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Do you want to improve the effectiveness of your web site

Guest post by: Paul Tobey

Article Overview: When it comes to websites, most business owners make the mistake of confusing glitz with effectiveness. If your primary objective is to sell, then the single most important issue is text. Not graphics and definitely not fancy flash technology. Graphic designers may disagree with me on this, but words are what count.

Do you want to improve the effectiveness of your web site

When it comes to websites, most business owners make the mistake of confusing glitz with effectiveness. If your primary objective is to sell, then the single most important issue is text. Not graphics and definitely not fancy flash technology. Graphic designers may disagree with me on this, but words are what count.

Stanford University and The Poynter Institute have just completed a four year study and they confirmed that the first thing most people look at on a web page is the copy or text.

A web page is simply another form of direct-response marketing, and effective copy means the difference between a flood of sales and a slow trickle of business.

Review your website. If you are not converting your visitors, could this be the reason? If it is, you should re-do the site, focusing on one thing: Selling your service and getting visitors to call you.

Are You Revealing Your Price Too Soon?

A common mistake made by copywriters and advertisers is to start by making a big promise in your headline or at the beginning of your copy, and then follow with "for only $499.95!"

Bringing up price is wrong at this point. The only time this is appropriate is when you are selling something that is a household name and needs no explanation.

Street-Smart Marketers know there's a basic process and structure to persuading, and until your prospect wants what you are selling she/he won’t care about the price.

Advertising is nothing more than salesmanship in print. Effective salespeople know that you have to build desire for the product, so after you make a promise that solves a problem for your prospect, paint a picture for them of what their life will be like once they have your service. Show them the results they will get and what impact that will have on them.

At this point you'll be tempted to tell them your price, especially if you think your offer is a bargain. However in most cases your clients will need some kind of proof that your service is everything you say it is. So this is the time to include one or more testimonials that reinforce everything you have told them will happen to them if they buy your service.

Well crafted testimonials provide solid evidence that what you say is true. In addition to testimonials always use solid facts and figures. So instead of saying we have the best trained customer service people. Say each of our customer service people has four weeks of training before they ever speak to a customer, and each year they receive 1 week of additional training so that they can deal with 98.5% of the issues they encounter. ( for more on testimonials see our previous editions of The Street-Smart Marketer at http://www.results-exchange.com/html/pastIssues.html)

Now that you've made your promise, painted an enticing mental picture of how the client will benefit, and provided third party evidence of the benefits, you can go ahead and reveal the price.

If you have done your job, at this point, your client will be sold, will want your service, and you will be able justify the price you've set without difficulty

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Article Tags: business owners, flash technology, graphic designers, mistake, objective



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