checklist to view all of the relevant information in one place.

Taking photos of your product might seem like an easy task, but it can often be the difference between a successful product launch and one which leaves you with useless inventory. That's why you need to prepare the best shots you can get.

Follow the subchecklist below to make sure that you have all the necessary photos to show off the best aspects of your product. Once done, upload a ZIP file of your photos to the file upload field below.

Keywords are a great way to get your product ranking in search results, so it's a good idea to get a list of potential keywords together before you start to list it. As always, record your initial ideas using the form field below.

If you're unsure as to what a keyword is, think of them as the search terms a customer might enter in order to find your product.

For example, if you're looking to list a new cuddly toy, the keywords may include:

• Toy

• Plush

• Teddy

• Cuddly toy

• Kids toy

And so on.

Once you have your initial keyword list, expand on it by searching the terms in Google and getting inspiration from both the search results and suggested searches. List your new keyword options in the form field below.

Now it's time to analyze your keywords' volume and difficulty. This can be done using services such as Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs.

Once you've analyzed your potential keywords it's time to choose one to focus on. Record your final choice using the form field below.

The idea here is to strike a balance between keyword difficulty, volume, and relevance. Ideally, your keyword will be high volume, low difficulty, and extremely relevant to your product, but this isn't always possible.

Once your preparation is complete it's time to create a new ecommerce product listing on your online store.

Whether you're using Amazon, WooCommerce, Shopify, or another platform, this usually involves nothing more than logging in, navigating to your product collection, then clicking "New Listing" (or the equivalent).

The first task in your new listing is to fill in the product's title. This should be as direct as possible in describing the product, use your chosen keyword, but remain brief.

As with previous tasks, record a copy of your product's title using the form field below.

If you're stuck for ideas, try searching your chosen keyword and product on your store's marketplace and sort by the best selling results (if possible). The titles of the top results should give you some insight as to what your target audience wants out of this product ,and even what the top results aren't doing which could give you an edge.

Next it's time to write the product description. This should typically contain a mix of the hard facts of what your product is, its features, and some of the more emotional benefits of the purchase.

For example, along with stating the dimensions of a dressing gown you could spin a story of how the fleecy material is perfect for lazy weekend mornings or cold winter nights.

Record a copy of the description using the form field below.

After the hard thinking for your product description, this step is nice and easy. All you have to do is upload the images you took earlier using the online store's field for that purpose.

Try to make sure that the clearest, most attractive image is the first which will appear when a  customer views the product, as this will set their expectations and draw their interest before moving on to the others.

If you have the opportunity to do so, try to include your main keyword (or a variation thereof) in both your image titles and their alt tags.

Now set the price of the product, making sure that it lines up with your earlier calculations. Check below to see your estimated price from earlier being brought through to this task.

{{form.Product_Price}}

You're almost there - one of the final steps is to fill in the shipping and delivery details of your new product. As with the product's price, check below to see the information you entered into the earlier form fields in this checklist.

{{form.Product_Dimensions}}

{{form.Product_Weight}}

{{form.Shipping_Cost_(Local)}}

{{form.Shipping_Cost_(Abroad)}}

{{form.Estimated_Shipping_Time}}

The precise options and details you'll have on offer will depend on the ecommerce platform you're using, but these details should cover the prerequisites.

Finally, it's time to save your product's new listing and set it live on your store. Again, the method for this will largely depend on the platform you're using, but for most there will be either a "Publish" or "Save" button in a prominent location on the product information page.

Congratulations! You've finished the ecommerce product listing checklist and are ready to start selling to customers.

Feel free to run this checklist any time you need to upload a new product in order to make sure you have all of the necessary information to give your store the best chance of success.

Grant Thomas - 65 E-Commerce Statistics about Consumer Psychology

Graham Charlton - 15 Tips for Using Product Images on Ecommerce Sites

Stuart Whitmore - 7 Secrets To Successful E-Commerce Product Listings

Graham Charlton - 31 Things I Need to See on Your Ecommerce Product Page

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