Write Website Copy That Sells - Try a Little Flesh with Your
Flash
Your website looks great: solid words, easy navigation, graphics
just so, and maybe even a bit of flash with some multimedia.
But customers are not buying.
You wonder if it's the writing. How can that be? You remembered
the two key mantras for website content - "write for the search
engines" and "write for the medium." You used appropriate
keywords to help search engines find you and traffic is up.
Surely, customers enjoy reading your content because you laid it
out with the internet in mind using short sentences, brief
paragraphs, and bullets to list your key points. Customers might
be reading, but they still are not buying.
Chances are your site copy has been optimized for technology not
people.
Even on the internet, selling is still about connecting to
people. So how do you press the flesh across broadband? Start
where brick and mortar relationships do - trust. Why not become
the trusted provider in your marketspace? You can use words to
raise your credibility in at least 25 different ways.
Here are two of them:
1) write the way customers speak and 2) replace your pitch with
a theme.
People instinctively trust strangers who speak like them. If you
find this article useful, how would you tell someone? Are you
really going to say, "I read an unusually amazing article that
fundamentally increased my sagging sales"? Not likely. Weak
copywriters, not people, use too many modifiers. "Amazing,"
"fundamentally," and "sagging" weaken trust. How's your site for
modifiers?
Give it the finger test.
You might not want fingerprints on your screen, so I suggest
printing a copy of your homepage content. Now, put your baby
finger on the first modifier you can find. Put your ring finger
on the next adjective or adverb. Repeat until you run out of
modifiers or fingers. If your page is a handful, you've got too
many modifiers and your copy is hype heavy, not trustworthy. In
addition to giving readers copy that matches how they speak, it
helps to give them time to get to know you. Customers need time
before they trust.
They will get used to your site in tiny steps, so hold off
selling; buy some time. Have a theme for your site, introducing
your offer only after your customer feels comfortable. Themes
are a subtle form of repetition because they continually
reinforce a single concept. Repeated exposure to an idea usually
makes it familiar and safe. Remember the first time you used
instant messaging or the family car - not so scary now.
Let's say your site is selling dental floss.
Instead of listing the benefits of DentaThread, you could tie
the presentation together under the central idea "Some people
have nothing to smile about." The opening section could point
out how the discomfort of gingivitis wipes the grin off a
person's face. Another segment would show how ugly cavities make
someone too self- conscious to smile. Yet another piece would
reveal how the high cost of root canal causes an individual to
frown. In this way, three versions of one idea help the site
grow on the visitor: one idea, three versions. Does your
homepage have a theme? How many chances does your site give
visitors to get comfortable with you?
In this article, I tried to use the language of my readers and
hang it on a central idea, trust. Did it work? Did it help? If
yes, I guess I proved my point. If no, I have 23 more ideas to
go.