3 Tips For Writing Content That Will Make You Sales

Content is king. Without content your website is an empty shell, a skeleton with no flesh, an empty vessel. Content can redeem the worst designed website. The right content can make your phone ring off the hook and flood your inbox with people wanting your product or service. Content is the most important ingredient in the recipe for your website's success. If you have engrossing, valuable and relevant content you are onto a winner..

Tip 1 - Keep It Customer-Focused - What You Like Is Irrelevant

I land on the homepage. I want to buy a bathroom from this company. I want to know what bathrooms they have available. I want to know how much it will cost, when they can deliver, if they have any special offers and what their previous customers have said about them. Instead, upon landing on the homepage I get the following all-time classic;

"Welcome to ABC Bathrooms. Our company was formed in 1985. Our Managing Director John set up the company at the age of 25 after spending thirty years in the position of.."

Who cares?! I want to know exactly what you sell and how much it will cost me. I have 10 spare minutes today to find this information out and if I don't see it on your site in a few seconds I will click off to your competitors so don't bore me with the life story of your managing director. I do not care. Give me content that I like - not what you THINK I would like. Key difference.

Tip 2 - Sell Benefits, Not Features

Potential customers do not want to know how your product was built, how old the production manager is or what colour the wallpaper is in the production plant - they want to know how buying it will enrich their lives. They want to see evidence for the benefits of owning your product or using your service. People don't buy things - they buy benefits and they buy feelings. People buying a Ferrari are not buying a mode of transport they are buying prestige, luxury, envy, success - they are buying a symbol, a way of life.

Think about your product or service from a customer's point of view - what are the real, measurable and provable benefits to them of buying from you? Include these over and over in your content and it will bring more sales for you. Don't be afraid of blowing your own trumpet - stick the benefits right on the homepage for a start!

Tip 3 - Include Calls To Action - Everywhere!

Excellent - you've written killer content and people are coming back to your website time and again for the information. Your traffic figures are shooting through the roof. It's brilliant! You can't believe you've cracked it. And then you look at the number of orders placed last week - zero. Oh. What happened there? Better to have one person visiting your site each month who actually places an order or produces a sales lead rather than have 1000 people who do neither.

If you don't have clear benefit-focused calls to action peppered throughout your content people will not get in touch with you or place that all-important order. You hook them in with the winning content and then you offer them more information vial email or a free quotation if they phone you - anything! You must have calls to action present throughout your site - combine this with the other two tips and you are on the way to having content that actually makes you sales.

Michael Cheney
Sales & Marketing Director, magnet4web.com

About The Author

Are You Getting Your MagnetMail? - Mike Cheney's World-Famous Free Magic Mail To Make Your Website Magnetic, Get Yours Now: www.magnet4web.com/website_services/?page=magnetmail

Are You Losing Customers Because of Typos?

Overlooking simple steps such as proofreading and grammar can affect... Read More

9 Tips for Great Design of Your Marketing Materials

1) Don't just hire a good designer. Hire someone who... Read More

Freelancers Can Jump-Start Your Publicity Initiative

If you find that your progress is blocked by a... Read More

Increase Freelance Sales With an Online Resume!

Freelancing is a competitive business, especially in today's fast-paced, e-focused... Read More

Subtle Emotion - The Key To Copy That Works

Say the word "emotion" to a man, and he'll immediately... Read More

Designing for a Non-English Audience

Having worked as a digital publishing specialist at a large... Read More

Write Hard-Hitting Headlines With Magic Words That Sell

Writing a killer headline for your copy is simple! You... Read More

How To Find Freelance Jobs - Writing About Food

Did you know that jobs writing about food are available?... Read More

Content is King

IntroductionA pencil. Yes, a pencil. In my opinion, every great... Read More

Finding Your Clients Business Problem Leads to Better Copy

WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM?How do you begin a dialogue with a... Read More

Fundraising Letters: Where To Find Creative Ideas For Your Appeals

How do you make your fundraising letters creative and fresh... Read More

How You Can Proofread Your Own Work

Putting out a high quality product is a given these... Read More

3 Keys to Better Online Copywriting

Doing the copywriting for your own website without the proper... Read More

Your USP is Useless

One of the keys to writing good marketing copy is... Read More

12 Copywriting Tips to Make Your Advertising More Profitable

Year after year people make the same mistakes in direct-response... Read More

Copywriting: Secrets of a Freelancer

Lately, I've been getting emails from other copywriters who ask... Read More

The Number One Copywriting Technique That Makes Your Prospects Read Every Word You Write

How does this sound?Today, I'm going to show you how... Read More

Welcome Informed Criticism of Your Work

When you come to 'know' something, there is a temptation... Read More

Be That Copywriter Everyone Wants to Work With

So many copywriters think that it's enough to be a... Read More

Freelance Writing As A Career

Most people would love to make a living from freelance... Read More

Discover Your Creativity

You have a choice. Do you want to be constructive... Read More

The Five Rules Of Influential Web Writing

Building a professional reputation requires a campaign founded on your... Read More

Headlines That Pull, Persuade and Propel!

When writing direct response copy, there are a few things... Read More

16 Golden Rules of Master Copywriting

You could spend thousands of dollars on advertisement and have... Read More

Why Is FREE The Most Powerful Marketing Word You Can Use?

As the famous cowboy Will Rogers once said, "Even if... Read More