If you’ve arrived here from Google looking for a landing page copywriter, you can read samples of landing pages and sales letters I’ve written here. Or email me (matt@copywriterscrucible.com) with details of your project for a free quote
Sales pitch over, on with the post…
Now, whilst I might stand on my soap box every week preaching on the need to engage prospects with content of value, the fact is that persuasively written landing pages continue to be potent hooks for reeling in sales.
A finely tuned page will catch visitors when they land, push them through your benefits pitch, testimonials and success stories and then park them safely at the checkout till. Landing pages need to keep hold of a reader’s attention, have no distractions and a pitch so convincing that they’ll be falling over themselves to sign up or buy.
Whilst the sales driven approach of a landing page is annoying to web savvy bloggers (there was an interesting discussion on the merits of landing pages in the comments section of an Anywired post, which erupted into some minor mudslinging), the fact is that they can be enticing to those looking for an immediate, well presented solution to their problem.
Now that I’m embarking on joining the ranks of online prospectors seeking to make their fortune from mining niches and selling info products (aka eBooks), I thought it was about time I learnt a few tricks of the trade to help me on my way:
- Start by scribbling down all your ideas about the benefits of your proposal, even if it does leave you with a jumbled up mess. Then start carving it down to the core elements until you’re left with a lean, mean landing page freed from excess flab.
- Provide a logical argument that states your case clearly: what is the product, how does it benefit the reader, what proof do you have and why should they buy it now.
- Follow the normal conventions of short, easily digestible paragraph chunks (five lines max) , bulleted lists and plenty of benefit laden subheadings.
- Make the ride entertaining for readers by mesmerising them with your prowess with power words (but don’t go too far and turn into a pushy salesman).
- Don’t use hype or you’ll lose trust. Instead your copywriting should be motivating, authentic and engaging.
- The short vs long copy debate is too complex for me to even attempt dissecting it here (although longer is known to be better). But for the purposes of a landing page the length should equate to the product’s value, its complexity and what action you want the reader to take. Signing them up for a newsletter will need less arm twisting than selling a twelve part meditation course.
- Remove links that might distract readers during your pitch.
- Whatever you do – don’t invent testimonials. If/when you get caught out it wont take long for comments in blogs and forums to start sprouting around your Google listing saying what a schmuck you are for lying about your shoddy service.
- Always have a call to action link visible no matter where they scroll, because some readers are quicker to persuade than others.
- Repeat the juicy parts of your argument at the end.
After you’ve stood back to admire the magnificent landing page you’ve created remember that you’re unlikely to have perfected it on the first sitting.
So test, adjust and test again until you’re happy with the percentage signing on the dotted line on their way out. 5% would be a nice start.
checkout http://www.pagealizer.com beside giving you metrics on your landing page they also show you which page parts are weaker than others.
The tips are really superb. I would also like to show my landing pages to all your visitors. Also check out my landing page SEO Training in Chandigarh
My site target local visitors from a small city in India. I get around 10-15 visits daily and due to this super landing page I get around 5-10 calls daily for my local business.
Great information provided. I appreciate your work.