Generating content for an ecommerce website isn’t as easy as you’d think. Unfortunately, websites don’t just spring into being fully formed, with lovely words extolling your company and the products you sell. Somebody has to write those words, and descriptions are needed for every single product on every single page of that website. Producing so much ecommerce content might seem like a daunting task—and it can be very tempting to cut corners and to just go and reuse manufacturer product descriptions instead of rewriting them to be original.

In professional content writing, is it okay to borrow the original copy of product descriptions from the manufacturer?

Why Should You Rewrite Manufacturer Descriptions?

When a customer visits your ecommerce site, they’re looking for information on your products. You, of course, have to provide it for them. And look—the manufacturer usually provides all those handy little descriptions of these products on their website! Just copy and paste and you’re done, right?

Wrong. Although this approach is easiest, it also isn’t likely to get you very far. Here are the main reasons why you should always rewrite manufacturer descriptions to go on your product pages:

Helps You Stand Out

The problem is that copying those manufacturer product descriptions is so easy, everyone does it, and if everyone does it, you aren’t going to stand out. Instead of becoming special, new, or interesting, your product page becomes just one more in a sea of faceless websites.

Not only that, there are inherent SEO benefits from rewriting ecommerce copy to make it original. With obscure, niche products, having some original copy with natural keyword usage can help your main product pages to rise up the search engine ranks. You can save money from PPC advertising and organically win rankings for ecommerce keywords.

Avoids Repetition

Search engines are very, very, very good at recognizing duplication. They can tell that your content is exactly the same as content found on the manufacturer’s website, and they know that you didn’t come up with it. If you didn’t do the work, should your site be ranked any higher than the site that had the content first? While you may not always be directly penalized for duplicate content, there are other downsides to using someone else’s original copy of product descriptions.

For one, using a manufacturer description strips you of the ability to infuse the copy with any of your brand voice. Customers are typically loyal to ecommerce companies because they relate on an emotional level with the brand. If your product descriptions are just knockoffs of something they could find on another website, you lose the ability to reinforce that brand loyalty and authority with potential customers. Not to mention you miss out on the opportunity to lure new customers in with your unique brand voice.

Sidesteps Plagiarism Issues

Finally, in some cases the material may have a copyright registered. This doesn’t happen often, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Stealing material from other sites—even manufacturers’ descriptions—can lead to legal problems down the road. Even if it doesn’t, representing someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism, which is unethical.

One of the most important rules of search engine optimization (SEO) is that all content needs to be original. All of it. Most people are smart enough to be original on their homepage content and other important pieces of online text, but this rule applies to everything from blogs to FAQs—and yes, your product descriptions. Don’t borrow material from other websites, social media, or even printed works.

Conclusion: Rewrite Manufacturer Product Descriptions

So what are you supposed to do? The simplest course of action is just to rewrite the manufacturer product descriptions. You can keep the main ideas, the highlights of the product, and any statistics or measurements; just use your own words. Saying the same thing differently isn’t hard to do, and it will keep you in the clear when it comes to duplication. This is the simplest approach whether you write your own material or hire content writers to do it for you.

If you really want to stand out, use the product description copy as an opportunity to add your own review or a customer’s testimonial. This is the perfect place to convince the consumers to buy from you, and the new ideas can only help your SEO.

Cutting corners might seem tempting, but it can hurt your website more than it helps. Unless you’re trying to lower your search rankings, it’s not a good idea to directly reuse manufacturer descriptions. Rewrite those manufacture descriptions instead!