Developing Your Sales Copy

In earlier articles we focussed on how to get people to visit your site. Getting people to see your site is only part of the battle, it is also important that as many visitors as possible actually end up buying your product or service. What we’re talking about in basic terms is converting visitors into customers. The main way to convert visitors into customers is through the sales copy used on your site. In this article, we take a look at some things to consider in developing your sales copy that will hopefully improve your conversion rate over the longer term.

Sales Copy – Basic Principles
When we use the term "sales copy" we are referring to the text used on your site that is used to try to sell whatever product or service that you are offering. For most sites, this will be text prominently featured on the home page as this is the first page that potential visitors are likely to see.

People surfing websites tend to have very short attention spans. Accordingly, it is imperative that your sales copy engages or captivates the reader almost immediately. If you fail to quickly grab a visitors attention, they are likely to click to another website without fully understanding what you might be offering.

Tips
Here are some general principles and tips to consider when developing the sales copy for your site:

Customers - Carefully consider who your customers are likely to be and target your sales copy accordingly. Make sure that you focus on what your strongest offer or benefit is.

Paragraphs - Shorter paragraphs are much more user-friendly. Remember that you must get your points across in a clear and concise manner. Lengthy paragraphs will tend to put off a first-time visitor.

Headlines - Headlines are vitally important to the success of your sales copy as they attract the eye. Consider headlines that promote your:

• Offer
• Strongest Benefit
• Problem and Solution
• Guarantee
• Testimonial

Length - There is no ideal length and it may depend on the product or service being offered. While short copy is initially more successful in engaging a reader, someone interested in what you’ve got to say will be happy to read more information.

Steps - It’s important to provide clear steps that explain what action is required. In other words, tell them what they need to do.

Motivators - Use words that people can relate to or that would motivate them in some way (such as making or saving money).

Review and Compare - After drafting your sales copy, get comments from friends and associates. Also review the sales copy being used by your competitors or other successful sites. Following implementation, continually look for any improvements - even a small change may make a big difference to your rates of conversion.

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