Writing OTTO product descriptions: text, bullet points, attributes

What makes up a product description on OTTO?

Unlike in your own shop, on OTTO you don't write one free-form product text. The OTTO Market API's Products interface splits the description into fields:

• Description – the body text.
• Bullet points – short key facts.
• Attributes – structured properties such as colour, material or dimensions that fit the category.
• Category, brand and product line – OTTO uses these, among other things, to build the title.

OTTO itself says informative texts, high-quality images and well-maintained attributes can make a product more relevant to shoppers and more likely to be shown.

The description text: rules and structure

According to the API documentation, the description may contain HTML, should stay under 2000 characters and is explicitly "relevant for SEO". Only certain block tags are allowed, including paragraphs, headings, lists and blockquotes; other markup is stripped. OTTO also notes it can't guarantee every format displays as intended on the product page. So keep the structure simple:

1. One or two sentences on the benefit: who is it for, what problem does it solve?
2. Details in short paragraphs: material, build, use, care.
3. State what's included – and what isn't.

Use the words your buyers search for, but naturally and without keyword lists. To find those words, see OTTO keyword research.

Bullet points: short and concrete

Per the API, each bullet point may be between 3 and 180 characters long. The documentation doesn't state a maximum number at that point. Use bullet points for what shoppers want to know in seconds:

• the most important property first (for example "Waterproof to 10,000 mm", if that's true),
• dimensions or size,
• material and care,
• what's included or what it's compatible with.

One bullet, one statement. Skip filler like "highest quality" that says nothing anyone can check.

Attributes: the underrated lever

Each category has its own attributes, which you see via the categories interface or in Partner Connect. The API documentation explains what's behind them:

• Attributes with relevance=HIGH matter for visibility. OTTO recommends filling in as many as possible.
• Attributes with featureRelevance=LEGAL are mandatory.
• Other featureRelevance values are FILTER, SEARCH and NAVIGATION – they show what OTTO uses the attribute for.
• Many attributes have recommended values. Per the API, using them gets you full navigation and filter features on otto.de; if none fits, you can enter your own value.

In practice: a product without a colour attribute may be missing from the colour filter, even if the colour is in the text. Treat attributes with at least as much care as the text.

What about the title?

OTTO builds the product title on otto.de from your data. The API's category data shows, per category group, how the title is put together. One key field is the product line, the product's proper name (up to 70 characters, identical for all variations). How to influence the title through these fields is covered in Optimising product titles for otto.de.

Checklist before uploading

1. Is everything accurate? Dimensions, colour, material and contents must match the product exactly. Mismatches lead to returns and bad reviews.
2. Are all mandatory (LEGAL) attributes filled in? Otherwise the variation may be rejected.
3. Are the HIGH attributes complete and, where possible, filled with recommended values?
4. Does every variation fit? The description is per variation – check colour and size in each one.
5. Does the text read well on a phone? Short paragraphs, no wall of text.

Measuring the effect on ranking

OTTO doesn't publish how much text, bullet points or individual attributes count in search. You can observe it for your own products, though: change one thing, note the date and track the position for a few weeks. MarktRank shows the position per keyword weekly, split into organic and sponsored. The approach is described in otto.de SEO: rank products higher.

Frequently asked questions