Effective Copywriting - 9 Basic Tips
mkLINK Internet Marketing Tips(Tuesday 17 October 2006)

Make Your Site Work with Compelling Copy - Just Like we Do!
Whatever you sell, Your website needs to Sell Too!

The Good News : by Knowing these simple techniques, You can write web site copy that SELLS.

A good marketing person will go through a certain procedure before asking for your business.
Well-written copy does exactly the same. Remember AIDA?

That is very broadly what all marketing is about!

1)Long Copy Vs Short Copy
Surprisingly and against what most people would think - long copy works a treat on the web. It can't be
too long - just too boring!
Long copy is best if you have a single product or service to sell.
It follows that if you have dozens or hundreds of products online, then short copy is more appropriate.

2) Write a Powerful Headline.
We have said here before - the Headline can represent as much as 80%
of the success or failure of the copy. Offer a Solution to their Problem.
Often, it will help if you can include the 'Key Words' that they have at the front
of their mind(Refer last newsletter re Landing Pages). Keep it Relevant and Simple
for your Target Market. Don't try to be Clever - it probably won't work.
(You can always test and measure the headline as well - it can make a huge difference)

3) Know who You are Writing for.
Don't write for 'Anybody on the web'. Write exclusively for the people you are trying to attract.
Age, gender, education, interests, backgrounds - all these should be taken into
consideration. For example, writing in a style that would suit professionals in business may not
be suitable for teenagers interested in the latest ITunes Downloads.

4) Who are You?
Your visitors have arrived at your site and can easily go to dozens of others - immediately. In order
for them to trust you, let them know what credentials you have. Any testimonials, accreditation,
professional memberships, qualifications, experiences or true stories can all be used.
Otherwise you're a nobody. People only buy from people they Trust. Be specific when using
testimonials - "Mrs.B From Essex" is almost useless for example!

5) Offer a Firm G-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e.
Your visitors will have fears about you, your company, your product, the effectiveness of
the product or service you offer, or indeed what their peers may think of them - the list goes on.
In order to quell their perception of risk - offer a guarantee.
This alone can make a huge impact on your conversion rate.

6) Talk Benefits - Not Features.
This old chestnut will always catch people out. A person wanting to put shelves up may
wish to put holes in his wall. A drill makes holes. A drill with twice the RPM - what does that mean?
It means you can make more holes, faster! Think about this - it is an important one.

7) Create Urgency.
Any veteran vendor will tell you that if people go away to make their mind up...
They will have lost all momentum and probably won't even find your site again.
Reward people for acting now....(I shall talk more about this in a future issue)

8) Break up the Copy.
According to a study by Jakob Nielsen 84% of your visitors don't read word by word - they skip read.
Your customers aren't being expected to read the Magna Carta - they want to buy a solution
to their problem! Although we advocate long copy where appropriate, use short sentences, short paragraphs
and Keep it Short and Simple where possible.
So, make it easy to scan and use bullet points and formatting where possible.

9) Ask for the Order!
Again - this is often another stumbling block. Don't fall into the trap of
doing all the hard work - only for your visitor to go elsewhere because they couldn't
easily take the action you wanted them to take in the first place! It may well be
appropriate for you to put this 'Call to Action' several times within your copy.
Make the Call to Action Easy to See and Compelling to do.

Final Point

As always - Test & Measure! Start with the headline. When your conversion is
cranked up as high as you can get it - try changing the g-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e, calls to action etc.

You can try:

You'd be surprised how a small change to one element of your site can mean a BIG difference to your results!

Want to know More?
Simply reply to this email, call me on 01454 852414 or visit my site :

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