I’m working on the website copy for a business on the west coast. The marketing manager emailed me all her current marketing pieces. These included an email proposal and an online brochure.
It turns out that the copy in the email and brochure is attractive and informative. Attention getting headlines, short leads supplementing the headlines, and bulleted features and benefits.
So your question might be, why would she need me? Just add the sales messages they already have to the website. But this marketing manager is smart. She’s not sure exactly where to put the content she has on the site.
Good direct response sales writing is essential for effective website copy, but understanding the thought process of your visitor is just as crucial.
In other words…Based on what your customer is thinking, at what time during your visitor’s journey thru your site should you put what content where?
Where You Put Website Copy Depends on the Thought Process of Your Visitors
Your goal is to get your best prospects to your site and then get them to say yes to themselves over and over until they get to the big yes: the sale, subscription, or call. So, here are the yesses you’re looking for as they travel thru the site.
Homepage
Write your homepage copy for new visitors. Returning customers will cut you slack on this, skipping to the pages they want. But people searching the web want answers as fast as they can find them.
So, new visitors want to know they are in the right place. Tell them who you are and what you do. It’s like the canned vegetable section at the grocery store. What if all the cans were turned away? You wouldn’t know the corn from the peas. Let them know what’s in the can.
Tell them quickly, preferably in the headline and then some sentences in the lead, what you do and why they should buy from your company and not the competition. Then organize your product line so they can easily get to what they came for.
I see companies putting some of their best content about what they do and their Unique Value Proposition on the About Us page. But that’s the place to tell your story. We need to grab them on the homepage.
We want your visitor to think, “Yes, this company can help me.”
Sales Pages
Stick to one product or service per page. Include your Unique Selling Proposition in the headline and get into your customer’s head with your lead. State their problem and then solve it in the body copy. Include a call to action so your visitor knows what to do if they want to buy.
Specific product info does not belong on the Homepage or About pages. It’s too early to describe the features and benefits of your product on the Homepage and all those good things get lost on the About page.
Here we want your visitor to think, “Yes, I want this product.”
About Us
So what kind of content goes on your About pages? After your visitor decides that you have the answers and products they’re looking for from your homepage and sales pages, they wonder if they can trust you.
This is the place to tell your story. Get your visitors to know you personally. Establish a connection with them on an emotional level. If you can, they’ll feel they know you and will get more comfortable with a purchase or contact.
If you’re not sure how to approach your interesting story (everyone and every company is interesting in its own way) look here for some Brand Story Idea Joggers.
The goal of the About pages is get them thinking, “Yes, I can trust this company to deliver.”
To get the hang of placing your copy in the right places, think like your website visitors. And get them saying “Yes” to themselves as you lead them to conversion.
Until next time,
Nick
PS Next week we’ll have a guest post from Brad Shorr with valuable tips on mobile website design to improve conversions. Brad is the Director of Content Strategy at Straight North, an internet marketing company in Chicago. Mobile design is crucial for site owners, so be sure to tune in next week.
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