Have you put a lot of effort, time, and money into your site and are frustrated with lackluster sales? Are you planning to put a new Web site and dont know where to start?
If you are like many business professionals out there, you know your subject, you are an expert speaker or coach in your field, you are even passionate about it. You have great products and services to sell.
But do you translate those into benefit-driven headlines that pull sales? If you have already put your Web site up did you address your purpose? Do you want to inform, communicate, help? That’s fine, but if you want to sell something, you will drive your potential customers away with such non-effective phrases as “welcome to my site,” Here’s by product ” long paragraphs of your bio on the home page, your book’s introduction, or “subscribe to my ezine.”
You have only 10 seconds to impress your potential buyers.
They don’t care about anything except what you can do for them.
Give them a reason to buy.
It’s never too late to refresh your home page and others with “marketing pizzaz.” Your home page deserves time and effort and some money. You will need to edit it several times before landing on just the right phrases. Without these and continuous maintenance, Your unguided efforts are wasted.
Instead, write compelling, emotional , benefit-driven copy to inspire people to take out their credit cards to buy your unique, wonderful creations. You can when you apply the following power “Marketing Pizzazz” techniques.
1. Write dazzling home-page copy that gives your customers a reason to click to your product.
Using “click here” following your headline such as “Quadruple your Web Sales in Less than Three Months” send your visitors to a short sales letter or bulleted benefits and a choice to “buy now.” Before I learned this ultimate powerful technique, my Web sales were flat. Since incorporating copywriting with “marketing pizzazz” my brand new Web site sales jumped from $75 in August to over $2,665 by December 20.
2. Preplan and Know your Web site’s purpose. Without a clear purpose, your visitors will be confused and leave. If you are a coach, make sure that is clear. Put up your audience concerns and challenges. Then follow those with bulleted solutions you can give them. If you have a book to offer, make sure your navigation bars and copy are strong, so your visitor will go to your order page.
Have you ever visited othe Web sites and leave wondering what are they selling? What can they do for me? What do they want the visitor, to do?
3. Sell your products and services through brave, bold, headings. Headings can ask a pertinent question about you visitors hallenges, such as “Are your Web sales puny?” Or, “Are you frustrated not being in the career you love? Headings can use a benefit statement such as Quadruple your Success (you name what it is) with one feature it works with, such as the Online Promotion Tool Kit (name your product or service).
4. Use sparkling testimonials from the rich and famous on your home page and all others about each product or service you offer.. You may have them for your product and service, but do you have them for your ezine, free articles, and Web site? When other people in your field praise you, your visitors are likely to trust them opinions. It’s often better than tooting our own horns.
5. Support your home page “Marketing Pizzazz” copy with proper links to product sales letters, stories, and service. Let’s say you have a bold heading “Quadruple your Web sales in Just Three Months with Opt-In Ezine Articles.” Place a “click here” next to it so you make it easy for your visitors to buy. Where will you take your visitor? To your sales letter, of course!
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, small graphics to spice up your site, but remember to use a lot of white space.Too many large graphics make your site load slowly, and your visitors will leave before seeing how you can help them. Without easy-to-read copy and clear navigation they will also disappear. Remember the “10 second” rule.
If you are like me, and have a content-dense site, it’s OK to include long copy as long as you divide it into bite-size pieces with plenty of headlines. A good ideas to to ask your friends and associates to visit your site to report glitches and feedback. What turns them on or off? They often see what the creator is too close to see.
8. Put your information in short paragraphs. Visitors love free content, but when they see a long line of print, they get discouraged because they want their 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 , and they want it faster than light rays.
9. Be consistent with your headings and body fonts. Do not use all capital letters in your articles or headings, unless a few for emphasis. They are hard to read. Do not use the same font for headlines and titles as you do for the body of information beneath. This mistake makes it hard to distinguish the two.
If you are a non-techie like myself, you can use primarily two fonts: “Arial” for headings, and “Times Roman” for the body. Notice the no tails in Arial (called sans serif), good for short copy. Times Roman and other serif style fonts (with tails) make it easy for the reader, because the words are more recognizable in this style, making them easier to read.
10. Use dividers such as ======, or ++++++ when you change topics. These can add variety and help your visitor to see your message more clearly. These are often used on business ezines. Each publisher makes their ezine their own by their personal choices.
Remember your home page must give your visitors a reason to buy. Use these “Marketing Pizazz” techniques throughout your site. Think right now, what is it I need to act on next to manifest more dollar success on my site?
Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” and “Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 145 free articles. Email her at Judy@bookcoaching.com.
