Boost Online Profits With Persuasive Web Content

By Pam Foster, Certified SEO Copywriter

ContentClear Marketing www.contentclear.com

 

“Content is King” is the rule of thumb in the web industry because the content, or copy, is your online salesperson. When optimized web copy engages prospects immediately and clearly shows them an attractive solution to their needs, the results can be very exciting.

Without great copy, many prospects become confused or frustrated and leave your site. This is why smart, sales-oriented content will ensure the best results for your site.

Make sure your website is optimized by including content written for your customers, telling them how you’ll solve their problem.

Customers will not be excited about a company that talks all about itself. “We do this, we do that.” This is known as business “we-we.”

The number one rule of successful web content is that it must focus on customers and offer solutions that will meet their needs.

For example, let’s say you sell a series of courses designed to help new college graduates learn how to manage money for the first time. Your first instinct might be to say on your home page: “We offer courses on managing money. We’ve been doing this for years. We’re really great at it.”

The customer will see this and say, “But what kind of courses? What will I learn from them? How easy or hard are they? How will the courses help me?”

Instead, if your content is written for the customer, you might say the following: “New college graduates: learn to manage your money in just three evenings. With easy, helpful tools, you’ll know how to follow a budget, stay out of debt, and start building wealth right away.”

See the difference?

Also keep in mind that people buy product benefits, not features.

The ultimate goal of your prospects and customers could be to feel better, smarter, slimmer, richer, safer, confident, comfortable, stress-free or young again. It’s these ultimate benefits that you need to focus on when promoting your products and services.

For example, drive-through banking isn’t just a convenient way to make a deposit — it saves time and ultimately helps the consumer be more efficient and stress-free. Make sure you’re thinking about the benefits of your products and services this way.

Here’s another example. Let’s say that you sell light-filtering window shades. Why do people want to use these shades? Maybe they don’t want bright sunlight coming in their bedroom as the days grow longer, or they don’t want sunlight to disturb their sleeping babies. Perhaps they’re trying to keep glare off computer monitors. But what they really want is to create a more comfortable and stylish space without a lot of hassle.

Your shades can solve these issues, and that’s the benefit to the customer. Customers really don’t care about the features of your shades—the fabric construction or the technology behind them. Those are just the reasons behind the benefits. It’s only OK to include copy about the features as long as you also explain how each feature benefits the visitor.

Finally, make sure your strongest and most unique benefits are “above the fold” on your web pages.

This is the area visitors see on their screen first when they land on your site.

These are just some of the ways you can boost your web success. To learn more, you’ll want to check out the C-Clear™ Marketing Method for Website Optimization.

Or, contact us if you need help with your website now.