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Convert!: Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion
Solve your traffic troubles and turn browsers into buyersWhen web design expert Ben Hunt set out to quantify the difference between an ordinary web site and a great one, he expected to find the key in design simplicity. But when his team more than doubled the conversion rates for a wide range of sites, they identified simple yet powerful solutions involving design, copy, appropriate analysis, classic optimization techniques, and targeted testing. You'll find the fixes easy to implement, and they're all right here.Understand the essentials - your market, your proposition, and your delivery.Create a site that is seen by the right people, provides a compelling experience, and generates the desired action.Learn how to use testing to improve your site's conversion rate.Discover the holistic nature of web site optimization and why multiplicity matters.Examine dozens of simple techniques for building traffic, engaging your audience, and crafting effective calls to action.Combine creativity with analysis for the best possible results.Ben Hunt is Principal Consultant for Scratchmedia Ltd. Forewords by Ken McCarthy, founder of the System Seminar, and Drayton Bird, Drayton Bird Associates.
412 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 8, 2011
21 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Ben Hunt
28 books3 followersThe world’s #1 nerd on how to design websites that work
It is impossible to estimate how many websites Ben Hunt has made more effective, through his articles (which have been read by millions), his books, or the hundreds of designers he has trained.
One of the most influential figures in web design, Ben has been a web professional, entrepreneur, and consultant since 1994.
Ben is a highly respected thinker with expertise in disciplines spanning direct marketing, SEO, content marketing, conversion rate optimisation, and usability.
He has written two extremely successful books. Incredibly, his first ebook, “Save the Pixel” has sold almost 10,000 copies direct to website owners and designers.
Ben’s second major title, “Convert!“, published by Wiley in 2011, is one of the top-rated online marketing books on Amazon. (Quote: doubled business, bible.)
In 2010, Ben launched his Pro Web Design Course, which goes beyond just teaching design, addressing everything a designer needs to build successful websites – and a successful business! (Here are some of the most recent testimonials about the course.)
Ben has a curious and restless personality, which has led him to create a range of solutions, including a content management system and SEO tools.
Ben is an international speaker, who has been invited to present at conferences including Ken McCarthy’s System Seminar, Drayton Bird’s EADIM, and Conversion Conference.
His latest ebook, “How To Be #1” a practical guide to dominating niche markets, was released in July 2012.
It is impossible to estimate how many websites Ben Hunt has made more effective, through his articles (which have been read by millions), his books, or the hundreds of designers he has trained.
One of the most influential figures in web design, Ben has been a web professional, entrepreneur, and consultant since 1994.
Ben is a highly respected thinker with expertise in disciplines spanning direct marketing, SEO, content marketing, conversion rate optimisation, and usability.
He has written two extremely successful books. Incredibly, his first ebook, “Save the Pixel” has sold almost 10,000 copies direct to website owners and designers.
Ben’s second major title, “Convert!“, published by Wiley in 2011, is one of the top-rated online marketing books on Amazon. (Quote: doubled business, bible.)
In 2010, Ben launched his Pro Web Design Course, which goes beyond just teaching design, addressing everything a designer needs to build successful websites – and a successful business! (Here are some of the most recent testimonials about the course.)
Ben has a curious and restless personality, which has led him to create a range of solutions, including a content management system and SEO tools.
Ben is an international speaker, who has been invited to present at conferences including Ken McCarthy’s System Seminar, Drayton Bird’s EADIM, and Conversion Conference.
His latest ebook, “How To Be #1” a practical guide to dominating niche markets, was released in July 2012.
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December 5, 2013
Most books about web development/design I've seen reinforce the viewpoint of the technician instead of taking the obvious external perspective, focus on the customer. Ben Hunt takes a refreshing OUTCOME FOCUSED look at revolutionizing web design.
If you have a website that exists for a purpose, you need to read this book.
What is the customer perspective? If you want advice on saving for your child's college education, are you going to be more interested in a page that says “Tax advisor” or one that says “Advice on saving for your child's college education”?
success = traffic × conversion
The goal of keyword research is to find terms for each page that balance three impor-tant criteria: 1. High relevance 2. High traffic 3. Low competition
As a rule of thumb, on average the top search result will typically get about 40% of the clicks, the second result will get just over half that number (26%), the third around 14%, and so on.
Upon analyzing the stats, it turned out that the top 500 search terms for our site accounted for less than 45% of the total search traffic. In other words, the majority of your traffic will come from “the Long Tail.”
A common approach, which suits many medium-sized or large sites, is to group your pages into thematic sections, known as silos, with all the pages in each silo supporting one particular search term.
Thinking from the journalistic perspective, people want to read content that is valuable, interesting, and original. People writing on blogs and social media are more likely to link to stories that have a clear and original theme than pages that offer a generic treatment of a subject.
If your web site relies on one main page to describe your offerings, there will be a strong tendency to play safe, which will result in a page much like competitors' pages, and which is unlikely to be original or noteworthy. However, when you commit to creating a range of pages that deal with various specific subjects, you can make each one short, punchy, unique, and genuinely valuable: all useful factors for making good link bait.
Whatever people buy, they are not really buying the thing. They are buying some benefit that the thing gives them.
Most web sites are trying to market or sell things to people who don't yet know the exact solution. If someone is looking online for a solution to a problem, the way to draw them to your web site is to address them using the same language.
Do the same exercise for your own products or services. Instead of looking at the tool, describe how it solves a need or problem for the person who buys it List as many problems as you can, and state the solution to each problem.
To attract the largest possible audience, you need web pages that are about the things that people are looking for right now.
If you express the needs in terms of “how do I?” or “how to,” these can give you starting points for keyword research. Try pasting those terms into your keyword research tool, and keep thinking laterally until you are confident you have a good idea of the size and competitiveness of the market.
If you can open up the market, it is possible make good profits by being the pioneer brand that first gets into people's awareness. However, note that the education approach has its risks. First, it is costly. Also, by raising awareness of the condition, you can find yourself creating a market for competitors as much as for yourself.
Pages dedicated to “FAQ” and “Testimonials” really do not belong anywhere on the Awareness Ladder (and, I might argue, do not belong anywhere on your web site). Most FAQ and testimonial pages are nothing more than places to file away some of a web site's most powerful content
For Step 0, you have to go out to the market. Your task is to let people know that something is possible that they are not aware is possible. If it is not in the general consciousness, you can often make your announcement into news.
By definition, there cannot be a significant market looking for something if that thing is truly new. If they were, the existing manufacturers would have picked up on the opportunity by now (if they had the technology).
If you can be the first to publish on a particular topic online, you can achieve an unassailable position The very first article, if it is insightful, newsworthy, and valuable, will start a conversation Subsequent articles and blog posts will reference the original article, as will later posts So, as soon as people start searching on the term in any numbers, your initial post will be at number one and will always be seen as authoritative It will get more traffic, which gets it more links, closing out any competition
One of our favored techniques for capturing new search-friendly content is to include a “Did we answer your question?” form on content pages, as shown in Figure 5-11. If visitors do not find what they are looking for, they can enter their question, which can then be published in the Q&A, preferably on the same page.
When you are marketing a totally new solution at Step 0, the economics of banner ads turns in your favor. The only job you have to do at Step 0 is to sow the seeds of a problem. Create a range of banner ads, which can display on existing (target market) web sites at low cost, right under the noses of their target market. With a wide enough campaign, your brand can start to gain recognition. When you're marketing a new product at Step 0, it can be really easy to combine link-building with PR.
Although most web sites start around Step 3 on the Awareness Ladder, there are nearly always large and potentially profitable markets searching at Steps 2, 1, and sometimes even at Step 0.
Each step requires a different approach. You should ask, “What is the level of awareness of people at this step? What are they looking for right now? How can we fulfill that need and capture their attention?”
The goal will vary, depending on the market and its level of awareness. However, it should always involve some commitment action on the part of the visitor such as: submitting a form, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product. Ensure your goals have some real business value, such as sales, lead generation, or building your marketing list. Avoid vague goals that have no direct value.
To measure profitability, it helps to know your Cost per Visitor (CPV) and Earnings per Visitor (EPV).
If your site generates sales leads for your business, you may want to estimate the aver-age profit earned from each lead, and assign that value to a lead-generation goal. If your site gathers a list of e-mail address, can you estimate the lifetime value of each name on that list?
A simple way to reduce your CPV and to increase your EPV-to-CPV ratio is to drive more traffic to the site. However, bear in mind that while accurately targeted traffic is likely to increase your average EPV, more of the wrong traffic could reduce EPV, so raw visitor numbers are not always meaningful.
Familiar is often unconsciously perceived as safe and easy; the unfamiliar as risky or difficult.
In our team, we've coined the term “CICO” (which stands for “crap in, crap out”) to describe the effect of testing poor ideas. Especially when you start running tests on your site, it's tempting to test a weak option for the thrill of seeing a result.
Whatever the visitor's precise goal may be, the one thing is always to answer one simple question: “Am I in the right place?”
I would like you to view every page on your site as an advertisement. What is it an ad for? For the next step, whatever that is. Provided you can keep them moving forward step-by-step, you can eventually help them achieve their goal (and your goal). Unless you keep providing more reasons to proceed, people will lose momentum and may give up before they reach the next goal.
Without action now you have no action ever. It is in human nature to put off action to a later time. We cannot afford that. There is only the present moment. If your web site does not convince someone to convert right now, it is unlikely to get them to convert next time.
If there are still “what ifs” in the prospect's mind, those might give reasons not to act.
From whatever point they enter any funnel, your web site must carry them forward, step by step, all the way through to the goal you want them to reach.
Hint at Value to Follow If you tell too much, you may give the readers the impression that they do not need to read on, either because you have already answered their question, or because you have given them a reason to disqualify the page. So your headlines should do enough to get someone to read the next piece of content.
Don't expect your initial message to convince. All it needs to do is engage.
Even when you do stimulate interest, ensure you target the visitor's self-interest, not your own. The safest way to get attention is usually to go straight for the visitor's self-interest with a direct promise.
Relevance
Self-interest
Emotion
I would have a page dedicated to each target market (hotels, salons, nursing homes, and so on) that emphasizes each offering, such as “Cheap Quality Towels for Hairdressers,” and another for “Buy Bulk Linens for Nursing Homes Online.” Keyword research will provide the best keywords.
The most effective ads are those that say the equivalent of “Hey you! Yes, you sir, in the green shirt!”
Check out your bathroom cabinet or kitchen cupboard for products that speak directly to a customer in a clearly defined segment. If you see “Specially formulated for people with curly hair,” it seems to make a promise that it will perform better than another less-focused product. (It doesn't, of course, make that promise.)
It has been proven that print ads can double their conversion rates through the simple technique of mentioning the host publication If an ad runs in the Daily Bugle, adding a corner flash that says “Exclusive to Daily Bugle readers!” will connect readers with the ad because it applies to them (obviously).
Another obvious but overlooked technique is simply to talk to the visitor as “you,” instead of talking about yourself all the time. (Who do they care about?). Writing you-oriented copy requires step-ping into the visitor's point of view, where features appear as benefits.
It should positively differentiate you from the competition. A good way to distinguish positive differentiation is to ask whether a competitor may conceivably say the opposite. If no one would take the opposite position, you are not positively differentiating.
However, if you promote the value of “high quality,” this is not a positive differen-tiator, because no competitor would claim “low quality.” Do not claim reliability as a core value, because no one would claim to be unreliable. It is pointless to claim “desirable” because no competitor would identify with “undesirable.”
Look at your current competitors. Write words that describe what is distinct u about them. For each word, write down the equivalent for your business.
What can you say about your offerings that your competitors can't say?
When thinking about relevance, assume that everyone who visits every page is in the latter category—the “maybe” group, and write just for them.
If there is no benefit to the customer, flip it so there is, or get rid of it. No one cares about what you do. All they care about is how it will benefit them. If the benefit is saving time, focus your whole appeal around that. If the need is to save money, reduce stress, cure an ailment, avoid fines, or reduce risks, let your entire message resonate clearly on the specific solution.
It is the benefit that grabs my attention by connecting emotionally with my imagination.
An easy shortcut to emotional connection is to show visitors a picture of the goal they want to reach.
Fear can be a strong motivating emotion, but it is most effective when you can make the pain of the fear immediately present, and offer instant relief.
It is hard to make a clever headline that generates good results. Generally do not want to risk making people think too much
Does the page work when just u reading the headings?
Each of your web pages is an advertisement for the next step forward
Assume every visitor is an undecided prospect who is open to taking the next action.
Affirm the u positive signs visitors are looking for.
Resolve their u concerns and build trust.
Build u interest.
Make it u easy to keep engaging.
One fact appeals to some, one to another. Omit any one and a certain percentage will lose the fact which might convince.
Some web marketers apply the long-copy approach directly to sales pages, and create squeeze pages that are 10 screens long, bombarding the reader with every angle, every fact, testimonials, and multiple calls to action. The reason they do that is because it has been proven to work.
Your web site is not a standalone single-shot message. It can be a conversation, or many concurrent conversations that can adapt intelligently to different visitors' needs.
Each buying style has a corresponding most effective selling style.
If you are going to reach the maximum market, you need to sell to every type.
The Dominance characteristic values competency, results, and action
The Influence characteristic values action, enthusiasm, and relationships
The Steadiness characteristic values relationships, sincerity, and dependability
The Conscientiousness characteristic values dependability, quality
Strong-C types need to get all the facts in order to know they are making the u right choice. They need more details and evidence about the quality and per-formance of what they are investing in. This can also take longer than with other types. They often need to see the most detailed information, and value facts and evidence over emotion.
Saying too little is riskier than saying too much.
Dominance u —State that you have all the expertise required to deliver results, that you are committed and ready to deliver now. Remember to defer to their authority.
Influence u —Show passion and enthusiasm. Let them know you are really keen to work with them, listen to what they need, and get them excited about the possibilities available.
Steadiness u —Take the time to show they can trust you. You care about your customers, really listen to their needs, and make sure you provide a reliable service.
Conscientiousness u —Provide all the facts and details they require. Do not skimp on the evidence. Give them whitepapers, charts, case studies, and give them the opportunity to ask you more questions.
I would avoid the temptation to make assumptions about a whole market, such as thinking that most accountants will be high-conscientious types. We all have our natural tendencies, which we may adjust in order to do our jobs. Your accountant market will have representatives from all personality types, so always be thorough and provide everyone with content they can connect with.
If we write everything only for skim-reading, we may fail to convince people who need the details.
“Don't decorate—communicate!”
Testimonials do not need to be polished or elegant. The more they sound like a real person talking, the easier real people will connect. Here's where testimonials really work. Use them within your content—as your con-tent—to reinforce specific positive points, or to counter specific objections.
On your Shipping page, include a testimonial about how quick the thing arrived.
Near the point of payment (and throughout the checkout process), show testimonials that reinforce the choice to proceed.
At all times, remember what will sell your offering. It is not you, it is not what you do or sell, or its features. It is the benefits to the individual who is buying. Always address the individual.
It is much easier to convince when you stick to what is true, and to demonstrate the facts through stories.
Consider using “I” rather than the royal “we,” so people can connect emotionally with you. Creating the feeling of a relationship is particularly important to strong-I and strong-S personality types.
Avoid your content sounding familiar. If anyone thinks “I've read this before,” you've lost them.
You are probably not representative of your target audience, so do not write for you. Write for them, in their language. Talk about what they find interesting, not what you find interesting.
Every paragraph should suggest more value to come, so that your visitors feel they are getting value, and will keep getting more value by reading more.
Try finishing sentences or paragraphs with a question, which creates uncertainty and makes me want to read on to get the answer. Why does this work every time?
If you have a website that exists for a purpose, you need to read this book.
What is the customer perspective? If you want advice on saving for your child's college education, are you going to be more interested in a page that says “Tax advisor” or one that says “Advice on saving for your child's college education”?
success = traffic × conversion
The goal of keyword research is to find terms for each page that balance three impor-tant criteria: 1. High relevance 2. High traffic 3. Low competition
As a rule of thumb, on average the top search result will typically get about 40% of the clicks, the second result will get just over half that number (26%), the third around 14%, and so on.
Upon analyzing the stats, it turned out that the top 500 search terms for our site accounted for less than 45% of the total search traffic. In other words, the majority of your traffic will come from “the Long Tail.”
A common approach, which suits many medium-sized or large sites, is to group your pages into thematic sections, known as silos, with all the pages in each silo supporting one particular search term.
Thinking from the journalistic perspective, people want to read content that is valuable, interesting, and original. People writing on blogs and social media are more likely to link to stories that have a clear and original theme than pages that offer a generic treatment of a subject.
If your web site relies on one main page to describe your offerings, there will be a strong tendency to play safe, which will result in a page much like competitors' pages, and which is unlikely to be original or noteworthy. However, when you commit to creating a range of pages that deal with various specific subjects, you can make each one short, punchy, unique, and genuinely valuable: all useful factors for making good link bait.
Whatever people buy, they are not really buying the thing. They are buying some benefit that the thing gives them.
A man who goes into a hardware store to buy a quarter-inch drill bit does not need a quarter-inch drill bit—he needs a quarter-inch hole.
Unknown source
Most web sites are trying to market or sell things to people who don't yet know the exact solution. If someone is looking online for a solution to a problem, the way to draw them to your web site is to address them using the same language.
It is the moment when a private desire is shared by a statistically significant number of people large enough to profitably repay selling these people, that a market is born.
Eugene M. Schwartz, Breakthrough Advertising
Do the same exercise for your own products or services. Instead of looking at the tool, describe how it solves a need or problem for the person who buys it List as many problems as you can, and state the solution to each problem.
To attract the largest possible audience, you need web pages that are about the things that people are looking for right now.
If you express the needs in terms of “how do I?” or “how to,” these can give you starting points for keyword research. Try pasting those terms into your keyword research tool, and keep thinking laterally until you are confident you have a good idea of the size and competitiveness of the market.
If you can open up the market, it is possible make good profits by being the pioneer brand that first gets into people's awareness. However, note that the education approach has its risks. First, it is costly. Also, by raising awareness of the condition, you can find yourself creating a market for competitors as much as for yourself.
Pages dedicated to “FAQ” and “Testimonials” really do not belong anywhere on the Awareness Ladder (and, I might argue, do not belong anywhere on your web site). Most FAQ and testimonial pages are nothing more than places to file away some of a web site's most powerful content
For Step 0, you have to go out to the market. Your task is to let people know that something is possible that they are not aware is possible. If it is not in the general consciousness, you can often make your announcement into news.
By definition, there cannot be a significant market looking for something if that thing is truly new. If they were, the existing manufacturers would have picked up on the opportunity by now (if they had the technology).
In any no-win game situation, the ideal solution is to change the game. In this case, we should ignore the direct comparison with the competition, and change the question.
If you can be the first to publish on a particular topic online, you can achieve an unassailable position The very first article, if it is insightful, newsworthy, and valuable, will start a conversation Subsequent articles and blog posts will reference the original article, as will later posts So, as soon as people start searching on the term in any numbers, your initial post will be at number one and will always be seen as authoritative It will get more traffic, which gets it more links, closing out any competition
One of our favored techniques for capturing new search-friendly content is to include a “Did we answer your question?” form on content pages, as shown in Figure 5-11. If visitors do not find what they are looking for, they can enter their question, which can then be published in the Q&A, preferably on the same page.
When you are marketing a totally new solution at Step 0, the economics of banner ads turns in your favor. The only job you have to do at Step 0 is to sow the seeds of a problem. Create a range of banner ads, which can display on existing (target market) web sites at low cost, right under the noses of their target market. With a wide enough campaign, your brand can start to gain recognition. When you're marketing a new product at Step 0, it can be really easy to combine link-building with PR.
Although most web sites start around Step 3 on the Awareness Ladder, there are nearly always large and potentially profitable markets searching at Steps 2, 1, and sometimes even at Step 0.
Each step requires a different approach. You should ask, “What is the level of awareness of people at this step? What are they looking for right now? How can we fulfill that need and capture their attention?”
You can't Improve what You don't measure
The goal will vary, depending on the market and its level of awareness. However, it should always involve some commitment action on the part of the visitor such as: submitting a form, downloading a white paper, purchasing a product. Ensure your goals have some real business value, such as sales, lead generation, or building your marketing list. Avoid vague goals that have no direct value.
To measure profitability, it helps to know your Cost per Visitor (CPV) and Earnings per Visitor (EPV).
If your site generates sales leads for your business, you may want to estimate the aver-age profit earned from each lead, and assign that value to a lead-generation goal. If your site gathers a list of e-mail address, can you estimate the lifetime value of each name on that list?
A simple way to reduce your CPV and to increase your EPV-to-CPV ratio is to drive more traffic to the site. However, bear in mind that while accurately targeted traffic is likely to increase your average EPV, more of the wrong traffic could reduce EPV, so raw visitor numbers are not always meaningful.
Familiar is often unconsciously perceived as safe and easy; the unfamiliar as risky or difficult.
In our team, we've coined the term “CICO” (which stands for “crap in, crap out”) to describe the effect of testing poor ideas. Especially when you start running tests on your site, it's tempting to test a weak option for the thrill of seeing a result.
Whatever the visitor's precise goal may be, the one thing is always to answer one simple question: “Am I in the right place?”
I would like you to view every page on your site as an advertisement. What is it an ad for? For the next step, whatever that is. Provided you can keep them moving forward step-by-step, you can eventually help them achieve their goal (and your goal). Unless you keep providing more reasons to proceed, people will lose momentum and may give up before they reach the next goal.
Without action now you have no action ever. It is in human nature to put off action to a later time. We cannot afford that. There is only the present moment. If your web site does not convince someone to convert right now, it is unlikely to get them to convert next time.
If there are still “what ifs” in the prospect's mind, those might give reasons not to act.
From whatever point they enter any funnel, your web site must carry them forward, step by step, all the way through to the goal you want them to reach.
Ken McCarthy tells marketers to get out of their cars and “walk the road” from the customer's perspective. You are familiar with your products. You may be bored with seeing the same messages every day. But until you slow down and follow the process from start to finish—as your customers will experience it—you can fail to notice critical details.
“Until you've got a better answer, you copy.” Helmut Krone (advertising art director with DDB)
“ To discover the correct appeal is often difficult. There may be many wrong appeals and only one right one. If my advertising agent had a year in which to prepare a campaign for my product, I should be perfectly satisfied if he spent eleven months in search of the right appeal, and only month—or one week, for that matter—preparing the actual advertisements.”
John Caples, Tested Advertising Methods
Hint at Value to Follow If you tell too much, you may give the readers the impression that they do not need to read on, either because you have already answered their question, or because you have given them a reason to disqualify the page. So your headlines should do enough to get someone to read the next piece of content.
Don't expect your initial message to convince. All it needs to do is engage.
Even when you do stimulate interest, ensure you target the visitor's self-interest, not your own. The safest way to get attention is usually to go straight for the visitor's self-interest with a direct promise.
Relevance
Self-interest
Emotion
I would have a page dedicated to each target market (hotels, salons, nursing homes, and so on) that emphasizes each offering, such as “Cheap Quality Towels for Hairdressers,” and another for “Buy Bulk Linens for Nursing Homes Online.” Keyword research will provide the best keywords.
The most effective ads are those that say the equivalent of “Hey you! Yes, you sir, in the green shirt!”
Check out your bathroom cabinet or kitchen cupboard for products that speak directly to a customer in a clearly defined segment. If you see “Specially formulated for people with curly hair,” it seems to make a promise that it will perform better than another less-focused product. (It doesn't, of course, make that promise.)
It has been proven that print ads can double their conversion rates through the simple technique of mentioning the host publication If an ad runs in the Daily Bugle, adding a corner flash that says “Exclusive to Daily Bugle readers!” will connect readers with the ad because it applies to them (obviously).
Another obvious but overlooked technique is simply to talk to the visitor as “you,” instead of talking about yourself all the time. (Who do they care about?). Writing you-oriented copy requires step-ping into the visitor's point of view, where features appear as benefits.
It should positively differentiate you from the competition. A good way to distinguish positive differentiation is to ask whether a competitor may conceivably say the opposite. If no one would take the opposite position, you are not positively differentiating.
However, if you promote the value of “high quality,” this is not a positive differen-tiator, because no competitor would claim “low quality.” Do not claim reliability as a core value, because no one would claim to be unreliable. It is pointless to claim “desirable” because no competitor would identify with “undesirable.”
Look at your current competitors. Write words that describe what is distinct u about them. For each word, write down the equivalent for your business.
What can you say about your offerings that your competitors can't say?
When thinking about relevance, assume that everyone who visits every page is in the latter category—the “maybe” group, and write just for them.
“That which is written to please the writer rarely pleases the reader.”
Samuel Johnson
If there is no benefit to the customer, flip it so there is, or get rid of it. No one cares about what you do. All they care about is how it will benefit them. If the benefit is saving time, focus your whole appeal around that. If the need is to save money, reduce stress, cure an ailment, avoid fines, or reduce risks, let your entire message resonate clearly on the specific solution.
It is the benefit that grabs my attention by connecting emotionally with my imagination.
“People choose to buy based on emotion and then justify with logic”
An easy shortcut to emotional connection is to show visitors a picture of the goal they want to reach.
Fear can be a strong motivating emotion, but it is most effective when you can make the pain of the fear immediately present, and offer instant relief.
It is hard to make a clever headline that generates good results. Generally do not want to risk making people think too much
Ken McCarthy says that we all have two built-in filters, which the marketer must avoid tripping. One is the “So what?” filter and the other is the “Nonsense!” filter.
Does the page work when just u reading the headings?
Each of your web pages is an advertisement for the next step forward
Assume every visitor is an undecided prospect who is open to taking the next action.
Affirm the u positive signs visitors are looking for.
Resolve their u concerns and build trust.
Build u interest.
Make it u easy to keep engaging.
One fact appeals to some, one to another. Omit any one and a certain percentage will lose the fact which might convince.
Some web marketers apply the long-copy approach directly to sales pages, and create squeeze pages that are 10 screens long, bombarding the reader with every angle, every fact, testimonials, and multiple calls to action. The reason they do that is because it has been proven to work.
Your web site is not a standalone single-shot message. It can be a conversation, or many concurrent conversations that can adapt intelligently to different visitors' needs.
Each buying style has a corresponding most effective selling style.
If you are going to reach the maximum market, you need to sell to every type.
The Dominance characteristic values competency, results, and action
The Influence characteristic values action, enthusiasm, and relationships
The Steadiness characteristic values relationships, sincerity, and dependability
The Conscientiousness characteristic values dependability, quality
Strong-C types need to get all the facts in order to know they are making the u right choice. They need more details and evidence about the quality and per-formance of what they are investing in. This can also take longer than with other types. They often need to see the most detailed information, and value facts and evidence over emotion.
Saying too little is riskier than saying too much.
Dominance u —State that you have all the expertise required to deliver results, that you are committed and ready to deliver now. Remember to defer to their authority.
Influence u —Show passion and enthusiasm. Let them know you are really keen to work with them, listen to what they need, and get them excited about the possibilities available.
Steadiness u —Take the time to show they can trust you. You care about your customers, really listen to their needs, and make sure you provide a reliable service.
Conscientiousness u —Provide all the facts and details they require. Do not skimp on the evidence. Give them whitepapers, charts, case studies, and give them the opportunity to ask you more questions.
I would avoid the temptation to make assumptions about a whole market, such as thinking that most accountants will be high-conscientious types. We all have our natural tendencies, which we may adjust in order to do our jobs. Your accountant market will have representatives from all personality types, so always be thorough and provide everyone with content they can connect with.
If we write everything only for skim-reading, we may fail to convince people who need the details.
Claude Hopkins stresses that advertising is sales, and your ad (or web page) is a sales-person. You should expect it to justify its performance like any other salesperson.
“Don't decorate—communicate!”
“ If there is any doubt in your mind as to whether to use style copy or selling copy, remember that advertisers who trace the sales results from their ads use selling copy.” John Caples, Tested Advertising Methods
Testimonials do not need to be polished or elegant. The more they sound like a real person talking, the easier real people will connect. Here's where testimonials really work. Use them within your content—as your con-tent—to reinforce specific positive points, or to counter specific objections.
On your Shipping page, include a testimonial about how quick the thing arrived.
Near the point of payment (and throughout the checkout process), show testimonials that reinforce the choice to proceed.
At all times, remember what will sell your offering. It is not you, it is not what you do or sell, or its features. It is the benefits to the individual who is buying. Always address the individual.
It is much easier to convince when you stick to what is true, and to demonstrate the facts through stories.
Consider using “I” rather than the royal “we,” so people can connect emotionally with you. Creating the feeling of a relationship is particularly important to strong-I and strong-S personality types.
Avoid your content sounding familiar. If anyone thinks “I've read this before,” you've lost them.
You are probably not representative of your target audience, so do not write for you. Write for them, in their language. Talk about what they find interesting, not what you find interesting.
Every paragraph should suggest more value to come, so that your visitors feel they are getting value, and will keep getting more value by reading more.
Try finishing sentences or paragraphs with a question, which creates uncertainty and makes me want to read on to get the answer. Why does this work every time?
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