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So how well does your copywriting convert?

Posted on 14. May, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Direct reponse copywriting, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Greetings! In today’s SEO copywriting video, Heather discusses how watching informercials can help you be a better copywriter, and greatly improve your conversions.

Specifically, Heather demonstrates how informercials can inform your writing with structure, clear calls to action, and benefit statements that scream value to the prospect.

Heather admits that she’s actually addicted to informercials because of what they show you about the process of building excitement and getting people really pumped about buying a product, and showing that product’s value so well.

In fact, she’s willing to bet that if you’ve ever watched an infomercial, at least once in your life you’ve thought, “Huh! I want to buy that!” And that’s how powerful informercials can be! Tune in to learn how watching infomercials can improve your writing…

Infomercials can teach you a lot about how to structure your copy

• The scripts are carefully written and designed to build excitement and convert.

The reason why informercials are so powerful is that the scripts are carefully written and designed to build excitement and convert.  The folks involved in informercials know what they’re doing.

• Everything is measured, so producers can see what works and what doesn’t.

And they know that because they measure EVERYTHING: they have a track record of what works, what doesn’t, and so everything they do is designed with conversions in mind.

• Plus, they make companies a LOT of money.

With their amazing set of skills, informercial copywriters make companies a LOT of money.  Here are three things they do very, very well:

1. But Wait! There’s more…

•  How are you promoting the value of your product or service?

We’ve all seen and heard the “But wait! There’s more!” and this is fun, because what they’re doing here is to sell you on the product and then some.

So when you’re watching the informercial you can get excited about the product, but then after you know the price, you find that they’ve added all this extra stuff and that helps pump up the value: so if your were already set to buy the product at $9.95, when you see all this other stuff that you can get for $9.95 then you’re more than ready to buy.

Really think about how you are promoting the value of your product or service!

• Benefit statements are crucial. You need to tell your prospects “what’s in it for them.”

(Yep, that’s Heather’s WIIFM guy in the screenshot.) Are you really showing the customer what’s in it for him? Those benefit statements are crucial. If you watch informericals, you’ll notice that they may talk a little bit about the product/service features, but everything ties back into the benefit statements.

• You want your prospects to think, “I NEED to have this. Now.”

So it’s not just building a little bit of a need – it’s showing that urgency and intensity so prospects are actually excited to contact you!

2. Call now! Operators are standing by!

The second thing that informercials do is the “Call now! Operators are standing by!” They have calls to action everywhere, throughout the informercial.

• Check your copy. Do you make your call to action clear?

The typical format of the informercial is sharing a little bit of information about the product, and then interjecting “how to order.” Then it goes back to sharing a little bit more information about the product, and then again, cutting in with “how to order” with that phone number.

So when you’re looking at your Web copy, you want to check to see that your call to action is clear.

It’s amazing how many pages, both on the product side and the services side, make it hard to understand what that next action step would be, and how to take it.

• Is it easy to take action?

You want to make sure that not only do you have a call to action (e.g., “buy now!” “contact us today!”) but that it’s easy to take action by providing hyperlinks and buttons, and that everything is very clear to the interested buyer.

• Consider adding a call to action in the content, as well as “add to cart.”

If you’re selling a product, like a lot of folks you might have that little “add to cart” button, and that’s great – but consider that you can also include calls to action with the copy as well.

Amazon does this very well, with its checkout message of “Customers like you also purchased…”  That is another call to action for another conversion.

Maybe you want people to download a white paper, so if people don’t buy from you initially, at least they’ve downloaded something from you and/or they’re on your mailing list.

Make sure that Call to Action is in the content.

3. Hurry, this offer is only available for the next few minutes…!

The third thing about informercials that Heather really loves is that “Hurry…” message.

• Limited-time offers add a sense of urgency.

Well, we all know that that “next few minutes” offer is most likely available whenever you call and you ask for it. But that ticking clock – where it shows that there’s a countdown – provides that sense of urgency that people really respond to.

• If you’re running a sale, make sure that you mention the end date.

It’s funny, how you can run a sale and tell folks that the sale ends on Tuesday – and people may not buy anything until Monday night, because they know the sale is ending soon, and so they suddenly they have that sense of urgency,

So if you’re running a sale, make sure that you mention the end date: make it really, really clear because there are going to be those folks who procrastinate to the very last minute, and you want to let them know when the sale ends.

If you’ve been playing with sales and not mentioning an end date, try stating the end date and see how that boosts your conversions.

• Email campaign? Consider sending another email to remind folks of your limited-time offer.

If you’re running an email campaign and it’s a really cool, exclusive sale, you might want to consider sending another email to remind folks that it’s a limited-time offer.

So for instance, send a brief email of “Just 24 hours left for you to purchase your X at this incredible price.”  And see if you get another bump in conversion rates.

Thank you for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to! As always, if you have a question or topic suggestion for Heather, zip her an email [at] heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her [at] @heatherlloyd.

Have a great week, and we’ll see you next Monday!

Would you like to learn how to write for Google? Just sign up for the free SEO Copywriting Buzz newsletter for lean, no-fluff industry news, either daily or weekly, and get Heather Lloyd’s “25-Point Checklist on How to Write for Google” free!

photo thanks to S.wplunkett

How to use the rule of 3 to supercharge your writing

Posted on 30. Apr, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Freelance SEO copywriting, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques, web writing

Greetings! You’re in for a fun treat: learning all about the secret awesome sauce of powerful copywriting, held dear and effectively applied by marketers, advertisers and speech writers alike…the rule of three.

Described in detail by Heather in this week’s SEO Copywriting how-to video, once you learn about this tip, you’ll think “Oh my goodness – this is EVERYWHERE!” And it is, because it is a tried-and-true strategy that has stood the test of copywriting time.

Tune in as Heather explains what the rule of three is, and shows you how to employ the rule of three in your Web writing, from creating killer benefit statements to engaging taglines to fantastic web copy…

What’s the “rule of three”?

What we know collectively as copywriters is that grouping things in threes tends to provide a greater impact, and when speaking it tends to roll off the tongue easily. This is something that speechwriters and marketers have been using since the beginning of copywriting time.

• Grouping things in threes provides a greater impact – and makes the list easier to remember.
• Old school marketers have been using this technique since the beginning of copywriting time (and speech writers, too!)

So if you think about the advertising messages or slogans out there, you see this rule of 3 happens everywhere:

•  “Just do it” – Nike
• “Tune in, turn on, drop out” – Timothy Leary
• “Blood, sweat and tears” – The band, and the saying
• “Words and phrases and clauses” – Conjunction Junction

Heather had to use the little screenshot from “Conjunction junction,” because if you grew up in that generation then you know the lyrics, “Words and phrases and clauses.” Again, the rule of three is used to make something stick in the readers’ or listeners’ minds.

So here are some ways that you can edge this rule of three into your copy….

Use three benefit statements

One of the first ways you can incorporate the rule of three in your copy is to use three main benefit statements. While this is especially applicable to your home page, it is actually something that you can do on your other web pages as well.

• Rather than listing a bunch of benefits, limit yourself to your top three heavy-hitters.

The screenshot example shown here is from You Need A Budget (YNAB). As you can see, on their home page they have three main benefits bullets:

• A Proven Method
• Amazing Software
• Free, Live Classes

So all of the benefits pop! They stand out, and as readers it’s really easy for us to quick-scan the page and see exactly what’s in it for us.

Create a “rule of three” tagline

• Can you distill your company’s essence down to three main statements? Sure you can!

So here we have an example from GAIAM, with their tagline:  “live | learn | grow.” And Mind Body’s tagline:  “Love your business.”  See how well that those three-word groupings slide off the tongue, and provide a powerful impact?

Again, this is something you can do for your own business and for your clients’ businesses!

Think in threes when you write your copy

The third thing to remember is to think in threes when you write your content:

• There are lots of ways to structure your copy so that you’re able to really leverage the rule of three.

So for example, here we have 37 Signals, presenting their web content in three main points: “Frustration free web-based apps for collaboration, sharing information, and making decisions.”

Another great example is from Despair, Inc. – Heather loves their demotivational posters. Again, we see three concise main points: “Demotivational Posters. Invented here. Perfected here.”

And even looking at Google’s copy, where they’re promoting Google Drive, they use three main bullet points: “Create and collobarate,” “Store everything safely,” and “Search everything.”

So again, once you’re hip to this rule of three, you will notice that it is everywhere – in advertising messages, in books, in magazines, and in speeches – and again, this is something that you can use in your own copy to help that copy pop and make a greater impact.

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO Copywriting how-to! If you have any questions or topic ideas for Heather, let her know: you are encouraged to email her [at] heather@seocopywriting.com or tweet her @heatherlloyd. See you next Monday!

Would you like to know more about writing for Google?  (This is especially important since their latest algo update, “Penguin”,  just rolled out.) Simply visit the SEO Copywriting Buzz page, and sign up to receive either the daily or weekly newsletter (or both), and receive Heather’s “How to write for Google” whitepaper, free!

photo thanks to lrargerich (Luis Argerich)

How to seduce your readers & woo – bait – links

Posted on 24. Apr, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Imagine: You’re in the running for your dream job. All you have to do is pass the interview and it’s all yours. So, you get ready to head to the office, but on the way you stop off to grab a quick bite to eat. When you finally make it to your interview, you notice everyone seems nervous and has difficulty making eye contact. You lose your concentration and fail to mention the important points you’d carefully placed on your mental to-do list.

The interview is short and awkward and you know you’ve lost the job before it’s even over. Once you get home, you happen to glance in the mirror and get a sick feeling in your stomach. Part of your lunch is still on your face. You forgot to check before you got to your interview, and now it’s too late. There are no second chances.

Link bait works the same way. If you don’t perfect the presentation and focus of your content, your traffic will simply go elsewhere without a second thought. You won’t get the results you’re expecting, and sadly, you’ll never know how many links you lost out on.

Link Bait & AIDA: Designing Your Link Bait for Success

Link bait doesn’t usually have buy buttons or testimonials, but it’s still similar to a landing page. Both content types need to:

• Grab Attention.
• Hold the reader’s Interest.
• Incite emotions and Desire in the reader.
• Convince readers to take Action. (Convert them)
• Provide value after the conversion.
• Have a focused, clear design that complements your well-written content.

That’s a lot for one piece of content to accomplish, so every element needs to be perfect. You need a proven conversion formula like AIDA.

So what do I mean by AIDA, exactly? It’s an acronym for : Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

A = Attention: Craft a Powerful Headline

The headline has no more than ten seconds to grab a reader’s attention and to do that, it has to:

• Stand independently: Does it tell the reader what the content is about?
• Grab attention: Does it catch the eyes of people who will link back to you?
• Promise value: Does it promise the reader a return on their investment (time)?
• Contain power/action words: Verbs and power words like free, cheap, and fast get attention and add to the value.
• Have a clear message: Does your headline promise to provide the reader with a particular benefit? (Just make sure you live up to this promise in the content.)
• Stand out: Does the headline stand out visually from the rest of the page and its contents?

You can also strengthen your headline with design elements, like the image below (taken from the Harrods.com website). The headline promises their swimwear will make her sexy (a value/benefit). And the image drives the point home:

Check out these great posts for more headline writing tips:

• Boost Your Conversions With “Power Words”
• How to Turn Blah Headlines Into Eyeball-Grabbing Powerhouses
• World’s Best Headlines: BBC News

I = Interest: Make the Content Interesting

When building a landing page, you need to answer the visitor’s biggest question: “So what?”

What does your visitor gain by buying your product? Because link bait doesn’t outright sell something, you’ll need to use other methods of generating interest.

One solution is to pull the reader through to the next step in the “reader conversion funnel” by focusing on details that will pique his/her interest the most.

A few years back, Danielle Winfield of BlueGlass wrote a post called “When Offline Linkbait Ignores the Online Part.” In it, a popular pet magazine had featured an article on famous peoples’ pets. Sadly, their layout fell short. Danielle provided a list of changes that could have increased the amount of attention and links they could have gotten.

Her biggest suggestion? Play on the reader’s interest in celebrities.

And don’t forget about formatting: Subheadings and bolded text will help the reader identify the important information quickly.

So how do you know if you’ve done it right? If you cut out everything except the subheads, bolded text, and bullet points, the reader should still get the basic facts from the article.

D = Desire: Make Your Reader Feel Something

Ask anyone who knows me or has followed me on Twitter for a while, and they’ll tell you I frequently cry over a good movie, book, or video. In fact, if it doesn’t make me laugh, cry, or rant, I feel disappointed and won’t recommend it to others.

Link bait works in exactly the same way.

Link bait shouldn’t necessarily make you cry (although it has been known to happen), but it should make you feel something. Most of the time, I link back to posts because it gave me an “I never thought of that” moment, or I felt so passionate about a topic that I couldn’t help but reply.

To get the reader emotionally involved, engage his/her five senses. Not sure how to do it? This technique is discussed in some detail by James Chartrand.

In the meantime, check out the copy below from Lola’s. Not only does the copy make excellent use of the five senses, but the design also enhances the reader’s emotional response. (I know that made you hungry, so I’ll wait while you grab a snack.)

A = Action: Ask for the Link

This is where you’d normally plaster a big ol’ call to action on the page that screams, “buy me!” But link bait is different. Asking people to link back to you doesn’t work that well. Readers need a reason to do it.

If you’ve completed the previous step successfully, much of this should already be done for you. But you can take steps to encourage interaction (and links):

• Ask a question or opinion at the end.
• Say something controversial, slightly biased, or partially incorrect. (Just be careful with this one. The last thing you want to do is come off looking uninformed. Or worse.)
• Leave parts out. If you “forget” something, someone will surely fill in the blank for you. Just be sure to fulfill the promise you made in the headline.
• Offer an incentive. While this only works with certain types of link bait, it can be extremely effective if you use the right motivator. It doesn’t have to be anything big, either. It simply needs to be something most of your readers won’t be able to get access to on their own.
• Tie them personally to the piece. If you write a direct response to someone and kick-start a friendly debate, or address him/her specifically in the content, s/he may return the favor.

The AIDA technique doesn’t guarantee you success every time, but this technique will certainly help in getting your content read and link-loved.

Want to know more? Read Steven Bradley’s article on the subject. (And be sure to check out the series written by Tim Ash that he included at the bottom of the post, as well.)

Now it’s your turn: Have you used AIDA to improve the success of your link bait?

About the Author – Angie Nikoleychuk

Angie Nikoleychuk is the senior copywriter, consultant & strategist at Angie’s Copywriting Services. She specializes in link bait creation, content strategies, and content optimization. Like to learn more about creating effective link bait? Check out Angie’s new e-book: Creating Successful Link Bait – the ultimate guide to link bait creation.

How to write killer sales copy: a video guide

Posted on 02. Apr, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Direct reponse copywriting, Freelance SEO copywriting, In-house Content Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Greetings! Today we’re featuring our top three SEO copywriting video posts on how to write killer sales copy.

Writing sales copy can be difficult! The art of persuasive writing does not always come naturally or easily to copywriters, especially if they are not trained in direct response theory and best practices. Good sales copy does not need to be heavy handed – the key is to have it flow naturally, while providing a clear call to action to inspire conversions.

Tune in as Heather guides us through how to write powerful, conversions-driving sales copy – as well as what to avoid…

How to tell if your sales copy sucks

In this reader favorite, Heather discusses how to check your sales copy to avoid common and costly mistakes. If you are a DIY small business or new to sales copywriting, there are several ways you can inadvertently go wrong. Learn how to detect these deadly sales copy killers.

3 ways to transform your sucky sales copy into conversions-driving gold

Here, Heather builds on the original video above, with three more tell-tale signs of bad sales copy. Learn how to refine your website’s tone and feel, create specific benefit statements, and use keyphrases deftly to turn your sucky sales copy into conversions-driving gold!

How to translate testimonials into killer sales copy

Finally, Heather shows us how to drawn on customer testimonials to write better sales copy. The benefits conveyed by your happy clients in their testimonials are a fantastic resource to tap for writing your sales pages, providing you with specific benefit statements in a natural voice that can improve both the actual content and tone of your writing. How cool is that?

Thanks for tuning in! If you have a question or suggestion for Heather about an SEO copywriting, Web writing, or content marketing topic, please zip it on over to her [at] heather@seocopywriting.com, or tweet her [at] @heatherlloyd.

In the meantime, would you like to learn more about writing killer sales copy? Check into the SuccessWorks’ SEO Copywriting Certification training to learn not only how to be the best in SEO copywriting, but also how to excel in the lucrative field of direct response/sales copywriting! The combination of these skills will make all the difference in your copywriting career.

photo thanks to Vectorportal

Tap your customers’ psyche to create powerful content

Posted on 19. Mar, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Catalog/retailer, Conversion writing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips by Industry

Greetings! You’re in for an intriguing SEO copywriting video today, as we enter the realm of customer psychology – specifically, tapping your customers’ psyche to create truly engaging, powerful content!

Based on psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs,” Heather walks us through the emotional (and motivational) levels of the psyche and illustrates how to tie your copy into each one with specific website examples.

So tune in to learn how to make your copy resonate with your customers on their deepest psychological levels, from their most basic physiological needs to their lofty esteem needs and aspirations.

As you’ve most likely gathered from Heather’s webinars and/or some of her blog posts, she discusses the psychology of copywriting a lot. The reason?

• People make their buy decisions based on psychology: they ultimately buy based on their emotion.

Granted, they do their research, talk to their friends, and do their due diligence, but at the end of the day, their buy decision is an emotional decision.

That’s why…

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

…is so important to copywriting.

• If you can tie your ad or website copy to something that is part of your customers’ psychological hierarchy of needs, you can write more compelling and powerful copy – content that resonates with what your customers’ are thinking about, are worried about, and/or want to achieve.

This first graphic is a little reminder of what Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are, which you may recall from high school or college: at the base of the pyramid are the basic physiological needs for survival, then progressing (evolving) upwards through safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and finally, self-actualization.

This psychological “needs” pyramid represents what Maslow thought we all experience, as we move beyond our instinctual physiological needs of food, water, etc., to the need to become self-actualized human beings.

So what follows is how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can inform and improve your copywriting, illustrated with specific examples from the Web.

Physiological Needs

The Help-4-Homes (Save Your Home Today!) website is a great example of content that is targeted to basic, physical needs: it is geared towards people who are almost in foreclosure and face losing their house.

This is very freaky situation for folks to deal with – they’re confused, they’re scared, and they’re looking for options. The web copy reflects the readers’ feelings with a checklist of concerns: has your mortgage rate been reset (and you can’t afford it)? Have you suffered a financial hardship?

Then at the end of the copy is a really powerful testimonial from a client who affirms that she was going through this problem and contacted the company, and the company was able to help her.

• The copy ties into those elemental physiological needs and hits those high points with a checklist of concerns, followed by reassurance via a strong testimonial.

If you’re in an industry where physiological needs are the motivating factor, you can look to this example as a template for writing copy that is far more detailed and compelling than just “We can help you save your house” or “We can help you beat foreclosure.”

Safety Needs

An example of a website that addresses the psyche’s need for safety is ADT: they “specialize in home security.”

If you’re in the mindset where you want to buy a home security system, ADT’s benefit statements are most reassuring: it is the gold standard in home security; they offer a personal emergency response system; there is video surveillance plus intrusion detection.

• These benefit statements are crucial because they help the reader feel safe. They let the reader know that he’s at the right place, he’s working with a company that can help him, and that understands his needs.

So if you’re working with a company that deals with safety, ADT’s web content is a fantastic example of a different way to approach the copy. And again, it is far more powerful than just “We’ll help keep you safe”, as it details specific benefits to help the reader feel at ease.

Social Needs

Here is another core psychological need that we all have, and one that can be tapped in creating copy (and images).

In this example of Pottery Barn’s website, you’ll notice that it really doesn’t say all that much. The company’s writers could do a lot more to flesh it out and make it seem more social, certainly.

But what grabs you is the picture: this cozy table setting with four glasses of wine. It tells a story. Somebody has been there, hanging out with friends, and enjoying the view of the water (presumably Chesapeake Bay). It conveys a very comfortable, social type of environment.

• So not only can you use words to tie into one of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but you can also use images. Remember that you’ll want to make sure that your images are helping to reinforce what you’re saying in the copy.

Esteem Needs

Finally, we’re going to end our discussion with the psyche’s esteem needs: these are the people that want to impress, and that want the best of the best.

The website example here is Dream Homes Magazine.com, where you can browse these spectacular homes and luxury rentals located all over the United States and Mexico.

It is definitely about “living the dream.”

So if you’re working with luxury goods and things that are more exclusive, you could tie your copy into Maslow’s “esteem needs” in his hierarchy: that will help people connect better, because that is precisely what they’re looking for.

• Folks with esteem-based psychological needs are seeking that exclusivity, that rarity and privilege of an experience that not everyone can have – one that they know they’ll be able to talk about and remember all their lives.

A Concluding Thought

If you’re a copywriter and want to learn how to write better, especially for conversions, then you’ll want to do a lot of reading around psychology. The more you understand about what makes people “tick” and the underlying psychology of their motivation, the better your content will be!

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s SEO copywriting video how-to! Do you have a question about SEO or Web writing for Heather, or a suggestion for a topic, please let her know via email, at heather@seocopywriting.com, or Twitter, @heatherlloyd. See you next Monday!

Don’t miss a post: we’re now offering our readers the option of a daily email alert so you can be notified of our blog posts as soon as they’re published! Sign up at dailySEOCopy@aweber.com to receive your reminder that your dose of SEO Copywriting’s tips, expert interviews, or weekly industry news awaits you. No post that day, no email for you.

photo thanks to BetterWorks, Inc.

Your SEO is not the problem

Posted on 16. Feb, 2012 by Heather in Blog, Conversion writing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Who do you blame when your sales are slow?

We’re not getting business because the graphic designer designed our logo wrong.

We’re not getting business because our competitors have way more money.

We’re not getting business because the SEO company we hired didn’t do it right. 

We’re not getting business because we’re a small business, and Google only likes large companies.

We’re not driving more traffic to the website because, because, because…

Bring up the fact that the site content sucks, and the blame cycle starts again. “Yeah, we haven’t spent a lot of time on the content. But why bother when the logo is wrong, Google doesn’t like our site and the SEO screwed up anyway?”

Guess what? I doubt the reason that you aren’t landing leads is because Google, your competitors, your SEO and your link builder conspired against your success.

It’s your content.

Bad content will not drive leads. Or sales. Or shares.  You can market the hell out of your site, but it won’t help (much.)

Bad content is just bad – and it has issues, too.

For instance…

Bad content issue #1: Your site is so focused on SEO that you ignore the customer experience. Have you spent thousands on link building, social media management and technical SEO – but you made your admin assistant write the copy and told her to stuff it with keyphrases? If so, what are you thinking? As my father used to say, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Your link builder and SEO may be able to drive more traffic to your site, but know that “driving traffic” doesn’t mean “you’ll make sales.” If your content sucks, there’s no reason to promote it. Fix it instead.

Bad content issue  #2: Your site is so filled with marketing-speak that it turns off your readers. Have you ever chatted with someone who liked to flaunt their “intellectual superiority?” Boring aren’t they? Yeah – well, your dirt-dull SEO content has the same effect on folks. If you’re pushing your “consultative” angle, speaking over the heads of most readers will do nothing but turn them off and cause them to feel like they can’t “connect” with you. When you write approachable copy, people will approach you. It’s that simple. (And yes, I’m talking to you, B2B companies.)

Bad content issue #3: Your site is all about you – and not about your reader. Here’s a newsflash – your prospects really don’t care about your mission statement. Or your warehouse. Or your process – unless you can show how that process helps your customers. Think about it: do you recite your mission statement every time you chat with a new prospect? Of course not. Why would you write content that does exactly that?

Bad content issue #4: You don’t have much site copy because you want people to call you instead. Yes, it’s important to chat with prospects. At the same time, people won’t call you unless you give them a reason – and that reason means smart, customer-driven content. You don’t need to give away the secret sauce of what you do. But, don’t you want enough copy to explain what you do and why people should give you a call?

So, if you find yourself playing the blame game – and you know that your site content isn’t that great – isn’t it time to tackle the real issue?

I think that you’ll be amazed at the results.

3 ways to transform your sucky sales copy into conversions-driving gold

Posted on 06. Feb, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Direct reponse copywriting, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques, web writing

Welcome back! In this week’s SEO copywriting how-to, Heather builds on her video of last week: How to tell if your sales copy sucks.

Realizing there are several more ways to tell that your sales copy sucks, here Heather addresses three more characteristics that mark bad sales copy – and then shares on how to go about fixing them so that your sales content pops off the page.

Tune in to learn how refining your website’s tone and feel, sharing specific benefits with your readers, and using keyphrases deftly can transform your sales copy from sucky into conversions-driving, reader-focused gold!

1. The tone and feel is off base

While this is an issue that mostly affects B2B sites, any website can suffer from this malady.

• Think about your reader when you’re writing your copy – what would you say if you spoke with them in person?

There’s something about sitting down and writing something – especially Web copy – that flashes some folks back to high school English class.

They then create this very formal-sounding document that would stand up really well in an English class, but when it comes to communicating and connecting online it falls short.

• A more “formal” tone and feel does not make you sound smarter.

In another scenario, there are some companies that believe that a formal tone and feel makes them sound smarter, and automatically conveys that they are an “expert” in their field.

• Newsflash! Formal tone and feel does not an expert make.

So instead of flashing back to that high school or college English class, or thinking that a formal tone and feel is what you need (which, in some cases it could be, depending on your audience and subject matter), again try to think about how you would communicate with folks if they called you directly.

Then, try to translate that to what you are writing online so that some warmth and personality shine through.

• If you’re not sure if you’re connecting in this fluid and natural way online, consider sharing your sales copy with someone who knows you, as well as your company.

Ask them: “Does this sound like me?” and “When I talk to folks online, is it the way I usually sound, or am I making myself sound different somehow?”

A trusted colleague or editor can give you some valuable feedback about how you can loosen up and warm up your copy with personalized content, but still manage to convey a solid and credible business tone and feel.

2. You don’t provide any real information because “you want people to call you.”

Sharing just a hint of your helpful information that doesn’t give away too much may seem savvy. Wrong!

Yes, it may sound edgy, it may sound interesting, but at the end of the day it doesn’t convey the benefits your company can provide prospects.

• Guess what? People probably won’t call you.

If you’re going down this path as a marketing strategy, the very real possibility is that folks probably won’t bother to call you. After all, your competition is only a back-click away.

It’s so easy for folks to realize that “Given company X isn’t providing me with any helpful information, let’s check out what company Y has to offer.”

• Always showcase your value, expertise and benefits.

So be sure to track what your competitors are doing (and not doing) and make sure that you provide substantive information that addresses what your audience cares about.

Giving your readers solid information is a fantastic way to showcase your expertise and value, as well as inform them about exactly what you can do for them.

3. You add a bunch of keyphrases “just in case.”

• It won’t help.
• It will turn off your readers.
• Did I mention that it won’t help?

It’s somewhat (darkly) funny that Google Analytics demi-god Matt Cutts has come out with a video discussing the myth of keyphrase density, and the myths surrounding the myth – only to hear folks say “Well, I know what he said, but I still have this feeling that if I add a few more keyphrases to my content that’s going to make all the difference – I’m going to make all sorts of money and my life is going to be grand!”

Ah, if only it were so. But it’s not real or realistic, so please: Don’t do this.

Instead, focus on your readers and do those things that will best help them.

Remember: focus on your reader, not SEO for SEO’s sake

• Yes, you do want to add keyphrases to your content.
• Yes, you want to make sure that you have those SEO copywriting bases covered.
• But adding random keyphrases or repeating keyphrases or doing anything that detracts from valuable content is not going to help you and it’s gonna turn off your readers, so DON’T DO IT!

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email her via heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

Learn the latest SEO copywriting and direct response skills while realizing your full freelancing career’s income potential: check out the only industry-recognized and highly proclaimed SEO Copywriting Certification training program today!

How to tell if your sales copy sucks

Posted on 30. Jan, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Direct reponse copywriting, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Greetings! In today’s Web-writing video, Heather discusses how to check your sales copy to detect common and costly mistakes – those she has witnessed time and again in her long SEO copywriting career.

It’s true, writing sales copy is really difficult if you’ve never done it before. There are several ways you can inadvertently go wrong, and many DIY folks don’t know how to go about checking their sales copy to see if they’ve done it right.

So without your knowledge, much less your intention, your sales copy might suck!

Don’t despair. Tune in as Heather addresses the most common sales copywriting mistakes, and how to check your sales copy to ensure you’re not making them…

Your writing focuses on the product/service – not the reader.

• How many times did you include your company name and the words “we” and “our”?
• Readers want to know what’s in it for them.

http://www.futurenowinc.com/wewe.htm

When you’re brand new to sales writing – or even when you’re experienced, but things just aren’t clicking when you sit down to write – it’s all too easy to focus your copy on your company, and/or your product or service. You’ll use the words “we” and “our” a lot, and mention your company name over and over.

• What you want to do is change the focus of the sales content from features to benefits, telling your readers how your product/service helps them.

One of the things you can do when double-checking the focus of your sales copy is to go through and count how many times you’ve used the words “we” and “our,” as well as your company name.

• Or, you can try this cute little tool called the “wewe” monitor. Simply put your sales page URL into the “wewe” tool and it will give you a score that reflects how many times you have focused on the company rather than on the reader. It’s a fun tool worth checking out!

You’re repeating yourself. Repeatedly.

• Repeating yourself = sloppy writing.
• Tighten up the copy and delete any repetitive content.

Repetitive copy is not a mistake reserved for brand new sales writers – it can mar the content of experienced writers who just haven’t quite got the flow of a new writing project yet.

With repetitive copy, the writer might mention a concept or a benefit statement in one paragraph, and then again in the next paragraph – maybe in a slightly different way – and yet again further down the page…

• That is sloppy writing, because it stretches the sales page out longer than it needs to be. Also, repeating a benefit statement may preempt the inclusion of another – possibly even more powerful – benefit statement while cluttering your copy.

So check your sales copy for repetition, tightening it up and deleting any repetitive content.

• If you’re having difficulty seeing where that repetitive content is, then it might be a good idea to give your sales page to an editor, or a trusted someone who can check your work and give you honest feedback.

Your copy is TDL (too damn long)

• Long-form sales letters/Web pages work – if you know what you’re doing.
• Don’t make your readers scroll through useless information.
• Try splitting your information up on multiple pages instead.

Often, a sales page will run too long if the person is new to sales writing, or if they’re experienced but haven’t quite gotten into the flow of the project.

In either case, the writer is throwing everything s/he can think of into the sales page to see what sticks. Besides ending up with a really long sales page, chances are the copy has repetitive content.

• You want your sales page to be as long as it needs to be to convey the information you want it to convey.

While there’s no hard and fast rule for sales page length, the “sweet spot” is usually around 250 to 500 words…BUT that depends completely on your target audience!

You want to avoid writing a long-form sales letter unless you really know what you’re doing. People who know how to write lengthy sales copy online have tested a lot of approaches – it’s what they do, they’re experts. Anybody else who tries it is not likely to see the same results.

What most likely will happen is you’ll end up with 10 pages of copy that your readers will have to scroll through to find out how to take action. You don’t want to do that.

• If you find that your page is getting TDL, but you have so much that you want to say and it’s important information that you what on your site somewhere, try splitting the content up on multiple pages. That way, your readers won’t be overwhelmed with this long, 15,000-word essay!

Thanks for joining us for this week’s SEO copywriting how-to video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email  heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

Want to learn more about sales writing and SEO? Check out SuccessWorks’  SEO copywriting training options to see what program suits you best!

photo credit to josef.stuefer

How to translate testimonials into killer sales copy

Posted on 23. Jan, 2012 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Direct reponse copywriting, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques, web writing

Welcome back! In this week’s Web-writing video how-to, Heather discusses how customer testimonials can help you write better sales pages.

For many of us, writing a sales page can be challenging. You may be a really great blogger, able to write about anything, or you may be a small business owner wanting to write your own sales copy for your website…in any case, if you’ve never written persuasive copy before, it can prove to be very difficult.

Fortunately, there is a rich resource you can tap for crafting convincing sales copy: tune in and learn how you can draw on your happy customers’ testimonials for the specific content you need to write a killer sales page…

Sales writing can be challenging…

• You need to tell your prospects ”what’s in it for them.”

All of the content that you write needs to be customer-focused: your prospects want to know what’s in it for them.

• But if you’re new to sales writing, it’s easy to write about features and forget about benefits.

If you’re brand new to sales writing, or if you don’t’ do it all that often, it’s easy to lapse into a discussion about the great features of your product – its color, shape, and dimensions – rather than how those features can actually benefit or otherwise help your prospect.

In the case of a service, you may say “we offer a, b, and c” but fail to say how these offerings can improve your prospects’ bottom line.

Testimonials provide valuable insight…

Here’s an easy way to work around the features vs. benefits conundrum and jump-start the process of writing a kick-butt sales page: rather than starting the sales writing process first, instead have the first step be gathering customer testimonials about your product or service.

• Why not discover what your customers love about your product or service?

By discovering what it is your customers love about your product or service, you’re spared trying to guess or make a judgment call about what the most important benefit statement should be. You can simply gather customer testimonials and find out for yourself!

• When you write your content, you can refer to the testimonials and create better benefit statements.

In crafting your sales copy, you can refer to your customer testimonials to provide content rich with tangible, specific benefit statements.

For example, maybe you own a pilates studio and have helped a lot of people with back problems. If you see that specific benefit mentioned time and again in your customer testimonials, then you might weave it into your sales copy: “We help people with back problems,” and then add a sample testimonial.

Or, it might be that you own a company that helps other companies with their accounting. Perhaps you can say that you helped company X streamline their accounting process, and even made it fun…If that’s the feedback from your clients – that they enjoy working with you and find it fun to work with you – then by all means use it in your sales copy!

Consider asking questions like…

Using client testimonials is a different way to slant how you write the sales page.

When you’re getting ready to send out those requests for testimonials, rather than say “ Hey Bob, you’re a great customer and I’m wondering if you would write a brief testimonial for me” – which might strike Bob as headlights strike deer, or elicit something that doesn’t work the way you’d hoped – instead refine your request, such as:

• How has my product/service helped you? Please be specific.

The hope here is that folks will talk about how they saved or made money working with you – something that speaks to how working with you helped improve their bottom line.

• What were your challenges before finding my business?

In this way you can take your customer’s story and weave into your sales copy.

• Why did you decide to work with my company over my competitors?

The answer to this can enlighten you as to your U.S.P. (Unique Sales Proposition) and provide specific insights to include in your sales copy.

You can simply put these questions in an email, taking care not to overwhelm – maybe limit them to five.

Once you’ve gathered your customer testimonials, you will have a fantastic platform to write that sales page!

This approach provides four benefits…

• The writing process will go much faster. You don’t have to “guess” at benefits.
• If a testimonial is really good, you can expand it into a case study, interview, or blog post.
• You’ll have powerful “specifics” that you can weave into your Web copy.
• You’ll have testimonials!

And as a final note: remember to sprinkle your testimonials throughout your site – you’ll wow your prospects even more!

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s SEO copywriting video! If you have a question for Heather, you can tweet it to her @heatherlloyd or email  heather@seocopywriting.com. And be sure to check back next Monday for another hot Web-writing tip – it may well answer your question. See you then!

Want to learn more about sales writing and SEO? Check out SuccessWorks’  SEO copywriting training options to see what program suits you best!

photo credit: Mathyld

How to use “free” to boost conversions

Posted on 14. Nov, 2011 by Laura in Blog, Conversion writing, Direct reponse copywriting, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Tips and techniques

Welcome back! Today, Heather elaborates on her power words video blog series, focusing on the word “free.” (Bet your eyes just snapped on the word already!)  Like the word “you,” “free” is a very powerful power word and yet one that many copywriters fail to use correctly.

If you’re just catching up, in the last couple of weeks Heather’s been talking about “power words” – those conversions-driving words that have been tried and tested by the copywriting community since pre-internet time. When weaved into your content, these power words can help increase your conversion rates by eliciting an emotional response from your readers.

So… how can you fail to correctly leverage that sexy power word, “free”? As easily as you fail to let your readers fail to understand the real value of it.

Tune in as Heather discusses how to use that mighty power word, “free,” so that it both conveys value to your readers and helps increase your conversion rates.

Will using the word “free” in your online copy help increase conversion rates?

If used correctly, you bet!

• “Free” is one of those powerful power words that definitely gets your attention.  But it is also one that requires some finesse in its use if it is to mean something of value to your prospects and help you with conversions.

So today we’ll be talking about how to effectively use and leverage the word “free” in your online copywriting.

The word “free” is a power word…

• The challenge is that within a sales situation, many copywriters don’t know how to use it correctly.

Think about the word “free” from the prospect’s perspective. The prospect is coming to your site and finds that you’re giving away a product or service for free.  Well, in their mind….

“Free” has no value…

• People aren’t thinking about the deal that they’re getting…
• They’re merely focusing on the word “free”

Your prospects aren’t considering the long hours, the research, the considerable investment that you’ve put in to create this “free” product or service. They’re not thinking about the intrinsic value of the freebie, they’re just transfixed on the word FREE.

So what can you do instead? Simple:

To get your prospects to really understand the value of what you’re giving away, and to increase conversion rates, here’s all you need to do:

• If you’re providing an incentive gift, simply include the value of the gift:

As shown on the left, specifying “a $47 value” reassures prospects that they’re already ahead of the game, making them much more comfortable with their purchase as they see high-value extra’s thrown in.

• If you’re offering a “savings,” tell your prospects how much they’re saving:

Looking at the example of “Adult Costumers: Grease Cool Sandy,” you’ll see that the full retail price of $47 is shown, followed by the site’s price of $34.95. Prospects will immediately see the value in purchasing from the website as opposed to paying full retail somewhere else.

• It is much more powerful to demonstrate the value of your “free” offering than it is to simply state the word “free.”

That’s a wrap for today – thanks for dropping by!  If you have a question for Heather, please zip it to her at heather@seocopywriting.com and be sure to tune in next week. See you then!

photo credit to Mike Licht