Improve Your Web Copy

Improve Your Web Copy
Your copy (website content) acts as your sales person -- it
is the most important sales tool you have on your website.
It's what makes people take action. Here are some tips to
improve your copy.

Tell the story. Everyone loves stories. Nothing informs,
engages, and entertains like a good story.

Your copy should be heavy on the verbs. Action words create
action. Too many adjectives can create too much hype. Tip:
Check out: Words That Sell by Robert Bayan. It's a fabulous
resource you should always have handy when writing your
content.

Know your prospects and write for them. Make sure you
understand their jargon, their concerns, and what motivates
them. Write in a way that will resonate with them and use
phrases and buzz words that they will connect with. Tip: An
excellent resource to learn more about various inner
languages is at www.thewordsthatsell.com.

Make your copy believable. Don't make promises you can't
keep. A great promise may get someone in the door, but if
it isn't fulfilled you have to deal with an angry customer.
So, keep your promises real and deliverable. Secret Tip: A
great way to build trust is to reveal a flaw in your
product! I know it's surprising, but we all know nothing is
perfect - so show us the flaw and we believe in you.

Keep them glued to your message. If visitors remain on your
site long enough to get your marketing message and act on
it, then your content has done it's job. Think benefits,
not features. Bought any good features lately? Didn't think
so.

What people buy are benefits/experiences/solutions. People
pay for the experience your product or service provides.

Does your Web site offer a benefit, or an experience? Does
it explain the benefit/experience your product or service
delivers? If it doesn't, then you aren't offering what
people really want.

The key is emotion, not logic. Even the most rational
person will buy based on emotion and not logic. Think about
it -- why did you buy those cute earrings, or that 30th
tube of lipstick?

For the men out there, why do you buy the big TVs and the
flashy car accessories?

So, the reality is, you make purchasing decisions based on
what you want and then you justify them with seemingly
sensible rationalizations.

The take away here is to go with the emotional feel-good
aspects of marketing and tap into people's desires.

Eliminate the hype. Take a look at the message your site is
delivering. Are you saying your product/service is the
best, and you have the best prices and the best customer
service?

People don't believe that, because everyone says it. So
what can you do? Focus your copy on them -- their needs,
desires and problems. It's about them and not you.

When Web sites fail, it is because they do not communicate
a realistic, believable and convincing marketing message.

----------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Horowitz is the Director of Marketing and co-owner
of http://www.ecombuffet.com Since 1998, her expertise in
online marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has
helped clients increase revenue and achieve their business
goals. Jennifer has written a downloadable book on Search
Engine Optimization and has been published in many SEO and
marketing publications. Jennifer can be reached at
Jennifer@ecombuffet.com