What Nobody Tells You About Copywriting for Conversion

Most online businesses understand that strong copy is a crucial factor when optimizing their websites for conversion. And truth be told, there is no shortage of educational resources that cover the basic elements of writing good web copy.

Despite the fact that there are so many places to learn the craft, here are some important concepts that rarely get coverage they deserve.

1. Resistance

We all love to buy, but we hate to be “sold.” No one wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, “I wonder who I can give my hard-earned money to today.” For every business, the trick is to get them to do it anyway.

People are turned off by hard-selling, whether it’s at the car dealership or on a website. It’s a good idea to read the copy on your site out loud. If it would sound pushy, hypey or manipulative in a face-to-face situation, you need to reconsider your approach.

2. Features –> Benefits –> Advantages

You’ve heard it a before: people don’t buy drills, they buy holes. They buy outcomes. But in today’s crowded marketplace, they can probably get holes (or whatever they’re looking for) from a thousand vendors.

Is a hole just a hole? Or is yours better somehow?

Your web copy can’t just say “We give you holes.” “We make better holes faster” isn’t much more convincing.

Be as specific as possible. Why is your offering better? How much faster do customers get results? How much money will they save by drilling holes with your device instead of the competitor’s?

3. Language

There are few times it’s appropriate for your copy to read like a legal contract. People will not suffer through boring or confusing websites anymore. Always remember: if your site that is doesn’t instantly capture the attention of your visitors and keep it all the way to checkout, the competition is only a click away.

On the other hand, don’t be too flippant, either. Jokes may not be understood and cute stories can be distracting if they don’t tie in with the reason the visitor is on your site. The language still has to maintain a level of professionalism (which may differ from one product/service to the next).

A best practice is to use the kind of language you would use if you were talking with your ideal customer in person, one-on-one.

4. Under-Promise, Over-Deliver

This sounds good, but it’s a bad move most of the time.

Don’t be afraid to make the strongest claims you can honestly make. If you weaken your selling proposition because you want to under-promise, you risk losing sales, brand strength and mindshare.

Of course, you want to exceed your customer’s expectations. But you can’t afford not to make big, bold statements, as long as you can convincingly back them up and deliver.

Understanding these principles and putting them into practice can have a major impact on your conversion rate, not to mention your bounce rate. Test out some variations of your current copy, measure the results, and continue to adjust until you find what works the best.

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Donnie Bryant is a direct response copywriter living near Chicago, IL, USA. He specializes in increasing conversion, sales and profits for businesses and entrepreneurs by injecting true persuasive salesmanship into their marketing messages. Visit his website at http://donnie-bryant.com