5 Simple Steps: How to Write Web Copy That Converts

You’ve got a great product or service. You know you could make a lot of customers really happy, if only you could get their attention! A great product is nothing without proper sales and marketing. At Simple Search, we help our customers optimize their websites and develop paid search strategies to attract the right traffic, but there’s more to an SEM strategy than ads and clicks. Once a visitor comes to your site, you still have to close the deal, and that comes down to effective copywriting.

Don’t consider yourself ‘a writer’? Not to worry! We’ve got 5 simple steps to compelling content that speaks directly to your target customer, and, more importantly, converts.

​Do you actually know what you want? This sounds so simple you may think, why waste my time with this question? I want my customer to buy my stuff! Of course you do. But a good marketing strategy uses several roads leading toward your ultimate goal. Is your customer going to know how to make that journey without your guidance? Assume that they won’t and that you need to tell them exactly what you want them to do.

Decide right away what the goal of your webpage is in terms of what you want to get from your customer. Do you want them to fill out a contact form? Sign up for your email newsletter? Purchase a product from your online store? Complete a purchase after they abandoned their cart? Learn something new and share what they learned? Build trust and brand awareness? Schedule a free demo or consultation with your sales team?

Pick one result you want to have happen when your customer visits your page and keep that in mind as you create your content.

​Who is your target customer? It’s easy to want to say “well…everyone!” or to imagine many different types of people using your product or service (which there well may be!), but imagine just one person in your mind who embodies the most compatible customer, and speak directly to them as if you were having a one-on-one conversation. Notice we did this in the opening lines of this very post. We’re talking to you!

Beyond demographics like age, gender identity, location, try to really get inside their head to imagine what their daily life is like, the way that they interact with the world around them, their likes and dislikes, and their fears and anxieties (more on this in a moment). If you have a clear idea of who you’re talking to, it will be much easier to maintain a consistent ‘voice’ in your writing, to make your visitors feel like you care, and to ensure that you’re attracting the most promising prospects.

​Remember that tidbit about knowing your ideal prospect’s fears and anxieties? It’s time to really zero in on that. Not to be a sadist, but because that provides you with the real problem that you are in the position to solve.

Why didn’t we say “figure out what problem you need to solve”? Because that puts us in a mindset of looking at logistical benefits, when your writing is actually addressing emotions, not situations. We want to get to the feeling underneath the problem in order to understand how to best present a solution in writing.

For example, let’s say you’re a mechanic that offers hours on Sunday. You know you’re providing convenience that other businesses may not, so that sets you apart. Convenience is good, sure. But why can’t your ideal customer wait until Monday? Maybe their car breaks down on Sunday and they aren’t able to coordinate dropping it off during the week due to a hectic work schedule, but also can’t get to work without their car, and they’re afraid of losing their job if they can’t get it fixed. This would have a domino effect on their entire life and imagining it puts them in a panic. Suddenly you are in the position of offering more than just ‘convenience’.

​Now that you’ve identified your customer’s deep-seated fears, or “Pain Points”, and you’ve communicated that understanding through your writing, you’ve set yourself up in the perfect position to provide the relief from that anxiety through your offerings.

In the case of our mechanic example, instead of simply ‘fixing their car’, you’re really eliminating the other life consequences that would happen if their car couldn’t be fixed right away. You’re saving their job. You’re replacing an imagined future of catastrophe with hope and safety. Knowing all of this, how might you pitch your services to them now?

It’s safe to assume you are not actually a mechanic reading this article. But you can take this technique and apply it to your own situation. What underlying emotions are you addressing and what problems are you really solving? Frame the ways that your product or service address these problems for your target customer and you’ll be lightyears ahead of your competition.

Remember that point about customers needing to be told exactly what you want them to do? Here’s your final chance to get that result to happen with a clear call to action (CTA). You may have more than one instance of your call to action on your page (e.g. several opportunities throughout your copy to click a ‘buy now’ or ‘subscribe’ button), but make sure it’s clear what the customer is doing when they click, and don’t be shy about making the ask!

If you’re concerned about your customer trusting you, this is also a good place to offer supporting credentials like testimonials, certifications, e-commerce security logos, endorsements, etc. Depending on your industry and offering this will look different. But the premise is the same – your copy builds the bridge to the trust needed to turn visitors into customers. The 5 tips you’ve just read will help you do that, and you can start today.

Or… you can let us do it for you!

Better rankings, better business, better you – it’s Simple! See what Simple Search can do for your business with our elite team of SEO, PPC, and copywriting experts. Contact us to get started!