FireStarter: How to write great sales copy for the web

How to write great sales copy for the web

Introduction

Good content on your site will literally mean the difference between a visitor and a customer. It really is that simple! Below we have provided you with a short article on the main points of writing good copy.

How to write great web copy that sells

How you write your copy really makes a huge difference to your online sales. And even if you don't sell products directly, good sales copy will help you persuade the user to make a donation, subscribe to your newsletter or complete an application form.

Here's a quick start guide on how you do it.

There are three main types of web copy.

Sales
News
Information

For the purposes of this article we will only be concentrating on the sales copy.

Sales copy is not necessarily designed to sell something specifically, but good copy can assist in the gaining of trust with the visitor or even familiarity and encourage the visitor to perform a certain task. Such tasks might be;

Ordering a product
Subscribing to your newsletter
Making a booking
Visiting your store
Calling your sales line
Or any particular action relevant to your business

Great sales copy can have a massive impact on the amount of orders/applications/bookings you get from your site. Consequently, learning how to write good sales copy is perhaps the single most useful skill you can acquire as a webmaster, content manager or web editor.

To make the user perform the task you want him to perform, you have three important tools at your disposal:

Your headline
Your main copy
Your action link

Of these three, the most important on a web site is the headline. The second most important is the action triggering link - especially if the link is visible immediately, without the user having to scroll down.

Here are a few tips for each section of your copy:

The headline

Here's the method we use for making a good sales copy headline:

Identify the action you want the user to take (i.e. buy the product, make the donation).
Make a list of how this action is beneficial to the user. In other words, answer the user's natural question of "what's in it for me?" Remember to write down benefits and not features - talk about the user, not the product.
Identify the single most important benefit from the user's point of view.
State this benefit clearly in the headline.

This will give you headlines like "Save a life today" (for making a donation to a third world charity) or "Increase your sales EVERY month" (to join your marketing class).

The main sales copy

In your main copy you should outline the rest of the benefits, address any reservations the user might have and create desire by having the user see clearly how his life will be improved by taking the action you want him to take.

Remember to facilitate vertical reading (also known as "scanning") by;

Using bullet points
Using captions at regular intervals
Keeping paragraphs short
Emphasising key words and phrases in bold face
Using relevant pictures or graphs when necessary

Generally, sales copy tends to be longer than news or information copy on the web. Some people swear by long sales copy (check out Marketingtips.com for a really superb example of efficient long copy - it may not look good, but it certainly works!).

Bottom line is: The more persuasion a product needs, the longer the copy needs to be. If the user already knows he needs the product, or already knows and trusts you as a supplier, you can afford short copy - which is usually a better option on the web.

The sales copy link

If you can afford short copy, you may want to put the link in the first part of the screen, so that it's possible for the user to click without scrolling.

Remember that the action you want your user to take should involve clicking on a link (to make a donation, order a product, subscribe to your newsletter etc.). The way you make the link will then be crucial to your success.

For maximum effect your link should be:

Blue
Underlined
Put in a separate paragraph or even in a button format
Put in bold text
7-12 words long

The link text should describe (in very positive terms) what the user will get when he takes the action you want him to take. The more trigger-words you're able to include in the actual link text, the better your response rate will be.

This will encourage your links to be in the vein of "Click here to get free copy of the eMarketing Guide 2006" or "Reserve your seat at our eMarketing master class right now".

In conclusion

Your web sites copy is important, not only will it convert visitors into shoppers but will even assist in your all important search engine rankings. If you are unsure about completing your own web copy, get a professional to do it, it’s worth every penny.

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