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By Judy Cullins
Have you put a lot of effort, time, and money into your site and are
frustrated with low sales?
If you are like many professionals out there, you know your subject, you are
excellent at your craft. You have a great service and maybe a great product to
sell.
You may have hired a web master who didn't have a marketing background. You
may have written home page copy about your mission and who you are. But when
sales fall, you need to look at what's missing in your Web copywriting. You have
only 10 seconds to impress your "to be" buyer.
Here's the top ten ways to attract buyers, not just visitors, to your web
site:
1. Preplan and know your Web site's purpose.
When visiting other Web sites, do you often wonder just what they are about?
What are they selling?
Without a clear purpose of what your web site does, your visitors will be
confused and leave. First, make a list of everything you want to sell from the
most important one to the least.
2. Write dazzling home-page copy.
If you don't give your reader a reason to buy or read further, she will
disappear fast. For each product or service, write a benefit-driven compelling
headline that leads your visitor to more information contained in your sales
letter. You may have four different headlines on your home page because you want
to sell four top products.
3. Use sparkling testimonials from the rich and famous on your home page.
On my site, a specific, outstanding testimonial by a fellow professional
leads my visitors to my top-selling book "How to Write your eBook or Other Book
Fast" sales letter. Make the whole testimonial a link.
4. Sprinkle testimonials throughout your web site.
Use at least five in each Web sales letter, on your coaching pages, free
articles pages, and your teleclass pages. Most web sites miss the boat with just
one link that says "testimonials."
5. Use a power benefit driven headline with specific benefits.
From your coach's web site this headline links to the sales letter for two
books, "10 Non-Techie Ways to Market your Book Online," and "How to Market your
Business on the Internet." It says "Discover How in Only 4 Months you Can
Quadruple your Monthly Book or Business Income and Reach 10,000 to 100,000
Internet Users Who Want your Information--GUARANTEED-To Move you to the Top
Profits
You've Been Dreaming About."
6. Make your layout clear, clean, and consistent.
You need to organize each page in the same layout such as left centered,
right centered, or centered. If you mix designs, your would be client or buyer
will think you unprofessional. Go to other Web sites and choose a design that
resonates with you. Keep every page in the same format.
7. Use color, font changes, and small graphics to spice up your site.
When visiting a popular site I couldn't even read it and get the email
address because it was so dark. Use red and dark colors sparingly. Use a lot of
white space between short paragraphs. Use graphics occasionally, but make sure
they are small enough to load within ten seconds. Visitors are impatient and
want information fast. Without easy-to-read and clear navigation, your visitors
will leave.
8. Check your site often to see if you have any glitches.
Visit your site every week with a visitor mind set. What's clear? What's
compelling? What turns you off? What do you like? Would you buy from you?
9. Put your content rich information beneath the headlines in short
paragraphs.
When a visitor sees a long line of print, he gets discouraged because he
wants his information fast, clear, and concise. Make each paragraph only 4-6
lines. Online readers want easy-to- read material they can get the main points
from
by skimming, and they want it faster than light rays.
10. Be consistent with your headings and body fonts.
Do not use all capital letters in your articles or headings. Make them
upper/lower case such as *Sell More Books with a Powerful Back Cover.* Web copy
is
different from book copy. On the Web, make your headings in Times Roman or
other with serif (tails) font. For the copy use Ariel 12 font without serifs
because it's larger, and easier to read. This style is just the opposite of how
you
use fonts in your books.
When your web site thoughtfully helps your audience with a lot of fre.e
information and shows them how to make a decision to buy, you can quadruple or
more
your web sales in just five months.
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