Creating Web Copy That Increases Your Sales
The Internet is a virtual goldmine – call it a virtual El Dorado, if you will. And, there’s a gold rush out there. Just about every small business owner is doing his best at selling his product, waiting to get that big break – something that will bring home the bacon, the ham and the pudding, and much more.
But, to get that big break is not so easy. And one of the reasons for that is small business owners treat their website as a display unit – a showcase for displaying their wares. Well, they couldn’t be more wrong because a website is much more – the website should be treated like a salesman who not only displays products but also communicates with the visitors and manages to convince them to buy the product. And for that to happen, a website needs good, sorry, make that great, copywriting.
Fundamentals of Good Web Copy
First impressions are the truest and they stay for a long time. And any website’s copy must create that killer first impression that can go a long way in making a sale. Needless to say, good web copy should be absolutely free from grammatical mistakes, and so it is essential to hire the services of a professional writer to create outstanding web copy. Apart from the grammar and writing part, here are the other fundamentals of good web copy:
1. It has to be accurate. A single false claim or even an exaggeration can have disastrous consequences. Every fact that is mentioned must be reliable or verifiable. Remember, if an exaggeration is discovered by a customer, he will blast the website on his blog and on various bulletin boards. Moral of the story: Say what you mean and mean what you say.
2. It has to be written in a conversational style. Like we said before, the website acts as a salesman and, just like a salesman, it should communicate with the visitor in everyday language, without confusing him with long words and big sentences. Think about how you talk in real life and then put it down on paper, and get it fine-tuned by a professional. Remember: short words, short sentences help!
3. The copy needs to be organized and should flow seamlessly from one paragraph to another without jumping the gun. There is beauty in logic and people love to read an interesting bit of copy that takes them by the hand and leads them through the jungle of words.
4. The copy has to be to the point. A heavily worded document is tedious to read and web visitors have short attention spans. Combine these two facts and figure it out for yourself!
5. Hype and oversell kills. Avoid them. Stick to the basics. Period.
6. Finally, the copy must be interesting to read. There’s no joy in reading short copy with short words that just goes blah blah and does not interest the visitor. It must be ensured that the copy has enough twists and turns to compel the visitor to read it in its entirety and then make a purchase. A website owner must liken writing copy to making a movie – plot, character, story, tautness, drama and suspense.
Okay, What’s Next?
Okay, let’s say now that you have sufficient knowledge to write web copy that will hold your visitor right up to the end. The next step is to build in the pitch that will make the visitor act and buy the product. And you can build up the visitor’s desire and make him act by building a value proposition, by making him an offer he cannot refuse!
And, to build in this value proposition the website owner has to persuasively tell the visitor that if he buys from his website he’s getting a whole lot of benefits, along with a knockout deal on the price too. Once the website describes these benefits, it must then create a sense of urgency by announcing a time-limited offer or limited-visitor offer – something that will make the visitor act immediately on impulse and clinch the deal.
This is one of the oldest sales techniques and it doesn’t fail – provided you have got all the fundamentals of good web copy going and the product you are selling does have some sort of a market – no matter how small the market may be.
A Few Tips & Tricks
1. Always proofread and perfect the copy before it is published.
2. The copywriter must always place himself in the reader’s shoes before he writes the copy. If the copywriter does not get motivated or enthused by his own writing, then he must junk it until he gets it right.
3. The copy must not be written in an “I-am-clever-and-I-know-it” vein. Rather, it must connect with the readers by considering them as equals.
Conclusion
To conclude, you must get your inspiration and energy from these two super quotes: “The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean” by Robert Louis Stevenson, and “Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish” by John Jakes.
Now combine the two and see the wisdom in them and go ahead and write that eyeball-grabbing copy you always wanted to write but didn’t do so because you were waiting for a spark that would egg you on. And we hope this article has given that boost to your imagination. Good luck.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business. http://besuccessfulnews.com/
Become an Article Writer
Most internet visitors go online looking for something to watch or read. They might be researching a topic or looking for something entertaining. Even those who use the internet for business or just for emails have been tempted to read a funny story or interesting article.
Those who run websites have realized that these articles or blog posts are what visitors are looking for. They want visitors to come back, so they are constantly adding new articles or new blog material. The only problem for many of the webmasters is that they don’t have the time or skill necessary to keep up with the site’s content, or writing.
If you can write a good story or do a bit of research and pull together a short, interesting summary or article, you can make money as an article writer. To become an article writer, you must first understand the market and distinguish where you and your particular writing skills fit in.
Professional Writers
There have almost always been individuals who are skilled and trained to write for formal publications. These writers prepare articles of magazine quality and some now write for real print magazines as well as websites. Professional writers demand a very high rate for their knowledge and skill, usually more than $0.10 per word. They are experts in a particular topic and have years of experience crafting articles.
SEO Writers
At the bottom of the writing quality food chain are SEO writers. SEO is search engine optimization and involves using certain words in a site’s text in order for the site to be listed in search engines for that particular word. If a site is optimized for “article writer” the phrase is deliberately used repetitively throughout the work.
This style of writing is almost always geared more toward search engines, not actual readers. Since search engines don’t know the difference between quality writing and poor writing, these articles are usually slapped together quickly. They might contain poor grammar or obviously be written by someone who speaks English as a second language.
There is a large market for these articles, however. SEO writing usually brings in no more than $0.015 per word, but quality material is not usually an issue. The goal in SEO writing is to use a certain word or phrase a number of times and ideally use it in sentences that make sense in a broad way.
Article Writers
Article writers fall in between the two spectrums. Better writers demand higher rates and those who are still developing their skills fall at the bottom of the spectrum. Article writers may write on many different topics or only in a specific niche. Usually the more specialized you are, the more you can charge for your expertise. Article writers bring in $0.02 – $0.09 per word depending on ability and topic. A good article writer can prepare “search engine friendly” material using keywords naturally in text written for actual readers.
Becoming an Article Writer
To become an article writer, you only need to find customers and get started writing. The customers can usually be located at various forums or websites where webmasters go looking for services, such as writing. Other websites such as getafreelancer.com, guru.com, or elance.com allow you to bid for projects, and still others such as associatedcontent.com and constant-content.com might buy already written work.
Once you have an assignment, prepare a piece using your best skills and double-check for accuracy, spelling and grammar. Your article should be interesting and fresh with material that will catch the eye and the attention of the reader. It goes without saying that every article you write must be your own work.
Complete the assignment and sent it to the client who requested it. Be sure you have already agreed on payment terms and how you would like your payment delivered – PayPal is the most common method of payment. As you grow in skill and reputation, your article writing business will grow as well. If you have the talent and drive, you might soon be working at the professional level.
Joshua Watson is the author of http://www.urhowto.com, http://www.successwithauctions.com and http://www.adcentiveswest.com. If you like this article, please take a look at the other sites and share your feedback.
Make Money as a Copywriter
Copywriters are some of the most highly paid writers. A copywriter prepares marketing and sales text to help bring people and potential buyers to a certain business, either online or off. Copywriters prepare items such as sales letters, website content, brochures, emails and fliers. These must be powerfully written to appeal to possible customers, and effective copy can make a tremendous amount of money, hence the high rates copywriters charge.
Learn the Craft
To make money as a copywriter, you must first understand copywriting. It is far more than writing a friendly sales pitch or coming up with cute slogans. Copywriting is marketing at is finest, and there are experts and resources that will help build a marketing foundation in writers anxious to learn this valuable skill.
Take classes or read all you can to learn the proper format of sales letters and other material. Read the work of others to see current trends and styles. Practice writing copy for your own projects and websites before attempting to do so for clients – copywriting is easily tracked through product or service sales, so you must be knowledgeable and confident before taking on projects.
Set up Shop
Once you have the skills necessary to begin working as a copywriter, you must establish yourself in the market. Many copywriters work as freelancers either part-time or full-time. These individuals may create their own website or at the very least a profile on someone else’s site. Traditional copywriters also work on print materials, not just online, so business cards and fliers may also bring in clients.
Your rates will be tied to your productivity, so starting copywriters can not charge as much as successful, established professionals. The first few projects you take on might be heavily discounted or even free to help build a portfolio and obtain valuable references and actual experience.
Other copywriters first begin selling items or services of their own to show their skill. This is why a website or brochure makes a great deal of sense for a copywriter – what better way to show your marketing ability than to effectively market yourself?
Build a Network
Copywriting is a skill in high demand and most copywriting business is brought in on referrals. This means that the better a copywriter’s client and professional network, the more business he is likely to have. Network with others in the industry and constantly read and research methods and philosophies.
Over time, you will most likely develop a specialty in a form of promotion or a particular industry. This is desirable as specialists know an industry inside and out and have the right contacts. If you are a specialist in a field, you will be well-known within that industry for your work and have earned a great deal of respect and profits.
Joshua Watson is the author of http://www.urhowto.com, http://www.successwithauctions.com and http://www.safehavenlc.com. If you like this article, please take a look at the other sites and share your feedback.
The Importance of a Salesletter
Not so long ago, when the computer was first mass-produced for selling to the public, a lot of industry experts predicted that nobody will want a box that does nothing besides handling data and hogging up the entire garage. They were obviously wrong. Nearly every household will have at least one computer in the US, and most even have two or three desktops!
This little bit of history tells us that no matter how good your product is, you cannot earn even a penny from it if you have a lousy salesperson. Likewise, no matter how good your product is, you cannot sell even one copy of it with a weak salesletter. Hence, it is vital to have a compelling salesletter that will pull the prospect right into it and see clearly the benefits that are presented against the very reasonable price you are charging.
A good salesletter will first catch the attention of the reader by resonating with the reader’s needs and desires. That’s why you often see headlines such as “Have you ever felt…” or “Does … sound familiar?” They work because they empathize with the reader’s needs, problems or desires. The Internet is like a very busy freeway and everyone’s in a rush. Only a strong headline like that in big, bold letters will stop your target audience dead in their tracks to read through your salesletter.
Once you’ve obtained your reader’s attention, you want to spend the first few paragraphs on telling your story how you have gone through what your reader probably has, the agony of the whole experience, etc. Once you get your reader thinking “he’s one of us”, you would be perceived as an understanding individual offering a solution and not an anonymous marketer looking to sell his product.
Next, you have to elaborate on the benefits of the product you are selling. List them all on a piece of scrap paper until you have quite a long list; then write your salesletter from there. In your salesletter, highlight the benefits in point form and elaborate on each benefit. Be sure to point out how your product helps the reader instead of pointing out the features of the product. For example, instead of saying “this gizmo cures headaches”, say “this gizmo can relieve your headaches”. Make it relevant to the reader.
Then, write a paragraph or two on how the reader’s life could be changed if the problem he is facing can be totally solved with your product. It is important to use very descriptive words so that the reader can fall into the imagination more easily.
Last of all, make a strong call for action! Your final objective is to make your readers buy your product, so it is important to make a final, strong call for action, be it “click the Buy button”, “whip out your credit card” and so on. Do not make the mistake of forgetting such an important step after coaxing your reader through the lengthy paragraphs.
The author also writes about Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, and blogs at http://www.searchengine-weblog.com