How to Write Copy That Converts

What to write on your sales page and how to make sure your copy actually sells?

Those are valid questions many course creators and service providers struggle with, but if you're like me and you're not a professional copywriter, fear not – you can totally do this!

It's time to make sure that the program you've poured all your heart and soul to with a genuine desire to help actually gets the attention it deserves. To help you out, I'm about to share with you my top 10 strategies for writing copy that converts.

#1:

Write your headlines last

Did you know that only two out of ten people (20%) visiting your website read your actual content and eight out of ten read just your headlines (80%) ? Shocking, isn't it?! If a headline doesn't capture your page visitor's interest, they're out. This makes your headlines the MOST important part of your copy.

As strange as it may feel, to create really powerful headlines, you should write your headlines last. Only once you know what the paragraphs to follow will be about, will you be able to write a strategic and logical headlines for it so don't do this the opposite way.

It's also not usually the first headline that works the best.

I'd recommend you to write 15-20 versions for each of them (that's right, each), and only then choosing the best one - I promise you this effort will make a difference. Your headlines matter the most, so you want to put the most effort in them.

#2: 

Make your customer the focus

Whether we like to admit it or not, everyone loves reading about their favourite subject: themselves. That's also why your copy shouldn't be about you – not really even on your website's ‘about’ page, but definitely not on your sales page.

If you focus only on talking about yourself and how great you've made your course, your sales page visitor will lose focus really quickly. Have a look at your sales page and check all the areas where you’re focused too much on yourself or your own greatness only and turn it around. Sure, you should introduce yourself, but it should really be about mostly telling your ideal customer’s story, laying out their desires and ideal future, where they are now and how your program can help them improve their lives.

#3:

Speak to one ideal customer only

Who will be reading your page? Who is the ideal person buying your course, service or product? This is something you want to be crystal clear about as your copy should be directed to them and them only. You’ve probably heard it many times before, but if you try to speak to everyone, you’re not really speaking to anyone. When you write your sales page copy, imagine ONE person you’re talking specifically to - the person who you aim your offer to be ideally for. You get stronger commitment and trust from your page visitor the more you speak to them directly, so don’t be afraid to get specific. You don’t also want to address everyone collectively. ‘You’ is one of the most powerful words in copywriting, so use it whenever you can.

#4:

Write copy that sounds like YOU

Our corporate X was established in 1984 and.. sorry, you lost me already. No one likes to buy from a robot so speak like a human being. Yes, you should check your grammar, but writing like you speak makes your text sound warmer and more relatable. You’re after all talking to other human beings.

An easy way is to start using apostrophes. ‘It is’ becomes it’s, ‘you will’ becomes you’ll and ‘do not’ becomes don’t. Read your text through and speak it out loud as if you were talking to a friend; would you say the sentences as you’ve written them? Of course, you want to take into account your brand personality and voice too; how you want to sound and feel like, and what would relate the most to your ideal audience.

#5:

Spell it out

Studies say your copy should be written as if a 4th grader was reading it. No joke. If you try to be too clever or use fancy words, the chances are you’re just going to confuse and lose your audience. Although helping women to ignite their inner power to the next level might make sense to you, half of your readers won’t necessarily have a clue what you mean by it. Ignite how? What next level? Power to do what? Skip the fancy words, make it concrete, and spell it out. The clearest marketer always wins.

#6:

Ask for the sale

Your sales page is not a place where asking for the sale should be hidden away. Make your call to action buttons easy to see and clear to understand. Ask for one thing and one thing only, and be clear about what you’re asking. If you want them to buy, don’t write on your button ’Yes, Sounds great!’. That’s not asking for an action. You can however think your call to action buttons more as a call to value buttons, and instead of ‘buy here’ you could say ’start your health journey now’.

Repetition is also powerful. If you have a long sales page, it doesn’t hurt to drop the call to action buttons in more than one place. Where to join your program isn’t after all something you want your potential student to keep on searching.

Keep also in mind that you’ll have different types of buyers visiting your sales page. Some will want to go ahead as soon as they land your page, some will want to read every single detail to the last sentence before they're ready to commit. Make buying easy at all stages and for all types.

#7:

Focus on the verbs, not the adjectives

You might be surprised, but verbs beat out adjectives more often than not. Describing your offer with fancy adjectives isn’t as impactful as describing what your offer does. Think of this for example from the perspective of a job interview; describing yourself as goal-oriented doesn’t beat telling your potential employer how you smashed your yearly sales targets two months up front.

#8:

Consider where your sales page is seen

Don’t also forget, that majority of content is these days being consumed on mobile. Keep your copy short, make the font size big enough, and use legible fonts. After all, all that effort put into your copywriting goes to waste if the text isn’t legible in the first place.

#9:

Explain yourself

'Because' is a known power word in copywriting, but it’s easy to just assume your reader knows your why. You offer a 30-day money-back guarantee - why? You want them to succeed - why? They need your program - why? Your program is good value for money - why? Consider their objections and answer them in your sales page copy. Of course, you don’t need to write ‘you need my product because you’ll..’ just use the ending instead and speak about the transformation.

Last but certainly not least, speaking of transformation...

#10:

Speak more transformationally

It’s normal to want to highlight what your program is like and all the details included in it, but while that’s important to clarify too, it's not the features that sell your program. The features can support the buying decision, but what sells it to the customer instead is the transformation your course promises to them.

What we humans really want, is the less good version of ourselves or our existing reality to be transformed into a better version of ourselves or our reality. You simply want to start speaking more transformationally; what is their state of being before the purchase, and how will it be better after?

Here’s an easy five-step framework you can use to help you improve:

Level 1 - Have: What they had/didn’t have before and what they have/don’t have after?

Level 2 - Feel: What they felt like before, and what will they feel like after?

Level 3 - Routine: How was their day-today life before and what will it look like after?

Level 4 - Status: How were they perceived before and how will that change after?

Level 5 - Enemy: Who or what is the shared enemy, and how will you help them beat it?

The higher the level your copy speaks at, the better it connects with your reader.

Your step 5 copy could start to look like this: Ready to prove the doubters wrong and become the healthiest version of yourself with my help?

Just remember, it takes practice to get great at anything and copywriting is no different. The more you write the better you get.

With kindness,
 

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