You need to speak directly to your target audience and give them the information they are looking for.

Writing for the Web Requires a Different Approach

Internet surfers are continuously looking for information and a solution to their problems. If they’re going to buy anything from you, you need to establish yourself as a credible and informative resource, who also happens to have a terrific product. Speak directly to the needs and desires of your visitor and you will have a captivated audience.

A Few Tips:

1. Talk to your customer – Avoid focusing on yourself. You are irrelevant. Tell your customer how she will benefit from using your product. Use the word “you” and you can be certain you are speaking directly to your customer.

2. Understand your target customer – Understand what motivates your customer and write from their perspective. Don’t try to appeal to everyone. You’ll get better results when you can speak directly the pains and problems your potential customer has than trying generic copy to sell to a wide variety of people.

3. Get attention – You can do this with a good headline and sub-headlines. That way, people will know instantly if you have what they are looking for. Forget cute and clever headlines…give your visitors the straight goods.

4. Keep it simple – Use short sentences and simple words. Your visitors eyes tire easily. Be kind to them! Break up your paragraphs and create plenty of white space.

5. Be casual – The web not the place for a formal essay. Write as you speak and be friendly with your visitor. Do double-check your spelling and follow most grammar rules, but keep the tone light, especially when your target is a more casual group.

6. Set yourself apart from the competition – What makes your product unique?

7. Prove it! – Add testimonials, sales statistics and anything else that proves your claims.

8. Create a sense of urgency – If people don’t sense urgency, they aren’t likely to click on your link. Limited time offers are perfect or showing your potential customer can no longer wait to solve her problem, can be effective. Make sure your potential customers feel the need to click on your link now.

Recommended for Further Study:

For more help with your copywriting and creating a website that people will stick around to read and buy from, check out Alice Seba’s Copywriting Sweetie. It comes complete with software and training to help you sell more of your product to customers who will buy from you over and over again.

Or do you?

You may have heard people say that testimonials don’t work or that when they see a website they never read the testimonials. I believe that’s true – on websites that don’t use testimonials effectively. If you see a site that says:

“I love it.” -  Jan

“This is the best ever”

“This is going to be a great product.” -  Jim Bob, Florida

….then yeah, I’d skip over that too. To be effective, a testimonial needs to include concrete detail and be believable. Let’s discuss these two items:

Concrete Detail

The problem with the testimonials above is that they don’t really say anything. It simply says they liked the product. And in the third, case it sounds like Jim Bob hasn’t even tried the product…he just thinks it’s going to be good. That’s not effective at all.

Testimonials should include information about how your customer used the product and the results she achieved. When you ask for feedback on your product, ask your customer specific questions, so you can formulate a well-written testimonial from the information you gather.

Here’s some example questions – and these may not apply to all products, but it gives you an idea of what I’m talking about:

1.      How long have you been using the product?

2.      How has XXXX improved since starting to use the product?

3.      How do you use the product (ex. at work, to relieve pain, etc)?

4.      How much time do you invest in using the product on a weekly basis?

5.      What is the most helpful/useful part of the product?

6.      What would you say to someone who is interested in buying the product.

7.      What other information would you like to share with us?

You can ask whatever questions you’d like, but ask specific questions, so you can get specific details.

Believability

The problem with the 3 example testimonials I gave earlier is that they aren’t believable. Who’s Jan? Who’s Jim Bob? Are they real people or a figment of someone’s imagination? The second one didn’t even have a name. You need to add as much information about your customer as possible in order to make your testimonials believable. If you think your customers won’t offer this information…you’ll probably be surprised and won’t know until you ask. 10 mediocre testimonials are not nearly as effective as 3 great ones. So, if fewer people say yes to offering their personal information, that’s just fine.

Here’s some information you should try to collect. You don’t have to have every item for every testimonial, but try to get as much as possible.

1. Full name (first and last)
2. Location (city/state, etc)
3. Photo
4. Proof – If there is a way to show the proof of results, get it. For example, for a weight loss product, you can have before and after pictures. For an child’s educational product, you can have scanned report cards. For a money-making product, you can show screenshots of bank accounts (with personal info removed), etc.

What to Do Next

Start by asking your customers for feedback on the product. Present them with a small questionnaire and offer them a small free gift (a special report, coupon or something else your customers would like) to complete it. You can be upfront and tell them that by submitting the questionnaire that they agree that you can publish their comments on your website, but be clear that you are looking for ALL honest feedback about the product…not simply glowing reviews. Make sure it is clear that you are not offering a bribe in return for the good feedback.

It’s up to you on whether you want to collect the personal information (full name, location, photos and proof) along with the questionnaire. If you collect it immediately, it will save you time from going back and asking for it later. If you decide to collect it later, make sure your customer provides an email address or some other contact information, so you can be in touch.

Then, when you’re ready – publish the chosen testimonials on your website and watch the results.

Recommended for Further Study:

For more help with your copywriting and creating a website that people will stick around to read and buy from, check out Alice Seba’s Copywriting Sweetie. It comes complete with software and training to help you sell more of your product to customers who will buy from you over and over again.

Still, you don’t want to make sure that your website is presentable and will motivate people to buy your product, sign up for your mailing list or whatever you want them to do

Here’s some quick pointers:

1. Do you have attention-getting headlines?

If your website says, “Welcome to MySite.com” – go back and find something that will immediately grab your visitors attention and make them want to stay and read more.

2. Avoid distractions and excessive navigation.

When a visitor hits your website, you want them to follow certain actions. If you give too many choices with a ton of links, they’ll end up going elsewhere on your site or just leave altogether. When people are presented with too many choices, they often make no choice at all. That’s not good for your website.

3. Make sure you have a call to action.

Each page of your website should direct your visitor on what to do next. Whether it’s to buy a product or join your mailing list…make sure they know what to do next.

4. Study copywriting.

It will be one of your most powerful sales tools. You can’t interact with all of your website visitors personally, so your website needs to do the selling for you. Look at other websites and see which sites really grab you and hold your attention. Use these ideas as a starting point.

Perfection isn’t really required before getting started, but be ready to make improvements as you go along.

Recommended for Further Study:

For more help with your copywriting and creating a website that people will stick around to read and buy from, check out Alice Seba’s Copywriting Sweetie. It comes complete with software and training to help you sell more of your product to customers who will buy from you over and over again.

That’s what copywriting can do for you. If you’re not familiar with the term copywriting, it refers to the words you use to create your various sales messages and promotional tools. Copywriting can be used on everything from your business cards to flyers to brochures to websites.

The problem is, many home business owners don’t understand the power copywriting can have in generating more sales for their businesses. They throw together a business card or website and then wonder why nobody follows up with them.

Effective copywriting urges your potential customers to take action on your sales messages. If you use well-crafted copy in your business, you’re likely going to be ahead of much of your competition.

Here Are Some Starter Copywriting Tips:

1. Understand your target market – The more deeply you understand who you are writing to, the more effective your copy will be.
2. Understand your product – Understand what is unique about your product and why it would appeal to your target market.
3. Focus on benefits – The features of your product are important, but it’s the benefits that will sell your products. For example, you may sell an aromatherapy candle in a particular scent and that scent is known to reduce stress. The scent is the feature and the benefit is stress-reduction. People want to know the scent, but they really want to know what they’re going to get out of using the candle.
4. Use simple language – Avoid using big words or long, complicated sentences and paragraphs. Respect the fact that the average person’s reading level is likely lower than yours and make it easy for them to get your message.
5. Focus on your reader – When we write about our business or products, we tend to focus on ourselves. Instead of using a lot of “we” statements, turn it around and speak to your audience. For example: Instead of saying, “We value customer service,” say, “Your customer satisfaction is guaranteed.”
6. Prove your claims – Back up claims with real and detailed testimonials, research facts, etc. The more believable your copy is, the more likely you are to clinch the sale.

More Details

For more copywriting tips and practical exercises to help you make more sales without so much work, grab your Mom’s Talk Biz Guide to Copywriting and get started right away.