Enhancing your ATDW profile: Writing a captivating description

A well-crafted ATDW profile, with a professional, well written description, great photos and video, can allow you to stand out from the crowd and attract many more customers for your business.

Your description should engage the consumer, captivate them and make them want to experience your product and ultimately book. You need to give them a reason to stop their search at you. Having said that, and as simple as it sounds, it’s not always easy to write a great description.

Visit Victoria's editorial team have put together some writing tips to guide you in creating a captivating description.

Tips to write for mobile

The vast majority of visitors to searching for travel information are using their phones, so there’s a few things to keep in mind when writing for this audience: 

• Avoid long introductions - instead, lead with a strong sentence that explains why your offering is unique.
• Focus on one idea per paragraph and keep them short to support skim-reading.
• Answer visitor questions in plain sentences and be specific about inclusions.
• Write conversationally but ensure every sentence earns its place.

Writing a description for your ATDW profile

1. Ingredients

• Focus on your USPs – your unique selling propositions. Why is your product, service or event worth it? What’s different about it? What are the benefits? Why should they pick you, over a similar option? What’s in it for your customer?
• What is it? Clearly say what is on offer. What’s the deal? What’s the simplest way to explain what the product, service or event is? Try to explain this in just one or two sentences.
• Key words help with search engine optimisation. Be sure to include your business name and other key words like the region you operate in.

2. Method

• Write your description in a Word document first and spellcheck before pasting it into your ATDW profile.
• Think carefully about making the most of your 225 word limit.
• Write in short sentences. One idea = one sentence. People find this easier to read.
• Use simple, direct language. Get straight to the point.
• Write as if you are having a conversation. Avoid very formal, indirect language.
• Put the customer at the centre of what you write. The customer is your target audience for writing. E.g. 'You’ll enjoy the best service.' rather than 'We offer the best, most professional service.'
• Be literal about your product but consider using emotive words to trigger curiosity, inspiration and create a sense of urgency.
• Consider using a web tool like www.grammarly.com to shorten and simplify your writing.

3. Assembly

• Re-shuffle your sentences into an order which makes the most sense when read from top to bottom.
• Structure your description using the ‘pyramid structure'
• A short summary of the most important information sits at the top of your written piece. It should be the first thing your reader sees in the description.
• Expand and elaborate on your short summary underneath.
• Conclude with lists of basic features and ‘how to get there’ information.

This pyramid structure ensures your top messages are seen first, as busy, distracted people may not always read to the bottom of your description.