If you’re trying to make a living online, sooner or later you have to face it: Conversion. That intimidating topic — how to get more buyers from the same amount of traffic.
The only reason conversion is intimidating is that there are a lot of places you can go astray. Most of them aren’t that hard to fix, but any one of a thousand little problems related to your online business ideas can keep you from getting the conversion you should have.
I don’t have a thousand tips for you today, but I do have 101 to get you started.
Here are 101 fixes — some small, some big — for making more sales online.
- Does your product or service solve a problem people actually care about? How do you know? If your basic offer doesn’t appeal to your prospect, you’re sunk before you begin. Make sure you’re selling something people want.
- Let prospects know they’re buying from a human being. Keep your language personal, friendly, and (for most markets) informal. Sound like a person, not a pitching machine.
- Tell a story about how you solved this problem for yourself before you started selling the solution to others. Let readers put themselves in your shoes. Let the prospect feel, “Wow, this person is a lot like me.”
- Fix your typos, make sure your links work, avoid grammar mistakes that make you look dumb. Reassure your prospect that you know what you’re doing.
- Test two headlines. When you find a winner, run it against a new headline. Keep eliminating second-best. Google Ads is a quick and efficient way to do this.
- Try testing an “ugly” version of the sales copy. Boring fonts, not much layout, no pretty colors. Weirdly, sometimes a bare-bones presentation works better. Don’t just run ugly without testing it, though, because it doesn’t always win.
- Instead of sending traffic right to a sales page, put them through a six- or seven-message autoresponder first. Give them enough information to build their trust and let them know you’re the best resource.
- Strengthen your call to action. Make sure you’ve clearly told readers exactly what to do next.
- Make sure you’ve described your product or service in enough detail. If it’s physical, give the dimensions and some great photos. If it’s digital, tell them how many hours of audio you include, how many pages are in the PDF. Don’t assume your prospects already know any details — spell everything out.
- Getting traffic from advertising or guest posting? Be sure your landing page is tied to your traffic source. If you’re running a pay-per-click campaign for “Breed Naked Mole Rats,” make sure the words “Breed Naked Mole Rats” are in your headline for the landing page.
- Master copywriter Drayton Bird tells us every commercial offer should satisfy one or several of these 9 human needs: make money, save money, save time and effort, do something good for your family, feel secure, impress other people, gain pleasure, improve yourself, or belong to a group. And then of course, there’s the obvious #10 — make yourself irresistibly sexy to the romantic partner of your choice. I guess Drayton is too much of a gentleman to include it, but it’s about the strongest driver we have once eating and breathing have been taken care of.
- Now that you’ve identified your fundamental human need, how can that be expressed in an emotion-based headline?
- Have you translated your features into benefits? I bet you’ve still got some benefits you could spell out. Remember, features are what your product or service does. Benefits are what your prospect gets out of it.
- Put your photo on your sales page. Human beings are hard-wired to connect to faces. If prospects can see you, it’s easier for them to trust you.
- If you have a dog, use a photo of you with your dog instead. There’s something about a dog that lowers nearly everyone’s defenses.
- You can try just using a photo of the dog. Believe it or not, sometimes it works.
- Simplify your language. Use something like the Flesch-Kincaid readability scale to make sure you’re keeping your wording clean and simple. (Please note that simple writing is not dumb writing.)
- No matter how emotional your appeal, justify it with logic. Give people the facts and figures they need so they can justify the purchase to themselves. Even the most frivolous, pleasure-based purchase (say, a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes) can be justified with logical benefits (superior workmanship, rare materials, giving the wearer a boost in confidence).
- What kind of tasty bonus could you offer? Peanut butter is good; peanut butter with jelly is great. Find the jelly for your peanut butter, the bonus that makes your good product even better.
- Are you getting your message to the right people? A list of people who really want what you offer, and who are both willing and able to buy?
- Listen to the questions you get. What are people still unclear about? What’s worrying them about your offer? Even if you outsource your email and/or support, it’s a good idea to regularly read a random selection of customer messages.
- Keep your most important sales elements “above the fold” (in other words, on the first screen, without scrolling, when readers go to your page). Usually that means a compelling headline, a great opening paragraph, and possibly either a wonderful product shot (to create some desire) or a photo of you (to build trust and rapport). Eye-tracking studies suggest your most important image should be at the top left side of the page.
- Check the dual readership path. Do your headline and subheads tell an intriguing story if you read them without any of the rest of the copy?
- How’s your guarantee? Could you state it with more confidence? Does your guarantee remove the customer’s risk?
- Do you take PayPal? PayPal has its issues, but it’s also “funny money” for a lot of customers. They’ll spend freely from PayPal when they’d think twice about pulling out a credit card.
- Have you asked for the sale boldly and forcefully? Is there any hemming and hawing you could edit out?
- What’s the experience of using your product or service? Could you make that more vivid with a testimonial video or a great case study?
- Is there any reason your prospect might feel foolish for buying from you? Are they afraid they’ll kick themselves later? That their friends, spouse, or co-workers will give them a hard time about this purchase? Fix that.
- Are you using standard design conventions? Links should be underlined. Navigation (if you have any on your sales page) should be immediately understandable.
- Got testimonials? Got effective testimonials?
- Does the prospect know everything he needs to know in order to make this purchase? What questions might still be on his mind? How can you educate him to make him more confident about his decision to buy?
- Does the link to your shopping cart work? (Don’t laugh. Go test every link onthe page that goes to your cart. And make a point of testing them once or twice a day the entire time your shopping cart is open — even if that’s 365 days a year.)
- Is your marketing boring? Remember the great Paul Newman mantra: “Always take the work seriously. Never take yourself seriously.” If your marketing is putting customers to sleep, it can’t do its job.
- Social media isn’t just about talking – it’s also about listening. What are your potential customers complaining about on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, in forums, in blog comments? What problems could you be solving for them? What language do they use to describe their complaints?
- Have you answered all of their questions? Addressed all of their objections? I know you’re worried the copy will get too long if you address every point. It won’t.
- Have you been so “original” or “creative” that you’ve lost people? Remember the words of legendary ad man Leo Burnett: “If you absolutely insist on being different just for the sake of being different, you can always come down to breakfast with a sock in your mouth.”
- Can you offer a free trial?
- Can you break the cost into several payments?
- Can you offer an appetizing free bonus, one the customer can keep whether or not she keeps the main product? An incredibly useful piece of content works perfectly for this.
- Does your headline offer the customer a benefit or advantage?
- How can you make your advertising too valuable to throw away? How can you make the reader’s life better just for having read your sales letter? Think special reports, white papers, and other content marketing standbys.
- Have you appealed to the reader’s greed? Not very pretty, but one of the most effective ways to drive response. (The nice way to put this is “be sure you’re offering your prospect great value.”)
- Is your message confusing? A bright nine-year old should be able to read your sales copy and figure out why she should buy your product.
- Can you link your copy to a fad? This is particularly effective for web-based copy and for short-term product launches, because you can be absolutely current. Just remember there’s nothing more stale than yesterday’s Macarena.
- Similarly, can you tie your copy to something a lot of people are really worried about? This can be something in the news (an oil spill, climate change, economic turbulence) or something related to a particular time in your prospect’s life (a midlife crisis, anxieties about young kids, retirement worries).
- Try a little flattery. One of the great first lines of all sales copy came from American Express: “Quite frankly, the American Express card is not for everyone.” The reader immediately gets a little ego boost from assuming that the card is for special people like him.
- Is there a compelling, urgent reason to act today? If prospects don’t have a reason to act right away, unfortunately they have a bad habit of procrastinating the purchase forever.
- Are you visualizing one reader when you write? Don’t write to a crowd — write for one perfect customer who you want to convince. Your tone and voice will automatically become more trustworthy, and you’ll find it easier to find the perfect relevant detail to make your point.
- Tell the reader why you’re making this offer. In copywriting slang, this is the “reason why,” and it virtually always boosts response.
- Can you get an endorsement from someone your customers respect? Celebrity endorsements are always valuable, but you can also find “quasi-celebrities” within your niche that hold as much sway as a national figure.
- Can you provide a demonstration of the product or service? If it’s not something that can be demonstrated on video, try telling a compelling story about how your offering solved a thorny problem for one of your customers.
- How often are you using the word “You?” Can that be bumped up?
- How often are you using the word “We?” Can that be eliminated? (“I” actually works better than “we,” which tends to come across as corporate and cold.)
- Stay up late tonight and watch a few informercials. Keep a pen and paper handy. Write down every sales technique that you see. In the morning, translate at least three of them to your own market. (Remember, you can change the tone and the sophistication level to match your buyers.)
- Have you made yourself an leader in your market?
- Is there an “elephant in the living room?” In other words, is there a major objection that you haven’t addressed because you just don’t want to think about it? You’ve got to face all inconvenient truths head on. Don’t assume that if you don’t bring it up, it won’t occur to your prospects.
- How’s your follow-up? Do you have the resources to answer questions that come in? Remember, questions are often objections in disguise. Prospect questions can give you great talking points for your sales letter. You may want to bring on some help in the form of a friendly VA or temp to help out with email during a big launch.
- Is there a number in your headline? There probably should be.
- Similarly, have you quantified your benefits? In other words, have you translated “time saved” to “three full weeks saved — plenty of time to go on a life-changing vacation — each and every year.” Put a number on the results you can create for your customers.
- It’s weird, but “doodles” and other elements that look like handwriting can boost response — even on the web. There are hundreds of handwritten fonts available, which can be converted to visual elements with Photoshop or simple logo-generating software.
- Does your headline make the reader want to read the first line of copy?
- Does the first line make the reader want to read the second line of copy?
- Does the second line make the reader want to read the third line?
- (Etc.)
- Throw in some more proof that what you’re saying is true. Proof can come from statistics, testimonials, case studies, even news stories or current events that illustrate the ideas your product or service is based on.
- Compare apples to oranges. Don’t compare the cost of your product to a competitor’s — compare it to a different category of item that costs a lot more. For example, compare your online course to the cost of one-on-one personal consulting.
- For this reason, it’s always a good idea to have at least one platinum-priced item for sale. They make everything else you sell look nicely affordable by comparison.
- Make your order page or form easier to understand. Complicated order pages make customers nervous.
- Remember to restate your offer on your order page. Don’t expect the customers to remember all the details of what you’ve just (almost) sold her. Re-state those benefits.
- Include a phone number where people can call for questions. I know this is tricky to handle, but it can boost your response by a surprising amount.
- Include a photograph of what you’re selling, if you can.
- Is there a lot of distracting navigation leading your customers away? (Worst of all are cheap-looking ads that pull people away for a penny or two.) Get rid of it. Focus your reader’s attention on this offer with a one-column format stripped of distractions.
- Put a caption on any image that you use. Captions are the third most-read element of sales copy, after the headline and the P.S. The caption should state a compelling benefit to your product or service. (Even if that benefit doesn’t quite match the image.
- While you’re at it, link the image to your shopping cart.
- Make the first paragraph incredibly easy to read. Use short, punchy, and compelling sentences. A good story can work wonders here.
- Does your presentation match your offer? If you’re offering luxury vacations, do your graphics and language have a luxury feeling? If you’re selling teen fashion, is your design trendy and cute?
- Are you trying to sell from a blog post? Send buyers to a well-designed landing page instead.
- Halfway through a launch and sales are listless? Come up with an exciting bonus and announce it to your list. Frank Kern calls this “stacking the cool.”
- Are you asking your prospect to make too many choices? Confused people don’t buy. You should have at most three options to choose from — something along the lines of “silver, gold, or platinum.”
- Look for anything in your copy that’s vague. Replace it with a concrete, specific detail. Specifics are reassuring, and they make it easier for the prospect see herself using your product.
- Numbers are the most reassuring details of all. Translate anything you can into numbers.
- Look for any spot in your copy that might make your prospect silently say “No,” or “I don’t think so.” Rework that spot. You want the prospect to mentally nod in agreement the entire time she’s reading your letter.
- Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Prospects often don’t read every word of the sales letter. Find ways to restate your call to action, the most important benefits, and your guarantee.
- Hint at a genuinely exciting benefit early in the copy, then spell it out later in your sales letter. (Be careful of curiosity-based headlines, though, as traditionally they don’t convert as well as benefit- or news-based ones do.)
- Use the two magic words of persuasive copy.
- Successful marketing doesn’t sell products or services — it sells benefits and big ideas. What’s your big idea? What are you really selling? If you’re not sure, go back to our ten human needs in #11 above.
- If you offer something physical, make sure there’s a way they can get expedited delivery. The ability to place a rush order lifts response, even if the customer doesn’t take advantage of it.
- Put a Better Business Bureau, “Hacker Safe” seal, or similar badge on your sales page.
- Could you be underpricing your offer? A surprising number of buyers, even in a bad economy, won’t buy a product or service if it seems too cheap to be worth their time.
- Are you using the wording “Buy Now” on your shopping cart button? Try “Add to Cart,” “Join Us,” or similar wording instead. Focusing on word “buy” aspect has been shown to lower response.
- Allow your prospect to picture himself buying. Talk as if he’s already bought. Describe the life he’ll now be living, as your customer. If you want a delicious example, go to the J. Peterman website. Few have ever done it better.
- Cures sell vastly better than prevention. If your product is mostly preventative, find the “cure” elements and put those front and center. Solve problems people already have, rather than preventing problems they might have some day.
- If your funny ad isn’t converting, try playing it straight. Humor is, by its nature, unpredictable. It can work fantastically well, or it can destroy your conversion. If you can’t figure out what else might be wrong, this could be the culprit.
- Are you the king of understatement? The sultan of subtlety? Get over it. At least in your sales copy.
- How’s your P.S.? (You do have a P.S., right?) Is it compelling? Typically you want to restate either the most interesting benefit, the guarantee, the urgency element, or all three.
- Cut all long paragraphs into shorter ones. Make sure there are enough subheads so you have at least one per screen. If copy looks daunting to read, it doesn’t get read.
- Increase your font size.
- Include a “takeaway.” No, this isn’t a hamburger and fries — it’s the message that your offer isn’t for everyone. (In other words, you threaten to “take away” your great offer for those who don’t deserve it.) When you’re confident enough to tell people “Please don’t order this product unless you meet [insert your qualification here],” you show that you’re not desperate for the sale. This is nearly universally appealing.
- Are you putting this offer in front of cold prospects? What if you put some variation of it in front of people who have already bought something from you? Your own existing customer base is the best market you’ll ever have. Make sure you’re regularly sending them appealing offers
- If they don’t buy your primary offer, try sending them to a “down-sell.” This is a lower-priced product that gives the prospect a second chance to get something from you. Remember, even a very small purchase gives you a buyer to market to later. Building a list of buyers is one of the wisest things you can do for your business.
- What is it about your product or service that makes people feel better about themselves? Ultimately, everything has to boil down to this.
Reader Comments (125)
Hi Sonia,
All I can say is WOW, WOW, and WOW! What a list you put together. Conversion is something that I’m constantly tweaking and working on. Thanks so much!
Chat with you later…
Josh
This is a another post reminding me to do the basics. There are so many of these points that I have overlooked. Now I have to go over the list again to reinforce all these points.
Great post thanks.
I don’t know how you did it. I actually read through the entire list 🙂
I have found that video works very well for demonstrating products (especially software)
Also, I think I’m going to add a picture of my dog now 🙂
Hi,
Thanks a lot for writing this epic post. Conversion is a hot topic and it should be, since your sales depend on it.
Many people have problems in this area. I think this is too much information to be read in one go. So I will read this in pieces and breaks. But it will surely help a lot in increasing conversions!
Kindest,
Nabeel
Have you tested including a picture of your cat?? 🙂 My Birman will be featured on my home page (web site under construction). Great post! Going into my “save” file!
YourWebMom
Great points Sonia.
“What kind of tasty bonus could you offer? Peanut butter is good; peanut butter with jelly is great. Find the jelly for your peanut butter, the bonus that makes your good product even better.”
Why do GURUs offer Peanut Butter and Mayo ? LOL
Fantastic post! Definitely bookmarked and passed around.
One thing that I would add – read your logfiles and Analytics; analyze what people are actually searching for on your site, and also take a look at referral strings, to see what they’re passing around on their own. If you have a good idea of what they’re looking for in the first place, you’ll have a better shot of providing it. And converting.
So this is the opus that kept you up late into the night 🙂
Can I be so cheeky as to add 102 (and screw up the space-time continuum)?
102. Help your reader experience your product’s “hidden benefit”. The hidden benefit is that deeply personal passion, fear, desire, or dream that your prospect is really itching to satisfy.
For example, my wife convinced me to buy our Golden Retriever because it would “make our family complete”. Shazam.
This a great check list! I picked up things I had not thought of before.
When testing headlines I like to use Google- Website optimizer. It makes testing really easy.
Thanks for sharing, Sonia – some good solid fundamentals to keep in mind here, and some great stuff about posting pics with your dog. 🙂
Hi Sonia,
I really appreciate this post because it tells all we need to do to gain sales on the internet.
I do agree most of your points especially “bring traffic to your landing page instead of sales page”.
Well, from my experience, it converts more than we think and the best thing is, now ‘customer is on our list’.
It will help to generate revenue for the long term.
By the way, I would really appreciate if you can make a new post discussing about generating effective free traffic to landing pages.
I know you have done that before, but why not all of us refreshed back our skill about best traffic generation method once again?
Perhaps we can share brilliant idea from all the Copyblogger readers.
Just my 2 cents. Thanks a lot once again Sonia! 🙂
@Josh, have fun with it!
@Carl, I’m impressed, even I had a hard time reading all of it. 🙂
@Aqif, so you think we should do a follow-up, 101 Ways to Get More Traffic? Not a bad idea.
@Stanford, thanks for the 102! Yes, absolutely, additions are very welcome.
You had me at 101 😉
This is great list for more than just sales pages too.
Thank you ma’am.
Dang, Sonia… Way to serve up a jelly buffet.
This is awesome. Thanks.
I thought #16 was funny. But then I got to #36. (I can see it being useful in a few years when I’ll have 4 teenagers in the house.)
@Sonia Simone: I think “101 Ways to Get More Traffic” is a great idea. You’re rocking this post Sonia! 😀
Great tips. It’s always hard for me to find the balance between what to give away and what to sell. A year or so ago, a friend asked if I was running a library or a bookstore? It was tough love because I thought I was running a bookstore, but it was acting like a library. Continuous testing and tweaking has moved me closer to the bookstore side. Thank you for helping me along the way.
Sonia,
this what I call an epic, killer cornerstone evergreen article on kick-ass marketing.
I’m bookmarking this page and I will read it again, and again, and again, again and again,again, and again, and again, again and again
Seriously, epic work !
Holy, cow, Sonia, this is amazing! I’m sold! 🙂
Seriously, you hit on a couple of soft spots for me: I do not do testing and have a real blind spot about it. Thanks for illuminating it and pointing out specific ways to do it.
I think I’m getting better with my emotional headlines.
Dog photos?! Hilarious! Do cat photos work, too?
I love the reminder to lighten up. Thanks for that, and for all this great advice – perfect checklist for my next promo letter, going out this week!
Hey Sonia,
OMG What a post PHEW!
Packed with tips to help increase sales, I had to bookmark this post as I will be sure to refer back to it again, and again AND again!
Wonderful content, wish others would share as much as you.
Many thanks Sally 🙂
Hell yes. Thank you.
Impressive.
I tested each idea with the principal of contrast and sure enough, if you want to fail, just do the opposite of each lesson.
You had me at “Does your product or service solve a problem people actually care about?” … and somehow you maintained your momentum and stayed insightful the whole way through.
Beautifully done.
Back to the drawing board. I was just about to launch a product this week, but after reading this post I realize I’ve neglected to address about a third of the points you’ve mentioned.
You’ve made my day. Thanks for sharing this awesome stuff.
@Sonia, I’m waiting for the mp3! 😉
Impressive post on these points, and I feel like none of these items are filler. That’s a feat in and of itself.
Is a horse ok? Can I use a horse? He’s a very gentle horse, and an excellent trotter (he won’t break your *ss on a trot, so rare).
And his name is Blackie.
Who could resist such a creature?
Hi Sonia,
My dog is looking at me saying “what does this idiot want with me now” your going to be famous pooch.
Thanks
Pete
Great list Sonia! This is a great roadmap for anyone looking to increase their conversion rates.
If I may, I’d like to add one to the list…
103. Check with your web host and shopping cart provider to see if there are any traffic limitations on your account. There’s nothing worse than putting an offer online and having your website or shopping cart go offline because you exceeded your traffic limits. Believe it or not, I’ve seen this happen to even the most experienced Internet marketers, so it’s always best to check beforehand.
This is one that’s easily missed because those services are ones most people don’t think about once they’ve paid for them. Knowing the limitations on your account can help you avoid lost sales and prevent problems before they happen.
Again, awesome list Sonia! Thanks!
About #11:
Isn’t “take control of your life” one of the basic human needs your product can seek to fulfill?
I’m surprised ‘buy now’ has been shown to lower response. It seems so clear and to the point, not to mention it’s a call to action. I’ll ponder this.
This post is awesome and a great piece of literature to review now and again.
Truthfully, its inspired me. And its convinced me to pursue a long time goal of mine which is to become a professional psychic. There are certainly some desperate people out there willing to part money to get someone to tell them utter b.s.! I love it!
Ms. Cleo’s reign of dominance is behind us. The era of Bamboo Forest and his psychic readings has just begun.
I’m excited!
Wow, that is a very big and challenging list. I have a lot of work to do.
Thank You.
A lot of online entrepreneurs were dismayed when they see a lot of traffic on their site but no sales at all. Your list says it all on why this happened. Selling online is much more difficult than selling your product offline. Your customer does not feel the product and so the sales pitch must be utterly convincing.
@Shane, great idea! It’s $97. 😉
@Joe, laughing. We always try to provide advice that works in a variety of contexts, after all.
@Dave Doolin, I think Blackie sounds like excellent sales letter material.
@Hashim, I would say so, yes. Drayton Bird would probably tuck that into “feel secure,” but as you know, I think there’s a lot of benefit in exploring the control driver.
You’re such a copywriting nerd. 🙂
Seriously though, this is a great list. You could read it and skip about 90% of the books and courses on sales letters.
It’s like Cliff Notes for copywriters. Love it.
Laughing. Jon, as always, has me pegged.
@Sonia: I’m reading the text now! 😉
This is so helpful. What a great post. Thank you.
Impressive post, awesome list Sonia!
Unbelievable, Sonia. Bookmarked for review and for a warmup before sales letter writing. Thank you so much for this post.
What could I add? How about “Make your buy button bigger”
Unless you’re a little nervous about its size, you could probably make it bigger. Either way, test it to see what gets better conversions. Thanks again for this heroic list of a post.
Darn it. Now I have homework to go do.
Thanks for the tips, Sonia!
P.S. – re: #15, Can I use a cat instead?
You’ve more than covered the bases here, Sonia, and you’ll clearly see why I definitely agree with #15. 🙂
Super post!
Melanie
Thank you for this post. I feel like my business has hit a road block and conversion is a key to removing it. So I’ll be absorbing all this information now and in the days to come.
Great article I just got to 86 ways to improve conversion… need another 15 to get this 101
http://www.reedge.com/86-tips-to-improve-conversion-rates-on-your-website-2.html
Wonderful resource Sonia! I’ll be reviewing my posts and trying to incorporate the tips.
Great list – the challenge is to apply it on all the websites. Does the list apply to a blog too? If so, my concern is when I look at this blog and the opinions of others, the format seems different. I am struggling with all the info and “experts”
WOW. Thanks so much for this great list.
Ive been working really hard on getting the design and layout for my site right, I have actually been trying to avoid the salescopy because its one of my weak points.
Im going to go work on it now!
Sonia, Great post as usual. Funny thing is that I have applied many of the strategies you mention and are just not selling the click at the rate I thought. Back to the testing board!!
Deb DiBiasie ND
The Adz Dr
Wow long post, and I am surprised I read the entire thing. Either way it was worth the read. I really liked number 86, don’t sell products or services, sell ideas. That’s what gets viewers more intrigued to purchase.
This is an epic post.
When I read “101…” I always think it is going to be watered down nonsense but it was quite incredible.
Thanks for doing this – its like a checklist we can re-visit over time.
The Tyrant.
What a fantastic list!
This is the most bookmarkable post I have read in months.
Well played!
Ramsay
WOW! And I’m not sure if that describes this post. Valuable content. Thanks a million!
Walter
Wow, so many tips. It’ll take me a whole week to go through it lol.
Thanks, all, for the kind words.
@Roberta, I would say that a blog has a different purpose than a sales page — these ideas are mostly (but not all) about sales pages. A blog isn’t as focused, there’s more room to browse and look around. It’s about building the connection rather than getting the person to take that one action. But there are a lot of “selling” and direct response copywriting techniques that also do work brilliantly with blog content.
@Conrad, I think you have the kind of persona that goes very well with a cat. You have my blessing.
@Ellie, no worries, we’re not going anywhere. Come back and re-visit any time! 🙂
Wow! Great basics and new tips…I kept this tab open all day to finish the list… 🙂
#4 is my ultimate pet peeve! Is everyone illiterate in this country? Doesn’t anyone know the difference between their and there? Mistakes like that drive me nuts.
Great post! I learned so much.
I agree with Carmen. I’m not going to buy a product from someone if they can not grasp basic English.
I see these tips apply to offline endeavors as well!
Wow! Great content, so valuable and informative. I definitely got some new insight. Thanks!
Thanks for the awesome share. Some great advice 🙂
Wow, what an excellent post, thanks
Thanks Sonia,
I’m going to print this puppy out and stick it right in my instant copywriting reference book that I keep on my desk. This is a solid piece of work that you have here.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Wow! That’s a lot of great tips. Too much to read at once… Aha! That’s your “evil” plan -bookmarking!
(OK, I bookmarked it. “Evil” plan successful).
Wow! What a list!
I particularly liked the one about adding a photo of you with your dog 🙂 We’ve just recently got a new cocker spaniel puppy, so I think I might add a few photos of him in some of my sites and see what happens 😉
Thanks for compiling such a comprehensive list!
Keith
I think I ever read this type of post in my blogging days. Really superb post. I’m going to share this post has much as I can.
Man oh man, Sonia – you always give great “cookies” to your readers, but you’ve really outdone yourself today: this is a whole banquet in one blog post! (Creating a checklist postie-note now!)
Wow, so much to do! I had no idea on many of the items on your list. I think it pushed me back a step or two, but thank you! I am glad that I read this and thank you for your infinite wisdom on the subject! I will definately be bookmarking this.
Darcy!
@Jodi, we specialize in high-quality evil! 😀
@Rebecca, aw, thanks. I wanted to do something a little special for folks.
@Keith, definitely try it! Let’s face it, no one can resist a cocker puppy.
@Darcy, no worries, it’s an evolutionary process. You definitely don’t want to try to do all of these in one fell swoop, you’ll give yourself a strain. 🙂
Thanks Sonia, for this awesome information all in one post! I will definitely be referring my clients to this site as this is always a ‘sticking’ point when writing a compelling sales page or email.
People become overwhelmed by the process and what to say… is it too much? too little? too smart? too dumb? too personal? too vague?
These tips now offer the ‘no excuse’ for getting it ‘just right!’
Wow… thank you! You have to catch your breath after that jam-packed post 🙂
Great info, Sonia! We get so caught up in the latest trends in social media, that we tend to forget the basics: know our audience, make sure our product/services meets their need, use a call to action, and always, always, always, proof your copy. Bad grammar and typos are such a no no!!!
Love your writing, Sonia; keep ’em coming!
Conversion is very important I agree – remember to constantly be performing inbound marketing.
Wow, this article is a keeper for sure, I’m booking time to review my sales landing pages step by step for each and every one of the 101 suggestions!
Sonia,
So you like @FranchiseDog after all?
Joel
Hi there Sonia,
I must be dreaming, wow these are so many tips in one place itself. I think this is certainly going to help my improves sales of my products.
Regards,
Alex
Thanks for the list Sonia, great pieces of advice on here, book marked already.
Probably the best online marketing list post ever. I know I want to add something meaningful and insightful but sometimes it’s all been said. Definitely a post to come back to and use as a prelaunch or post launch check list.
Amazing, incredible ++ – great tips.
I will be checking this list on a regular basis and checking this site for more great articles
Very powerful and very generous.
Surely this is intellectual property that warrants being sold rather than given away??
Best to you,
Robin
Helping you succeed in business
@annabel – pretty much the last word, to be sure. Sonia went all Bruce Lee on us here: To the master, a punch is just a punch.
@Robin – yeah, I’d pay a few ducats for a spiffy, fill-in-the-blanks workbook. It would save me time from making it myself (’cause I’m bound to otherwise).
@Dave – respect to you, Dave! 🙂
I printed this article so that I could highlight all the strategies that I need to implement immediately, there were too many to just jot down. One and a half highlighters later… I have my homework cut out for me today. Thank you for an article that points out so many ideas that we all probably know but aren’t doing on a consistent basis. Your insight is incredible, thank you for this great article.
@Robin, we do pretty well selling our information as well. 🙂 If you haven’t seen my cookie content philosophy (which is of course not unique to me, though I don’t think anyone else calls it that), it’s important to me to make sure that the Copyblogger readers always get something valuable when they get that post each morning. And once in awhile we like to package up something a little extra special. 🙂
I just selected 15 things I can do right now to improve my site.
THANK YOU!
Wow, what a post! I would have been happy with 11 but you managed to insert a “0” in the middle of the 1’s. You should do a post on how to get that sort of ambition.
And I have one question, one that will probably get ignored but I’m going to subscribe to just in case. On number 15:
“If you have a dog, use a photo of you with your dog instead. There’s something about a dog that lowers nearly everyone’s defenses.”
Does that advice also apply to CATS?
Thanks!
Unbelievable list! My wheels are spinning. I see 4 that I could incorporate right now. Great post Sonia!
I do not think I can follow all of these ways but there are two ways that can boost my sales online is review and free support to those who buy through my affiliate links.
@Wendy, @Greg, @Tinh and others, that’s awesome — don’t try to implement all 101 at once. Experienced copywriters do, but that’s because these have become second-nature to them. But if you see a few or even a dozen that apply, get them in there, and then you can keep adding over time. It’s all a process. 🙂
@John, many people are curious about that! I think last time I heard there were actually more pet cats in the U.S. than dogs. Some people actively dislike cats, but for me it would depend on that one perfect customer I’m visualizing. If that customer likes cats, I’d go for it. Cats don’t seem to bring out the warm heart-melting trust that dogs do (at least not for everyone), but it’s definitely worth testing.
I agree with these tips. These are the real fixes for the problems that comes when selling online.
This is a lot to think about, but you have created an informative list. You have told me what it is that I should be thinking about, and you have given me the tools to make changes. Great job.
Thank you so much.
Sonia,
Amazing information, thorough and concise. Printing the list out and posting it right on the wall as a constant reminder and check-list. I’m going to stay up tonight and watch an infomercial.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you so much for the very comprehensive tips.
I like the point:’does the first line make the reader want to read the second line”.
It was also good to read the tip on increasing your font, since it is something I have been doing.
Much appreciated!
Have a great week.
Yorinda
Excellent post that kept me reading through to the end, thank you. I’m off to blog about it now!
Best wishes, Sarah
Wow, another cracking post. The only regret I have is not finding it sooner.
When it comes to improving the bottom line, I believe that perceived scarcity, a solid guarantee and a cool bonus are three great ways to boost sales conversions.
Great reminder of the basics which leads to sales! Information without coversion is a total waste.
Hi Sonia,
These are great tips.
I like using similar lists as inspiration, before I start to create a new campaign. And then, I use them again as a final checklist.
The above is obviously a huge list of ideas – but even starting with one or two of them can improve sales. It’s all about baby steps…
Great Tips , i will make sure i use them on my website to boost the Awesome product that i am selling
Thanks the the tips
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Another Great Article. I never leave for a trip without a cd full of your podcasts. Thanks for the no hype delivery of your tips and insight.
Amazing tips and suggestions! Thank you for taking the time!
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