Copywriting Tips for the Three Most Important Pages on Your Website

1. Presented by Feldman Creative

2. FIRST THINGS FIRST ¡  The visitor is prone to leave. ¡  Assure them they should stay. Comfortable? ¡  recongnize their need.

3. YOUR VIRTUAL LOBBY ¡  Should I stay or should I go? Home page

4. Provide big, bold assurance. THE DOMINANT ELEMENT ¡  COMMUNICATE YOU UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGE THEY FACE. ¡  REITERATE THE PRODUCT CATEGORY. ¡  AVOID THE GENERIC… “WELCOME TO OUR SITE.”

5. Create a clear, concise introduction. WE CAN HELP YOU ¡  No boasts, mission statement or elevator pitch. ¡  Focus on the visitor. ¡  “you…” ¡  Your pleasures, your pains.

6. DON’T THINK S.E.O. Think search. ¡  Your optimization should be invisible. ¡  Use keywords— naturally.

7. GET TO THE POINT Snuff the fluff. ¡  Flair is good. Fluff is bad. ¡  Throw away the throw-aways. ¡  Visitors have short attention spans. ¡  Edit ruthlessly.

8. BE Have a conversation. PERSONABLE ¡  Low-tech talk. ¡  Bag the buzzword babble. ¡  Imagine you’re out to make a new friend — because you are.

9. EASY DOES IT Make navigation a cinch. ¡  Never make visitors hunt. ¡  Simple navigation BAR and elements. ¡  Feature prominent pods with subheads. ¡  Call-to-actions.

10. K.I.S.S. Plan for a scan. ¡  Brief explanations. ¡  Sparse copy. ¡  Ample white space.

11. Make the blog easy to find. FLEX YOUR KNOW-HOW ¡  Don’t hide the blog. ¡  Invite readers to it— emphatically. ¡  Feature recent posts.

12. GOT PROOF? Be a ¡  Enhance credibility. ¡  Employ social proof. ¡  testimonials, client logos, REviews, accredidations, accolades, ETC. crowd pleaser. ¡  “Join our 10,000 SUBSCRIBERS.“

13. IT’S ALL ABOUT CONVERSION Your landing page is critical to your success. Not about helping readers find what they want—it’s about delivering it. “GateD.” Collect basic information With a form. We’re talking about opt-ins. ¡  ¡  Landing page ¡  ¡  ¡ 

14. THE RIGHT PLACE? Make a keyword connection in the headline. ¡  THE visitor comes with an expectation based on what he just clicked. ¡  Reiterate those words. ¡  Deliver Assurance.

15. ONE REASON FOR BEING Focus solely on the offer. ¡  Don’t cross- sell or upsell. ¡  Don’t offer links to sections of your website. ¡  No escape routes.

16. WIIFM? ¡  What do I get? ¡  How? Use action words. ¡  Answer with verbs… ¡  Learn how… Download the… ¡  ¡  Get insights…

17. THE VISITOR IS NOT A LEAD YET Showcase the value of the offer. ¡  Make the value proposition unmissable. ¡  Use subheads & captions. ¡  “DREAMY” value statements. ¡  Make the benefits specific.

18. DON’T BE COLD Write in a friendly second person narrative. ¡  I am “I” and you are “you.” ¡  Avoid job titles, customers, users, etc.

19. EMBRACE SPEED READERS ¡  Bullet points work great. ¡  List the benefits of what you’re delivering. Add bullet points. ¡  Preview the contents. ¡  You might use icons or small images. ¡  1, 2, 3.

20. HERE IT IS ¡  Show the “prize.” ¡  Write a caption to summarize The landing Page in one sentence. Show and tell.

21. ADD CREDIBILITY ¡  Testimonial. Deliver some proof. Deliver some proof. ¡  Quote an authority or high profile client. ¡  Numbers.

22. LESS = MORE ¡  the fewer fields you require, the more responses you’ll get. Streamline the form. ¡  Make the form easy to find and fill.. ¡  Email & name.

23. GET CLICKED ¡  Choose call- to-action words carefully. ¡  Generic words such as “submit” perform poorly. ¡  Value statements are better. Include a smart button. ¡  Send me “free tips.”

24. THE AWKWARD FIRST DATE ¡  Most visited or most exited? ¡  Challenging page to write —who’s it really about? ¡  Answer Questions: why read? What problems will I solve here? About page

25. DON’T TEST YOUR READER’S PATIENCE Be interesting. ¡  Get the reader to want to know more about you—not less. ¡  Write a tight, well-paced page. ¡  Avoid needless detail. ¡  ¡ 

26. NICE TO MEET YOU Use video carefully. ¡  Go ahead and offer a short & sweet video. ¡  Don’t rely only on video. ¡  No “auto- playS.”

27. BE WARM AND APPROACHABLE ¡  About pages tend to be stiff & stilted. Write conversationally. ¡  Have a sense of humor. ¡  Avoid jargon. ¡  Use a converSational voice.

28. GOT CRED? Again, ¡  Your office wall. ¡  badges. proof plays well. ¡  Memberships, accolades, publications, speaking experience. ¡  Testimonials.

29. EGO FOOD? ¡  Be wary of superlatives & hyperbole. Lose the B.S. ¡  Avoid B.S. words… “visionarY, outstanding, world-class & cutting-edge.” ¡  And you’re not a thought leader.

30. NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH Don’t write fiction. ¡  Your aspirations & accomplishments are not the same thing. ¡  Tell your readers about why they should care about your accomplishments.

31. SAME, SAME, SAME? Take some chances. ¡  write a page no one else could. ¡  Real people who will change your life. ¡  Make yourself a bit nervous.

32. RESUMES ARE BORING ¡  Bios that are 100%percent academic & professional are sleepy. Bring bios to life. ¡  Readers expect you to be a pro. ¡  Now give them something worth talking about.

33. CONNECT Suggest making social connections. ¡  an opportunity to begin a relationship. ¡  Publish links to social media profiles. ¡  Links to bloggers. ¡  Email addresses.

34. BE SKIMMER FRIENDLY Make it a quick read. ¡  Bullet the company facts. ¡  Try interview formats. ¡  Video Q & A.

35. THINGS CHANGE Keep the page up-to-date. ¡  Don’t allow your about page to be out-of-date. ¡  Reflect the company you are today. ¡  New services, new people, locations, clients, etc.

36. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING Remember who the page is really about. ¡  Your five w’s is a starting point only. ¡  Focus on the why. ¡  Salesy won’t establish credibility. ¡  the reader comes first.

37. Can I help you? YOUR QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME. www.feldmancreative.com @feldmancreative

38. THANK YOU ¡  Go write a great home page. ¡  Go write a great landing page. You can go now. ¡  Go write a great about page.