I’ve been in the SEO business for a while now, but I’ve been a copywriter for a much longer period. SEO is challenging, but writing is my first love… and not without a reason too. If I take a little liberty with an old phrase, it should sound like…”A keyboard is mightier than a sword”… and I will stand by that saying.
Effective SEO can bring in visitors to your website, but that is only half the work done. People can crowd into your website to your heart’s content… but SEO won’t make them buy. There is a reason why good salespeople are in high demand. They convert a store’s traffic into customers. Your web store needs a good sales person too… otherwise, chances are that most of your search engine traffic will go back empty handed.
Now, there are two general kinds of traffic stream that the search engines provide. The smaller stream can be called “sure-shot” customers. They are usually the ones who are looking to buy your product (or one of its kind) immediately. They do a web search, locate your website, land up there, and given that your product page provides all the information they are looking for, they are going to buy the good. But really, you want to make more sales than that… don’t you?
Then there are the lurkers. Some will call them “Time Wasters”. They come to your website, look around, stay for a while, and then go away. Typically, these people are not sure that they want to buy your product. Some of them are even not sure that they need it. They are aware that they may, but they need to be convinced. In a store, a master salesperson will approach them, make them feel at home, ask them questions, get to know them, and then convince them that they need this product. This is how sales are closed. Your website copy is the closest you’ve got to your sales person. Make it talk to your visitor… because copies sell.
1. Keep your web copy simple and conversational. If you’re brave enough, your link to the product information page can also be anchored with “talk to me” or something similar.
2. Make your copy ask leading questions. If you’ve planned your business well, you should know why your product should sell. The questions in your copy should lead to that reasoning.
3. Lighten it up a bit. Don’t make the customer feel threatened. Too aggressive pitching can lose you customers.
4. Make them interested. You have already made him aware that he needs the product. Now highlight your product specifications (read USP) to make them interested.
5. Initiate a decision. Do not pressurize your customer to make a decision. At least not blatantly. Use your copy to slowly push them to clicking on that “Add to Cart” button.
Once the user has clicked the BUY button, the copy’s job is done. It is your copy that converts your visitors… not your optimized pages. So write with discretion and planning. As you may have realized, web selling is based as much on the Attention – Interest – Desire – Action (AIDA) model of marketing as on glitzy design and SEO. Train your copy to follow it, or get a writer that can deliver.
Asya has a Masters degree in English, and a PGDBM in Advertising and e-Marketing Management. She is one of the founders of Top Search Rankers, and the SEO moderator at the eWebdevelopment forums.
