Stopping Up the Leaks in Your Web Copy

Think of your sales copy - the words on your website that convince visitors to buy, subscribe, or sign up - as a salesperson for your WAHM business. It may not wear the slick suit, but its main purpose is to convert browsers into buyers.

Successful salespeople know how to control a sale. Remember the last time you went into an upscale shoe store or a used car lot? The salesperson probably had an answer for your every objection.

That's because good salespeople follow a carefully crafted plan designed to make you realize how much you need the product they're pushing. Every detail, from the merchandise displays to the language they use, is meant to create a desire for their wares.

And just like a good salesperson, good sales copy controls the sale process and guides the visitor to a decision to purchase.

But your copy has greater limitations. While a salesperson can respond immediately to a prospect's every question and objection, the words on your website have to anticipate what your visitors will say, and immediately give the answers your visitors need.

A common mistake when writing website copy is including questions you can't anticipate the answers to.

Questions in your website copy are important. Some questions help your reader determine who your product is for. For example, you might ask "Are you a work-at-home-mom who wants more traffic for her website?" If the visitor's answer is yes, she'll keep reading.

Questions can also help create desire for your product or service. For example, "Wouldn't you like to feel better and have more energy?"

Used carelessly, though, questions can leak visitors and money.

Any questions you can't anticipate the answers to shouldn't be included.

A typical culprit is the question, "Why not?" as in "Why not let us help you today?" or "Why not try us out?"

With these two little words, you've just invited your visitor to think of reasons why she shouldn't buy from you. More dangerous still, you have no way of knowing what the reasons will be, so you can't respond.

A question that doesn't receive a satisfactory response usually means a lost sale.

Banish those two words from your copy, and you'll stop more visitors and dollars from leaking away.

Denise Willms is co-owner of WAHM-Articles.com. She writes articles and press releases that get targeted traffic for her clients' websites. Subscribe to Denise's newsletter, WAHM-Articles Ezine and receive her special report Uncovering the Secrets of WAHM Articles Marketing.

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