The Words that Sell the Most: An Analysis of 11,000 Products

If you could find the exact words and phrases that could boost your sales online, wouldn’t you use them? We analyzed the titles of 11,000 products—correlating the words they most commonly used with their sales to find out how you can do just that.

And the results surprised us:

Word/phrase	Increases sales by
performance	41.19%
technology	35.57%
in the box	134.68%
on the go	29.07%
found naturally	103.02%
up to 24 hours	74.82%
easy to clean	51.26%
men and women	29.86%
certified and acknowledged by	307.66%
provide consistent quality	87.25%

In contrast, below are some words in titles that hurt sales:

Word/phrase	Decreases sales by
perfect for	-36.27%
gift	-44.68%
is ideal for	-49.16%
kids	-60.86%
within 24 hours	-63.66%
made of high quality	-74.61%
colors	-57.03%
easy to use	-61.57%
for home	-39.07%
100% satisfaction	-66.21%

The Price-Popularity Matrix: What words indicate premium vs. low-cost products?

We plotted the most frequent adjectives in product titles to see if they were associated with premium, more expensive products or, in contrast, with mass, common products. Turns out, there is.

Scatter plot – Price Popularity Matrix

The adjectives listed describe characteristics that are commonly appealing in various products across industries, especially in technology, beauty, and electronics.

Some examples account for approximately 20,000 sales while commanding higher prices than the rest.

Items like these broaden their market and increase their appeal by indicating a safe choice for consumers who are wary of buying poor products (“resistant” and “long-lasting”) and the inclusion of professional quality or advanced features, suggesting that the product goes beyond basic needs to offer superior performance or a wider breadth of application (“pro”).

Title length: How many words should you use?

When it comes to product titles, sellers have a big leeway: sales don’t diminish the more words you add.

Yet you can see the sales plateau after 50 words in product titles, perhaps because stores like Amazon tend to cut titles at 135 characters, or because a third of customers spend less than 15 seconds reading things online.

Action point: Make sure your product titles do not exceed 135 characters (roughly 20-25 words) so customers understand what you’re selling.

Prices spike with long titles

Our analysis shows that merchant prices for products tend to rise the longer the product titles.

Products with longer titles might be perceived as more complex, specialized, or rich in features, leading sellers to price them higher based on the added value these attributes suggest.

Similarly, we’ve collected some of the words and phrases that appear most in high-selling product descriptions. Compare those estimated sales with the average sales given by the 15,206 reviews among all products:

Word/phrase	Increases sales by
developed with dermatologists	148.82%
found naturally	116.21%
no need to worry about	32.52%
compatible with	31.56%
friendly customer service	15.86%

Among those that sell the least are:

Word/phrase	Decreases sales by
safe	-42.19%
contact us	-91.04%
easy to carry	-91.29%
feel free to	-132.9%
for kids	-75.06%
made in the usa	-47.98%

Will long descriptions help sell premium products?

The description length of a product behaves in a similar way to how titles do: higher-priced items tend to have a larger amount of text in their descriptions.

Scatter plot – Description length and price

However, it’s important to note that longer descriptions do not guarantee a higher price point, and that can be gleaned from the scattered points around the trendline.

We can illustrate this by contrasting two differing examples:

This pack of painting tools has been successfully selling on Amazon for $8.79. And its description includes 113 words.

However, you can also find products like this Dental Flosser, which sells for $29.99 and shows a product description of 438 words.

Action point: For low-cost products make descriptions have no more than 200 words. For higher prices, make descriptions at least 300-400 words long.

Description formatting: When bullet points can do the trick

The data shows that, in general, the readability of product descriptions remains at a consistent level across industries, and it’s hard to state a correlation or a direct cause-effect relationship. A readability of 60 is the equivalent of a 13- to 15-year-old’s reading level.

Scatter plot – Sales by readability score

It has been proven that 76% of buyers consider product descriptions among the most desired elements of products when browsing online.

Not only that, but nearly 90% of consumers rate product content positively when deciding to buy.

SEO visibility is also extremely important for product listings. Titles and descriptions packed with keywords and technical specifications might perform better in search engine results, even if they are less readable. This increased visibility can lead to higher sales, as more potential buyers encounter the product during their search.

Action point: Include relevant keywords, bullet points, and bold texts in your product descriptions so that you can optimize them for SEO.

Our study shows almost none of the best-selling products have emojis in their descriptions.

Still, there seems to be a sweet spot in the number of emojis used that correlates with a higher number of sales, specifically at six emojis.

Could this be an opportunity for merchants to increase sales?

It may be worth a try, but it’s also important to bear in mind that too many emojis could have a detrimental effect, perhaps because they may make the description appear cluttered or less serious.

The world of online stores is one that keeps evolving—but 11,000 products can’t lie. If you stick to some of the words and phrases that are common in the titles and descriptions of the best-selling items, you’re bound to find success.

Remember: digital stores cut titles at around 135 characters, so keep an eye out for important information about your products that may not be visible at first glance. And make you include terms that are shown to boost sales like “performance” and “certified by.”

For product descriptions, readability is key. First of all, make sure to include bullet points and bold texts, and keep the entire description at 200 words for your low-cost products and 400 for your high-ticket ones. If you’re worried about reducing your original text to adjust for this limit, make your sentences shorter.

And finally, try using 6 emojis in your descriptions to see if they impact your sales!

This report was completed between March 27th and April 3rd, 2024. The findings are the result of a scraping process of over 11,000 product titles and descriptions of Amazon.com’s best-selling items across 10 different categories: beauty, food and pantry, beauty, sports, electronics, health, home and kitchen, toys, arts and crafts, and tools and DIY.