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PRODUCT UPLOAD
GUIDELINES
NOTES FOR ENTERING PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS
ON THE DECORCAFE MARKETPLACE
08.09.2020
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 2
WELCOME TO THE DECORCAFE MARKETPLACE
We would like to welcome you to the Decorcafe Marketplace! We are thrilled that you will be showcasing your
gorgeous products on our platform and look forward to working with you on getting your Marketplace Shopfront up
and running.
The purpose of the Decorcafe Marketplace is to support our members who make or source wonderful original
products by showcasing them in our online shop. This gives you and your business an added shopfront through
which to present and sell your products.
The Decorcafe is committed to supporting our members in any way we can, and we will be running marketing
campaigns through our various channels in order to promote and highlight the wonderful work you do.
We are here to support you, so if you have any questions as you read through this guide or need any help in getting
your Storefront set up, please let us know. You can email us at [email protected] and we will be happy to
help.
PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE
Like most of our members, you most likely have your own e-commerce shop and already sell via your website. You
are therefore familiar with all the elements and hard work required to create and maintain a successful online shop.
Our shop runs on WooCommerce, which is the e-commerce platform built for WordPress sites. It is managed as a
marketplace, which means we have several vendors (or brands) selling their own unique and original products on
one platform.
This requires a certain amount of management and organisation, in order that the shop looks professional,
consistent and is optimised as much as possible for Search Engine Optimisation and Readability.
This guide has been created to run through the process of adding a product to the shop. You may be familiar with
WooCommerce, in which case you should be comfortable with this platform. Or you may be used to other platforms
such as Shopify, Squarespace or Wix, in which case some of this will be new to you.
The aim is to help you upload your products easily, resulting in a coherent, consistent and optimised online
marketplace. Please follow the format and guidelines as closely as possible.
FORMAT
The guide will take you through creating a new product from within the WooCommerce admin area, starting with
the fields on the left of the page, then moving over to the right-hand side blocks.
Once you’ve uploaded your first product successfully, you can create a copy of that product from within your admin
panel. Then you can edit it with the details of your next product, ensuring of course that each section is edited and
correctly completed for each product. This makes it much easier and faster to complete your uploads.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 3
PRODUCT TITLE
The product title is the headline of a product and one of the most important sections of a product page. Product titles
should be clear, concise and contain key words for the product.
The title should be made up as follows:
• Product name + feature/colour (+size in the case of cushions)
• There should be no full stops, commas, or hyphens in the title
• Keyword/s should certainly be included but not overused
Permalink
Ensure that the permalink, just below the product title, reflects the correct description. If you make changes, check
that they are reflected here.
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT
The product title
should be written in
sentence mode with no
punctuation
Make sure the
permalink is correct,
especially if you edit
the title
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 4
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
• These should be made up of Features and Benefits.
• Write in the language of your customer, to appeal to them.
• At the same time, keep in mind that Google and other search engines will ‘crawl’ through the descriptions
and decide whether to show your listing to potential customers, depending on what you include and what
search terms they have entered.
• Identify keywords and make sure to insert them a few times within your text. Be aware not to overuse them
though as Google will penalise descriptions that use ‘keyword stuffing’.
• The total length of the product description should be approx. 300 words (including bullet points, main text
and brand information as outlined below).
• The first line of text in the product description should be the same as the product title, which will also be the
same as the SEO title further down. Please format this as a Heading 2 title.
FEATURES
• These are the important top-line details a consumer would need to know about the product.
• On the Decorcafe marketplace, these are listed at the top of the description, as bullet points.
• If you are creating your first product, take a look at some of the other product descriptions to find one that’s
similar to yours and copy/paste/edit for your product.
• You can also copy/paste/edit the Features section from the screenshot below.
• Special note on measurements: o Measurements must be included for every product o These must be in cms and always be in this order (as appropriate):
▪ Width x Depth x Height – e.g. 50(W) x 35(D) x 40(H) cms or
▪ Diameter x Height – e.g. 50(Dia) x 45(H) cms
o If weight is important to your product (for example, if it’s a chandelier), then this needs to be included as well, as a separate bullet point. This should be in kilos and/or grams.
BENEFITS
• This section is in paragraph form and is your chance to describe the item to let the consumer know why they
should buy and how they would feel by purchasing this product.
• Include your key word or phrase for that product several times, dotted through the text.
• Use this section to appeal to your customer’s emotions by using adjectives, descriptive and emotive words.
• Tell the story of the product, perhaps a little about how and where it’s made.
• If this is your first product, you can copy/paste/edit the paragraph in the screenshot below for format and
inspiration. Or copy and paste an existing product description from within your dashboard and edit it as
necessary.
Once you successfully create one item for your product catalogue, and ensure that it is optimised and complete,
then you can copy/paste/edit from there to make the process faster.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 5
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT
Product title should be
repeated here as an H2
header
FEATURES
These should follow
this format.
Copy/paste/edit this
section if this is your
first product and edit
it as required.
BENEFITS
These should follow
this format.
Copy/paste/edit this
section if this is your
first product and edit
it as required.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 6
‘A LITTLE ABOUT…’
• You will find a section at the bottom of each product description entitled ‘A Little About…’
• These are written for each brand in collaboration with The Decorcafe and, once written, should be included
at the bottom of every product description. This text will outline you and/or your brand with links back to
your Expert Page and Storefront.
• This text will appear on all products from a vendor.
• Please see below example text:
This text is written in
collaboration with The
Decorcafe. Once
finalised, it should be
copied/pasted at the
bottom of every product
description.
Links to your Expert Page
and to your main
Storefront page are
added here in orange
text.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 7
YOAST SEO
The next section in the product description is the Yoast SEO plug in. This is a brilliant tool that will help you ensure
your product titles and descriptions contain sufficient text, focus keywords, meta descriptions, image alt texts and
more.
It provides scores on the following metrics:
• SEO: Search Engine Optimisation
This ensures the descriptions contains all the relevant keywords and checks the text for key phrases, links,
keyword density, keywords in meta descriptions, image alt attributes, SEO title and more.
Although there are no guarantees, this is intended to help ensure your product has the best chance of
showing up in search results.
• Readability
This checks your copy for passive voice, transition words, sentence length, paragraph length, subheading
distribution and a Flesch Reading score (basically how easy your text is to read).
There are clickable links in this section which will help explain what these terms mean.
Yoast SEO gives a score for both the above metrics on a red, amber and green ‘traffic light’ system.
• SEO: Ensure that the SEO score is green.
• Readability: Ensure that the score is green or at the very minimum amber. Do not settle for a red score.
Please make sure you enter the information in this section and do not leave it blank. It’s a very useful tool that will
help you have the best chance of your products getting listed and found online.
Please Note: Products with red scores will not be approved for publishing by The Decorcafe.
Take guidance from an existing product to get started if you are new to the WooCommerce platform. There are
prompts and links to articles to help you from withing the admin area. And once you’ve successfully uploaded a
couple of products, the process becomes much easier and quicker.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 8
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 1
Aim for those green smiley faces on both SEO and Readability!
This is the keyword or
phrase that you’d like
the product to rank for
This is what your
product will look like
in search results.
Click on Edit Snippet
to format the way this
is written (see
screenshot 2 below)
Click on this area to
expand and see details
of your results (see
screenshot 3 below)
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 9
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 2
Click on this area to edit
your SEO results
Edit your SEO title here –
follow this format editing
just what you need
The slug is the same as the
permalink at the top of the
page. Just check that they
are the same
Edit the meta description
here – follow this format
editing just what you need
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 10
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 3
You can see details of your
SEO score here.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 11
PRODUCT DATA
The next area is where you define if a product is Simple or Variable, add your prices, inventory, shipping charges,
linked products, and add any attributes you might need.
• SIMPLE PRODUCT: One that comes only in one size, colour, shape, that doesn’t have any variables to it.
• VARIABLE PRODUCT: One that is available in more than one colour or size.
Let’s take a look at each of the tabs that need to be filled in below:
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT: SIMPLE PRODUCT
GENERAL TAB
INVENTORY TAB
Enter your retail
price here inclusive
of VAT here
Enter the SKU number for
your product here if you
have one
Mark your product as being
In stock, out of stock or on
back-order
Tick here if you need to manage
stock at product level
Tick here if you only want to
sell one of this SKU per
order
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 12
SHIPPING TAB
LINKED PRODUCTS
Enter your delivery charge
here
Wherever possible, add at
least 3 linked products to an item. Either items from
the same collection or
similar items from your
ranges. This helps upsell
products from your
collection.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 13
ATTRIBUTES TAB
SHOP BY COLOUR ATTRIBUTE
• To enable viewers to search for your product by colour, please choose a colour from the Attributes section
on the products page.
• Select Attributes, then click on the little arrow in the box marked ‘Custom Product Attribute’.
• Select ‘Shop by Colour’ and click Add.
• Pick one or two of the colours from the drop-down menu that best represent your product.
• If there are many colours in your product, choose the predominant colour. If an item is truly multi-coloured,
then you can tick the ‘multi’ option, but only if no single colour stands out. Please don’t default to this option
as this will not be helpful to customers searching for your product.
• The purpose of these is to enable consumers to search by colour and these need to be broad and generic.
Please do not add any specific colour names (for example ‘Raspberry’ or ‘Cocoa’ or ‘Midnight Dreams’).
• Tick the box marked ‘Visible on the product page’.
• Do not tick the box marked ‘Used for variations’.
• Colours have been pre-determined by The Decorcafe. Below are the colours you should choose from. Please
select the closest colour to your product. This is a set of colours widely used in the retail sector and you
should find a colour to suit your products.
For Simple Products, there
is only one attribute that
you will need to select.
Click on Custom Product
Attribute and select the
option called ‘Shop by
Colour’. From the
dropdown, select the
colour that is most
representative of the
product. Pick one only if
possible. If necessary, you
can pick two. Please see
notes on this below.
Beige Copper Grey Purple Yellow
Black Cream Multi Red
Blue Gold Orange Silver
Brown Green Pink White
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 14
ATTRIBUTES & VARIATIONS FOR VARIABLE PRODUCTS
• For variable products, you will still need to complete the General, Inventory, Shipping and Linked Products
areas, as well as the ‘shop by colour’ attribute.
• For Variable Products, you will need to select an Attribute before you can select its Variations
• The tab marked Attributes is where there are options to review and select.
• Attributes and Variations have been created by The Decorcafe and are fairly brand-specific.
• Please do not attempt to add any attributes or variations manually.
• If you don’t find an Attribute particular to your product, please get in touch at [email protected] and
we will work on creating a set of attributes with you.
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 1: VARIABLE PRODUCT
Click on the tab marked
Attributes.
Select the desired
Attribute from the drop-
down menu.
Click Add.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 15
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 2: VARIABLE PRODUCT
VARIATIONS FOR VARIABLE PRODUCT
• Once you have selected the Attributes, you can proceed with adding the Variations for your product.
• Click Add Variation from the drop-down menu
• Select the option ‘Create variations from all attributes’
• A window will pop up asking if you are sure – click OK
• A window will pop up confirming the number of variations to be added. If it’s correct, click OK.
Select the Attributes
required from the drop-
down menu.
Tick the boxes marked:
- Visible on the
product page
- Used for
Variations
Click Save Attributes
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 16
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 3: VARIABLE PRODUCT
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 4: VARIABLE PRODUCT
Click Add Variations & select
‘Create Variations from all
Attributes’
Hover your mouse on the
right-hand side and select
the little down arrow for
each variation
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 17
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT 5: VARIABLE PRODUCT
Once you’ve completed all your variations, click Save changes.
Here, you can upload an
image for each variation,
by clicking on the ‘upload
an image’ icon.
You must also include a
price for each variation
(even if they are the same
price).
And make sure the stock
status is correct for the
variation in question.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 18
BLOCKS ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE EDIT PRODUCT PAGE
PUBLISH
• Once you’ve completed your product description, added all images, tags and product categories and double
checked everything, you can click the Submit button. Your product will then be checked by a Decorcafe
member.
• If everything is correct, it will be published. If edits are required, you will be notified of what needs to be
edited. You will then need to make necessary edits so your product can be approved and published.
PRODUCT CATEGORIES
• Here, you can choose which categories your product will fall under.
• The primary category for each of your product should be your brand name under the category called ‘Meet
our Fantastic Brands’.
• Then select the other categories that your products should be featured under.
PRODUCT TAGS
• Here, you can select a number of tags that apply to your product
• Tags help group your products and can help customers find products more easily
• Tags must be lower case and without hyphens, commas or full stops
• Max 6 tags per product to include: brand name, product name, product type, colour + 2 specific features if
relevant.
• Think about keywords consumers might use to search for your product.
• Keep your tags reasonable and generic enough to be useful.
• Please keep in mind that tags will be used by different brands so don’t make them too specific if you add
new ones.
VENDORS
• Please select your vendor name in this section
PRODUCT IMAGE
• Images will be cropped to a square format automatically, but to avoid your products being badly cropped, it
is best to upload your images in a square format with a 1:1 ratio
• Ideal image size is 1024 x 1024 pixels
• Use high resolution images
• Compress the image file so as to reduce its size and so that it doesn’t slow the website down. You can do this
in Photoshop or other image software by selecting the ‘Save for Web’ option to compress file size.
• The main image for each product should ideally be a cut out image of the product against a white
background.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 19
PRODUCT GALLERY
• The more images you have showing your product in different settings and from different angles, the better.
• Here, upload images showing the product in lifestyle settings or displayed differently.
• If your product is a Variable Product, an image should be allocated to each option if relevant. For example, if
the options are different colours, each colour must be shown.
IMAGE TITLES & ALT TEXT
• When you upload a new image or edit an existing image, you should ensure that you complete the Alt Text
and Title fields that appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
• Image titles should be lower case, with hyphens or underscores in between words and should include the
product name. It’s easier to do this when you save your image on your computer/image software as this gets
pulled through whenever you upload the image anywhere. This helps in image searches.
• The image title should ideally include your brand name + product name + The Decorcafe
It is considered best practice to name the images correctly when you edit and save them on your computer
or image storage software.
Example: craft-editions-pebble-cushion-square-blue-at-the-decorcafe
• Alt Text is an important piece of text that should describe the purpose of the image. This is intended for
people with visual impairments to allow them to understand your product and what the image shows.
• Again, it’s a good idea to include your brand name, product name and ‘at the decorcafe’ - plus describe the
image briefly.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 20
EXAMPLE SCREENSHOT
PROCESSING AN ORDER
Once you receive an order, an automatically generated email will be sent to you. Once you receive a confirmed
order, it is your responsibility as the vendor to fulfil it as quickly as possible and to keep your customer updated on
the progress of their order.
Please arrange for the item to be wrapped, packed and dispatched to the customer. If it is a special order that needs
to be made or ordered, please contact the customer to confirm that you have received their order and that you will
send the order as soon as you can. Then of course, keep them informed of the status until the order is delivered.
The Decorcafe is an online marketplace for your brand and products. However, it is up to the individual vendors to
fulfil orders and contact customers with updates and/or issues.
Payments for your orders (less commission) will be made by The Decorcafe to vendor bank accounts within a few
days.
N.B: Please update the order status from within your WooCommerce admin panel to ensure that the status of the
order is current and clear.
Enter the Alt text here
Enter the image title here.
Whatever you’ve named
your product in your
image folders on your
computer or image
software will be pulled
across automatically when
you upload your image.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 21
PRODUCT MAINTENANCE
As the vendor, it is your responsibility to ensure your products are correct and kept up to date.
If an item is out of stock or on back order, please edit the listing to mention this, or simply hide it from your
shopfront until it is back in stock. Then of course mark it as in stock once you’re able to fulfil orders again.
If an item has been discontinued, please remove it from the shop.
CONCLUSION
Once you have completed all the sections above, you should be ready to submit your product to The Decorcafe for
approval. Someone from the team will check the product descriptions and either confirm it or come to you if there
are edits to be made.
Remember, this is an additional shopfront for you and your business on a platform that is highly relevant to your
niche. Please help look after it and treat it as an extension to your own website and business.
The Decorcafe will do all it can to help market the shop and all the products and collections.
Good luck with your product uploads! We are here to help if you need us.
Product Description Guidelines 08.09.20 Page | 22
CHECKLIST
Please see below a quick checklist to help ensure you have completed everything correctly:
Product Title: Product name + feature/colour (+size in the case of cushions)
Product Description: Features & Benefits. 250 -300 words including ‘A Little About…’
‘A Little About…’: Written in collaboration with The Decorcafe & must be included on each product
Yoast SEO: Green Light for SEO
Green (or min amber) Light for Readability
SEO Snippet: Update to reflect product title and keywords
Product Data: General
Inventory
Shipping
Linked Products
Attributes: Shop by Colour for all products
+ any others required for Variable Products
Variations: Picture for each variation
Price for each variation
Product Categories: Select primary category as your brand name under ‘Meet our Fantastic Brands’
Select any other category relevant to your product
Product Tags: Select relevant tags for your product, including brand name and product type
Vendor: Select your vendor name
Product Image: Including image title and alt text for each image
Product Gallery: Including image title and alt text for each image
Submit for Approval