10 Simple Ways To Punch Up Your Copy

You did what the copywriting masters said to do; you wrote some fantastic, emotionally-targeted copy for every single page of your website. Your best friend blogged about it and your mom cried when she read it. So what’s the problem?
The Problem: Your copy is perfectly strategized to hit your target market hard… and yet your web stats tell a different story. Ezine signups are few and far between. Your monthly promotions get a casual glance, but no one ever seems to take the bait. You wrote great content… yet folks click away after reading the homepage. What’s a web business owner to do?
The Solution: Punch up your web copy and “direct” your web traffic using a combination of call-to actions and strategic linking. Here are ten easy tactics that should do the trick for you.
1. Include a call-to-action on EVERY page of your website. Ultimately, what would you like your customers to do? Call for a consultation? Place their product order now? Then give the order (nicely, of course!) at the bottom of every single page of your site.
2. Add a call to action after every major point you make. Suppose you’ve added a section of copy explaining the benefits of choosing your company over the competitor’s. A good copywriter knows that final “statement” should be punctuated with a directive. “Call now.” “Sign up here.” “Click here to learn more.”
3. Create a sense of urgency. Ensure that your customers take immediate action; put a time limit on your special promotions. Which do you think will get a faster response: “This offer stands until the end of time,” or “Hurry, this offer will only last until the end of the month”?
4. Rewrite for the “you” perspective. Scan your current web copy, noticing how many times you said “I” or “we.” Then go back and fortify every line with a “you.” Remember, the customer always wants to know what’s in it for them. I mean always!
5. Add the Intangible Benefit. Suppose you’re discussing the safety features on a new model of car. Sure, your reader wants to know how the technology works, but what will really snag them is words like SAFETY… YOUR FAMILY… PEACE OF MIND… SECURITY. These words inevitably go to work on the psyche, so DO include intangible benefits– especially in your headlines.
6. “Where’s the Beef?” The “beef” is the substance in your copy. We just discussed intangibles, but if you never cover the practical reasons behind the emotional promise of your product, your credibility will suffer and so will your sales. “This new diet plan will help you look and feel sexier.” How? “Clinical tests prove that it effectively speeds up metabolism and boosts fat burning capabilities safely and effectively, helping you LOSE MORE WEIGHT.”
7. Direct traffic via your ezine. You’ll be shocked at how many more clicks you can get out of a few strategically-placed links in your ezine. Mention your latest offer in your ezine and add links that folks can take directly there. Want your blog to get read? Think links from your newsletter. Web visitors are a lot like cattle– they must be herded via links!
8. Direct traffic via your blog. Did you create a sales page pushing an e-book that no one seems to be clicking on? Don’t forget your untapped target audience living in the blogosphere. Create a short blog post advertising your product and include a photo and direct link to the sales page. Trust me, web surfers don’t just land there – you’ve got to show them the way.
9. Link to your sales page via an article. A good internet marketer always communicates in articles. Include new, original articles each time you send out your ezine. Select certain trigger words that will help sell your product and link them to your product sales page. Try it; it really works!
10. Point the resource box of your articles to an ezine sign-up page. Ezines are a great way to let people “warm up” to what you can offer them. So each time you write and publish an article in your ezine (or even your website or blog), include a call-to-action that encourages readers to sign up for your ezine. Sure, it may takes some time to convince folks to buy from you… but slow converts are a lot better than no converts, and an ezine is the first step in your long-term plan to increase sales.
It takes ten times more work to secure a new customer than it does to convert an existing customer. Are your web materials doing the job they were meant to do? If not – it may be time to “plump up the copy” and start directing traffic –and SALES– your way.