Copyright 2006 John Navata

You wouldn’t believe how many web sites don’t ask for the sale! After all the work people put into their salescopy, describing the benefits of their product, and leading people through their sales process, they overlook one simple but VERY IMPORTANT “call to action”: “Click here now to buy.”

And that oversight could be losing them 20% of their potential sales!

If you want people to take action on your site (buy, subscribe, fill out a request for more info, etc.), you need to have a call to action that tells them exactly what you want them to do. For example, if you want them to click on a link to learn more about one of your products, you have to include a link that says something like, “Click here to see how the Gadget Widget can save you hours of work!!”

And if you want your visitors to make a purchase (and of course, you do!) you should include a link that says something like, “Click here to get your own incredible time-saving Gadget Widget!”

You might think it’s obvious that you want people to make a purchase — especially if you’ve written a great sales pitch that explains how incredible your product is. But no matter how convincing your salescopy is, if you don’t provide your potential customers with a very specific call to action, then you’re just leaving them hanging — and most of them are going to leave your site and never return, costing you big money in sales AND future leads.

Remember the “ABC” of selling: Always Be Closing. People need to be told what to do. If you want them to make a purchase, you have to ask for the sale.

And if you have a short-copy or catalog-style site, don’t make the mistake of asking for the sale just once! You have to give your visitors lots of opportunities to buy your product or service. All of your web pages should include multiple links to your order form or shopping cart, as well as urgency-building action phrases like…

“Buy today!” “Limited time offer — get yours now!” “What are you waiting for? Click this link to order your own… ” “Get started today… just click here!” “YES! I want to order now… ” (Remember, salesletters are the one exception to this rule. With these types of sales web sites, you usually want to include a single call to action at the end of your letter — once you’ve built a killer case for your product, complete with tons of benefits!)

One more thing: You’ve got to leave all references to “buying” out of the top fold of your web site. That’s the part of your web page that appears on the computer screen when someone first arrives at your site. If you mention buying there, people won’t have enough time to learn WHY they should purchase your product, and will probably think you’re just out for their money. You want your potential customers to learn about the benefits of your product before you ask for the sale.

Asking for the sale is simple, but the impact it can have on your bottom line is huge. By adding a simple call to action, you make it easy for your visitors to understand what they’re supposed to do. And once they know they’re supposed to buy something from you, they will — and your profits will go shooting through the roof!

In part 1 of this series (seen here: http://www.marketingwords.com/articles/articles_subtlechanges.html), we were introduced to Kneelsit.com, an Australian manufacturer of ergonomic computer chairs who was in search of a high conversion rate. After spotting several trouble areas within Kneelsit’s original copy (viewable here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/kneelsit-home-original.html), I set out to rewrite the home page with specific goals in mind.

The Rewrite

I really felt for the users of these chairs. They had back problems and medical issues, trying desperately to find relief. I can only imagine how it must feel to sit in pain all day, every day. And, after seeing so many false claims for other chairs, I could understand how they might be skeptical. So, after reading the new home page copy, I wanted the site visitors to have confidence, to see the difference in the Kneelsit chair and to understand the benefits this chair would offer.

Of course, those in chronic pain were not the only visitors to the Kneelsit site. While they were the primary segment, the audience also consisted of those with mild back pain, those with inconsistent problems or simple fatigue, and those who simply wanted a comfortable chair that wouldn’t contribute to any future back problems. The copy also needed to meet their needs and provide the information they were seeking.

You can see the revised copy here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/kneelsit-home-new.pdf.

The Headline

The original headline did, in fact, list benefits. It stated:

Superb Comfort, Perfect Posture, Gentle Movement, Natural Balance

However, only one of those benefits spoke to audience members… Superb Comfort. While posture may have been a secondary thought, gentle movement and natural balance didn’t strike a chord simply because of a lack of knowledge. As it happens, these two benefits are important, but the general population doesn’t understand what they mean. It would require educating the site visitors about these two before they would grasp their full meaning. That education couldn’t take place within the headline (not enough room!), so those two benefits needed to be removed.

The headline needed to evoke feelings of trust for the skeptical and a sense of stability for the hesitant. It also needed to provide an obvious benefit – one that would catch the reader’s attention.

Also, because it made sense to do so, I included one keyphrase in the headline. The new headline read:

Ergonomic Chair Design Based On Years Of Research Lets You
Sit For Hours With No Back Pain

The Opening Paragraph

The original copy started out just fine by naming some important benefits, but it didn’t back them up. After pointing out the relief of stress and pain, it went directly into an explanation about the chair’s patent.

The new copy took a cleaner path. It started by pointing out that others (users and professionals) liked the chair, and then it proceeded (in the next section) to explain why.

The original copy tried to educate readers about the importance of continuous movement and natural balance. There is nothing wrong with educating your customers; however, you need to give ample space to do that. Because the visitors had limited information about these two benefits on the home page, they may have been confused or – at the least – unpersuaded.

The new copy held firm on one feature: the swivel axel mechanism. It explained how this helped with customization of settings to fit every body type and more. With minimal education needed, the customer was able to understand that this one, patented feature offered multiple benefits.

Rather than simply listing shipping details for the close of the copy, the new version of the home page pointed out some additional benefits pertaining to quality and stylishness.

As I wrote, I looked for places to use the keyphrases chosen for this page. This was absolutely not a numbers game. My goal was not to use the keyphrases as often as I possibly could. That approach is not SEO copywriting, in my book.

Basing your copywriting strategy simply on the sheer volume of times you can include keyphrases makes the copy sound forced and ridiculous. In fact, on this home page, the keyphrases were only used a total of four or five times. Yet, to the amazement of some, the home page ranks in the top 10 (and often top five) for its chosen key terms.

The Results

Did it work? Did the changes bring out the results we wanted? They sure did! When asked about improved conversions, the owner of Kneelsit.com had this to say, “Our conversion rate has definitely improved since the rewrite… probably by around 35-40%!”

Sometimes, even though you may have included important information in your copy, it just doesn’t do what you hoped it would. Take the time to explore, experiment and test. Replace a headline. Rephrase a paragraph. Subtle changes can often make noticeable improvements in conversions and other areas of business.

There is generally a better way to make a copywriting material, but a lot of people are turning their backs on it due to reasons I beg not to discuss. Potentially powerful copywriting materials are those, which are able to convey the message to your prospective clients. There are good writers in terms of putting their ideas into the copywriting material but are unable to convey and relay the real message to the targeted clients. The purpose of writing an article is to primarily educate the people who read your material. If as a writer you are not able to do that, then you are not complete as a skilled and effective writer. I have given below some few tips on you can make a greatly impacting copywriting material.

When one talks about marketing strategies, copywriting for the web is one of the most commendable tools from the marketers’ point of view. This is because, copywriting as a marketing tool is an effective way to communicate with your targeted clients whatever activities or any updates that a company is engaging into – in a wider geographic range. With the present demand for huge number of copywriters the earning to become a copywriter is just so enticing. Below are some of the tips on how you can earn more money with copywriting:

– When a business owner asks you to do copywriting for them, the aim of that is to advertise and promote their products. In which case, when you do copywriting jobs, you have to make sure that you sell and sell. On your copywriting material, you have to make sure that you get to move your targeted clients to an action either to visit the site or make a purchase. These actions would mean money and more money for the business.

– You have to develop a copywriting material that is full of interest and should promote enthusiasm and immediacy. This will give your prospective clients the drive to do an action about what you are trying to promote and advertise. Overall, a copywriting material that tries to build excitement is more like to sell.

– With copywriting, businesses are not only expecting to generate sales but traffic and list, too. This means that the copywriting material should be able to capture also potential clients thru the e-mail address that you may solicit from them when they get to open and read your copywriting material. Make sure that you give these people enough reasons for them to leave their personal information, say, give away gifts or some freebies like e-book or discounts.

-Choose the topic that you have better knowledge about. Choosing a topic for your targeted clients should be anchored on two things: what interests you and what interests your targeted readers. As a copywriter, you must be able to make these two elements meet at a certain point. Otherwise, if one of these turns out to be not considered during the creation of the copywriting material, a potentially problematic copywriting material is in the making.

– Upon weighing altogether the topic that will best benefit your targeted readers and your own interest, it is now time to come up with the outline of your copywriting material. This is an important aspect of your entire copywriting material because it shall allow for a better and well-crafted copywriting material.

-Always check your copywriting material for any possible grammatical flaws. Maintain a copywriting material that is free from any flaw as this manifests carelessness and distrust from the perspective of the readers. To avoid this, you will need to be proactively checking your works at the end of the completion.