Persuasive Online Copy Writing

Many websites today write their web site copy just as if they’re trying to address a stadium filled with customers. The problem using this type of approach could be that the message becomes diluted and confusing. Instead, make a choice customer, perhaps someone you know and write the copy as if you are targeting just him or her. American Novelist, John Steinbeck, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 states ?your audience is but one single reader; and I have realized that often it helps you to pick out one person – a true person you understand, or perhaps an imagined person – and write to that particular?. Literature is no diverse from writing website copy. In fact, with practice, this becomes very easy to complete.

Know Your Metrics

It is highly recommended that you set measurable benchmarks and identify conversion goals determined by current internet site traffic. A conversion can be quite a sale, or a form submission; basically, whatever action you would like the consumer to take once they arrive at your site. This can be easily carried out with web analytics software (like Omniture, Website Story or Google Analytics) with features that track these:

1. User behavior – where visitors click, just how long would they remain on any page etc.
2. What pages are customers abandoning the website
3. ROI/ROAS
4. Revenue tracking per conversion for many our campaigns
5. Real time reporting.

Improve Your Navigation

There is not that irritates me over not being able to obtain the navigation when I get to an online page. Ease of navigation online is definitely a important a part of converting visitors into customers. If website visitors to your web site do not know where you should click to discover what they’re seeking, they will abandon your site inside the blink of an eye. I do all of it the time.

The most frequent spot for your navigation is around the left side and/or the most notable of the page. There have been several studies that show an increase in conversions once the navigation is one of both of these places. Take a moment to consider online stores like eBay, Dell, QVC, HP and Amazon and see if you can find any similarities.

In addition, navigation ought to be consistent on each page. Most retailers are already facing huge abandon rates and inconsistent navigation will heighten the probability of visitors dropping off. Studying drop-off data suggests that can be customers visiting your website lose the appropriate message of what position them there within the first place.

Further evidence was provided on March 8, 2004 – reported that 9.52% of visitors abandon an internet site after viewing one page; 54.60% of visitors abandon an online site after viewing two pages and 15.56% of visitors abandon after viewing three pages or more (based on a sample sized 2 million visitors). This data illustrates the need for having consistent navigation on every page of your site.

Call to Action

The idea here is to reinforce (or validate) the acquisition decision whilst the visitor will go with the check-out process. You can communicate any situation that is exclusive about your products or services, whether it’s a customer testimonial, a fresh promotional offer; and the services that you offer that differentiate from the competition like 24/7 customer care, 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, etc. This helps build credibility, reassures customers that they’re making the best decision; above all, decreases shopping cart abandonment and buyers remorse.

It?s also good practice to strategically place your contact number on every page. Believe it or otherwise not, you can still find millions of people out there that are not comfortable with submitting their plastic card on the phone. Additionally, some people also would rather speak with a live salesman.

Reduce Download Speed

Lose the flash. Not everyone has a fast Internet connection. There is data our there that implies that many visitors will only wait three to five seconds for the home page to stock up before clicking elsewhere. Again, examine the most notable online stores and you will notice that they don?t have flash in any way. reported that 84% of traffic abandon a niche site if the page load time reaches around 10 secs. I, personally won?t wait over a few seconds, but that?s just me.

Substance over Style

Although a great web page design is of interest to think about, it?s not what drives sales. Take a look 1800 Flowers, Dell, QVC, HP and Amazon and you may recognize that their sites aren?t the most attractive, yet they are the online retail leaders. What makes web sites unique is that they provide plenty of relevant content, easy navigation, and a quick/easy look at process.

Recapture Lost Sales

If possible, track users who abandon the check out process, and target all of them with some other offer, or at least acquire feedback why they abandoned the web page. You will never know until you ask.

Content

Content is king; we?ve all heard that before, right?. A web page are able to do only 1 of a pair of things: either it contains this content the visitors want or it contains site to have them to where they want to go. If a website doesn’t follow this basic rule, the visitors stop clicking. And that?s a bad thing.

Perhaps it requires visitors several pages before they find out that they’re in the wrong place… but I doubt it. Over half readers are interested enough to click a few steps deeper before bailing. That’s a pretty clear indication sites don’t provide enough content to nearly all their visitors. According to Jakob Nielsen, users look straight at this article and disregard the navigation areas once they scan a brand new page. They are extremely goal-driven and search limited to the single thing they’ve got in mind if a website doesn’t appear relevant on the user’s current goals, then the user will ruthlessly click the Back button.

Following these basic steps outlined in the following paragraphs will really help your web sales. Please drop me a note when you have had any progress or otherwise not.