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Your website content should convince visitors that your service is
either unique or superior to that of your competitors in terms of
quality, and is competitively priced. It should show your potential
clients that you can provide the solution they are seeking. Your
product or service will solve their problems, answer a dream, enrich
their lives, and/or improve their businesses. You are the dependable
expert that they want and need!
Your website copy plays a major role in establishing and growing
your customer base. Website copy creates the “voice” of a company,
just as the look and feel of a site put a “face” on the company and on
otherwise intangible products and services. On an ecommerce site, the
copy plays a key role in closing sales as well as in up-selling and crossselling
products and services. Good website copy delights first-time
visitors, encourages return visits and propels both customer
acquisition and retention.
People read a web page differently than they do a brochure or a
newspaper. They scan, scroll, click, hit the back button, and hit the
forward button. “Reading” is about moving around and being in
control. You have one chance to make a first impression – to quickly
convey the benefit of staying on your website. I can’t overstate the
importance of first impressions, which in web-time are measured in
milliseconds. The layout, functionality, message and overall look and
feel of your web page determine who stays – and who clicks away.
Your story should be clear and to the point. The goal of any web
page should be to get the visitor to DO something: to move on to the
next step in a purchase sequence or to click for more information
about a product or service. Without readable, compelling copy and
clearly organized hypertext links, visitors are much less likely to
complete a transaction – and return to your site again.
Writing for your web page should always start from your visitor’s
perspective. What is your website visitor looking for? Why is she here?
How can you make her visit as quick and efficient and positive as
possible? You should take the time to clarify the goal of each page
before starting to write. If the page is part of a transaction sequence,
identify what may be hindering the buying process. Be sure
instructions are clear and easy to read.
If you are selling a service on your website, your Unique Selling
Proposition (USP) is your service’s most powerful benefit, in
combination with a strong, unique feature of your business. It answers
that most difficult question:
Why should someone do business with you?
Tell your customers what service you are selling and explain what
your service provides. What is the key benefit(s) to your customers?
What pain does it cure, what solution does it provide? Compare your
service with that of your competitors and highlight what makes you
stand out from the competition? Keep working on this until you can
clearly separate yourself from the field. As stated earlier there must be
a convincing reason for doing business with you, instead of your
competitor.
Summarize the above into one tight, powerful, motivating phrase
that will persuade your customer to do business with you and to trade
their money for the benefits delivered by your service.
As you start to work through the above four steps, you may find
this to be a lot harder than it looks. Don’t blow it off and give up! You
must have a USP. If it was easy, everyone would have a great USP!
Come up with a tight, sharp USP that sells your service to your
customer.
Write tight, get right to the point, be keenly aware of the
audience for the page, and don’t use a three-syllable word when a one
or two-syllable word will do. Use call-to-action language and be
interesting. The page should be so clearly organized that, in seconds,
visitors can understand and get convinced to buy your product and be
able to anticipate where a hypertext link – or a “Continue” button –
will take them. Studies show that “ease of use” is the winning factor
on an ecommerce site.
If you’re going to promote your service and expand your customer
base using your website, potential clients have to be able to trust you.
Their confidence in you and your products has to be boosted.
Endorsements on your website from a valued friend or colleague, or a
referral from a strategic partner are the types of “leads” that boost
your credibility. You and your service must be perceived as being
trust-worthy before your visitor will be confident enough to contact
you or even buy your product.
Show prospects that you have their best interests at heart and
that you can adapt or customize your service to meet their individual
needs. Foster an ongoing relationship that steadily increases their trust
levels and cements a view that you are an “authority” in your field.
Another important aspect of convincing prospective customers is
to keep abreast of recent developments in your field. Check on what
your competitors are writing about, and watch for new trends. This will
keep your website current, razor-sharp and unique. By keeping your
eyes open, you will be able to grab an angle or niche that hasn’t been
well covered yet by your competitors. Portray this angle or niche on
your website.
Finally, be wary of broadening the theme of your site too much.
Try not to dilute your product or service’s targeted niche simply to
expand your base of merchant partners. Remember; focus on your
selling your service. That’s where the “meat and potatoes” of your
business will come from.
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