Etips is a publication of:
Your Guide to Professional Web
Site Design and Development
| Issue: |
#140 |
| Date: |
June 3, 2003 |
| Circulation: |
30,700 |
| Publisher: |
Shelley Lowery |
| Email: |
admin@web-source.net |
Hello,
Welcome to this week's edition of Etips!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who wrote to me this
past week. All of your comments and support were sincerely appreciated. The
response to the new HTML format has been wonderful.
In today's edition of Etips, I will be featuring part eight of our ten part
series, "The Birth of a Professional Web Site," and focus on writing effective
sales copy.
If you missed any of the previous articles in this series, you can find them
at the following web addresses:
The Birth of a Professional Web Site:
Part One
The
Learning Process
Part Two
Your
Strategic Plan
Part Three
Basic
Guidelines
Part Four
Essential
Components
Part Five
Essential
Tools
Part Six
Search
Engine Preparation
Part Seven
Web
Page Optimization
I hope you'll enjoy this week's edition of Etips.
To Your Success!
The Birth of a Professional Web Site Part
Eight Writing Effective Sales Copy
A professional looking web site
is a very important part of developing a profitable Internet business. However,
your sales copy is just as important -- each will play a major role in your
success.
The key to writing effective sales copy is simply learning how to write
persuasive words specifically written for your targeted potential customer.
You must feel their needs and write your copy with passion, excitement and
benefits. Tell them exactly what's in it for them by writing copy that evokes
a specific emotion and stresses your product's benefits.
Use the following formula when writing your sales copy:
A - Attention - Use a powerful headline
that demands attention
I- Interest - Intrigue interest and
create curiosity
D - Detail - Provide details about
your product or service
A - Action - Call for action
When you begin writing your copy, your text should be written in a black,
legible font with a light background. Avoid using fancy fonts or backgrounds
that will make your text difficult to read. Write in small blocks of text
with a space between each block. There is nothing that will make your visitor
click away faster than a sea of black text -- so make sure you use plenty
of white space.
A great way to write your copy and
come up with new benefits is to use the "so what" strategy. After each sentence,
say to yourself, "so what" and then elaborate.
Example:
XYZ computers are lightning fast. (so what) They can process information
faster than any other computer on the market. (so what) Your programs will
instantly load on command, (so what) saving you hours of valuable time and
frustration over the life of your computer.
Remember...benefits sell not features.
Headline
The first and most important part of your sales copy is the headline. If
your headline doesn't instantly capture your targeted potential customers'
attention, and arouse a specific emotion, the rest of your sales copy will
be useless.
In order to write an effective headline, you must learn how to use specific
words to achieve a specific reaction.
Before writing your headline, you must first learn a little bit about the
basic human motivators. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, human behavior
is always the result of one or more of five basic needs. He listed these
needs in a sequence that he refers to as "the hierarchy of human needs."
He believes that until a less important need is met there won't be any desire
to pursue a more important need. Below are the five human motivators, beginning
with the basic needs and continuing to the most important needs.
Physiological - Basic human needs include hunger, thirst, shelter,
clothing and sex.
Safety (Security) - Human need for physical, emotional and financial
security.
Social (Affiliation) - Human need for love, affection, companionship
and acceptance.
Esteem (Self Esteem) - Human need for achievement, recognition, attention
and respect.
Self-actualization - Human need to reach their full potential.
When you are aware of the basic human needs, you can incorporate these needs
into your writing. A great headline will appeal to your potential customers'
emotions. You must feel their needs, wants and desires and write your headlines
with passion and emotion.
Introduction
Just as your headline is a very important part of your sales copy, the first
paragraph is just as important. Studies have shown that if your headline
attracts your potential customers' attention, and you can maintain their
attention through the first paragraph, chances are they'll read the rest
of your copy.
The first paragraph should clearly define the benefits that will be outlined
within your sales copy -- identify a problem and promote your product or
service as the solution.
Subheadings
Subheadings are basically just smaller headlines used to break up your text
blocks. They also provide your readers with important highlights of your
paragraphs.
Use plenty of subheadings throughout your copy, as not all of your visitors
will read your copy word for word. They'll simply scan it and only read what
catches their attention.
Remove the Risk
You must provide your potential customers with a solid, no risk, money back
guarantee. In addition, provide a limited time free trial or download that
will completely remove their risk. This will build your potential customers'
confidence in you and put their mind at ease.
Call for Action
Once your potential customer has read your sales copy, you must direct them
to your order page by asking for the order.
Use a P.S.
When your visitor scans your sales message, chances are they'll read your
headline, sub headlines and your PostScript message. Place your most important
benefits within your PS message.
Provide Testimonials
Testimonials provide a great way to reassure your visitors. Blend your
testimonials in with your sales message. Avoid making your visitors have
to click to another page to view your testimonials -- chances are, they won't.
By blending your testimonials in with your sales message, you can ensure
they will be read.
Long Copy verses Short Copy
It is a proven fact that long sales copy out-sells short sales copy. However,
some visitors do prefer a short sales letter. You can provide your visitors
with both. For those who prefer a short sales letter, provide opportunities
to click through to your order page prior to ending your sales letter.
Try to keep your sales letter all on one page. Your visitors would much rather
have to scroll through your letter than click through and load another page.
With each additional click, you'll lose a percentage of your potential
customers.
Your words should seamlessly flow together from your headline through to
your order page. Every word, sentence and headline should have one specific
purpose -- to lead your potential customer to your order page. The simple,
well-designed web sites with killer sales copy make the sales.
(Continued in part nine)
Copyright © Shelley Lowery 2003.
About the
Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of the highly acclaimed ebook series,
Web Design Mastery -- An eight volume (500+
pages) in-depth guide to professional web design. Web Design Mastery is being
hailed as the "Bible" for professional web design.
http://www.webdesignmastery.com |
|
| Tip of
the Week |
 |
The standard fonts used within
a web page are Arial and Verdana, size 2. Arial and Verdana are the standard
simply because they are the easiest to read on a computer screen. Headlines
are a bit different. A popular headline font used is Georgia, as it displays
nicely in the slightly larger font size..
Today's tip is an excerpt from the highly acclaimed
Web Design Mastery series.
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