Great web copy presents you and / or your company well to the public and it also converts visitors into customers. Here are some tips and strategies for writing web copy that converts to help you succeed with internet marketing.
Pique Curiosity
Curiosity is powerful online. It’s what makes them click. Get someone curious and they’ll want to dig deeper. Get them interested in your title, your meta description, your headline, and make sure that first paragraph convinces the reader that they’ll benefit from reading further.
Get To The Point
When talking to potential customers, you need to get their attention quickly. Web surfers tend to have a rather short attention span due to all that’s at their finger tips. For this reason, you need to get to the point quickly.
Sure, there are sales letters that are more than 5,000 words but until you’re a master copywriter, you’re probably best to try to say what you can a bit sooner than that. A good rule of thumb is to grab your visitors attention before they need to scroll – so they’ll want to scroll past the fold.
Solve A Problem
If you want someone to buy what you’re selling, solve a problem for them. Help them overcome a problem, save them time, or earn them money. That’s what sells products online. Be convincing in that you can help someone achieve one or more of those three things in your web copy and you could do well.
Show Them The Money
A lot of people are programmed to be wary of online promises so when writing web copy, be prepared to “show them the money” in terms of demonstrating proof that what you are saying has merit. Testimonials, illustrations, photos, videos, and other media can help immensely, so can a money back guarantee. Illustrate proof and eliminate risk and you could be laughing all the way to the bank.
Walk In The Shoes Of The Customer
Read your web copy to yourself to make sure it flows, looks formatted properly, and doesn’t contain errors. Try reading it in more than one browser and consider printing it to help you proofread as well.
Test And Tweak
The top method for writing web copy that converts is to test it out. Some internet marketers test and tweak several times before they find a winning combination. You might try running multiple landing pages and analysing results. Check your conversion rate, your organic SEO, your Google score (if using pay per click advertising), and ask some colleagues or internet marketing mentors for their opinion.
Don’t hesitate to read web copy and internet marketing guides that could help you tweak and refine your overall internet marketing strategy and help you learn the secrets of effective copywriting. Writing web copy that is high quality can be hard work but develop these skills and the fruits of your labour could be delicious!
Sean Rasmussen
Aussie Internet Marketer
Learn Affiliate Marketing with Year Of The Affiliate © 2012
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Sean,
The way your customers reacts to your content could possibly make or break your internet marketing efforts & if you can give them what they want as quickly as possible it’s surely going to be a good thing.
I am learning about what prompts people to buy & also how to optimize my pages for keywords to hopefully come up with a winning formula.
.-= jeremy´s last blog ..jlagatule- RT @gurubob- True influence is not forcing people to say yesit is systematically destroying their reasons to say no – GuruBob =-.
Writing web copy can really make or break you. If you read that first paragraph and it doesn’t interest you, you move on.
Sometimes after I’ve read my own copy over and over again, I find it’s a great idea to get someone else to read it with fresh eyes. Something may stand out to them that doesn’t flow, or make sense, that because I’ve gone over it so many times, I’ve missed.
.-= Hilary´s last blog ..Indoor Air Quality =-.
That makes good sense Hilary to have someone else review your copy. Fresh eyes can also act just like a potential customer without your bias.
Asking others to proof read and give you opinions is a great way to go Hilary
“Show them the money” – I am not sure about that – at least not in the initial contact. I don’t like those emails and sales letter with scads of screen captures of their clickbank accounts and what have you. I am just not impressed, probably because they are also in the midst of a hard sell.
They rarely accompany real information or help
One of my pet hates is Web Copy that insults my intelligence by appearing more like a saga than anything else. I check this quickly by glancing at the scroll bar and if it seems to go on forever I stop reading, scroll to the end to see if they are just trying to sell me something. Thus the marketer has already got me offside. This was before I knew anything about internet marketing and I can’t say I have changed my attitude.
Grab my interest, tweak my curiosity and you are half way there!
Now I must remember all this as I move forward with my goal to be an internet marketer with Great Web Copy.
So the advice you give Sean is very sound and should be taken to heart.
Hi Sean,
Like the list of tips on writing web copy that converts, for me the point “Walk In The Shoes Of The Customer” is critical to success. If we can’t see things from the customers point of view we can’t provide value, which makes it very difficult to sell anything.
Hi Sean,
Writing web copy that converts is not an easy thing to do. This is definitely not one of my strong suits so I’m really going to have to work at it. I’m glad I’m going to have your tips to use when the time comes for me to do this.
That way, I’ll be able to write my copy as I work my way through your tips.