Whether you’ve got a website and need a revamp or you’re just starting out on  the web there are certain things you need to avoid when thinking about your design.

Remember that your website is, in effect, your online shop window. Think about how it will be viewed by your visitors, what they will want to see and what they’ll need to know.

Don’t be complicated

If a visitor lands on your website they will want to be able to find out what they need to know quickly and easily.

If they’re faced with numerous options, confusing navigation and a ‘busy’ Home page they are more than likely going to wander off and find another less complicated site. 

Although you need links within your text to aid navigation, don’t over do it. There’s nothing more off putting than text littered with links and – more to the point – vast quantities of boxes in the sidebar containing links and asking them to do umpteen things.

Make your navigation simple and logical.

Flash

At one time Google couldn’t read flash and so it was pretty useless when it came to SEO. Now, the search engine spiders can crawl through it but it still has limited effectiveness when it comes to search engine optimisation.

If you can live without it do, if you can’t keep it to an absolute minimum.

Pretty pictures

Pictures are great but can be over done.

Use them to enhance your text or show your products off. But make sure they are great images, bad ones can kill a website.

And don’t forget that images can also help you with your SEO.

How fast?

Long loading times are a killer. No one wants to hang around while your site loads, even if it does have a little count down graphic.

Google likes sites that load quickly as this post from the Google Official Webmaster Central Blog shows.

The offer

Your website is there to sell so you must have a call to action and an offer.

Some people get so wrapped up in SEO and the look of their site they completely miss it’s main purpose – it’s a sales tool. Without an offer and a clear call to action your website will be completely ineffective.

Of course, along with a new design, fresh content is always a good idea so hiring a good SEO copywriter is always a great investment

Is your website converting?

There are loads of websites out there that look great, have loads of content and, sometimes, rank quite well. But they are missing one thing – they aren’t converting.

This is a conversation I tend to have with people far too regularly. It goes a bit like this:

Client: “My website’s working really well – I get about 500 unique visitors every day”

Copywriter: “Great, so what’s your conversion rate?”

Client: “My what?”

Argh! There you have it – they’ve missed the number one reason for having a website – converting your visitors into paying customers.

That’s why I’ve written this post – to show you how you can make your website convert visitors.

How to make your website convert

Let’s look at how people behave online.

Imagine you’re looking for a new camera. First you’ll probably enter your search phrase in Google, browse down the results and open a new tab for each entry that catches your eye.

Then you’ll read through each one in turn to see what the companies are offering and gradually whittle the open tabs down until you arrive at the one you want.

Have you worked out how to get your website to convert yet?

Yup – someone will buy from you if you are offering something that no one else is. It could be a price choice, free delivery, extended guarantee…the possibilities are endless.

So if you want to convert your visitors you must identify your unique value proposition and make sure it’s the first thing your potential customers see.

Because your UVP is your primary benefit it has to be something that makes you stand out from the crowd. It could be a free bonus item, price reduction, guarantee – something that is of real value to your reader.

If you hide it within your text or deep inside your site, your reader isn’t going to find it and they’ll go elsewhere. So you have to make their lives as easy as possible and make it obvious and on all pages – after all it might not be your home page they land on.

Have a look at your website – is your UVP obvious? If not you know what you’ve got to do if you want to give your conversion rate a boost.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

What is the one vital aspect of copy that is often missed?

The call to action.

It’s true that copywriting is about building rapport with your readers—you have to get to know them, understand what makes them tick and befriend them. Perhaps that’s why people shy away from actually telling them what to do.

But if your copy doesn’t shout “Oi! Get in touch and buy now” (OK perhaps a bit harsh) they’ll just swan off and read someone else’s website, brochure, email or letter.

So how do you go about driving your reader towards your call to action?

Start softly

Good copy builds a relationship with the reader. Through your words you must show that you understand what their problems are and that you know how to solve them. Identifying the benefits of the product/service you’re selling will illustrate this. It will show how their lives will be improved by using the product/service—it shows that you care, that you’re willing to listen and take action to make their life better.

Once they’ve read all of that, they’ll be your best friend forever and will do anything you ask.

Stage two

As your reader now trusts you completely it’s time to move onto the next stage in your blossoming relationship.

They now realise that what you’re selling is what they need, they are completely convinced of the fact that it’s what they want. But now they’ve reached the end of the page there’s a problem—you haven’t told them what to do next.

There’s just an empty space.

They don’t know what to do, they go into a blind panic, hit the back browser and head off to another website. All your hard work as gone to waste.

What went wrong?

You’ve forgotten a very important sentence. A sentence that will tell them what they need to do. You have forgotten the call to action.

“But they know they want to buy the product, why should I have to tell them to buy it?”

A very valid point, but as far as your reader is concerned, why should they have to hunt around your website trying to work out what to do next? If you can’t be bothered to tell them to Click here to buy now, or Call us today on 123 456 78 and book your appointment, why should they stick around?

Take a look at your website - do you have a CTA? If the answer’s “no” get one added to every sales page.

Don’t leave your sales conversion rate to chance. If you want your reader to buy, tell them.

Most businesses realise that the internet is the place to be these days.

It is a vast market place scoured by millions of internet users every day.

But that doesn’t mean you should dash out and throw any old website together. If you want a website it should for one reason only – to sell. If it doesn’t do that, it becomes a very expensive brochure.

As a copywriter I have used this blog as a way of informing and educating people in how to get the most out of their website. But there are still a large number out there who don’t seem to get it.

What’s the point in having a website if…

Your website is your online shop window. As such it should be eye-catching, informative and tempting.

Here are 5 examples of when your website isn’t worth the space it occupies on the web:

1. You can’t be found

Let’s get one thing clear, just because you have a website people aren’t automatically going to find you. Many people believe that as soon as their site is launched they’ll be bombarded by buying traffic—think again.

If you don’t invest in search engine optimisation, you won’t get found.

You must ensure your web designer understands SEO and builds your site to make it visible. You should also find yourself a good SEO copywriter who actually knows what they are doing. It won’t be cheap but it will mean your copy and HTML tags will be properly SEO’d.

2. You, you, you

Your reader couldn’t give a toss about you, how long you’ve been in business or how many staff you have—certainly in the initial stages of buying. They want to know what you are going to do for them. Why should your product be better than anyone else’s? What will it mean to them if they buy it?

If your navigation looks like—About Us—What we do—Our Products etc. they are unlikely to hang around. Write about the benefits to your customers. That’s all they are interested in.

3. Go here

If you hide your navigation in playful graphics how are your readers going to find their way around your website? If you want people to get in touch or buy from you, make it easy for them to do so.

4. Go away!

This is a personal dislike (but I am not alone), do not have annoying pop-up boxes appear on your website that chase the reader around the screen.

‘Are you sure you want to leave?’ – Yes of course I’m sure!!!! Leave me alone.

5. Music and video

I’m beginning to sound like a grumpy old woman now but I can’t stand websites that auto play videos and music. First off they slow down the loading time of your site and secondly they are so annoying. Have a video by all means but leave it to me to choose whether I want to watch it or not.

Remember, when you are having your website designed leave your ego at the door. The only think that matters is what your customers want:

• Make sure your site is easy to navigate
• Optimise your URL and title tags
• Get your copy written by a professional SEO copywriter
• Put an SEO strategy in place
• Make sure your content addresses your reader and is benefits led
• Resist the urge of ‘cool’ graphics, gadgets and gizmos

If you get it right, email marketing can be one of the most effective marketing tools available to businesses today.

Yes everyone’s doing it but that doesn’t mean it’s easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

If you want it to work you must give each email a lot of serious thought otherwise it will simply end up being deleted.

Every email must count and convert. That may sound simple enough but in practice it can get complicated.

To help you out, here’s my top 3 tips to boost your email marketing conversion rates:

1. Tell them what they need to know

You’d be amazed at how many businesses that don’t. Just as with website copy, many companies insist on using their emails as a way of telling their customer how great they are at what they do.

That’s not what they want to hear. They want to know what you can do for them.

Also don’t try and cram everything into one email. No one wants to read War and Peace in their inbox. If you want to showcase new products or a new service, tease them with a taster in the email and then link out to your website so they can get more information.

2. Don’t confuse – just one action

Every piece of marketing must have a call to action. But make sure you keep it simple.

If your email is filled with multiple actions sending your reader here, there and everywhere, they’ll end up completely confused. So keep it simple.

3. Build credibility

Your emails are a perfect way to reinforce your credibility as a company. Include your latest testimonials and use them as case studies so illustrate how you’ve helped your customers.

If your email marketing is done well it can be very effective. They are a superb way of getting your sales message in front of your customers quickly. Just make sure your message is clear.

Email marketing is cheap, quick and effective. Plus as most sent today are in HTML you have the added benefit of the hyperlink.

This allows your reader to click directly through to your website or landing page for more information or to buy or sign up to your offer.

But if you want that to happen your email must be interesting and relevant to your recipients otherwise it will just be transferred to the deleted folder. So make sure it’s appealing by following these simple suggestions:

1. Friendly

Just as if you were writing a letter, use a salutation preferably personalised. This personal touch is the best way to start a relationship. And don’t forget the ending—always be professional.

2. Aesthetics

Take a quite look at your email. Is it one solid wall of text or have you broken it up into short paragraphs with headings, sub headings and bulleted lists? This spacious layout lets your reader see at a glance what your email is about.

3. Call to action

Don’t be fooled into thinking you can leave your call to action until the end of your email. By placing a link to your sales page several times throughout the email, your reader can act as soon as they’ve made their buying decision.

4. Short

Long copy does work in certain situations, but not in an email. Just use the email as a taster of what they can  expect and then get them to click through to your website or landing page to get more information.

5. Benefits

As with any form of copywriting make sure you show your product or services’ benefits. Make sure they are shown as such and not just a list of features.

6. Opt-out

Even though you don’t want to lose anyone, make sure you include an opt-out in all your email communications.

Of course, you don’t have to sell in every email you send. Mix them up with some giving information or tips. By giving away free information like this you will strengthen your relationship with your readers.

When creating your website you have to consider several things – your design, its functionality, your message etc.

Your unique selling point and the products and services you offer are going to be very individual. But one thing that is fairly standard is the important basic range of website pages.

Every page will have a Home Page, About Us, Products/Services and FAQs.

They may appear under different names, but each must be optimised for your main keywords.

Each page should be optimised for a different primary keyword to maximise your website’s chances of ranking highly.

In this post I will take a look at the Home Page and About Us page.

Home Page

This is where most of your traffic will land and so is the make or break page of your website. If you want this to rank well it must have great content. How much is going to depend on what you have to say but a good format is:

• A strong headline (including your keyword)
• Paragraph of about 150 words
• Bullet list stating benefits
• Sub heading containing a secondary keyword
• Another 150 word paragraph

Of course that is not to say any other format won’t work, but this is quite a good one if your message fits.

This format helps when readers scan your page (which most do). The keywords are in bold in your heading and sub headings and your main benefits are in the bulleted list (to which your readers’ eyes will be drawn). Therefore within a few seconds your reader will know who you are, what you do and (more importantly) what your product/service will do for them.

This page must also have a strong call to action. Without that, how will you reader know what to do next?

About Us

You may have noticed on the Home Page I omitted any details about you. That’s what the About Us page is for.

People do like to know who they are dealing with, so it is important the copy on this page connects with  them. Your writing should be warm and friendly not distant and overly corporate. Keywords are not quite so vital here but it is still an opportunity to optimise your text to boost your keyword coverage.

This is your opportunity to show the human side of your business. If you had a shop you’d greet your customers and shake them by the hand. That’s the kind of approach your writing has to convey.

Creating content for the web isn’t as easy as it sounds. It has to sell but be engaging; it has to create an emotional response; it has to be appealing to your reader and the search engine spiders.

It is essential to get all these elements right which is why investing in a good SEO copywriter is essential. Get your website copy wrong and you’ll just have an expensive digital brochure very few people read. Get it right and you’ll have a sales tool that works for you 24/7.

In my next post we’ll look at the Products/Services Page and FAQs.

Although there are many different uses for the direct mail letter, they all have common characteristics that make them successful.

Of course, your list and your offer will also have a big impact on your success rate but the characteristics I will be talking about are those that make the letter powerful, engaging – a sales force to be reckoned with.

So, that must mean the copy. How you write your letter will determine whether you successfully engage with your reader. A lot depends on the words you use…

Be personal

When you are in a face to face selling situation, the first thing the sales person will try to do is build rapport. That is exactly what your letter has to do. Use language that will engage your reader and address them directly.

Remember this letter isn’t about your company, it’s about what you can do for your reader. You’re intruding on their privacy so ensure you show them that you understand their problem and will help them solve it. After all, if you want them to spend time reading your letter you have to make it worth their while.

You can do this by:

• Using ‘you’ and ‘your’ to build rapport.
• Highlight the benefits to show them what’s in it for them
• Use simple language – if you try to be clever you’ll simply turn them off
• Make sure you reflect their needs and hopes within the letter

Tell them a story

Use the good old fashioned story template to sell your product. Tell them how their lives are at the moment and then tell them about your product and how it will make things better. Make them the hero in your story and by taking action they will make everything better.

Don’t be woolly

If you’re vague in your claims no one is going to believe them. Use facts and figures to back things up; use testimonials and case studies to show what effect your product could have.

And now?

Once you’ve grabbed their attention, built rapport and convinced them your product is for them, make sure you tell them what to do next. If you won’t all your hard work would have been wasted.

Make sure your call to action is commanding – call now, email now, book now etc. Also tell them what will happen next – delivery in 7 days, we’ll call you within 24 hours…

As you can see creating a strong direct mail letter is not as straight forward as it would seem. But if you constantly keep your reader in your mind, you will be able to create something centred on their needs that will get them to take action.

Sally Ormond is a freelance copywriter who works with companies all over the world. Her copywriting services have helped numerous companies increase their sales and enjoy greater visibility within their market place.

Is there really a difference between producing copy for on and offline purposes?

Well, let’s think about that for a moment.

What’s the most important thing to focus on when producing sales copy?

Your reader.

Once you know who you are writing for, what do you have to remember?

To sell the benefits of the product or service you are writing about.

There is only one question your audience wants answered – What’s in it for me?

This is true whether you are writing website copy, brochure copy, newsletter content or direct mail. Essentially the elements for on and off line copy are going to be the same – it should always be focused on your reader.

The basic formula

There is a basic formula to keep in mind when you are writing sales copy. You may have heard of it already – AIDA:

• ATTENTION – use a strong headline to grab your readers attention
• INTEREST – capture their interest by selling the benefits immediately
• DESIRE – make them want it by using testimonials and case studies
• ACTION – use a strong call to action – buy now, call now etc. Use time limited offers to create a sense of urgency (e.g. get 25% off – offer available until xx/xx only)

Basically, whatever media you are writing for, the basic principles of copywriting remain the same.

Always write for your reader – what problem do they want solved? If you answer that you’ve made a sale.

There definitely is one – an enormous one.

To give you a clue, it is something you should be thinking about even before you pick up your pen or strike a key on your keyboard.

Have you worked out what it is yet?

Purpose

Everything you write must have a purpose. If it doesn’t, what’s the point writing it?

Every piece of copy you write – website copywriting, newsletters, brochure copy, advert, case study, press release…everything has a purpose – it’s there to generate something – sales, leads, interest, traffic…

You’ve put a lot of time and effort into it (and quite possibly money if you are using a freelance copywriter) so you must make sure it actually does something.

Before you begin to write (or give your copywriter their brief), ask yourself:

1. What will this piece of copy do for my business?

It may not necessarily be there to sell. It may be to raise awareness or generate leads. If you can’t define its purpose it’s not needed and creating it will just be a waste of time and money.

2. What do I want the reader to do?

It could be to buy a product, sign up to a mailing list, make an appointment, visit your website. Whatever it is, your copy must be persuasive enough to make them carry out that action. Also remember to tell your reader what to do within your call to action.

You might think that if you are producing a case study, article or feature, you can ignore this advice. Well, you can’t. Even if it is ostensibly an informational piece, it should still be designed to encourage future contact. An interesting article will be remembered so when that person has a need for your product or service your name will be in the forefront of their mind.

Why you need to know this

Every piece of copy produced by or for your company must have a purpose. Every word will build a relationship with your reader. Even if it doesn’t lead to an immediate sale, when the time is right for your reader, it could.

Remember to look at the bigger picture.