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Articles

	Progressive Headlines Guide Customers to the Point of Purchase
	Testing & Tweaking Headlines for Maximum Results
	The 5 Biggest Landing Page Mistakes that Cost You Sales
	Article Distribution vs. Guest Blogging: Is There a Difference?
	One Size Does Not Fit All
	Dried Plums vs. Prunes
	Predictions About SEO Copywriting
	How Poor Usability Can Kill Your Copy and Conversions
	Understanding & Communicating with Your Customers
	A Simple & Effective Keyword Strategy for Ecommerce Sites
	Should You Change Your Copy When Rankings Fall?
	How to Make an Emotional Connection Through Your Copywriting
	Copywriting Makeover: Value vs. Vision - Part 1 of 2
	Copywriting Makeover: Value vs. Vision - Part 2 of 2
	My SEO's Good. Now Should I Work On Conversions?
	Online Shoppers Ask for More Detailed Copywriting
	3 Simple Rules for Creating an Effective USP
	Copywriting Makeover: Facts Vs. Fantasy (Part 1 of 2)
	Copywriting Makeover: Facts Vs. Fantasy (Part 2 of 2)
	Opening Sentences That Close the Sale
	Will Longer Keyphrases Hinder the Effectiveness of Your Copy?
	The Purpose and Practice of Writing Successful SEO Articles
	Copywriting With Google's Dynamic Keyword Insertion Tool
	The 2 Most Common Mistakes When Writing With Keywords
	Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection, Part 1 of 2
	Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection, Part 2 of 2
	Copywriting Makeover: Know Where Your Customers Are In The Buying Process, Part 1 of 2
	Copywriting Makeover: Know Where Your Customers Are In The Buying Process, Part 2 of 2
	Optimizing Online Catalog Copy for the Search Engines
	Copywriting and Your Five Senses
	How To Ruin Your Press Release in 3 Easy Steps
	Copywriting Tips for Sales-generating Brochures
	They Are Searching So Why Aren't They Buying?
	Copywriting Makeover: It’s Not About YOU, It’s About THEM
	SEO Writing Strategies for Graphic-Oriented Sites
	Nip and Tuck – Three Quick Tricks for Writing SEO Copy
	Insider Secrets of Writing for Search Engines, Part 1
	Insider Secrets of Writing for Search Engines, Part II
	The "No META Tags, #1 Listing" Formula For High Search Engine Rankings
	Advertising Secrets I Learned From The Kirby Vacuum Cleaner Man
	How To Write Motivational Copy That Sells
	To Increase Your Advertising Effectiveness - Stop Selling!
	Your FAQ Page - A Sales Tool? You Bet!
	Your Target Audience – Who Are They & What Do They Want?
	Solving the "I Get Tons of Traffic But No Sales" Mystery

Progressive Headlines Guide Customers to the Point of Purchase
By Karon Thackston

Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important elements in copywriting. As has been said countless times before, if you don’t get your visitor’s attention with the headline, the chance of them reading your copy is virtually none. But headlines (and sub-headlines) play a vital part in the copywriting process for reasons other than capturing attention.

Whether we, as copywriters, like it or not, the fact is most people will not read all the copy word for word. Headlines can help fill in the blanks in several ways so skimmers still get the gist of the information included in the copy. In the same way that tweets communicate in short bursts, so headlines and s give a summary of your copy.

Headlines Outline the Benefits

Using headlines and subheads that state benefits about your product/service can be a powerful strategy. Using wireless home networking for example, you might create headlines and subheads that read:

–Work From Anywhere In Your Home

–No More Jumbled Cables Strung Everywhere

–Have Multiple Computers Online At The Same Time

–Make All The Computer Users In Your Home Happy

Even if the customer didn’t read the copy included in between these heads and subheads, they would still be made aware of all the benefits of having a wireless home network.

Headlines Give An Overview

Depending on the type of copy, headlines can help urge your customers to read further. In fact, in long-form copy, headlines should create their own sub-set of copy. If you read just the headlines, they should make sense all by themselves. For example, copy about a new book on how to start your own business might use the following headlines.

New Book Takes You Step-by-Step Through Starting Your Own Business

An introduction would go here as well as copy designed to gain the attention of the reader.

Starting A Business Is Easier Than Ever

Continue with the copy here.

The Little Known Secrets In This Book Will Show You How

More copy here.

See? As you read through the headlines and subheadlines they make sense even without any copy. This serves to give an overview of the information to those customers who may not read every word of the copy you’ve written. If they read just the headlines and subheads, they’ll still understand what you’re offering.

Headlines Can Raise Curiosity

Create “cliff-hangers” with your headlines and only give so much information before stopping. When you use this and other interest builders, you can encourage customers to read further into your copy just to satisfy their curiosity. Using natural gardening products as our example, the headlines and subheads often look like this:

–My Roses Are Bursting With Blossoms Since I Stopped Watering Them

–My Prize-Winning Tulips Would Wither Up and Die If It Weren’t for…

–Which Annual Blooms Twice As Big When You Give It A Beer/Shampoo Cocktail?

These statements make you think. They start the reader wondering so that he/she continues to read on to get the rest of the story.

When creating headlines in your copy, think about how they all work together. Instead of just plopping bolded words in between paragraphs, create a plan revolving around progressive headlines that can lead your readers to buy.

Copy not getting results? Learn to write like a pro! Boost your sales and your search engine rankings with The Step-by-step Copywriting Course. Not just a book... a complete self-pace course. Get yours today! [insert affiliate link here]

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Testing & Tweaking Headlines for Maximum Results
By Karon Thackston

Writing headlines can be a traumatic experience for some people. Even those with a good amount of expertise with writing copy can struggle with this all-important element. It only makes sense that – once the headline has been decided on – you would leave it alone at all costs. Unfortunately, that’s not the best strategy if you want to ensure conversions are at their highest.

Your headline is the most-read component of your copy. It has an enormous impact on sales. Just because you’ve found one that works pretty well doesn’t mean there aren’t several others that pull even better results. This is why it’s important to test and tweak every headline on your website.

If you sell a book, you might have a primary headline (at the top of the page) and a few sub-headlines that are scattered throughout the copy. If you operate an ecommerce website, you’ll likely have dozens from the main headline on your home page to each of the headlines on every one of your product pages. They all should be tested regularly. PPC ads? You bet! Those headlines should have their turn at improvement as well.

Which One’s Best?

Anne Holland’s clever website, Which Test Won?, offers proof that testing and tweaking can make a huge difference. There are a couple of tests on headlines you can view including one that improved conversion rate of a lead generation form by 143%.

The point is, you wouldn’t know which of these headlines was the best until you tweaked your current copy and then tested the results. You could be happy as a clam with a 3.5% conversion rate, thinking you were well above the 1%–2% average, when in all actuality you could be realizing gains that are 20%, 50% or even over 100% greater.

Take it Slow

How do you test headlines? Unless you are well versed with multivariant testing, you need to only change one headline per page at a time. If you make too many changes on the same page simultaneously, you’ll have no way of knowing which change caused the increase/decrease in sales.

I recommend Google’s Website Optimizer. It’s free; it’s easy to use, and it is reliable.

What Do I Change?

Take a look around your site and plunder through your website statistics/analytics for ideas. Perhaps you’re only using one take on a particular product. For instance, if your website sells professional dinnerware to restaurants, you may be focusing your headlines and copy strictly on price. However, for upscale restaurants, quality or appearance may be more important factors. You could test headlines that bring out these features/benefits.

You could also test headlines using different:

Keyphrases – Sometimes site visitors connect more with headlines that use the precise keyphrase they were searching for.
Numbers – Switch up using “50% Off” with “Half Off” or “Fifty Percent Off.” Formatting numbers in different ways can produce significant increases.
Target Segments – A laptop computer sales page might test mentioning business users, students or senior citizens in the headline.

It’s well worth your time to set up a testing schedule for the headlines on your website. You’ll be amazed at how much you will learn and what phenomenal improvements you can experience with very little effort.

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The 5 Biggest Landing Page Mistakes that Cost You Sales
By Karon Thackston

It seems to be the newest catch phrase. “Landing page” is now used to describe everything from an ordinary Home page to any other page of your website. And, truthfully, it could be… with one exception. If you ask me, a landing page is any page designed specifically to receive the visitors who click to that page from some prearranged campaign. In other words, visitors don’t land on the page by accident: they click there because they’re following instructions from an email, banner ad, PPC ad, bio in an article or any number of other sources.

Why then do so many landing pages fail miserably? Most often, it’s due to one of five errors. And, thankfully, all five are easily fixed.

#1 Not understanding what a landing page is best used for. Yes, as I said above, a landing page *can* be any page of your site. But keep in mind I also said that was only true *if* the visitor was being sent to the page from some prearranged campaign. Joe Public who clicks to your Services page because he found a link in his buddy’s blog post does not equal someone visiting a “landing page.” However, if you place PPC ads about your service offerings and use a special URL for a specifically created page to greet and persuade your visitors, then you have created a landing page.

#2 Failing to coordinate your campaign copy and your landing page copy. Site visitors click to your landing page because they saw something in your email, postcard or PPC ad that interested them. Sending them to a generic page that doesn’t coordinate with the promotion they saw is a deadly error.

If you send an email with a special offer just for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) members, then your landing page needs to make clear that WWF members have found the place they are looking for. If your PPC ad promotes free processing for one month for all new merchant account customers, your landing page needs to clearly and quickly communicate that. Visitors won’t tolerate being offered a free month and then be forced to dig for information about the promotion once they click to your site. Instead, they’ll simply leave.

#3 Not clearly defining your goal and call to action. So often, site owners and managers want to pack a landing page full of goals. “Well, while they’re here we might as well…” What one primary goal do you want to accomplish with this page? Once that’s defined, what specific call to action do you need to give to make your goal happen? Make sure everything in your copy measures up to those two standards. Giving too many options on a landing page is confusing to visitors and fractures their attention while on the page.

#4 Lack of clarity. Marketing Experiments once published an article entitled something to the effect of “Clarity Trumps Cleverness.” Skip the cutesy headlines and copy; instead, opt for clear information that is well written.

#5 Writing about you instead of for your target customer. So many times, copywriters and website owners tend to write about the company and not to the customer. You should be speaking with your target audience singularly. Write in second person (”you” and “your”) instead of we-ing all over yourself with copy stuffed with “we” and “our” and “us.” It’s not about you.

Change the focus of your copy to your customers. Instead of:

Our products come with a lifetime guarantee

write:

You will receive a lifetime guarantee on all purchases.

True landing pages should never be generic. To work their best, they need to address the visitor, relate to the campaign, give informative copy, focus on a specific goal, offer a clear call to action and speak to your target customer. When you incorporate these elements into your writing process, you’ll find your landing pages convert with much greater success.

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Article Distribution vs. Guest Blogging: Is There a Difference?
by Karon Thackston

To many people, the idea of guest blogging is fresh and new and very "Web 2.0." Personally, I find the discussion to be a rather déjà vu-like experience. In fact, one participant on my blog responded to a post about articles by asking how I would contrast guest blogging with article marketing. He wanted to know how I chose between placing my articles on directories and writing an exclusive blog post. The short answer is: I don't.

Remembering the Good Old Days of Article Marketing

Circa 1990, the first article directories began to pop up online with the invention of ezines (email magazines). Many publishers of these soon-to-be-popular email newsletters quickly got tired of writing all the content themselves. Others decided to offer compilations of recent articles published by others about a particular topic.

The article directories provided a wonderful new outlet for gathering quality content in exchange for a simple bio at the end with a link back to the author's site. Articles were written to provide quality information to readers in the hope that they would favor the author with a click.

A few of the many benefits of article marketing were (and still are):

> > Increasing traffic to your website
> > Positioning before a highly targeted audience
> > Branding yourself as an expert
> > SEO
> > Online networking and exposure before new groups of people
> > Free advertising
> > Infinite archiving of your material
> > Almost instant propagation throughout the Internet

With changes in link popularity, it soon became common knowledge that using keyword-rich anchor text carried more weight with engines than simple http: links. As is typical with so many Internet-based marketing methods, the article marketing landscape began to be overtaken by spammers.

A Twisted Sense of Article Marketing

A push for quantity quickly took over the article marketing arena and left quality articles in their wake. The invention of article writing software that illegally harvests snippets of text from existing online content and the invention of article blaster software gave speed to those looking to distribute what are now referred to as "junk articles."

While this may have caused a decrease in the quality of links coming from article directories, the other marketing benefits remain to this day. Quality articles that get picked up from directories and republished on website pages, in ezines and on blogs still enjoy the benefits article marketing has always offered.

Enter Guest Blogging

The advent of blogging and other social media outlets gave new opportunities for professionals to share their expertise with others. Companies as well as individuals found many advantages to publishing blogs including:

(Hmm… sounds familiar. Where have I heard this before?)

When we look back at blogging after two or three more years, will it have followed a path similar to article distribution? Will the evil, greedy powers that be attempt to stamp out the benefits of guest blogging in the near future? It's very possible. We're seeing it to some extent already. Trackbacks and ping backs are being manipulated by spammers as we speak.

Search Engine Optimization Issues

The same dark SEO clouds that hang over article marketing can be seen drifting towards blogs. Concerns about duplicate content can be voiced with regard to blog replication as well as articles. Entire blogs are duplicated on scraper sites every single day within seconds of the original posts being made public.

Should you be concerned? I'm not.

Truth is, article marketing is not devoid of search engine benefits as some claim. While the link quality of article directories themselves may have been degraded over time, they only account for one source of links. That's because the article directories were just a jumping off point. They should never have been viewed as the final destination of articles. The goal has always been to have your article picked up from directories and reprinted on authority sites or blogs. That's where your linking benefits come in.

Even if I get no SEO benefits from article marketing or guest blogging, I'd still do both on a regular basis. It's not an either/or choice for me: it's good marketing. Since long before the Internet was ever thought of, professionals would strive to gain exposure by having their articles published in print magazines. This type of marketing has proven to be successful for decades, online and off, and it's still a valid marketing method today.

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One Size Does Not Fit All when It Comes to Writing Copy
by Karon Thackston

I shake my head every time I read one of these blanket statements. I'm amazed at how so many people still think that one size of copy still fits everyone. It's just not true.

Here's an example. A while back, I read, "Prospects hate being bombarded by text-heavy pages, especially on a home/landing page." This is coming from Internet Marketing Report in relation to business-to-business (B2B) websites. I'm sorry, but I completely disagree.

Just because a website is B2B does not automatically mean every single one of its visitors will "hate being bombarded by text-heavy pages." The product or service itself, how familiar the product or service is to the market, the target customer's preferred communication style and a dozen other factors contribute to the decision about whether or not long copy or short should be used.

On the other hand, we have direct-mail experts who've taken their style of copywriting (sales letters) online. And, just like the ultra-short copy suggested by the Internet Marketing Report article, long copy has its audience.

If you ask direct marketers, they'll swear that the long, scrolling, often hype-filled sales letters are the end-all, be-all of copywriting. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. The same reasoning applies to those who say you must use a sales letter as opposed to those demanding short copy.

DISC Helps Us Understand

You may have heard of the DISC model that categorizes people into four primary groups (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance). There are others as well, including Myers-Briggs. No matter how you group people, the point is that everyone is not the same.

So then, how can one style of copy possibly fit everyone? It doesn't. There's not a one-size-fits-all answer. Whether you're B2B or B2C, you have to know your target audience and communicate with them in the way that they will be most receptive.

For instance, people high in Steadiness traits on the DISC model prefer longer copy. What's more, those high in Steadiness make up over 40% of the population of the U.S. Those high in Compliance crave details. They, too, would want longer copy. Dominance types want the bottom line first and possibly details later if they deem them necessary. And Influence? Those high in Influence move at the speed of light and make decisions on a whim. They aren't much into details either.

Combine with these four styles the additional factors that being male or female add and you've really got your hands full. Want to get extremely precise? Toss in some persona/profile elements that deal with lifestyle, convictions and more. It's enough to make your head spin at times.

Use Your Judgment

Before you buy into a blanket statement about consumers - whether it pertains to writing copy, setting prices or anything else - use your judgment. Does what's being suggested really make sense for everybody? Is it possible that all people across the entire globe respond in the same way? No.

We all communicate differently. We shop differently. We make decisions based on different criteria. We respond to different stimuli. If there's one common denominator, it is that we're all different.

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Dried Plums vs. Prunes: Which Do You Prefer?
by Karon Thackston

Never thought about it? Let's take a minute to evaluate this question then. Prunes are for old people who have trouble "going." Prunes are shriveled and sticky and they have a funny taste.

Dried plums, on the other hand, are sweet and chewy. They are trendy like dried apricots or blueberries. They make a great snack, especially for busy people who are rushing around, because they are perfectly bite-sized. Dried plums are the newest craze in snack foods and it's easy to see why. You view commercials for them all the time on TV; the announcer praising the nutritional value and deliciousness of these new delights.

In case you didn't know: prunes are dried plums :) What's happening right before your eyes is a major rebranding campaign.

Current Consumer Base vs. Target Audience

While I haven't spoken to the National Prune Association (if there is even such an organization), I can tell you by watching the television spots and reading the print ads and product packaging, that prunes are being repositioned. I would be willing to bet that a great deal of research went into the current perception and consumer base of prunes. I'd also wager that a great deal of study went into what elements would make the perfect snack food.

From a redesign of packaging to implementing a new name (dried plums as opposed to prunes and plum juice instead of prune juice), the entire persona of prunes is being wiped out. Consider what pops into your head when I say, "prunes." Old people, the expression "prune face," constipation. I mean, really. Is that a pretty picture?

Now, what about if I say, "plums?" Healthy, sweet, fresh, juicy, convenient, small, delicious. When the phrase "dried plums" is introduced, the same connotations are there. The same as with other dried fruits like cherries papaya, pineapple or cranberries.

So we go from targeting the current consumer base of older people who need elimination stimulation to a young, active adult looking for a convenient, sweet snack that's healthy and tastes great. Instead of an elderly person with a cane, the image and lifestyle now fall to expectant mothers, athletes, baby boomers and others who are trying to eat healthy and stay in shape. B I G difference!

A New List of Benefits

Making such a radical switch in target audiences means completely rethinking your copy. While the biggest known benefit of prunes is that they help to keep you regular, dried plums are being hailed as much more than a digestive aid. The new copy for dried plums brings out aspects such as:

Being available in individual wrappers for convenience
Being full of vitamins and minerals
Promoting a healthy heart and immune system
Boosting energy levels
Normalizing blood sugar levels
Encouraging weight loss
Being fat free
Tasting sweet
And more

This is a great case study in the importance of knowing your target audience. It's also an excellent lesson in the practice of branding and rebranding. Has it worked? Oh yes! Just take a look at what Failure Magazine reported. http://www.failuremag.com/arch_business_dried_plums.html

Feel like your product or service is stuck with its current image? Want to change or expand your consumer base? Take a note from those who use to produce prunes. They'll tell you dried plums are a much sweeter deal.

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Predictions about SEO Copywriting
by Karon Thackston

At this time of year, it's hard to resist making predictions about what the coming days hold. Financial analysts, doctors, politicians and experts from virtually every industry in the world give insights into what they think may happen during the course of the next 12 months. Although my mother always warned me about following the crowd, I'll chip my two cents into the pot anyway and give you a couple of predictions about the future of SEO copywriting.

Looking Back Before Gazing Forward

In the beginning was the word. The keyword, that is. And when it was placed into the keyword META tag of any web page, that page received high rankings. Then the Internet boom raged throughout Cybertown. It soon became a greater challenge to rank in the coveted top 10. Enter search engine copywriting.

As algorithms changed, a need arose to use keywords (and soon, keyphrases) throughout a page's copy in addition to its tag set. Here's where typical Internet behavior set in. The online marketing mindset that is so common took hold: If one is good - 1,000 is better. Well-meaning copywriters began to shove keyphrases into existing text willy-nilly. It didn't take long before site owners and their customers began to baulk at the way SEO copywriting sounded.

But, with theories about keyword density and fears of keyword stuffing floating through Cyberspace, copywriters did their best to find balance.

Coming Full Circle

Due to unceasing demand by site owners for copy that sounded natural while still being optimized, SEO copywriters began to flush out ways to write content that didn't sound "like that." And so, we came full circle - from virgin copy that was written exclusively for the site visitor to copy that was butchered horribly in the name of higher rankings to natural-sounding SEO copy that pleased everyone.

Seems as though all is well and SEO copywriting has settled into an acceptable balance, right? Yes. But other changes were taking place behind the scenes that should influence the future of SEO copy.

Search Engines Get New Skills

Along the way, Google and other engines have been picking up new skills for indexing and evaluating copy. Many years ago, Yahoo! and other engines gained the ability to read PDF files. As time went on, SEO taboos - including frames and the dreaded Flash - became less fearsome as engines adapted, acquiring the technology to read these formats as well.

Prediction #1 about SEO copywriting is this: Search engines will begin to index the copy that is superimposed on the screen of videos, in video voiceovers and in audio clips. The technology actually already exists for the most part. Closed captioning for the hearing impaired could easily be adapted for this purpose. Search engine copywriters take note: You'll soon be asked to write optimized voiceover and audio scripts.

Rather than simply optimizing the web page that hosts these files, the scripts themselves will require a search engine touch. This will make it all the more imperative that copy be written naturally. It is annoying enough to read something like this:

Texas Web Design Firm in Dallas, Texas

Welcome to our Texas web design site. Our Texas web design staff is highly skilled in creating beautiful and functional sites. When you need a Texas web design firm to help build your Internet presence, one of our Texas web design specialists will be glad to speak with you.

Ugh! Can you just imagine having those words spoken as part of a voiceover? The old tip of reading your copy out loud to see how natural it sounds will absolutely become standard practice once scripts are indexed.

Prediction #2: Latent semantic indexing will continue to evolve, making the use of synonyms in SEO copy vital. Early in 2008, Google announced it was indexing synonyms (although not heavily from what I've seen). I think this practice will be put into full force in the next year or two. For example, we’ll begin to see results from a search for "handbags" that contain that term as well as "purse," "pocketbook" and "bag."

I also believe that Google and other search engines will consider the overall context of a page more, in addition to the keywords and phrases that are used. Hopefully this will alleviate much of the elementary SEO copywriting that goes on now. (See Texas example above.)

As with everything online, change is inevitable. While certain core practices and techniques will remain foundational to SEO copywriting, advancements in search technology and site visitor preferences will continue to alter the face of this copywriting niche. Adjust, adapt, advance!

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How Poor Usability Can Kill Your Copy and Conversions
By Karon Thackston

It's funny how we, as website owners, don't always think like our visitors. A course of action that might seem perfectly obvious to us may stop our visitors right in the middle of their buying process. Take, for instance, e-commerce–type copy. Do you realize that what happens after your customers read your copy could make or break your sale? I'm not talking about shopping cart abandonment. I'm talking about good communication that keeps the buying cycle moving forward. Let me give you a real-world example.

One website offered custom-designed gift bags. The photos on their site were gorgeous. The copy seemed self-explanatory until I got to the request for quote page. There I found a form that asked questions I wasn't expecting. I was supposed to explain my preference of fabric color, the type of handle I wanted and a description of any accessories that should be added to the bag. I had no idea how to answer.

Because the copy stated that each gift bag was custom designed, I assumed I'd be given options to choose from. Instead, as it turned out, I was responsible for knowing precisely what I wanted and also for describing it in detail in writing on the request for quote form. It set me back a little.

Since most people aren't very comfortable with writing, I can easily see how a page like this would immediately stop visitors and send them packing. I could place the most compelling copy ever written on the sales page for these bags – copy that would have visitors primed and ready to whip out their credit cards. But after clicking to a request for quote page like the one described above, most would likely not order.

Would that be the fault of the copywriting? No. Yet most site owners would assume the text wasn't doing its job. Low conversions, in this case, would be an error in the sales process.

Web Page Copy Doesn't Involve Just One Page

Unless you're talking about a specific landing page that is created for the sole purpose of receiving clicks from a targeted PPC ad campaign, there are very few instances where the copy on one web page won't be affected by the pages around it.

Visitors click in and out of pages and back and forth throughout your site. They can also enter your site from literally hundreds of different links around the Net. For this and other reasons, you have to consider where they might come from and where they'll be headed.

How to Test

One of the best ways to make sure your site flows as it should is to ask several outsiders to take a tour. Have them start at one of the many beginning points (a search engine listing, a link to you from another site, your home page, etc.) and click through just as a customer would. Ask them to make notes about what they didn't understand as they go along so you'll know where to tweak your copy.

You may even choose to give them specific tasks to complete while they are there. For example, ask them to read the copy and then explain the benefits of a new product or service you've added, or ask them to tell you the process for registering for the members-only area of your site.

Another good idea is to draw a flowchart of your website. Seeing all the pages on paper can oftentimes give you a better understanding of how the copy on each page might affect all the others surrounding it. Once you take a look at the big picture and get some feedback, use that information to shore up the weak copy on your site.

When you take time to see things from your visitors' perspective and then implement adjustments accordingly, you'll begin to notice increases in conversions. And that makes all the work worth your while.

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Understanding & Communicating with Your Customers
by Karon Thackston

It happens all too frequently with novice copywriters. In fact, many pros also make the same mistake. Telling your site visitors what you want them to know instead of what they want to hear is never a good idea. And, the fact that this happens so regularly truly confuses me because every day - all day long - we tailor our communication to those around us. For some unknown reason, we start telling instead of sharing when we write copy.

In order to convey our marketing message effectively to those we are trying to persuade, we have to know who they are and what they want. Then we must communicate in such a way that we motivate them to take action. But, how?

Think

The first step is always to think about your target customer. Aside from market research and target audience analyses, just simply think about who your customers are and what they want. Let me give you a very basic example.

Let's say you bought a car. You'd want to share that bit of good news with the important people in your life. So, you decide to write an email to your best friend. You tell him that this hotrod will go from zero to sixty in three-quarters of a second, that you crank the stereo up so loud it can be heard for blocks around, that all the guys are winking at you at the stoplights and that - even if it means taking money from your kids' college funds - you've finally gotten the car you've always wanted. Your best friend is sure to be green with envy. But, let's say you wrote another letter to your… mom.

Now, which of the things on the list above do you think your mother would be thrilled to hear? Not many! Of course not: she's a mom. What do moms want to know? That the car has the highest safety rating, that it ranked high in Consumer Reports, that you got a great deal and you bought the extended warranty, etc., etc.

The core message stays the same: "I bought a new car." But, the way you tailor the details changes to fit your audience. It's really just common sense.

Read

There are lots of ways to find out what's on the minds of your target customers. You can visit online forums, read blogs or pick up industry-related magazines. You'll want to be sure to read the comments on blogs and forums, not just posts or articles. You'll find out specifically what your target market has on its mind when you read the comments.

Visit

If applicable, visit sites that post product or service reviews and read those. For every complaint, think of ways you can construct your copy to show your offer as the solution to the problem. For every compliment, think of ways to align your product or service with the best benefits named by the reviewers.

Survey

SurveyMonkey.com and other similar-type websites offer web-based software. Most allow you to use their product free if you do small surveys (10 questions or less). And 10 is plenty to start with. Put a link to your survey on your website where visitors can easily see it. You'll usually get a better response if you allow the answers to be anonymous and also if you offer a chance to register to win something. Twenty-five dollar or $50 Amazon gift certificates, a gift certificate for your products or services and other such things make good prizes.

Whatever method(s) you use, don't guess! Take the time to actually find out who you're communicating with before you begin to write. Your effort will be rewarded with higher conversion rates and a greater sense of satisfaction in your copywriting abilities.

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A Simple & Effective Keyword Strategy for Ecommerce Sites
by Karon Thackston

When it comes to ecommerce sites, there are plenty of keywords to choose from. Because sites typically follow a fairly set format, numerous pages are created between the home page and the order confirmation page. Those pages all need keywords and phrases if they are going to rank high in the search engines. So, how exactly do you choose the best keywords for each page? Here's an easy strategy to follow. (Please keep in mind that all keyphrases used in this article are for example only and have not been researched.)

Home Page > > > Broad Keywords

When you start out, use keywords and phrases that are descriptive of your overall site. For example, if you sold clothing for the entire family, you might opt for phrases such as "ladies clothing," "men's clothing" or "kids clothing." Those would be expressive, but could also be worked easily into the home page copy.

Think of the sales process as a funnel. It's broad at the lip and gets more narrow as you move closer to the spout. The same goes for the keyword strategy: broad keyphrases at first and more specific ones as the subject matter gets more specific.

Category Page > > > Specific Keywords

Once you move to the category pages, you'll want to select keyphrases that work well with what you're trying to describe in your copy. If your visitor clicks on the women's shoes category, she'll want to read about and see pictures of women's shoes. Perhaps you'll use phrases such as "fabric ballet flats" or "leather peep-toe pumps."

I typically create a paragraph at the top of the page, then add a descriptive sentence or two under each image. Sometimes, I'll also add a paragraph of copy at the bottom of the page. This helps guide your visitors through the sales process.

Product Descriptions > > > Long-Tail Keywords

The product description pages should incorporate long tail keywords that are laser specific. If your visitor clicked on a link for "Bermuda shorts" on the category page, you'll want to get as detailed as possible, so your customer can make the decision to buy.

For instance, a keyphrase such as "Liz Claiborne pastel plaid Bermuda shorts" would be perfect for a product description because it is… well… descriptive. Long? Yes, it is a long phrase. Most long-tail keywords will be. But the further into the sales process a customer gets, the more specific their searches will be. Chances are, someone who has decided she wants pastel plaid shorts will use a phrase like the one above instead of something like "Bermuda shorts."

Here's a plus: Because long-tail phrases are much less competitive than broader terms, you stand a better shot at getting ranked highly for them.

A Word on Linking

Here's where some copywriters get confused. When you use links in anchor text, you're giving credit to the page being linked to. For instance, if you have a category page for shorts, you would want to use the keyphrase "Bermuda shorts" in the anchor text of a link that pointed to the Bermuda shorts page. That way, the Bermuda shorts page gets credit for the link. The link would be of no (or very little) value to the general shorts page.

When you take note of the navigation and purchase cycle of your visitors, you begin to see why this simple strategy for keyword placement works so well. Using more specific terms as you write more specific copy helps usher visitors from the front door to the checkout counter with ease while also boosting your search engine rankings.

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Should You Change Your Copy When Rankings Fall?
by Karon Thackston

I've been on a seesaw for the last year. I have a client who, for almost 12 months, has been asking me to rewrite their home-page copy because they dropped from the top 10 to position #11 (the dreaded second page!). My question to her was always, "Is your copy still converting the way you want it to?" She answered yes every time, to which I advised, "Leave the copy alone."

"But what about my rankings?"

"Is business suffering?"

"No, we're swamped."

"Leave the copy alone."

"But it's over a year old. Don't you think it needs to be refreshed?"

"Is your copy still converting the way you want it to?"

"Yes."

"Leave the copy alone."

We'd have this same discussion every 3 or 4 months. Some people just get hung up on being in the top 10, and their tunnel vision can cause them to make decisions they otherwise would not make. Others think that, because they are tired of seeing their website copy, others are too. This is usually not true.

My suggestion was to enhance her linking campaign with some quality articles through an article distribution campaign, but to leave the copy alone since it was still doing its job. Search engine positioning isn't the whole ball of wax. Getting top 10 rankings shouldn't be your primary goal. Attracting and keeping more business is what it's all about. If that means using search engine optimization as one tool, so be it. But too many times, website owners bow to the SEO gods and sacrifice conversions and their best business sense all for the sake of saying they are #1. Not advisable, if you ask me.

I am happy to report that, after holding at #11 for many months, this company's site is now back in spot #5. While we can't say with any certainty that it has driven any more business to their site than being at #11, the managers are quite pleased.

Never Change Your Copy?

Is this my advice in every case where rankings drop? No. There are instances where you do need to change your copy if your rankings decrease. Ask yourself (or your client) these questions:

1) Are conversions suffering?

If you're experiencing a decline in conversions, by all means take a look at your copy. It might need some help. But keep in mind that decreasing conversions may also be due to a new and more complicated shopping cart, recent design changes that impaired usability for your visitors or a dozen other reasons.

2) Have products or services changed?

If you have products or services to add or remove, certainly you'll want to change your copy to reflect that.

3) Has business fallen off?

If, due to the decrease in search engine positioning, you've tracked a definite lag in business, then yes, you'll want to make an effort to gain the lost rankings back. But, changing the copy isn't the only way to do this. If you answer no to the other questions, I'd leave the copy as-is and opt for an article distribution campaign first.

4) Other than hoping to appease the SEO gods, is there any other reason that the copy mandates changing?

If the answer is no, don't change the copy.

With all of the above, if the answer to each question is no, leave the copy alone.

There are as many reasons for your positioning to change as there are days in the month. Guessing at and trying to adjust for mysterious shifts usually does little good. Plus, while you're chasing the golden ring, you may be losing sales.

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How to Make an Emotional Connection Through Your Copywriting
by Karon Thackston

"But how do you do it?" That was a question I was asked by a prospective client the other day. While he was a good writer, he was frustrated with trying to use the data he'd collected on his customers to make an emotional connection. If you know where to look, you can easily find clues about what people are feeling. Once you discover that, making the connection is simple. Let's use weight loss as an example.

Evaluate Your Customers

While some things about your customers may be obvious, you'll get much better results if you actually evaluate or research your visitors in some way. You can perform exit surveys on your site, send out an email asking customers to participate in a quick study or use other means to collect data.

Always read your customer feedback with care. Never discount information because it might not have been what you were expecting. Honest, constructive criticism can open the door to new ideas, products and/or services. Also, study your testimonials. Is there a trend? Do most people compliment you on the same thing(s)? If so, those elements are evidently very important to them.

Research your customers' lifestyles as well as basic demographics. In other words, knowing that your visitors are primarily women between the ages of 50-60 who make over $60,000 per year is nice. However, it does not reveal that they are approaching retirement and trying to save money wherever they can for fear of not having enough. It also doesn't tell you that their doctors recently told these women their cholesterol and blood pressure were getting too high (probably due to steady weight gain year after year).

Put Yourself in Their Shoes

Once you've collected the data, put yourself in your customers' shoes for a day. Don't just read over the findings in a methodical manner: actually think about what the findings mean. Go back to the paragraph above. Let's dissect those bits of information.

…women between the ages of 50-60 who make over $60,000 per year, approaching retirement and trying to save money wherever they can for fear of not having enough, doctors recently told them their cholesterol and blood pressure were getting too high (probably due to steady weight gain year after year).

What if you were in this situation? What would you be feeling? "Just great! Now all that extra money I've been trying to put toward paying down the mortgage is going to have to go to some expensive weight loss program. Or worse yet… I'll have to go on high-priced medication forever and put up with all those quirky side effects. Most of the time, months later, the news reports always say these pills don't work or can possibly kill you! I don't want that. My only other choice is to try to lose the weight. I don't know how to do it alone, so I'm going to have to join a program. That's just perfect. Approaching retirement and I'm going to be a slave to the calorie counter. Good grief!"

Not a good situation, is it? You don't really want to find or participate in a weight loss program, do you? So, for someone in this state of mind, what could the copy say that would be persuasive and would speak to them on their level?

Asking questions is a good approach. "Looking for a weight loss program that fits your hectic lifestyle?" "Need an affordable weight loss program that produces quick results?" Think of questions that reflect their state of mind and that you can answer positively.

In addition, you can list features of your product or service that would appeal to a person in the mindset outlined above.

It's easy.
Everything is prepackaged and precounted.
It's affordable.
You get quick results.
Your health improves as you lose weight.
It gives you more energy.
Introductory program saves you money.
Others have seen blood pressure and cholesterol drop within just 4 weeks.

There are lots more. All these features could be worked into your copy along with the appropriate benefits and end results to clearly show these women that your weight loss program is right for them. Whatever you do, don't forget the vital step of adding benefits and end results to these features!

You could even create a "pre-retirement" package designed to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and boost energy along with losing weight, so women have better health and more get-up-and-go for the years to come. Give it a discounted price and toss in some supplements and you've got a tailored package these women would probably love.

The whole idea is to learn the who, what, when, where and why of your site visitors. Once you understand what emotional state visitors are in and which emotional level they are on, you'll be able to create copy that is highly effective.

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Copywriting Makeover: Value vs. Vision - Part 1 of 2
by Karon Thackston

There's no doubt. Wholesalers USA knows their customers. They've spent the time digging through log files to analyze site stats. They've spoken with customers on the phone and emailed with them. They've used client feedback to develop new products that have taken off like a rocket! Wholesalers USA understands the importance of giving the customer what s/he wants. What they needed some help with was translating that message into natural-sounding SEO copy that would deliver qualified traffic.

The Problems

According to Wholesalers USA, they've been working for years to get organic listings for two extremely important keyphrases. Unfortunately, they've had little success, their highest achievement being about page five of the Google search engine results pages (SERPs). This left them with a hefty monthly pay-per-click (PPC) spend of $4,000 on average to get the traffic they needed.

Still, the most important factor to them was not reducing that painful PPC outlay, but creating SEO copy that puts the customer first. They refused to have copy on their site that sounded choppy or forced -- and I applauded them for that! At the same time, I also assured them that SEO copywriting could be written to meet all their goals.

Because of their extensive work to get to know their target audience, Wholesalers USA was able to tell me that 50% of their customers were extensive crafters. These creative types might be purchasing mosaic glass tiles, gems, stones and other items for their crafting business or just for personal use. Regardless, we knew we were dealing with people who were focused intently on creating beauty.

The existing copy had one sole message of value. You can see the original at <http://www.copywritingcourse.com/wholesalersusa-home-original.pdf>. Wholesalers USA wanted visitors to know they offer true wholesale prices and -- unlike other companies -- had no hidden charges or minimums. Because feedback told them new visitors sometimes questioned the quality of their products (due specifically to prices that were far below their competitors'), Wholesalers USA also touched on why they could sell so low.

But the two things the copy didn't take into consideration were the search engines and the creative nature of their visitors. To get high rankings for a page using particular search terms, the page has to reflect original content that is keen to the topic. To mesh with the site visitors, the copy also needs to use words like "gorgeous," "beauty," "elegant," "whimsical," "professional" and others.

The Solutions

This fix was relatively easy. I wanted to develop trust and set Wholesalers USA apart from others, so a conspicuous mention of participation in a popular TV show was included in the content. I also needed to alter the message slightly to incorporate a feeling of belonging for creative crafters. To do this, select words were used to connect with the visitors.

Because there was scant little copy on the home page, I wanted to expand the content just a bit. Adding brief descriptions for each product graphic shown was a logical choice that would be of value to customers and the engines.

All the while, the two search terms Wholesalers USA needed to rank highly for (along with other secondary terms) were incorporated into the copy to aid with rankings. The client added a new title tag to further optimize the page and continued their efforts in the way of directory submissions.

In Part Two of this series, we'll walk through every step of the rewrite in detail and also review the results, with direct feedback from Wholesalers USA.

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Copywriting Makeover: Value vs. Vision - Part 2 of 2
by Karon Thackston

In Part 1 of this series, we discovered that explaining the value your products offer is only one part of the copywriting process. Creating a visual image is another. While Wholesalers USA knew their target customers better than most companies do, they needed help with two areas: optimizing their copy for the search engines and incorporating visual imagery.

The Rewrite

Since Wholesalers USA had extensive information about its customers, assessing the target audience was a quick process. We were able to move immediately to step two: the selection of keyphrases. Again, Wholesalers USA had done their homework.

Checking a variety of sources, they developed a collection of keyphrases they thought would work well for their home page. In addition, they reviewed their on-site searches for additional terms users frequently queried.

As I began to write, I kept these terms in mind and created ways to use them so they would flow naturally within the text. I also made a point to incorporate the "creative terms" mentioned in Part 1 and improve the feeling of trust for the visitor.

Keeping quality as a primary focus, I rephrased and repositioned the headline previously located in the center of the top banner area. Rather than:

"Bringing You Quality at Wholesale Prices - Always the Most Value for Your Money"

We used:

"Always the Highest Quality at the Lowest Prices"

This was inserted as a bold headline before the opening paragraph. The reworked headline flowed better and gave a more direct message. The following replaced the headline in the center banner area:

"Gorgeous Glass Mosaic Tiles and Glass Gems Direct from the Wholesaler"

Keyphrases found here helped contribute to the overall optimization of the page.

The copy began with a play on an old saying. It delivered a brief explanation of why tiles and gems were so inexpensive and how quality was retained, then worked its way to a mention of a popular television show to boost trust and credibility. Although they had the privilege of providing tiles, stones and more for an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Wholesalers USA mentioned this only on internal pages. Adding this to the home page copy (and providing a link for the details) allowed visitors to immediately see how different Wholesalers USA was from other companies.

To extend the copy and provide additional opportunities to entice visitors, very brief descriptions of each category represented on the home page were written. This also allowed the search engines to better assess the subject and relevance of the page. (Currently the descriptions are listed at the bottom of the home page until the programmer is able to move them underneath each graphic.) You can see the current home page copy at
<http://www.copywritingcourse.com/wholesalersusa-home-current.pdf>.

The Results

Mark from Wholesalers USA explains the results best. "Before the rewrite we didn’t have any organic traffic for the supplemental keywords. The only traffic we had with these words were with PPC advertising. For our two main key phrases… I believe we were around page 5 on Google as of the update this past January. Previously we were found around page 35 for one phrase and the other could not be found at all.

"The biggest impact we have noticed is the dramatic increase in organic traffic (about a 50% increase) and in the number of conversions we are receiving from the organic phrases targeted in the makeover. A quick look… this afternoon shows where the phrases ranked in the search engines: [typically from #1 to #10].

"The rewrite has had a better effect than we expected. Almost immediately (within a few days) we started seeing traffic based on the new keywords and since then we see many of these key phrases continuing to move up in rankings.

"Although there are still many visitors who don’t purchase on their first visit, we do see that most of our visitors are adding us to their favorites. This typically results in a sale at a later time as our log files show a relatively high conversion rate for these visitors (direct traffic)."

Good deal, Mark! That's what it's all about!

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My SEO's Good. Now Should I Work On Conversions?
by Karon Thackston

It happens more frequently than you might think. People spend a lot of time and money getting their sites ranked highly in the search engines, but give little or no attention to converting their visitors into paying customers. What's their logic? From what copywriting prospects tell me, "I wanted to get my rankings in place before working on my conversions."

It may look as though I'm sitting firmly on the fence; however, I don't think SEO and conversions are separate entities. I believe you need to work on them together. Let me tell you why from a copywriting and marketing standpoint.

People mistakenly think search engine optimization is the one-step process of getting ranked highly on search engines. You "do" SEO and when you're finished *poof* your site is ranked highly. In reality, SEO has numerous steps, all of which intertwine with the foundation of your marketing plan. For instance, if you were creating an online marketing plan for a new site you wanted to launch, what would the process include? Certainly there are numerous steps, but let's focus on the three below for now.

> > > Creating An Attractive, User-Friendly Design
A recent study by MarketingExperiments.com found that using eight particular elements in your site design can improve conversions by more than 70%. You would want a design that instills trust and confidence while reducing anxiety.

> > > Organizing An Effective Navigation Structure
Obviously, you want it to be as easy as possible for visitors to find what they're looking for. If they aren't able to navigate the site quickly, they'll get frustrated and leave.

> > > Writing Persuasive Copy That Informs and Sells
Just having words on your pages isn't enough to connect with your visitors. You want specific copywriting about each product or service that entices, explains, convinces and converts.

Amazingly, these same three steps are fundamental to developing a solid search engine optimization strategy. So what's the problem? If you complete the steps with SEO tunnel vision - without giving any thought to your visitors along the way -- you may be doomed to repeat everything you've already finished. Here's why:

> > > Creating An Attractive, User-Friendly Design
Many times, sites designed strictly to rank highly in the engines neglect the design process. You can have a site that's at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) and gets a ton of traffic, but causes visitors to immediately click away due to lack of trust. If this is the case, you'll need to change some or all of your design elements, which could possibly have a bearing on your rankings.

> > > Organizing An Effective Navigation Structure
I've read about companies who develop navigational structures specifically for the engines. They tell their clients to avoid cross-linking between certain pages or areas of the site so as not to "confuse" the search engines. Whether it confuses the search engines or not, if you want to make more sales, cross-linking and up-selling are excellent strategies that make it easier for your visitors to find -- and buy -- what they need. If you're ranking highly but not making sales, it may mean you need to radically improve your navigation, which could change your rankings.

> > > Writing Persuasive Copy That Informs and Sells
Keyword-stuffed, third-grade-level copy that is repetitive and boring won't make sales. If you've slapped up any old copy thinking you would improve it later, you're probably in for a rude awakening. Copywriting is a pivotal element in search engine optimization. Unless you're having great success with a massive linking campaign, copywriting will play a major part in your rankings. Changing copy can (and almost always will) cause either a negative or positive change in positioning. Oftentimes, pages fall, then return with higher placement -- but not always. If your copy is preventing your site from converting, it needs to be changed immediately even if that means a temporary drop in positioning.

The search engines do not make your site successful. The search engines don't buy anything from you. All they do is send traffic your way. Although there is no discounting the value of free traffic from the engines, you can get traffic from countless other online and offline sources. Your site is what makes you money and it needs to be developed for your visitors. But by focusing strictly on SEO, it is highly likely you'll be forced to change most of what you've built in order to improve conversions later on. That means spending more time and money on something that could have been turning a profit by now.

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Online Shoppers Ask for More Detailed Copywriting
by Karon Thackston

I found out quite by chance. I noticed a research brief in my inbox entitled, "Bad Web Experience Impacts Brick and Mortar Shopping." Being primarily focused on Internet business, I really didn't pay it much attention. But then I noticed it made reference to a customer's online experience, too, so I read on.

Allurent, Inc. gave the following details from their Online Customer Experience Survey. A total of 82% of consumers who participated said having a frustrating online shopping experience would make them less likely to revisit a retailer's site. That's expected. The survey continued by saying if the experience improved, visitors would be open to buying more from the offending sites. Logical. But what does this have to do with copywriting? It's what I read next that caught my attention.

According to respondents, visitors want specific "interactive and engaging features" when they shop online. One of those "engaging features" included better copywriting. Specifically, "68% want the ability to 'feel' merchandise through better imagery, more product descriptions and details."

Just exactly how do we accomplish that? It's really not difficult.

Use More Descriptive Adjectives

Break out your thesaurus and find words that impress, inspire and convince your customers more effectively. Look at the examples below to see what I mean.

=======
Before
=======

Great Top for Hot Summer Days

When it's hot outside, this top will help keep you cool. Made of cool nylon, you'll love how it stops moisture. Available in four pastel colors.

=======
After
=======

Perfect Tank Top for Hot Summer Days

When the temperatures are steamy outside, this tank will help keep you remarkably cool. Made of breathable 100% nylon, you'll love how it sheds moisture. Available in four spring-fresh colors.

============================

See the difference? The latter paints a more vivid picture of the tank top than the former. It also gives more detail. It's not a nylon blend, it's 100% nylon. They aren't just any colors, they are spring-fresh colors.

Create a Sensory Experience

Site visitors are looking for an experience as close as possible to standing in the brick and mortar store. That means you have to create copy that plays on all five senses to bring the products to life.

See if this example makes you hungry:

============================
Definitely NOT Grandma's cinnamon rolls! Bake them fresh right in your own oven. As the aroma begins to waft through the air, your nose will start to tingle and you'll immediately know they are worth the wait. The scents of freshly ground cinnamon and yeast begin to merge as the dough rises and the cinnamon, sugar and butter begin to bubble. Open your oven door to reveal one of the largest sweets you've ever seen. Drizzle the homemade frosting over the top to complete your warm, gooey treasure. Your taste buds will praise you with every bite!
============================

Do you notice the detail? With the exception of hearing, all five senses were addressed here. Smell the aroma. See the largest cinnamon roll you've ever seen. Taste the gooey treat. And the description of warmth brings in the sense of touch.

Rather go on vacation than eat sweets? How about this?

===========================
As your day begins, enjoy a gourmet breakfast prepared by your own private staff -- at your disposal 24 hours a day. A gorgeous view overlooking your own crystal-blue freshwater pool welcomes you to another exciting adventure in Hawaii. A morning stroll along your private, white-sand beach is the perfect way to welcome the day. A fun-filled outing can consist of splashing in the surf, sunning on the beach or napping in an authentic hand-woven hammock that cuddles every curve of your body. At the end of the day, you'll have sun-kissed shoulders, a glowing bronze tan and a phenomenal appetite! Unwind poolside at the gazebo as you prepare for a world-class dinner that rivals any five-star restaurant. Refreshing after-dinner cocktails are especially enjoyable when sipped on the terrace as nature provides an amazing display of sunsets and a soft, caressing breeze you won't soon forget.
============================

Now, isn't that better than:

============================
Rent our two-bedroom condo right on the beach! You'll have a private staff to meet all your needs. Pool, hammock and gazebo are on site. Gourmet chef will cook all your meals to order. This is the best vacation house you've ever seen!
============================

The next time you begin to write copy, think about every aspect of the product. How can you entice the visitor? How can you help him or her touch, smell, see, taste or hear what you have to offer? The more real you make the experience, the better your conversions will be!

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3 Simple Rules for Creating an Effective USP
by Karon Thackston

You have one, whether you know it or not. Everybody does. There is something unique about your business; you just have to discover what it is. And therein lies the problem. Most business owners and managers don't understand how to create a truly unique selling proposition (USP). There are specific criteria to consider in order to get your message across clearly and succinctly.

1. Define Your Uniqueness - Just as the name suggests, a "unique" selling proposition must explain how your company or offer is unique. It's easy if you have a product that's new to the marketplace. Everything about it is unique. But what about those companies that have been around for quite a while? Or products that have a great deal of competition? Uniqueness might be more difficult to define.

Internet access, for example, is very ordinary. The most recognized features are price and speed. But the world leader in Internet access, AOL, has built its reputation based on ease of use. Starting in its earliest days, AOL landed and kept millions of users because they were spoiled. Everything they needed was in one place. No need to have an Internet service provider (ISP) and use a separate email program and a separate browser and a separate instant messaging program. It was all included. Forget that AOL charged twice as much as everyone else, was famous for dropping the connection and had pitiful customer service. They made it easy and that's what early surfers wanted.

2. Be Specific - I once landed on a website that presented the following USP at the top of every page. See if you can guess what type of business it was. The USP read something to the effect of, "Helping people live better, healthier lives more efficiently." Got any ideas? It was a company that provided kitchen equipment of all sorts. The common denominator was that this equipment was primarily used by those who wanted more natural foods. Canners, grain mills, bread machines and the like would be found at this company.

Do you see how the USP defines their uniqueness in a very specific way? They do help people live better, healthier lives. But the kicker is that they help their customers do this more efficiently. Grinding your own grain for flour, canning your own vegetables and baking your own bread takes a lot of extra time. Most naturalists would be delighted to find products that help them do this in less time.

3. Keep It Short - USPs are not introductory paragraphs. They are generally a short sentence or two. Don't ramble. The more concise you are, the better your results will be.

To give you a good idea of what works, let's look at a few examples.

Good USPs

Practically everybody knows the M&Ms' USP, which also happens to be their marketing slogan: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands." How about Domino's Pizza? Originally, they took the pizza delivery industry by storm with a guaranteed delivery time. Their USP was "We deliver hot, fresh pizza in 30 minutes or less or it's free." Their marketing slogan was very similar to their USP. And who could forget Burger King's USP of quickly giving the customer a handmade burger with whatever they wanted on it. The marketing campaign featured the "have it your way at Burger King" slogan and jingle. All of these are very descriptive, specific and short. Also, they are easy to remember.

If you've created a new product or service, ask yourself why. Was it to fulfill needs customers were voicing? Was it to plug a niche nobody else was giving attention to? Those can be the basis for strong USPs.

Make a list of features and benefits. Ask customers what they like best about your company, your product or your service. Compare your offer to what the competition has available. All of these can be excellent brainstorming techniques that may jumpstart your thinking. Before long, lots of unique aspects will come to mind, giving you the basis for writing a strong, descriptive, specific USP.

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Copywriting Makeover: Facts Vs. Fantasy (Part 1 of 2)
by Karon Thackston

Time for a pop quiz! Name three products that sell better when a facts-based approach to copy is taken. Just off the top of my head I'd say computers, fax machines and microwave ovens. Now, name three products that sell best when the copy is romanticized. Travel, fur coats and jewelry are good examples. Knowing when to use facts and when to use fantasy was a problem JuliesJewels.com had on one particular website page. Let's see how approaching the copy differently brought this e-commerce company greater success.

The Problems

One of the hardest things to learn as a copywriter is which focus or approach to take with copy. There are general guidelines to follow, but experience will tell you that there are almost as many exceptions as there are rules. However, in the case of JuliesJewels.com's Moissanite jewelry page, it was obvious we had a clear lack of -- and a clear need for more -- emotion.

For those who may not be acquainted with Moissanite stones, they were originally created in a laboratory by a Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientist. They are made of a replicated mineral that was originally found in a meteorite that crashed to earth thousands of years ago. However, unlike cubic zirconia (CZ), they are extremely hard and do not form a cloudy appearance over time. Moissanite offers the brilliance of a diamond without the flashy price.

Now, the guideline goes: If you have a product that is unfamiliar to the marketplace, you will want to educate your site visitors while you sell to them. However, sometimes "educate" gets confused with "provide facts." This was one problem Julie's page suffered from.

As I read the original copy (which you can see here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/juliesjewels-moissanite-original.pdf) terms like "replica" and "lab" and "wholesale" struck me as cold and undescriptive. Yes, they were absolutely true, but they completely disregarded the wonder and enchantment brought about by one of these manmade diamonds.

While a few words like "beauty" and "lustrous" were included, they did little to help a man feel proud and confident that he was choosing a gorgeous piece his wife or girlfriend would swoon over. It didn't evoke any emotions in women who lack the funds (and the desire!) to spend thousands on diamonds yet still dream of jewelry that was is unique as they are.

Another challenge was the page's so-so performance in the search results. Considering how horribly competitive most jewelry terms are with regard to search rankings, Julie's positioning for this page wasn't too bad. The Moissanite jewelry page usually bounced between positions 11 and 30 on the major engines. However, the goal was to push the page as high as possible while driving visitors deeper into the category.

The Solutions

The key points that needed to be made on the Moissanite jewelry page were these:

1) Moissanite is the next best thing to a diamond, closely replicating a diamond's luster, vibrance and quality.
2) Unlike CZs, Moissanite jewels are rare, not a victim of a flooded marketplace.
3) While not considered "cheap," Moissanite is definitely affordable.

To prepare myself for writing this page, I looked over the various other pages of the Julie's Jewels site. I wanted to dream a bit about the earrings, rings, necklaces and other pieces I that included Moissanite stones.

As I clicked from page to page, I took notes about what I saw, what I felt and how I reacted to the pictures of the jewels. I also went to various diamond websites. Since Moissanite is almost as hard as diamonds and since it so closely resembles the characteristics of diamonds, many of the adjectives used to describe diamonds would also be applicable to Moissanite stones.

Lastly, I thought about who would be buying these gemstones and why. Perhaps a man who truly wanted to impress his fiancé, but who didn't have the money to pay for a one-carat or two-carat diamond ring. Maybe a woman who wanted a pendant that was truly exceptional, but didn't care to pay the extensive markup usually found on diamond jewelry. While the reasons might vary, the common denominators were that beauty and quality mattered as much as price. Once I had a good grasp of the target audience and the products, I set out to write a new category page.

In Part Two of this series, you'll see how the rewrite unfolded and what those changes accomplished for Julie's Jewels.

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Copywriting Makeover: Facts Vs. Fantasy (Part 2 of 2)
by Karon Thackston

In Part 1 of this article series (found here) we discovered the challenge faced by the copy of Julie's Jewels Moissanite page. The original copy (found here:
http://www.copywritingcourse.com/juliesjewels-moissanite-original.pdf) was too factual for visitors to relate to effectively. I outlined the problems and the proposed solutions. Let's continue as I show you the rewrite and the results.

The Rewrite

Building excitement about Moissanite jewelry was a primary goal during the rewrite. These stones needed to be positioned above other manmade gems such as cubic zirconia. Their special qualities had to be brought to light while also evoking emotions that are associated with buying something rare, exclusive and truly exceptional.

I chose words and phrases including "spoiled for anything else," "alluring" and "wonder."

However, affordability also needed to be conveyed -- but without discounting the perceived and actual value of the stone. To accomplish this, I included mentions of how affordable Moissanite stones are along with verbiage describing the clarity, quality and excellence of these jewels.

You can view the revised copy (PDF) here:
http://www.copywritingcourse.com/juliesjewels-moissanite-rewrite.pdf.

In addition, Julie's Jewels faces some stiff competition from national retailers and other sites that carry Moissanite. There was really only one main phrase the page needed to be optimized for. The challenge with that, however, was using the term enough to make an impact with the engines, but not so much as to sound odd because of too much repetition.

The Headline

A huge change took place with the headline. The original headline was created with no appeal to the site visitor. Likely used strictly for navigation and search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, it merely listed the name of the page. The use of the simple term "Moissanite Jewelry" was replaced with a headline that clearly stated the primary benefit of this product:

"Moissanite Jewelry Offers Affordable Luxury"

The Opening Paragraph

The original copy used an opening paragraph that skipped from one topic to another. Beginning with information about Moissanite being created from minerals in a lab then jumping to the fact that this type of jewelry was available at wholesale prices, it needed some help in capturing and retaining the attention of the visitor.

In an effort to create a visual image for the site visitor, the new copy begins with:

"Once you experience the wonder of Moissanite jewelry, you'll be spoiled for anything else. This alluring stone has the brilliance and sparkle of a diamond, yet it is affordable on practically any budget. Moissanite is the hardest and most dazzling stone, second only to a diamond."

Because this is a category page on Julie's ecommerce site, photographs of Moissanite jewels in different settings are shown along with links to the associated pages. The original copy stopped there. With the new copy, I added brief descriptions underneath each image. This accomplished two things.

1) It allowed me to entice the visitor to click through to the page using both words and visuals.
2) It gave us additional opportunities to use Julie's keyphrase without sounding overpowering.

The Results

What was the outcome of this makeover? I'll let Julie tell you herself.

"I was on the 2nd and 3rd page of SERPs for this category. Now, I'm on page #1! The Moissanite page is now the 3rd highest entry page for the site. This page is the parent category for six sub-categories. Those sub-categories have seen nice jumps in traffic as opposed to a year ago (prior to copy rewrite). This not only helps the main category but sub-categories as well. I'm also getting double the contacts about Moissanite as a result of increased visitors on the Moissanite jewelry page."

Before you start listing facts and figures in your copy, take a little time to research how consumers buy that particular product. Because people don't react the same ways to every product or service, jumping to conclusions about how they buy can be a dangerous practice that's best avoided.

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Opening Sentences That Close the Sale
by Karon Thackston

It's one of the best pieces of copywriting advice I've ever been given. "As often as possible, start your paragraphs with sentences that hook readers and drive them deeper into the copy." Why? Because - after the headline - the first sentence in any paragraph is what gets read most often. After that point, customers usually skip to the next section unless they feel compelled to keep reading. That means your job, as the copywriter, is to entice them into each segment, so they will consume as much of your copy as possible.

Take your cue from Reader's Digest. They crank out - issue after issue - exceptional opening lines for their articles that engage then hook readers. What happens next? The reader is pulled into the story full force. Here are some examples.

It was a horrific display of irreverence.

By the way she dressed, you would have never guessed she was only 14.

As he reached into the box, something inside it moved.

See? Those sentences boost your curiosity. They make you wonder what happens next. They cause you to visualize a scene that might be taking place. You can do the same thing from a marketing perspective when you write your copy.

For instance, rather than starting the copy for an email to Australian hotels like this:

You may be aware of www._______.com – we are an Australian-owned and managed online hotel booking service.

Really capture their attention with an opening sentence that is specific to them like this:

Now you have the opportunity to affordably position your hotel in front of approximately 6,000 travellers every day that are looking for accommodations exclusively in Australia.

For an Australian hotel that depends on the Internet to generate reservations, that sentence gives them many reasons to keep reading.

Here are some other before-and-after examples of opening sentences.

==============

BEFORE: Hello and welcome to our website. If you are looking for [enter product name here], you are at the right site. (In this case, the example is from a wedding photographer's site.)

AFTER: We don't take pictures. We capture precious memories that you can enjoy for a lifetime.

==============

BEFORE: Our site has been online since 2000, and this marks our 6th year online providing designer-inspired sunglasses.

AFTER: How do you get the latest designer-inspired looks without paying outrageous prices?

==============

BEFORE: Our cruise website offers unbeatable rates and a diverse array of travel services guaranteed to satisfy even the most discriminating vacationer.

AFTER: Just imagine yourself on the white sand beaches of Honolulu, hiking through the balmy rainforests of Belize or whisking down a powdery, snow-covered mountain in Aspen… all at up to 50% off!

==============

BEFORE: Thank you for shopping for your corporate gifts at _________.com. We hope your shopping experience is delightful.

AFTER: When you truly impress your clients with distinctive corporate gifts, they remember you longer, feel a closer relationship and are more likely to reward you with increased sales.

==============

See the difference? The "before" sentences are dull, average and unflattering. The "after" sentences are intriguing, imaginative and enticing.

Don't stop after you create inviting headlines. Keep the momentum going by writing intriguing opening sentences, too. When you do, you'll help convert more site visitors into paying customers.

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Will Longer Keyphrases Hinder the Effectiveness of Your Copy?
by Karon Thackston

The length of search phrases continues to grow. Back when the Internet was just an upstart, single keywords were the only thing you needed. But in recent years we've seen the number of words used in search phrases triple and quadruple. Rather than a single keyword, searchers who live in countries where English is the primary language are now using three- and four-word phrases as a standard, according to Web analytics company, OneStat.com.

While the worldwide average is two words per search phrase, the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia all show that searchers prefer the use of three- or four-word terms. What does this mean from a copywriting standpoint? Writing with a single keyword in mind is relatively easy. Using two-word terms is a bit more of a challenge. But when you get to three- and four-word phrases, your risk of sounding stiff and awkward increases substantially.

Why Longer Phrases?

Longer search phrases are the natural progression of the Internet population boom. As more and more information is placed online, it becomes increasingly difficult to find exactly what you're looking for. When there were only a few thousand sites, entering the word "marketing" into a search engine would bring up a handful of sites for you to choose from.

Now, however, you find hundreds of thousands of sites dealing with everything from marketing plans to marketing jobs to university curriculums for marketing degrees. The natural action for copywriters is to follow the search trend of the target audience and use the keyphrases that they use.

That leads us back to our original question… how?

Tips for Writing With Keyphrases

The biggest mistake I find search engine optimization (SEO) copywriters making is attempting to substitute a generic term for a specific keyphrase. For example:

At our Mexico cruise vacation site we offer the best rates on Mexico cruise vacation packages to the most exciting Mexico cruise vacation destinations. Visit our Mexico cruise vacation specials page for deep discounts today!

Or

Welcome to our Chicago web design firm site. If you're looking for innovative and creative Chicago web design firm, you've come to the right place. No other Chicago web design firm has the talent or technological skills to develop the type of high-end sites we do. When you're ready for a truly professional Chicago web design firm, contact us today.

Oh please! My 10-year-old nephew could write better copy than that. When you substitute generic terms (in this case: site, packages, vacation destinations, vacation specials, etc.) with the specific search phrase, you get a bunch of repetitive, awkward babble. The longer the keyphrases are, the more clunky the copy will sound.

The best advice I can give is to break up some of the mentions of longer keyphrases. Yes, you do need to keep the words of the phrase in the same order most of the time. However by using punctuation and other elements you can still make the phrase appear less obtrusive.

For example, let's look at our Mexico cruise vacation site again. Rather than using that bunch of fluff written above, try this instead:

Long stretches of sunny beaches, delightful fiestas filled with lively bands and some of the most delicious fresh seafood you've ever tasted. Where can you find it? In Mexico! Cruise vacation destinations from Cancun to Cozumel offer some of the most exciting adventures and beautiful scenery found in Mexico. Cruise vacation specials make these remarkable getaways even more affordable than you might think - etc., etc.

Do you see what was done? Using punctuation, the phrase "Mexico cruise vacation" was broken up between sentences. Because the search engines all but ignore punctuation, they see the phrase as one term. However, the site visitor doesn't. They don't notice that the phrase is being repeated because it spans two sentences.

If the trend continues as it has in the past, search phrases will get even longer in the not-so-distant future. However, when you get creative with keyphrase use in your copy, you'll find longer search terms are not a problem to work with.

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The Purpose and Practice of Writing Successful SEO Articles
by Karon Thackston

I was so excited to read his post! Google-icon Matt Cutts was blogging on August 21st and hit the nail on the head (as he does quite frequently). The title of the post was, "SEO Advice: Writing useful articles that readers will love." That, in and of itself, says it all. Why is this such a thrilling post? Because it reinforces what I've been saying for years. Whether you're writing content for a website, an article or any type of SEO copy, you must think of the reader first.

There is such a barrage of worthless articles floating around the 'Net these days. Keyword stuffed, useless ramble that was obviously written with the sole intent of attempting to rank high. Striving for top rankings is not a bad thing, but the purpose of writing SEO articles is threefold not onefold: provide information, rank high when used on your site and increase link popularity. That means the practice must follow the purpose.

Why Write an Article?

Let's start at the beginning. Why write articles to begin with? While having SEO content on your site is a good thing, your first concern should be with offering useful information to your readers. Cutts agrees with this practice and makes a point to discuss why providing relevant, helpful information is vital.

If the information isn't helpful, those who visit your site will have little interest in reading it. Yes, if the page ranks highly, it might bring in a bit of traffic. But if visitors take one look at your article then click away, what good have the high rankings done you?

Likewise, if you choose to distribute your article throughout the Internet, it is highly unlikely that others will elect to run your article on their sites. If your work doesn't provide solid information and is poorly written, it will not be considered link-worthy.

Optimizing for the Engines

Once you've decided what information you want to provide, you can turn your focus to SEO. Copywriting for the engines requires balance. You never want to sacrifice the reader's experience for the sake of rankings. Stuffing keywords into text is a method that will almost always backfire. Practically no one wants to read an article (or website page) that constantly repeats the same exact terms to the point of extremes.

Cutts also addressed this issue in his blog post, stating that he included keyphrases within his own article and also used similar terms. Cutts made a point of suggesting that we pay more attention to keyphrase use (and the use of variations of those keyphrases) than focusing on keyword density.

The Two Most Important Keys

The two "meta-issues" Cutts highlighted in his article were both related to user experience, not to the practice of SEO copywriting. First, pay attention to the content you offer. Always impart useful, concrete knowledge to your reader. Second, study your niche (a.k.a. know your target audience!) and write specifically for the purpose of helping them.

There is other great information included in Cutts' post, and I encourage you to read it plus the comments that follow. You can find it here: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-advice-writing-useful-articles-that-readers-will-love.

These are things I (and other SEO pros) have been preaching for years. User first, search engines second. When you get the priority straight, the rest will fall into line without much hassle.

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Copywriting With Google's Dynamic Keyword Insertion Tool
by Karon Thackston

Automation is an odd creature. It usually seems, at first glance, that automating a process can make things easier, simpler and faster. But oftentimes, once an automated process is in place, trouble spots pop up. This is sometimes the case when looking at the copywriting aspect of Google's dynamic keyword insertion tool.

In case you're unfamiliar with dynamic keyword insertion (DKI), it's a feature of Google's AdWords program. It is often used for large campaigns in order to automatically insert the keyword into the headline of an ad. Truly, it's a lifesaver for many pay-per-click (PPC) ad managers who have to stay on top of thousands of ads every day. It's all done with a simple syntax command: {keyword:_______}.

From a timesaving standpoint, this is a wonder tool that has rescued PPC managers from the mind-numbing chore of typing the same keywords over and over. From an economic point-of-view, DKI *can* (not always) perform well enough to make it a viable option for larger campaigns. But what happens with regard to copywriting and eye tracking?

See It and Click It

The human eye is normally drawn to things that are unusual. Things that look out of place or different get noticed far more than things that blend in. For instance, on a page full of black text and black & white photographs, a small red square in the bottom corner will get focused on almost immediately. Why? Because it is completely different than everything else around it.

This same principle applies when considering your copywriting strategy for AdWords. When using DKI, you'll want to keep your eye on the results pages. Why? We've all heard that using the keyphrase in the headline pulls better. It does… most of the time. There is an exception, however. This exception is what you'll be watching.

In fact, a study done last year by Enquiro, Did-It and Eyetools tracked users' interactions with the Google search results page. It found that surfers normally reviewed the page in an F formation. They would scan vertically down the left side of the page and then over to the right (where paid ads are) *IF* something caught their attention. That's the point we'll explore in this article.

In order to get clicks, you first have to get seen. If your ad looks and reads like all the rest, you've completely lost your originality advantage.

See For Yourself

Copywriting using DKI is a balancing act. You have to consider several factors, including the character count of your longest keyphrase, your ability to add text to the keyword-rich headline and how the ad looks on the page.

Take a look at some examples below. Remember that AdWords results show differently at various points throughout the day (and in relation to individual account parameters), so you may not see exactly what I saw when doing this research. I'm sure it will be close enough for you to get the idea.

Go to Google and type in the phrase "cruise vacation center" (without using the quote marks). See how all the ads look different? They don't all have the same words bolded. They don't all use the same copy. The bold words stand out because they are different. In this case, your eye will usually go first to the ads with bolded words in the headline.

You see ads offering a 6-night cruise for $xx.xx and other ads promoting X% off on a cruise vacation, etc. There is diversity and that's a good thing.

Now, what if you type in "home improvement”? (Again, without the quotes.) If your results page looks like mine, practically every ad has the exact same headline: home improvement. Not only do most of the ads look the same, the headlines read the same. Your eye doesn't know where to go because everything seems identical. But wait! About four or five ads down, something catches your eye. It's an ad that has no bold in the headline. That stands out because it's different! As you scroll further down the page, more ads with no bold in the headlines pop out at you. In this case, because everyone else has opted for the DKI feature, their headlines are all very similar, making them less noticeable. But the ones who wrote custom headlines won out, thanks to diversity.

Tips for Writing With DKI

If you want or need to write using the DKI option, consider these tips:

1. Use a descriptive word along with your keyphrase. Instead of just inserting the phrase "airline tickets," place the word "discount" or "cheap" before your keyphrase to help it stand out.

2. For keyphrases that will take the entire 25-character limit, consider using one word of the keyphrase in the headline, instead of the entire phrase. Rather than "home improvement," try inserting just "home" or "improvement" along with other text you write yourself.

3. Keep it applicable. Your headline still has to convey a strong message about what the customer can expect at your site.

4. Test & Track! Everything in advertising is subject to change. Smart marketers always test and track to get the best results.

With a little forethought, you can develop a combination of DKI and custom-written AdWords ads that drive qualified visitors to your site.

Discover the proven methods for writing powerful PPC ads with Karon's latest book How To Write Successful PPC Ads. This quick-read has easy, tested ways to create PPC ads fast that get higher click-through rates. Learn PPC copywriting today at http://www.WritePPCAds.com.

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The 2 Most Common Mistakes When Writing With Keywords
by Karon Thackston

It really gets my blood pressure up. SEO copywriting has begun to get a poor reputation all due to carelessness. How so? Because too many people claim to know what they are doing. In reality, they simply shove keywords into copy without any concern for how the copy flows. Copy that sounds mechanical or stiff is a sure sign that an amateur writer has had his/her hands in things.

When you write SEO copy, you should take the time to find out what works and what doesn't. There are two mistakes almost every amateur search engine copywriter makes. Let's take a look at each one.

#1 - The List

Let's say you visit the home page of a website that sells beauty supplies. As you read the copy, you keep coming across a string of items: hair salon supplies, hair salon equipment and professional manicure tables. The copy reads something like this:

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The Best Selection of Hair Salon Supplies, Hair Salon Equipment and
Professional Manicure Tables On the Internet

When you're shopping for hair salon supplies, hair salon equipment and professional manicure tables, you need a vendor who offers great selection as well as great service. Because buying hair salon supplies, hair salon equipment and professional manicure tables can be an expensive venture, you also want a company that delivers the lowest price.

Trust ABC Beauty Supply to bring you the widest selection of hair salon supplies, hair salon equipment and professional manicure tables in stock every day. Orders are shipped within 24 hours and - for all hair salon supplies, hair salon equipment and professional manicure tables orders over $100 - shipping is absolutely free!

------------------------------------------------------------

Do you see how that flows (or doesn't flow) when you use all your keyphrases in a row every single time? One time, sure. That's fine. Even twice, depending on the length of your copy. But to put all your keyphrases in a list and use them every time you have the smallest opportunity is just far too repetitive. What do you do instead?

Discuss each one in its own section. Talk about the various types of hair salon supplies. Review the reasons your hair salon equipment is better than that sold by others. Or even list the features and benefits of the line of manicure tables you offer.

#2 - Substituting Keywords for Generic Terms

This technique (just like the one above) is perfectly fine IF you use it in moderation. However, to replace every instance of a generic term with a keyphrase will cause your copy to sound downright silly. Let's have a look at an example from a Web design site.

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New Orleans Web Design

Our New Orleans Web design firm offers a high level of creativity to businesses located in the general area. Our New Orleans Web design styles are never made from templates. Each New Orleans Web design is a custom creation just for your site.

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If you walked into a Web design company's office and the employees began to talk like that copy is written, you'd most likely think they were on drugs! So why in the world would you write your site copy that way? The reason is because most amateurs mistakenly think they can't write for both the search engines and the site visitors. I'm delighted to say they are wrong! You can most certainly write for both with great success.

Try this:

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Progressive, creative, upbeat. Those are phrases that best describe many online businesses based in New Orleans. Web design for your organization should match your style. Never created from templates, the site designs you’ll receive will be truly reflective of your corporate personality. Because we work exclusively with companies located in or near New Orleans, Web designs retain that Big Easy feel.

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Did you see it? The phrase was broken up using punctuation. That won't hurt your rankings one bit, but it will make your copy sound a LOT better.

These are not all the mistakes. I wish they were! But most of the mistakes made by amateur writers can be fixed using one simple test. Read it out loud. If the copy sounds ridiculous to you when you read it out loud, it is going to sound equally ridiculous to a site visitor.

Take your time. Learn the ins and outs of SEO copywriting before you begin to create the text for your (or your clients’) pages. Then you can rest assured that your copy will convert better while it contributes to your high rankings.

Copy not getting results? Learn to write like a pro! Boost your sales and your search engine rankings with The Step-by-step Copywriting Course. Not just a book... a complete course. Get yours - and 3 FREE bonuses - today! [insert affiliate link here]

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Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection
Part 1 of 2
By Karon Thackston

One statistic shows that over 80% of all buying decisions are emotional. That means your copywriting should be, too. This is something I firmly believe in and have preached for most of my copywriting career. However, all too often, I find people skipping the vital step of making an emotional connection with their customers. That can be a tragic, and costly, mistake.

That’s why I was excited when I had the opportunity to rewrite the homepage copy for a vacation cruise service. While the copy they used previously gave all the details and got them a good number of bookings, it just didn’t have what it takes to make me start daydreaming about my next cruise. It didn’t… but it was about to!

The Problems

The previous copy on the Cruise Vacation Center home page faced a couple of challenges. (You can view the original copy at this link: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/CruiseVacationCenter-Original.pdf.) The copy was very company-oriented instead of customer-oriented. It talked about who Cruise Vacation Center (CVC) is, why the visitor should buy from them, and some wonderful benefits CVC offers its clients including excellent bargain rates and extra discounts. However, all the verbiage was geared toward the company. The customer was left out.

The home page copy also lacked emotion. It was very matter-of-fact. In addition to making visitors aware of the wonderful prices and deals CVC offered, I wanted to create a vision for the site visitors. I wanted to give them what they needed in order to float off into a daydream about fabulous ports-of-call; warm, gentle breezes; and thrilling adventures.

While I was painting a picture of the vacation of a lifetime, I also had to be sure to include a vital fact. CVC’s business plan was set up to be most affordable for the customer when s/he booked online. Without sounding rude, I had to do everything in my power to get the site visitor to book their cruise vacation while at the site. This was an extremely important issue and a point that needed to be woven throughout the copy.

Lastly, the page had to uphold Cruise Vacation Center’s excellent search engine rankings. They were ranked at the top of several major engines, and the rewritten copy couldn’t jeopardize their positioning.

The Solutions

The first step was, without question, to woo the site visitors with delightful fantasies about their next vacation. My goal was to conjure up all sorts of visions in the minds of Cruise Vacation Center’s visitors. I wanted the visitors to be dreaming of exotic places with lots of fun things to do, interesting sights to see, and 24/7 access to gourmet meals that rival any five-star restaurant. I wanted their blood pressure to drop 10 points just from reading about the onboard staff of hundreds who would pamper them with VIP treatment. After reading this copy, I wanted them ready to leave on vacation today! However, I also had to persuade them to book online rather than calling CVC’s office.

During the rewrite, I had to carefully plan the use of their primary keyphrase, “cruise vacation,” so as not to disrupt their most reliable source of business… the search engines. After all, there is a delicate balance between pleasing the search engines and appealing to site visitors.

If I leaned too much toward the search engine side of the equation, the conversion ratio of the home page would suffer. In other words, Cruise Vacation Center would get lots of visitors, but few of them would book cruises.

If I leaned too much toward the customer side of the equation, CVC’s rankings would plummet, and they would need to find a new way to drive qualified traffic to their site. As is normally the case with SEO copywriting, balance was going to be vital.

In the conclusion to this two-part series, you’ll see how I handled the rewrite and what the end results of all the work were. Curious to see the new copy? You’ll find it on CVC’s site: You can see the new copy on CVC’s site at http://www.cruisevacationcenter.com.

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Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection
Part 2 of 2
By Karon Thackston

In part one of this article series we began looking at the Cruise Vacation Center site: a travel site whose copy was sorely lacking in emotional appeal and visual imagry. (You can see the previous version of the copy here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/CruiseVacationCenter-Original.pdf.) In the conclusion, you’ll see how all the rewrite turned out and how exciting the end results have been.

The Rewrite

It took me a while to get started on this copy. Before I began writing, I wanted to really be in the mood. I played around on the vacation search feature of CVC’s site and read all about some of the places I have always wanted to go. I took my time and let my imagination run wild while reading about the ports-of-call, the activities, and the ship’s amenities.

When people shop for vacations, they are typically interested in what they’ll get first and they worry about the price second. They want to feel and sense the experience of a vacation while reading about it on a website or in a brochure. It sort of falls into the same category as copywriting for brides.

Getting married, for most people anyway, is a limited experience. It’s not something you do every day. While a bride may be working on a budget, she still loves to see the $10,000 Donna Karan gowns and imagine herself in one. The same holds true for those planning a vacation.

You usually only go on one vacation/holiday a year. That’s why we dream. It’s a limited experience. Something we plan for and look forward to for months on end. So, while a vacation planner may not choose to buy the king-sized, master, grand suite, all-inclusive, five-star vacation trip around the world, s/he sure has fun reading about it and imagining it. Why do you think shows like “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” are so popular?

Once I’d filled my mind with everything wonderful about cruise vacations, I was ready to tackle the copy.

Keyphrase inclusion was simple on this page. There was just one keyphrase, cruise vacation. I used both the singular and plural forms throughout the text. My challenge with the SEO aspect of the copywriting was to keep the balance.

Normally, when there is just one keyphrase, there is a very high tendency by most people to ram, shove, and squeeze the phrase into every nook and cranny of the copy. I beg you… resist that urge! As you’ll see shortly, SEO copywriting is NOT about forcing keyphrases into every possible slot.

And, of course, there was the matter of letting visitors know that they would get a better bargain and save more on their luxury cruise if they booked online.

Starting at the top, I changed the headline of:

“Planning quality discount cruises for you since 1993!”

“Book Your Exotic Cruise Vacation Online and Get Rock-Bottom Prices to the Hottest Destinations”

Next, I immediately began to entice the visitor with visions of what s/he could expect - from their vacation and from CVC.

Rather than talk about the company directly as the original copy did:

“Dreaming of a cruise but don't want to pay full price? Cruise Vacation Center is one of the nation's largest cruise agencies.”

I started the copy with this:

“Just imagine… you’re walking along the deck of a grand cruise vessel as it gently keeps rhythm with the waves. The sun is on your shoulders and a soothing breeze wafts through your hair.”

I continued to build the new copy with phrases like: “wander your way through the medieval castles,” “stunning gardens of the Mediterranean,” and “oceanfront luau in Hawaii,” while intermixing statements including: “deep discounts,” “book securely online,” and so on.

All the while, I was dropping reminders to book online for the biggest savings and offering explanations about why that would benefit the visitor.

The call-to-action was designed to reinforce the idea that the customer *could* get more vacation choices for their money with CVC.

You can see the end results for yourself at http://www.cruisevacationcenter.com.

The Results

It’s fun to see how these makeovers turn out. What did my client have to say? The response was astonishing and immediate. “…Weekend sales tripled! Usually around 10 online books over the weekend. Last weekend had 30! [Also], they re-indexed and the home page moved up [two positions] for ‘cruise vacation.’ It has a great lead-in on the search page, too.”

Man… I just love my job!

Copywriting Makeover: Know Where Your Customers Are In The Buying Process
Part 1 of 2
By Karon Thackston

When you begin to write copy for any product or service, there are a few things you have to take into consideration. The first is always your target audience: who you’ll be writing to. Finding out about the needs and wants of the audience members, their communication styles, their lifestyles, and a multitude of other elements are “musts” before writing one word of copy.

But something most people neglect is giving due attention to the buying process as a whole and where your target audience is within that process. Understanding this can, oftentimes, make or break the success of your copy.

When AEwebworks (an online, dating-site software developer) approached me about rewriting their website copy, it became immediately apparent that their copy could benefit from paying some due diligence to the buying processes of their customers.

The Problems

My primary concerns with the copywriting on this site included the lack of synergy within the copy, the use of testimonials, the lack of focus on the target customer’s buying process, and the inability for the copy to support the search engine goals of AEwebworks. In its present state, the copy contained few mentions of keyphrases.

You can view the old copy in PDF form at this link: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/AEWebWorks-Original.pdf.

When I first read the copy, it felt as though I was being pitched to from all sides. The headline spoke to someone thinking of entering the online dating site industry. The body copy did not support that headline; rather it spoke to someone who had already made the decision to launch or improve a dating site.

The use of testimonials at the bottom of the home page posed a challenge for two reasons. The first was the sheer location. The design of the site was such that it appeared nothing fell “below the fold” (what was first seen when the home page loaded onto a browser). The second challenge was that many of the testimonials were from people asking questions or stating they were considering trying the dating software… not actual customers attesting to the benefits they’d personally experienced.

In addition, while the information included in the body copy was good, the information given on the home page needed to outline why AEwebworks was better than the competition. In its present state, it did not. That meant finding those aspects of buying dating software that were most important to the customer and highlighting them within the copy.

Lastly, I needed to focus the home page copy on only two or three keyphrases and increase keyword saturation for those phrases. This also meant creating a copy strategy that would allow me to use the keyphrases effectively without making the text sound stiff.

The Solution

As always, I started the project by gaining a good understanding of who the target customers were, what they wanted, their fears, their likes, their dislikes, and anything else I could discover. After a good bit of research, and after reading the completed target audience analysis from AEwebworks, I felt I had a good understanding of those I would be writing to.

In order to combat the lack of synergy within the copy and the lack of focus on the target customer’s buying process, I created a copywriting plan. From my research I found that installation, upgrade policies, and support were the three most common gripes buyers had about dating software. I decided to make overcoming those obstacles the focal point of the copy instead of the actual features and benefits.

That may sound like an odd choice, but that’s where recognition of the buying process comes in. Considering that the majority of visitors to the site had already made the decision to launch a new site or had chosen to upgrade an existing site, they were already well versed in the features of dating-site software and their associated benefits. Yes… the benefits did need to be mentioned; however, other issues proved to be more pressing to this particular group of customers.

The use of testimonials on the home page was easily corrected by simply deleting the ones that did not directly apply to actual users of the software. I chose two for use within the copy and suggested that, as AEwebworks gets more testimonials, they create an entire page that visitors can read.

That left me with overcoming the inability of the current copy to support the search engine goals of the site. I suggested AEwebworks review their keyword choices to be sure they were targeting the ones most likely to bring in qualified customers. After a review, they provided me with a revised list to choose from.

I selected three keyphrases for each page in order to allow an adequate level of both keyword saturation and natural language. For the home page, the terms “dating software,” “online dating software,” and “dating script” were used.

After all the hoopla with Google, AEwebworks was in foul shape as far as search engine rankings were concerned. I had to pay particular attention to creating copy that impressed the search engines AND their site visitors in order to help them regain ground with their positioning and sales efforts.

The plan was in place. Now “all” I had to do was write the copy. In part two of this series, you’ll get all the details on how I turned “OK” into “Wow!”

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Copywriting Makeover: Know Where Your Customers Are In The Buying Process
Part 2 of 2
By Karon Thackston

In part one of this article series, I introduced a client of mine (AEwebworks) who suffered from some copywriting traumas. The basic diagnosis was a lack of synergy within the copy, ineffective use of testimonials, a lack of focus on the target customer’s buying process, and the inability of the current copy to support the search engine goals of AEwebworks.

After doing some research, I created a plan of action for writing SEO copy that would impress the engines AND AEwebworks’ visitors. You can view the original copy in PDF format here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/AEWebWorks-Original.pdf.

The Rewrite

After finding the revelation that most of those who were shopping for online dating software were already familiar with the features (and the associated benefits) of the software, I decided that focusing on those elements would simply make AEwebworks sound like every other developer of dating scripts. That would definitely not get the results I was looking for.

My probing uncovered that almost all dating software customers have three primary concerns: installation, upgrade policies, and support. It just so happened that AEwebworks had phenomenal offers for each of these.

The headline was changed from:

“Get into Internet dating business with reliable, effective and profitable online dating software”

“Customizable, Full Featured Dating Software Complete With Free Installation, Lifetime Upgrades & Outstanding Support”

The new headline highlighted three extremely valuable benefits to the visitor and also included one of the chosen keyphrases.

The body copy began by making an emotional connection with the customer. It recognized the frustration the customer faced when trying to choose between the different dating software programs and dating scripts.

The copy then continued to connect by stating the fact that AEwebworks developed their software with the help of their clients by listening to their complaints, needs, and wants. It also merged quickly into a section that offered firm, proven solutions to the dating site owners’ most pressing problems.

As the customers continued to read, they found out about specific benefits of buying software from AEwebworks as opposed to other developers. And - of course - scattered throughout the page were links to the ordering section of the site.

In addition to the emotional connection and the problem solving aspects of the copy, it was also search engine optimized (SEO). You’ll notice the subtle use of keyphrases throughout the copy. Enough to promote good search engine rankings, but not so much that the copy is “stiff” or “forced.”

Every other word is *not* a keyword. The copy has a natural flow to it, but yet it is fully optimized to do its job where rankings are concerned.

You can view the current copy here: http://www.aewebworks.com.
You can view Part 1 of this article series here.

The Results

I always find it best to let the client handle this part of the article. To quote, “I wanted to tell you the good news! It looks like our rankings are improving. We are back in Google and traffic has doubled. We have record high sales for the last two weeks... about 70% higher than our next best-selling two-week period ever!

“Overall, running our site got much easier after adding your copy because people ask fewer questions about where to find information... they are able to sort it out for themselves from the site copy. We previously had about 5-10 e-mails a day on average from prospective customers; now we get AT LEAST 15 A DAY! WOW!! So, in short, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR GREAT WORK!"

They are now back in play on Google and also have exceptional rankings with other important engines like Yahoo, MSN, and AltaVista.

Another happy ending!

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Optimizing Online Catalog Copy for the Search Engines
By Karon Thackston

It only makes sense. You have an e-commerce catalog site. You want lots of visitors to come to your site and buy. The best (and most cost-effective) way to do that is with great search engine placement. However, search engines are text machines, and most catalogs don’t have a lot of text, so herein lies the problem.

The obvious answer is that you need more copy on each page. However, the pictures of your products are just as important as the copy, so they can’t be removed to make more space. That doesn’t leave a lot of room in the product description area, does it? Maybe not, but who said all the copy had to go in the description area? Who said you have to create a site the same way a paper catalog is created?

Sometimes we view our site’s pages with a very narrow vision. This causes us to have an “it’s always been done that way” mentality. While direct mail catalogs may be sorely limited on space and require short sections of copywriting, Web pages have infinite room for copy.

Your Home Page

Most often, online catalogs have a home page that is almost exclusively graphic. There may be short blips of copywriting here and there, but not much. Since your home page is the most important page to have optimized for the engines, you’ll want to include a minimum of 200 words of SEO copywriting there. Don’t panic… it doesn’t have to all be in one place.

You can create a short section of keyword-rich body copy as an introduction to the site. Then, under a graphic of your new spring additions, include some SEO copy explaining why your visitors will just *have* to have these products. You can then add a sentence or two of copy under the graphics in your sidebar. Lastly, give the highlights of your customer-service program or money-back guarantee and an invitation to click further into the site to shop around, and you’re all done.

Obviously, where the copy goes is dependent on your site’s layout, but you get the idea. Spread the copywriting around. You don’t have to put it all in one lump in the middle of the page.

Category Pages

What traditionally happens with online catalogs is that you click from the home page to a “category” page. That category page usually just has links on it to other individual product pages plus perhaps a picture or two. That’s a shame because category pages are another perfect place for SEO copy.

Since keyphrases are often highly descriptive of products (i.e., crew neck sweaters, six-disc CD players, etc.), they work wonderfully on category pages. Because category pages are selective (they only show products within a certain category), they are exceptional arenas for SEO copywriting.

Let’s say you have a catalog site that deals with interior design accessories for the home. One category might be Tiffany lamps. Because the phrase Tiffany lamps is also a wonderful keyphrase, its inclusion in the category page copy comes quite naturally. This means you can create SEO copywriting for the top or middle of the page (just a short paragraph or two) and also write blips of copy for each product description. For example:

===================================
The Tiffany Lamp - A Timeless Masterpiece
===================================
Tiffany lamps have long been considered icons of style. While certain characteristics are constant (that’s what makes a Tiffany lamp a Tiffany lamp), there is also tremendous variety. From Tiffany lamps for your floor to those made to adorn your ceilings, you’ll find one reflective of your own personal taste and style.

Next you could list all the individual products (floor Tiffany lamps, ceiling Tiffany lamps, desk Tiffany lamps, etc.) and give brief, keyword-rich descriptions of each one.

Product Descriptions

When you get to the product description level, you’ll want to include enticing, keyword-rich copy with each listing. However, you’ll also want to include more text on each product page.

Consider that most people shopping online don’t have the benefit of being able to touch, feel, smell, taste, or see the actual products. Use the lack of human senses to develop more descriptive information for your visitors.

You might also want to include any technical information you have for your products on the same product description page. Contrary to Internet myth, people don’t mind scrolling one bit *IF* there is information they want to see on other parts of the page.

By reconsidering your catalog-copywriting techniques when it comes to the Web, you can get your e-commerce catalog ranked highly in the search engines. It just takes a little open-mindedness and a willingness to break free from the ways of the past. When you do, more customers and higher sales levels are bound to follow.

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Copywriting and Your Five Senses
By Karon Thackston

In its most basic form, copywriting is, among other things, the art of conveying a message in writing for the purpose of persuading someone to do something. This is especially true when writing descriptive copy. Why? Because your customer’s five senses don’t work on paper… they only work in person. That’s why we, as copywriters, have to create a sensory experience for our customers through our words.

Have you ever stopped to consider copywriting as a sensory activity? You should. As I said, in order to see, hear, smell, taste, or feel a product, we have to be in the presence of that product. All too often, when copywriters create descriptions, they leave a lot to be desired. There is no excitement, no interaction, no experience. Descriptions should be, well… descriptive. Effective descriptions should fill the gap of what customers would see, hear, smell, taste, or feel if they were standing in the presence of the product. Effective descriptions should draw customers in and create an actual event… as if they were able to be right there with you.

Do you make cinnamon rolls? You wouldn’t want to describe them simply as “delicious” or say they “smell great.” Instead, you’d want to bring your customers into the experience of enjoying your cinnamon rolls. Think of which of their five senses would be most in tune with your product and write to those. Try this:

Definitely NOT grandma’s cinnamon rolls! Bake them fresh right in your own oven. As the aroma of these gourmet rolls begins to waft through the air, your nose will start to tingle and you’ll immediately know they are worth the wait. The scents of freshly ground cinnamon and yeast begin to merge as the dough rises and the cinnamon, sugar, and butter begin to bubble. Open your oven door to reveal one of the largest sweets you’ve ever seen. Drizzle the homemade frosting over the top to complete your warm, gooey treasure. Your taste buds will praise you with every bite!

Can you smell the cinnamon? Can you visualize the dough rising in the oven with the cinnamon and sugar bubbling on the top of each roll? Are you remembering the times you’ve glazed cinnamon rolls in the past and, with sticky fingers, taken that first bite out of a freshly baked, warm, gooey pastry? This copy brings it all back, doesn’t it?

Do you rent private, Jamaican beachfront condos? Taking a basic route and falling back on the phrases “ocean view” and “sunsets are included” will leave your reader lacking a truly intriguing experience. Something like this will work better:

As your day begins, enjoy a gourmet breakfast prepared by your own private staff who is at your disposal 24 hours a day. A gorgeous view overlooking your own crystal blue freshwater pool welcomes you to another exciting adventure in Jamaica. A morning stroll along your private, white sand beach is the perfect way to welcome the day. A fun-filled outing can consist of splashing in the surf, sunning on the beach, or napping in an authentic hand-woven hammock that cuddles every curve of your body. At the end of the day, you’ll have sun-kissed shoulders, a glowing bronze tan, and a phenomenal appetite. Unwind at the poolside gazebo as you prepare for a world-class dinner that rivals any five-star restaurant. Refreshing after-dinner cocktails are especially enjoyable when sipped on the terrace as nature provides an amazing display of sunsets and a soft, caressing breeze you won’t soon forget.

Let’s go! “Splashing in the surf, sunning on the beach, or napping in an authentic hand-woven hammock that cuddles every curve of your body.” Can you just imagine? How about “sun-kissed shoulders, a glowing bronze tan”? That paints a picture, doesn’t it? Can you feel that warm tingling you always get after spending a day in the sun? “Nature provides an amazing display of sunsets and a soft, caressing breeze.” I’m ready! Where do I sign up?

Are you beginning to see the importance of writing truly descriptive descriptions? Your customers aren’t there. They can’t see, hear, feel, taste, or smell what you can. You have to do the next best thing and vividly depict what their sensory experiences will be like so they’ll want to buy what you have or do what you’ve done.

When you write descriptive copy, choose the senses that are most appropriate and focus on them. If you’re describing food, of course you’ll want to think about what you’re tasting, but also what you smell and see. (Presentation is just as important as taste.) If you’re writing travel copy, you’ll want to focus on sights and sounds plus feelings (relaxation, enjoyment, excitement, etc.).

Your goal is to have your readers close their eyes and genuinely, vividly imagine they are in the midst of the same experience you are. When you accomplish that, you’ll find your sales increase as will your bank account balance!

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How To Ruin Your Press Release in 3 Easy Steps
by Karon Thackston

I see it almost every day. People who want to generate a press frenzy, but go about it in just the opposite way that they should.

There are some definite strategies you need to use when writing a press release that gets results. There are also some long-standing, proven ways to completely and totally ruin your release. In an effort to help you get what you want out of your next press campaign, I’d like to share the top three “bombs” with you.

Step One - Ignore Your Target Audience

Just as with advertising copywriting, you have to understand who you’re writing to and what those people want. When you write a press release, you’re not targeting the end user… you’re targeting journalists.

While your potential customers may respond to claims that you’re the best, that your product or service is going to make them happier, healthier, richer or more beautiful… reporters will definitely not!

Journalists are fact-oriented people. Their job is to give a well-rounded view of anything they write about… new scientific developments, the latest upheaval in the Middle East, or your product or service. In order to appeal to journalists, you’ll have to give them the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Anything less will be a huge turn-off that will cost you any type of publicity from the reporter’s publication.

Step Two - Write Your Press Release Like an Advertisement

This step - if done properly - can ruin your press release all by itself. There is nothing more annoying to journalists than receiving a hype-filled sheet labeled “Press Release.”

I’ve actually read about cases where reporters turn over such “releases” to their advertising department as leads! Remember what we just discussed in Step One? Now that you have a good vision of your target audience in mind, don’t blow it when you begin to write.

Keep a picture of Tom Brokaw or some other stiff-necked news anchor taped to your computer monitor while you write. If you wouldn’t hear Tom using the verbiage you’re typing into your release on the nightly news, don’t include it in your copy.

Step Three - Send Your Press Release Out to Everybody on the Face of the Earth Whether It Is Applicable to Them or Not

Here’s yet another “tactic” that so many well-meaning people misunderstand. Again… just like advertising, you have to keep your target audience in mind.

If you manufacture automobile parts and sell them to repair shops, would you advertise in a golf magazine? Certainly not! Why? Because it’s very unlikely that you’ll get any response. Wholesale auto parts are not what most golfers are looking for.

The same holds true when distributing your press release.

Take the time to develop, rent, buy or broker a list that will get your release in front of people who will actually care. Will it be free? No. Will it work? Unless you use one or all of these three ways to ruin your release, it should.

Are there more ways to ruin your press release? Oh sure! Lots of them. But these “Top 3 Killers” require the most attention. Before you write your next press release, take time to stop and think. Are you using any of these three steps? If so, make changes now so your release will accomplish everything you’ve hoped for.

Copy not getting results? Learn to write like a pro! Boost your sales and your search engine rankings with The Step-by-step Copywriting Course. Not just a book... a complete self-pace course. Get yours today! [insert affiliate link here]

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Copywriting Tips for Sales-generating Brochures
by Karon Thackston

Brochures have held an important place in marketing plans for longer than most of us can remember. There is no doubt that they have the ability to generate sales and increase revenues. Why then do so many of them fail?

There are several aspects of copywriting for brochures that amateur writers don’t consider. It’s those things that make or break the success of your efforts.

For the sake of generalization, let’s think about creating a six-panel brochure. (Also called a tri-fold brochure among other things.) This is created from an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper that is then folded twice. There are three panels on the front and three on the backside of the original sheet.

The Cover

As if it wasn’t obvious, the cover is the most important panel in your brochure. Both the images and words need to grab the reader’s attention and pull him or her in. It has to be compelling enough to (a) strike an emotional chord, (b) make the customer want to pick up the brochure, and (c) make the reader want to know what’s inside.

So, why then do so many people simply put their company name and a picture of their building (or something equally as boring) on this - the most important of all panels?

I generally leave the writing of the cover as the last element in my brochure-writing project. Once I’ve finished the rest of the copy, I read back over it at a leisurely pace. Then I stop to think. If I were asked to summarize the information in this brochure in 10 seconds, what would I say? If I had to name the single biggest benefit the customer will receive from this information, what would it be?

Those are excellent ways to generate covers for brochures. A few examples are below. These are brochures that I’ve seen around town that made me reach for them and want to know what was inside.

“Plastic kitchen set. Dollhouse. Dollhouse furniture. Pink tricycle. $427.66. Your checking account balance… $302.86. Get what you need when you need it.” This was for a cash advance service. This particular brochure was printed before the Christmas holidays so it had special appeal to lots of people.

“Over 3,000 babies died last year alone due to improper safety seat installations. Be SURE your child is safe!” Obviously, this was for a child safety seat inspection checkup.

These make an emotional appeal, get the readers' attention, and make them want to know more.

Inside Panel Headlines

These are just as important to the process as the cover headline. Capture the true value of the information in each section and provide it to the reader within the headline.

Information Panels

For most brochures, making a sale on the spot is not the objective. Driving traffic to a phone center or Web site is. Therefore provide the most impressive product/service information on the inside panels in order to help accomplish this goal.

In addition to the information about your products/services, incorporate calls-to-action like:

“Call today for full details.”
“Visit our Web site to see the complete color selection.”
“Customer service specialists are waiting for your call.”

Once you understand the goals of your brochure, incorporate compelling headlines, and include a cover section that generates interest, you are more likely to see success from your brochure.

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They’re Searching So Why Aren’t They Buying?
by Karon Thackston

There seems to be a common myth regarding site visitors and the buying process these days. I’ve heard this statement more than a few times over the last several months: “My visitors find me when they use search engines. They type in the exact keyphrases I’m listed under. So when they get to my site why aren’t they buying?” The simple answer is that they aren’t ready to buy yet.

Just because surfers type a specific keyphrase into a search engine does not mean they are ready to buy. In fact, it could mean just the opposite.

The buying process is made up of several stages, and your site visitors could fall into any one of the five. Let’s say a surfer typed “water filtration systems” into Google. This same keyphrase can be used by people in all five of the buying-process stages. Take a look at the steps, and I’ll show you why - during each one - your visitors might come to your site.

Step One - Need/Want Recognition - Deciding there is, in fact, a need or a want to be filled. During this stage a site visitor may be wondering. Take yourself for example. Suppose someone told you about a new water filtration system that is just awesome. Being a health-conscious person, you want to determine if this is something that would be good for you and your family. You jump on the Internet and begin looking for general information about the product.

Right now you aren’t the least bit interested in price or sales pitches. You just want to know what this filtration system is all about so you can decide IF there is a need or want on your part.

Likewise, a site visitor in the need/want recognition stage is looking for solid, unbiased information.

Step Two - Information Search - Trying to determine what’s available. So now you’ve found out that these filtration systems are fabulous, and you’ve decided your family needs one after all. Next step? Jump back on the Internet and start searching for information.

Are there various styles or sizes? What’s the price difference? What features/accessories come with the system?

This is one time to focus on benefits, to make yourself available for questions, and to direct your site visitor toward your product/service.

Step Three - Evaluation - Eliminating products/services/companies and deciding who’s best. After you’ve gathered a good bit of information, you’ll begin to weed through the product brands and companies to determine which one you will actually buy.

A site visitor in this stage will likely come to your site for additional information, to find the answers to questions he/she came up with since the last visit, or to double check facts and figures.

This is a good time to not only focus on benefits, but also to have customer service, warranty, price incentive, and other information available.

Step Four - Purchase - Actually buying your product/service. Finally! After all this time, the customers are ready to buy! Support their decisions by making your ordering process and shopping cart quick and simple to use.

Step Five - Buyer’s Regret - Wondering if they made the right decision. This is where money-back guarantees can save you! Most people simply need the reassurance that they *can* get their money back if need be. Especially with high-ticket items, buyer’s regret is common. Reinforce their buying decisions by letting them know they can contact you with any problems they have.

So, as you can see, even though every stage in the process is different, the same exact keyphrase could be used to search the ‘Net for information. Create your site to accommodate every step in the buying process. Don’t assume that - just because someone typed your keywords into a search engine - they are automatically ready to buy.

Copy not getting results? Learn to write like a pro! Boost your sales and your search engine rankings with The Step-by-step Copywriting Course. Not just a book... a complete self-pace course. Get yours today! [insert affiliate link here]

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Copywriting Makeover: It’s Not About YOU, It’s About THEM
by Karon Thackston

I’ve always loved scented candles. They help create a cozy atmosphere. They give you a relaxed feeling. And - most importantly - they make your home smell wonderful! So, naturally, I was excited when I was approached to rewrite the index (front) page for an online retailer who made specialty, soy scented candles.

The goals of the copywriting rewrite were to increase sales and improve search engine positioning for the terms “soy candles,” and “scented candles.” The copy definitely needed some work. It wasn’t “bad,” but it had one major thing holding it back. The copy violated one of the primary rules of copywriting. “It’s not about you… it’s about them.”

An additional problem was that the information - while definitely necessary - was presented as more of a list of nuts and bolts. It needed a boost to create a “feeling” about the candles for sale.

The Problem

As you can see from the original version, http://www.copywritingcourse.com/IlluminousTimes-BEFORE.doc, the copy either focused on the company or the candles. Very little of the copy focused on the customer.

Another element that was “off” in the copy was the lack of the “experience.” Site owner Dan Fehn had some fabulous research data about scented candle buyers, however he did not know to include that information when writing.

Lastly, while Illuminous Times had fairly good search engine rankings, there was room for improvement.

The Solution

The data I received included the following information from the National Candle Association.

Candle industry research indicates that the most important factors affecting candle sales are scent, color, cost and shape. Fragrance is by far the most important characteristic, with three-fourths of candle purchasers saying it is "extremely important" or "very important" in their selection of a candle for the home.

Candle manufacturers' surveys show that 96% of all candles purchased are bought by women.

Nine out of ten candle users say they use candles to make a room feel comfortable or cozy.

This was the basis for the copywriting makeover. As a scented candle lover myself, I knew for a fact what women wanted from candles. I understood the candle buying experience and played on that knowledge to create copy that “romanced” the site visitor and increased the desire to buy.

The search engine optimization (SEO) aspect of the copy came easily. The terms “scented candles” and “soy candles” flowed naturally as I created the copy so my primary goal was to use these phrases in power positions (like the headline and sub-heads). I’d also place them as often as I could without making the copy sound stiff or forced.

The Rewrite

You can view the new copy here (http://www.illuminoustimes-current.pdf). As you can see, the new version immediately begins to entice the site visitor. Everything she wants from a scented candle is laid out before her… and some things she might not have known she wanted.

I began to pique interest in soy candles (as opposed to traditional wax candles found in stores) by immediately outlining the advantages soy candles offer. From there I played on the fragrance (the most important characteristic according to the National Candle Association).

I led the customer through a mental tour of their home - lighting candles for a special dinner, enjoying the glow as they snuggled with a good book, and having the unmistakable fragrances only soy candles offer wafting through their homes.

A final keyphrase-rich benefits list of why soy candles are superior to traditional wax candles and an emotional call-to-action wrapped up the copy.

The Results

I think the results of the copywriting makeover are best stated by Dan himself.

"Thank you! Sales have increase even before the holiday season and my rankings have improved, too. Right now I am #1 for the term 'soy candles' (previously ranked at #4), and I'm at #7 for 'scented candles'... a huge jump up from #17!"

So, as you can see, taking the focus off the product or company and putting where it should be (on the customer) makes a tremendous difference. Sales naturally increase when the customer feels he/she is the reason for your existence. Take some time now to look back over your copy. Is it company focused? If so, learning to write specifically for your customers can turn your sales around almost immediately.

Which words make *your* customers buy? Let Karon show you. Boost your sales and your search engine positioning by learning to write strategically created copy that hits a nerve and makes the sale. Get the details now at http://www.copywritingcourse.com.

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SEO Writing Strategies for Graphic-Oriented Sites
by Karon Thackston

As a copywriter, I’d love to tell you that every site on the Web needs tons of copy. However, the simple truth is not all do. Many sites simply produce better sales when they use more graphics than words. Since search engines are hungry for words you simply have to use copy if you plan to get ranked high. Quite a dilemma, isn’t it?

So what do you do if you’re a graphic designer, if you sell jewelry, or if you have another site that needs more pictures than copy? Don’t despair. There are some strategies that can help you reach a happy medium satisfying both your visitors and the engines.

1. Use Descriptions - Place keyworded descriptions under each graphic on your pages. Just a sentence or two for each one can add up and give you enough room to achieve good keyword saturation.

2. Break the Copy Into Sections - Instead of having all 250-350 words of copy in one place, break your copy into small sections. For example, place a headline and three sentences at the top of the page, a few words under your bottom navigation bar, and a short paragraph above your “Order Now” link. The engines will find the words regardless of where on the page they are, but your visitors won’t be overwhelmed by seeing all the copy in one place.

3. Don’t Neglect ALT Tags - Don’t abuse them, either! ALT tags (technically known as image alt attributes) are designed to give short descriptions of graphics on your page. They are read to those who can’t see well (when they use special text-to-speech software). Abusing ALT tags by stuffing them full of arbitrary keywords or extremely long descriptions is frowned upon by the engines. However, feel free to assign a short keyword phrase that describes each graphic you have.

4. Go Below the Fold - Copy can always be placed “below the fold.” This term is used to describe the section of your index page that is not visible when the page first loads. In order to see it, the visitor would have to scroll vertically. If you’ve designed your index page to be fully visible without scrolling, consider using the space below the design to insert your copy.

5. Use the Sidebar - If your site design uses a sidebar for the navigation links, use the empty space for short bits of copy. Even the statement “Order ________ Now” will give you one more instance of keyword placement.

6. Create Bulleted Lists - Many people don’t perceive lists as copy. For this reason, you can use bulleted lists (or numbered lists) where traditional “sentence” copy wouldn’t work. Tip: Instead of creating a list that reads:

We meet all your ____ needs by:

offering the lowest price.
providing first-rate service.
shipping your order in just 24 hours.

Create a list that reads like this:

At ABC Company, we offer you:

the lowest price on ______.
first-rate service. Ask us any questions you have about ____.
shipping of your _____ in just 24 hours.

See the difference? More keywords in the same amount of copy.

If you use a little creativity, you can get enough keyword saturation in your copy without it cluttering up your site. This is sure to please both the search engines and your site visitors.

Karon Thackston has been raising sales levels and search engine rankings for years. Copy not getting results? Now you can learn to write your own powerful SEO copy with Karon's course. Visit for details today! [insert affiliate link here]

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Nip and Tuck – Three Quick Tricks for Writing SEO Copy
by Karon Thackston

Have you ever been to one of those sites that has obviously been written to get high search engine rankings? You know the ones… they have copy that sounds like this:

“When you buy quality silver jewelry from us, you know your quality silver jewelry is of the highest quality because we only sell quality silver jewelry that is top-notch. No other quality silver jewelry site on the Web offers the selection of quality silver jewelry that we do!”

Want to take a wild guess at what keyphrase they’re targeting?

Copy like this simply doesn’t sound “real.” It’s very forced. Yes, it may very well get ranked high in the search engines, but what then? When visitors click to your site they’ll be faced with stiff copy that sounds like a robot. It doesn’t flow… and it doesn’t sell, either! With a little nip and tuck, you can create copy that appeals to your target audience AND ranks high with the engines.

So just how do you get your keywords and phrases into your copy and still have a nice, flowing sales message? It’s really easier than you might think.

Here are a couple of strategies I use when writing SEO copy.

Headlines and Subheadlines

These make the ideal place for keywords. Why? Because keywords are normally descriptive by nature. Since headlines describe what the site visitor is about to read, it makes perfect sense to include keywords within them.

Titles

Create a chart, or a list, and give it a keyword-rich title. Just as with headlines, titles should be descriptive… another perfect keyword/copy match.

Lists

In your chart or list, include keywords in the headers and within the list descriptions. For example, if your keywords include softball trading pins, employee recognition awards, lapel pins, and lapel pin you could create a list that reads like this:

<Keyword Title> Creative Lapel Pin Uses
<Keyword Headers & Descriptions>

Baseball and Softball Trading Pins - Lapel pin trading among baseball and softball teams has dramatically grown in popularity… be sure to support your team with custom-created baseball and softball trading pins.
Employee Recognition Awards - Employees take great pride in wearing lapel pins that show their achievements, and they will treasure employee recognition awards that they can frequently show to others.

See how the list uses keyphrases within the headers and again within the list description itself?

Using keywords in carefully chosen places allows you to have more freedom with your copy itself. So now, instead of the forced, unappealing copy we read in the first example, you can have something more relaxed like this:

Quality Silver Jewelry Is A Rare Find!

If you’ve been looking for quality silver jewelry long, you know that quality is, in fact, a major issue. Unfortunately, many companies combine low-cost metals with their silver. That compromises the quality and the appearance. That’s a practice we never participate in!

How To Recognize Quality Silver Jewelry

When shopping for the best, look for these tell-tell signs of excellence.

· Quality silver jewelry that is truly created of pure silver will display a radiant sheen.
· When you touch the surface, quality silver jewelry will immediately show a fingerprint.
· Breathing on the finish of quality silver jewelry will produce a fog, while breathing on the finish of poor-quality silver will not.

And so on, and so on.

So you see, you can have copy that makes sense, provides solutions for your site visitors, and ranks high with the search engines. It’s not impossible… it just takes a bit of training and practice. Before long, you’ll be tucking keywords in all the right places!

Want to become more effective at writing SEO copy? Karon has lots of other tips to get your customers drooling and your rankings soaring! Visit [insert affiliate linke here] today for all the details.

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Insider Secrets of Writing for Search Engines, Part 1
by Cathy Kessler
http://www.kesslerva.com

Practically anyone with a website is interested in being listed high on the search engines. However, few people actually understand what it takes to achieve rankings that will bring about qualified visitors. Copywriting pro Karon Thackston specializes in writing website copy that helps to achieve exceptional search engine positioning. She’s agreed to hold a “tell all” session with me, and to divulge some of her secrets.

CATHY: Hi, Karon. Thanks so much for talking with me about this subject.

KARON: Always a pleasure, Cathy. Glad to help.

CATHY: Let’s start with the basics, shall we? What is search engine optimized copy?

KARON: Well, Cathy, basically search engine optimized (SEO) copy is text on your website that has been written in such a way that it incorporates the specific key phrases you hope to be found under when search results for those phrases are returned. It uses those key phrases in strategic places, and in “balanced repetition” in order to show the relevance of your pages to the engines.

CATHY: And why is search engine optimized copy important?

KARON: All search engines that use “spiders” (automated programs that scan your site) have certain criteria in order for your site to be accepted. Almost every one of those criteria deals with your copy (text). The spiders read your HTML code in order to judge your site’s viability. It just so happens that your code is all text. Because of that fact, having search engine compatible copy is the number one consideration when trying to get high rankings.

CATHY: So then, how do I know if I have search engine optimized copy? I didn't create my
website although I did write the copy.

KARON: SEO copy normally has to be written with the engines in mind. However, you will occasionally find very targeted sites where the copy was not specifically written for the engines, but it still ranks high. To find out if you fall into the minority here, just visit a few search engines and type in a phrase you’d like to be ranked high with… then see if your site pops up. When I searched under “virtual assistant,” I found you came up on Google in position number 39.

CATHY: If I want to improve my rankings, is it possible to do it on my own?

KARON: Many times it is. It depends a good deal on how competitive your key phrases are.

CATHY: If I decide to optimize my copy, can you give me some dos or don'ts to follow when writing?

KARON: Sure, Cathy! First and foremost, choose the best keywords for your particular site. Never, ever guess! I love to use http://www.wordtracker.com. They do an excellent job of helping to determine which key phrases are the most effective. Use multi-word phrases… not singular words because that is how most surfers search. In addition, select only about three or four keywords per page. This allows you to focus your copy in one direction in order to better meet the engine’s qualifications.

Next, pay close attention to your headlines. In most Web design programs, you have the option of choosing to make certain text a “headline” instead of just “big text.” Headlines (those that are included within what is referred to as an “H1,” “H2,” etc. tag) are given a little heavier weight with the engines so it is important to include your key phrases within the headline where possible. This applies to subheads, as well as the headline at the beginning of your copy.

You’ll want to also use your key phrases throughout your body copy – keeping your page copy at around 250-400 words in length. You can include them within sentences, as the headline of a table or chart, in the links to other pages, as “ALT” tags for graphics and photos, and within your site title and other META tags.

Lastly, you’ll want to have your copy professionally proofread. Typos can cost you!

CATHY: Wow! It sounds as though you really have to know what you’re doing, Karon. Is it difficult to get the key phrases in all the right places without the copy sounding odd?

KARON: It can be a challenge at times, but it certainly is possible. Just look at all the sites on the search engines that rank high. : )
CATHY: That’s true. If I want to learn more about SEO copywriting, do you know of other resources that can help?

KARON: Oh yes… one excellent ezine about search engine optimization in general is written by SEO expert Jill Whalen of HighRankings.com. Her “High Rankings Advisor” is one of the best. You can find it here: http://www.highrankings.com/advisor.htm. There is also Doug Heil’s SEO forum at this link: http://www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums/. For specifics on copywriting, there’s my book, The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. It takes you through how to write effective copy of all types along with how to write SEO copy. You can find it here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com.

CATHY: Thanks so much, Karon. I really appreciate you letting me in on a few of your secrets. You’ve been a big help.

KARON: Any time, Cathy!

Cathy Kessler is a Certified Professional Virtual Assistant specializing in proofreading, copyediting, and research. Do you have books, books, brochures, websites, articles, newsletters, or other documents that need to be proofread or researched? Visit http://www.kesslerva.com today for additional information, or contact Cathy directly at cathy@kesslerva.com.

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Insider Secrets of Writing for Search Engines, Part 2
by Cathy Kessler
http://www.kesslerva.com

“Insider Secrets of Writing for Search Engines” was so popular that I contacted SEO copywriting pro Karon Thackston to see if she’d be willing to answer a few more, in-depth questions. She graciously agreed… and so our interview continues.

CATHY: Hi, Karon. Thanks for talking with me again.

KARON: Certainly!

CATHY: So, Karon, how do I start? I have this blank piece of paper in front of me, and I am clueless! This can be overwhelming to someone who does not write for a living.

KARON: You always start with keywords, Cathy. Think of your keywords as the structure for your copy. Your copy will be built around the keywords along with your other information. I always use Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com) to research viable keywords that are *actually* being searched for. Never, EVER guess. You’ll end up taking a stab in the dark that could cost you big in the future.

CATHY: So, use Wordtracker to research my keywords and then incorporate them into my copy?
Do I have to use the exact keywords?

KARON: Right. Yes, whenever possible, use the exact keywords/phrases that you’ve researched. If your keyword is “virtual assistants in Pennsylvania,” you should use that specific phrase.

CATHY: Where do I put the keywords? I’ve heard that I need to fill my META tags with them. Is that true? You mentioned headlines in our last conversation. Anything else?

KARON: Well, certain areas within your page get “brownie points” (if you will) when they contain keywords, but not so much so that you should change your copywriting strategy in order to make keywords “fit” where they don’t sound right. The title tag and description tag are really about the only two tags that are used by engines these days. Those will often show in the search results so they need to be enticing plus keyword rich. The keyword tag holds little, if any, weight. In my experience, your keywords should be equally saturated throughout the page… headlines, title, description, copy, and links.

CATHY: OK, so let me get this straight. I have to write copy that (a) is search engine compatible, (b) is enticing so those who find me in the search results will click my link, (c) communicates well to my target audience, and (d) makes the sale? Should I do this by myself or work with a professional writer who knows the ins/outs?

KARON: <Grin> It can be a bit difficult, Cathy, but you can do it if you take the time to learn. If you don’t have the time (or the inclination) to learn to write SEO copy, you can hire a pro to do it for you.

CATHY: Hmmm… something to think about. Let me ask you this then… how important are graphics when it comes to SEO?

KARON: Well, graphics don’t hold any real sway when it comes to engines. Because spiders and robots read text, they pretty much ignore any images they find on your pages. You *can* use graphics, however, to boost your keyword saturation.

CATHY: Really? How?

KARON: In most Web design programs, you have the option of including what’s referred to as an “ALT” tag. (I think I mentioned this last time.) This is a text-based description that can be associated with the image. You’ve probably seen them when you’ve visited Web sites before. ALT tags are the little boxes that show up when you hold your pointer over an image. You can write descriptions that are keyword rich and increase the keyword saturation on your pages.

CATHY: Oh! Great! So, while graphics don’t hurt a site, they won’t help my positioning any either?

KARON: Exactly.

CATHY: Karon, do you have additional resources to offer? When we last spoke, you mentioned your e-course (http://www.copywritingcourse.com), Jill Whalen’s newsletter (http://www.highrankings.com/advisor.htm), and Doug Heil’s forum (http://www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums/). Do you have other resources for folks that want to know more about writing for the engines?

KARON: Yes! Jill Whalen has just released a new report on how to get those pesky little keywords in all the right places. I think it’s fabulous! It’s not a copywriting guide… more of an “editing for the engines guide.” You can find it here: http://www.marketingwords.com/nittygritty.html. I use the techniques Jill outlines in her “The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Engines” in every piece of SEO copy I write. There's also my ezine, Business Essentials, that deals with copywriting. It can be found at http://www.marketingwords.com/ezine.html.

CATHY: Thanks so much, Karon. I really appreciate you letting me in on a few of your secrets. You’ve been a big help.

KARON: Any time, Cathy!

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The "No META Tags, #1 Listing" Formula For High Search Engine Rankings
by Karon Thackston

Depending on who you ask, you can receive two dozen different answers as to what factors will get you that coveted #1 spot on your favorite search engine. However, the proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes. Well, my pudding has bubbled and boiled and is now ready for tasting!

Let me tell you about my experience with getting my latest site ranked #1 for its chosen keyphrase on Google. Incidentally, it is also ranked #2 with Lycos.

Step One - Don't Guess About Keywords

This is an all-important step. Choosing the wrong keywords will stop you before you even start. A case in point... initially, the name of my site was going to be different. I was going to call it The Step-By-Step Copywriting Workshop. However, much to my surprise, the keyphrase "copywriting workshop" was not searched for by surfers. Had I chosen that keyphrase, I could have set myself up for lower rankings.

I use a service called WordTracker (www.wordtracker.com). This is, without a doubt, one of the best keyword analysis services I've come across. With WordTracker, I was able to find the exact keywords/phrases that those interested in learning to write copy were using online. Thanks to this service, I was able to come up with a much stronger keyphrase... copywriting course. That's what I decided would be the primary keyphrase for my new site, and the name of the book.

Step Two - Plan Your Site

In planning for the site I knew I needed to use my primary keyphrase wherever possible. I looked at placing it within the page links, but the link names would not have made sense. I - of course - used it as the URL (http://www.copywritingcourse.com). Next, I thought about how to use the phrase in the ALT tags of the images on the site pages. That worked well.

Finally, I turned my attention to the copy.

Step Three - Writing the Copy

I already knew that the copy was the major player of the game. For this reason, I strategically placed the keyphrase in the title bar of the site, used it in the header section and made very sure to achieve a keyword saturation ratio of around 3% - 4% within the body copy.

The End Result

When all was ready, I submitted the site to the major free engines including Google, AltaVista, Lycos, HotBot and others. The first submission took place on March 20th. My site finally hit Google and Lycos on May 8th - some 7 weeks later.

I typed in "copywriting course" and - low and behold - it was #1 on Google and #2 on Lycos!

The Amazing Part

What's so amazing? I used NO description tag or keyword tag! I had forgotten all about it. When I went back to the site to view the source code - I found no tags. (Go ahead and take a look... you won't find them either.)

So, *is* copy the key to good search engine rankings? I'd say this proves it beyond the shadow of a doubt.

While META tags are beneficial (especially the title tag), they are not the only factor at play. Search engine compatible copywriting plays a much more important role than any other "trick" in the book.

Which words make *your* customers buy? Let Karon show you. Learn to write strategically created copy that hits a nerve and makes the sale. Boost your search engine rankings, too! Learn more now at [insert your affiliate link here].

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Advertising Secrets I Learned From The Kirby Vacuum Cleaner Man
by Karon Thackston

I was just sitting here at my computer (as usual) when my husband walked in and announced, "There's a man here to see you". What? I wasn't expecting anyone. "Who is it", I asked. "Some guy who wants to speak with my wife." OK, my husband was home so I knew I was safe. I ventured outside to see who it was.

I was promptly met on my porch by a smiling face who presented me with a free box of laundry detergent. This seemingly nice young man told me he was in the neighborhood and wanted to give me this free gift. Being the skeptic I am, my first thought was, "Oh yeah... and what kind of sales pitch?"

He proceeded to walk to his truck, then turned and asked if I had a minute. "Yep, here it comes", I thought. I said I was a little busy but asked what he wanted. The smile came back to his face as he said, "I want to make your life easier."

(Secret #1 - Give your customers something absolutely free of charge. This makes them appreciative and brings about a feeling of good will. It can be free useful articles, a free book, a sample or trial... anything free.)

He began to pull box after box from the back of his SUV. As he approached my door, loaded for bear, he asked if I would allow him to vacuum and clean my carpets... all free, of course. At first I was going to turn him down cold. I wasn't in the vacuum or carpet cleaner buying mood. But then I wondered if I might be able to learn something from this representative of one of the most successful vacuum cleaner companies in America. I decided to give in and allow the demonstration, hoping to glean some "secrets" I could use in my copywriting.

As he walked into the living room, he began to set up the vacuum. Small talk followed. He complimented me on the interior design of my house, asked what brand of vacuum I used, how I liked it, how old it was, if I had considered buying a new vacuum, if anyone in my family suffered from allergies and how much time I spent cleaning house.

(Secret #2 - Get to know your customers. By collecting this information, the salesman was mentally tailoring his "pitch" to suit me. He was making notes to include the elements of his presentation that would appeal to me personally, and leave out those that would not.)

Next, the Kirby man (who I'll call Roger), began to ask me questions that I would obviously have to say "yes" to. This is reminiscent of the Dale Carnegie style. Roger asked, "Would you like to be able to spend less time cleaning with better results?" He asked, "Would you like to know that the allergens AND the dirt are taken out of your upholstery and carpeting?" And finally, he asked, "Would you like for your new carpet to last twice as long?" Needless-to-say, the answer to all three was "yes".

(Secret #3 - Get them in the habit of saying "yes". Dale Carnegie made a point of this in his book How To Win Friends and Influence People. If you get someone in the habit of saying "yes", they are going to be more likely to agree with you when it comes to other questions (like, "are you ready to buy a new vacuum"!)

Roger asked me to get my old vacuum from the closet. I did. He asked me to bring him a box of salt. (Yes, I saw it coming but I did it anyway.) He began to pour the salt onto my carpet. Then (as expected) he ground it in with his foot. He took my old vacuum and asked me to let him know when I thought it had sucked up all the salt. On came the vacuum and the challenge began!

After about 15 passes, I instructed Roger to stop. He did. Then he reached behind him and rolled over the Kirby G6 - Limited Edition. He opened the latch where the bag goes and placed a black, thin pad over it. Next, he flipped on the "onboard transmission", put the vacuum into "drive" and began the first part of his demonstration.

Just 6 passes later, he stopped the Kirby, opened the bag latch and pulled out the black pad. It was covered with salt! It was also covered with dirt, sand, lint and hair. It was extremely gross, not to mention embarrassing!

(Secret #4 - Prove your point. Just telling someone that your product or service works means nothing. You have to prove that you can and will do what you say. If you can't offer an online demonstration; use testimonials, offer references that tell about before and after results. Or give a free trial period so the customer can check it out themselves.)

"I know you're busy, ma'am, but I just wanted to show you that. I'll finish vacuuming now and then clean your living room", said Roger. I knew Roger and I weren't finished yet, but I went back to my computer like a good little prospect and let him do his work.

Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, Roger asked where he would find our trashcan. I walked around the corner to see what needed to be thrown away and was immediately horrified! He had used those little pads while vacuuming the entire room! There were disks all over my living room just covered with hair, lint, fibers, dust, sand and who knows what else. The fear of creepy- crawly things in my house started to rise up within me. All this junk was in my carpet? How disgusting! My house wasn't as clean as I thought it was. "I'm sorry for the mess, ma'am, but we are only allowed to use these demonstration pads to vacuum with. I'll throw them away if you'll show me to your garbage can."

(Secret #5 - Play on emotion. By leaving all those little demonstration pads around the room, Roger was subtly telling me that my house wasn't very clean. He was reminding me of the initial conversation we had about allergens and getting my house cleaner in less time. It was working, too. I began to think about all the mess deep down inside my carpet, and drapes, and rugs, and upholstery.)

"Can I try to get these stains out for you", was the cry from the living room. "Sure, go ahead", I replied. Roger continued to work, as did I. A few minutes later he asked if I would come see if the stains were still noticeable. They weren't! I'd tried to get the stains out before but had no luck. "Good", Roger smiled, "I'll clean the rest for you now".

I continued banging on my keyboard until I heard the whirring of the motor stop. Roger peeked around the corner and told me it would take an hour or so for the carpet to dry enough to walk on. "Do you mind if I get my gear together in here?" I agreed.

As he was putting up hoses and attachments, he began to explain the extreme versatility of the Kirby G6 - Limited Edition. The package he had with him that day came with a base vacuum which offered an "onboard transmission" so the motor wouldn't wear out. It also allowed the vacuum to be easier to push. It offered the ability to blow as well as pull suction. This, as Roger explained, was useful for blowing up pool toys or inflatable balls - and for deflating air mattresses, etc. so they would lie completely flat for storage. The carpet cleaner attachment would... Well, you get the idea.

(Secret #6 - Focus on benefits, not features. We've all heard the phrase before, however most don't apply it. I wouldn't care anything in the world about a vacuum with "onboard transmission" because I don't have a clue what it is or what it does for me. Once explained, however, I love the idea of a vacuum that "drives itself".)

Lastly, after the full tour of how easy the vacuum was to operate, how much cleaner my house would be with less effort, and how versatile the vacuum/carpet cleaner was... we got to the price.

Needless-to-say, with Kirby's reputation, I was expecting to pay and arm and a leg. However, Roger simply said, "All this can be yours for just $3.00 per day". That didn't sound so bad. "For how many days", my cynical self asked. Roger laughed and pulled out his pricing sheet. To answer the question that you've had since the beginning of the article... Yes, I bought the vacuum.

(Secret #7 - Save the price for last. Get them to love your product or service and then - if possible - break the price out into as small an increment as you can. This saves the prospective customer from suffering "sticker shock" and makes the item appear more affordable.)

Was it worth it? Yes and yes. It was worth my time to find out how one of the most successful vacuum cleaner companies in America does it's sales magic; and it was worth the price of the vacuum, too. I learned a lot from the Kirby vacuum cleaner man, and my house looks great!

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How To Write Motivational Copy That Sells
by Karon Thackston

Who of us hasn't written advertising copy that we thought was great only to find out it flopped big time? Why? When you wrote it, it seemed very persuasive. You included lots of benefits and even gave a money back guarantee. It got YOU up and moving so why did your customers turn their heads?

The reason is usually quite simple. They are not you. While one thing might motivate you and excite you enough to open your wallet and buy, there are other personality types who respond to different motivational factors. If you know the factors, you hold the key to copywriting success!

There are several names for the different personality or behavioral types. Myers-Briggs labels them with letters (E = extrovert, I = introvert, etc.). Some psychologists label them with types ("A-type" personality, "B-type" personality, etc.). The DISC model (which I find the easiest to follow) labels the different personalities with descriptors (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, etc.) Regardless of what they're called, I encourage you to get to know them. Once you decipher the inner workings of your customers, you can write copy that will motivate each and every time.

Let's look at a few of the descriptors used within the DISC model and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.

Dominance

The Dominance behavioral style is usually described with the following attributes:

high egos
problem-solver
likes challenges
drives hard for results
positive
loves power and authority
motivated by direct answers

Influence

The Influence behavioral style can be described like this:

socially and verbally aggressive
optimistic
can see the big picture
people-oriented
fast movers
motivated by praise and strokes

Steadiness

Those who fall into the Steadiness behavioral style usually are described as:

loyal to those they identify with good listener
patient
loves security
wants to see benefits
oriented towards family activities
motivated towards traditional procedures

Compliance

The last of the four styles is Compliance. These people usually have the following attributes:

critical thinkers
high standards
well disciplined
accurate
motivated by the right way to proceed

As you can see, these simple hints already open new doors for copywriting effectiveness. From what's written above, you are probably getting some good ideas about how to adjust your copy to fit your target audience.

For example, when writing to people with a Dominant behavioral style you'll want to be direct and to the point, focus on the business at hand, show them how this will help them get results and offer a win/win situation.

Influential people will want to allow time for socialization (so include some "chit chat" when possible), to have fun, offer new and innovative ideas, give a way for them to respond quickly and offer praise and strokes for them making a good decision. Steadiness types make up the majority of the population. Over 40% of Americans fall into the Steadiness category. These people need to see a logical approach to your product or service, they need time for thinking before buying, they want to see how your solution will benefit them and they need a sense of security about buying.

This explains why most copywriters will tell you to write long copy that is full of benefits and offers a money back guarantee. However, while this does work for 40% of the population, the other 60% has an issue with it. This is why I continually preach that you should know your target audience! If you are marketing to a group of CEOs (which most definitely fall into the dominance category) you can't provide long copy... they simply won't read it. They are looking for the bottom line and may ask for more details later if they feel they are necessary. If you have lots of information to provide, you'll have to break it up into sections to suit a "dominance" type.

It all boils down to giving the customer what they want. Even in your copywriting techniques. If you don't, you'll lose the sale - plain and simple. As an example, I'll tell you about a real estate agent I once worked with. I was looking for a house and had specific criteria for the exterior and interior. Rather than scheduling an appointment with the realtor every other day to view houses, I wanted to be given the addresses and view the outside at my own pace. If the outside didn't have specific features, there was no need for me to see the inside.

One Realtor emphatically told me, "Mrs. Thackston, that's just not the way I sell." To which I responded, "That's a shame... that's the way I buy!" He wouldn't give me what I wanted and therefore lost the sale.

I encourage you to learn as much as you can about your target audience. Their likes, dislikes, personality traits and behavioral traits. When you do, you'll be able to write motivational copy that creates a desire to buy.

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To Increase Your Advertising Effectiveness - Stop Selling!
by Karon Thackston

How many times have you heard the old adage, "The customer doesn't want a drill, he wants a hole in his wall"? While I may disagree with parts of that phrase, one thing is for sure... if you want to increase your advertising effectiveness, you have to stop selling what YOU want the customer to buy and start solving his problems.

What exactly does that mean? For starters, it means finding out who your customers are and what challenges they face. It also means that your ad copy, your tag line, your Web site design, your brochure, your customer service plan and your support need to all work in concert to provide the solutions to those challenges.

The most effective advertising pieces don't sell... they fulfill. They don't talk about the company... they talk about the customer. They don't push price... they provide solutions.

When you focus on the customer in your advertising copy, when you get inside the mind of your customer and speak to their emotional needs, you will see greater results.

Here are 7 tips for creating copy that does not sell... but provides a solution.

1. Talk TO the customer, not ABOUT the company. Yes, you have to mention your company name so they'll know who you are. But the majority of your copy should speak to the customer and his/her needs. Not: "ABC Web Site Designers has been in business for 13 years. We do great work. Our clients think this or that. We provide design, java and cgi. Our customer service can't be beat. ABC is the best and you should use us."

2. Use "you" and "your" and write as if only one person were reading your ad or site. Make your copy personal.

3. Get Real! Use real-life examples in your copy. Reach your customers on their level by identifying with them. Instead of something like, "You can get more organized and stay that way" say "You'll be able to find your keys in 5 minutes or less and never again wonder if you or your spouse is supposed to pick up the kids today."

4. Get emotional! Most buying decisions are emotional. Your ad copy should be, too! Bring out their frustration, their anger, their greed. Whatever the situation calls for, use those emotions in your copy. Example: "After you throw the plunger across the room and SCREAM... call ABC Plumbing."

5. Benefits, benefits, benefits. I know you've heard it 1,000 times, but you simply must fill your copy with benefits. Always answer the question, "What's in it for me?"

6. Show them they'll get results. Tell your customers what life will be like AFTER your product or service solves all their problems. By showing them that they will get their desired end result, you make a very persuasive argument for your product.

7. Be their friend. Let your copy portray you as "easy-to-like". Show your customer that you're their friend who is willing and able to help instead of just another business who wants them to buy.

When you put the focus on the people with the money... the people who keep your business up and going, you can work wonders with your copy. You'll see your sales improve if you just quit selling!

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Your FAQ Page - A Sales Tool? You Bet!
by Karon Thackston

The FAQ page… a standard addition to almost any site. It usually lists questions customers ask on a regular basis, and the answers to those questions. But what befuddles me is that hardly any sites I’ve visited use this page as a sales tool.

Did you think of that? If not, you’re losing out on the use of some valuable real estate! FAQ pages are generally well-trafficked areas of your site. With just a few adjustments, your FAQ page could become one of your leading sources for sales conversions.

Let me give you a before and after version of one site I visited. I’ve changed some of the information so as not to promote (or embarrass) the site owner.

BEFORE

What is the source of the minerals used in your supplements?

We use all-natural minerals from sources such as limestone and dolomite. Nothing artificial.

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What is the source of Vitamin C?

Ascorbic acid, which was originally gained by isolation from fruits and plants, is produced today by an industrial process. The basis for the industrial ascorbic acid synthesis is D-Glucose (grape sugar or corn sugar), one of the most common organic compounds in nature.

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Informative? Yes. Does it answer the question? Yes. Does it contribute to making the sale? Not really.

Now, let’s change these two answers just a bit, add a link or two, and see how much more powerful they can become.

AFTER

What is the source of the minerals used in your supplements?

We use all-natural minerals from sources such as limestone and dolomite. These 100% natural minerals are then carefully processed under low heat to remove impurities and preserve quality. Many minerals are processed under high heat, which literally kills the beneficial elements of the mineral. Because of our devotion to producing quality vitamins and minerals, we take additional precautions that other manufacturers skip. To ensure you receive the most potent supplements possible, choose XYZ Vitamins.

[shop for minerals]
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What is the source of Vitamin C?

XYZ Vitamins uses only organically-grown grapes and corn, and we extract our own D-Glucose to ensure the process remains 100% natural. No other manufacturer in the world has developed its own facility specifically to produce the highest quality of Vitamin C. We go the extra mile to ensure the vitamins and minerals you buy from XYZ Vitamins are the most beneficial for you and your family.

[shop for vitamins]
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See the difference? The “before” versions JUST answer the questions. The “after” versions boost consumer confidence, promote unique qualities of the products, and offer easy-to-follow links to buy the products in question.

By using some imagination and salesmanship, you can turn your FAQ page into a highly productive tool that not only gives visitors the information they need, but also encourages more sales!

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Your Target Audience – Who Are They & What Do They Want?
by Karon Thackston

It still amazes me. When I write copy for a company, I always ask about their target audience. I have to know who I’m writing to in order to create a message that will bring a response. But about half the time, the client is absolutely stumped about who their target audience is and what they want.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll say it again: “You have to know your target audience before you can advertise effectively.”

It just makes sense. How can you deliver what the customer wants unless you know what that is? How can you present a message in a way the customer will respond to unless you know their communication style? Bottom line… you can’t.

So exactly how do you find out who your target audience is and what they want? It’s actually easier than you might think. Here are my top seven ways to define a target audience. Each is quick, simple, and free/cheap.

1. Ask. Devise a survey or questionnaire and send it out to those people who you think *might* be interested in your product or service. Take a week or two to write a list of questions that you’d love to have the answers to; then create an online survey, and send out the link. Be honest. Tell the people why you want the information and what you plan to use it for. Also remind them that the survey is completely anonymous.

If you really want to boost responses, offer a prize drawing. Perhaps you could give away an Amazon gift certificate to one lucky winner.

TIP: I use Survey Monkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com) because they have the easiest and most flexible tools I’ve found. Not to mention, for surveys that only need 100 responses or less… it’s FREE!

2. Read. Pick up some industry trade magazines or newspapers from your local newsstand (or read them online). Especially look for the Letters to the Editor section. This is normally where folks “sound off.” It’s a great place to get some fresh insight on what your target customer is thinking.

3. Lurk. Visit online forums that are directed at people in your target audience. No need to post a message… just hang out and see what others are saying. This is another wonderful place to get insights on what people in the real world are thinking.

4. Visit. Stop by some of the places your target customers might visit. Are you selling back supports to truck drivers? You might need to visit a few truck stops. Just sit back, order the lunch special, and keep your ears open!

5. Talk. Want to know the biggest complaint about retaining wall contractors? I actually had to find this one out for a client! Talk with those who would hire a retaining wall contractor. I jumped on the telephone and made a few phone calls. Amazingly enough, almost everyone I spoke with had the same complaints. I was able to use that information to position my client in the best possible light before his target audience!

6. Join. Local associations create a tremendous environment for people to express their opinions, discuss pressing issues, and solve problems. Don’t join the ones that fit YOU best, however. Join the ones that your target customers would join!

7. Think. Put your thinking cap on, and come up with more ways to get to know your target audience. Perhaps you could visit a company that falls within your target customers’ line of work, and observe them for a few hours. Maybe you could host a free conference call where people within your audience could voice their opinions. With a little creativity, you’ll have all the ins and outs of your target customer nailed in no time!

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Solving the "I Get Tons of Traffic But No Sales" Mystery
by Karon Thackston

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard the statement, “I get tons of traffic, but no sales.” It’s normally followed by comments like: “My site is highly optimized for the engines and my rankings are great. I don’t understand why no one is buying.” Let me shed some light on this mystery.

Most often, when site owners (or professional copywriters for that matter) write “search engine optimized” copy, they develop tunnel vision. They are so focused on the placement of keyphrases throughout the copy that they neglect something very important… the customer!

Because the immediate task at hand “seems” to be getting the site ranked high, the writer neglects to take out his or her crystal ball and gaze into the future. What should you be asking the crystal ball? “What happens when the customer gets to my site?”

Oops! Didn’t think of that? Don’t feel embarrassed. Many people don’t. Developing SEO (search engine optimized) copy is like creating a complete circle. You have to have good keyword saturation in order to get ranked in those prime spots. You have to have keyword-rich title and description tags (mostly the title tag) to land in the top 10. Once you achieve that your site starts drawing in surfers. Now that they’ve clicked to your site, what happens? The copy has to give them what they want/need. That’s the missing piece to the puzzle and the factor that causes so many people to scratch their heads in disbelief.

When writing SEO copy, you have to think of the beginning AND the end of the process. You have to create copy that satisfies both the engine and the customer. Once you do, you’ll not only have boatloads of traffic, but you’ll have the sales that go along with it. So, there… mystery solved! Or at least part of it.

We’ve covered the “why,” now let’s look at the “how.”

1. Know Your Target Audience

In order to give someone what he/she wants, you have to know what that want is. Take the time to research your target audience (also called target customer, perfect customer, or ideal customer). Find out as much as you can about them including who they are, what they do, how they use your product/service, how old they are, what problems they have, and how they prefer to receive information.

2. Stop Selling and Start Solving

So many people are pushing to get that almighty dollar (or euro or pound) that they forget something. Customers don’t like to be sold to. What they really want is someone to solve their problems. Once you show that your product/service can, in fact, solve the problems your customers face, sales will come on their own.

3. Appeal To Emotions

Most buying decisions are emotional so it makes sense that your copy should be, too. While your customer’s need may be logical, the actual buying decision is anything but. Think about it. When you bought your last car, did you go for the “logical” choice? Did you pick the ugly, shapeless, “no personality” car that had the best gas mileage and the highest safety rating? I doubt you did.

You most likely took a look at all the options and – taking some logic into account – bought the car that suited you best within your price range. Emotion sells!

No, I’m not talking about getting mushy. What I AM talking about is touching the emotional chord that draws customers to your product or service. Those problems you found out about when doing steps #1 and #2 above… use them to add emotion to your copy.

With these three vital elements in your forethoughts, you can sit down and write your copy – with your keyphrases in mind – for tremendous results. When you understand the entire process and take the time to learn to write emotional, sales-oriented, SEO copy, you will keep your traffic count high and your checkbook balance higher.