In other words, would you design and submit a website to search engines or mail tons of letters costing thousands, as in a direct marketing campaign without testing the website or letter content first?
This is a common mistake that many website owners make, when they don't test and measure their own website content. Later, they spend thousands on marketing campaigns to drive traffic.
So at the start itself, make your small business look big on the world wide web. Design your web site using professional graphics, organized layouts, etc. By defining your website objective and later experimenting with copy, content, emotions, color and structure, it is possible to forecast what the response of your website conversion will be. In other words you can confidently predict how many people will do what you want them to do every month. Although it take a bit of work it certainly is possible.
Web Content
Basically, it all begins with the web content. Any website without original content is boring. It's easy to build a site and then fill it with the usual content and affiliate banners, but then where's the real quality?
It's content that makes a website interesting, and which encourages visitors to come back. The more original, quality content you produce, the better your website will be. The better your website content is, the easier it is to rank well in search engines, get new and returning visitors and, most importantly, refer sales.
Content, in fact is actually the hardest part for affiliates. In fact, even designing the site or deciding what niche to work on is far easier than generating original content. This is one of the reasons why people buy content from reputed article directories or obtain links to those articles, which have a high visitor ratio.
Now is there a specific method to content writing. In a way, once you have identified your objective, content is relatively research. Of course, this excludes any research and facts and figures. Basically, try and stick to the below methods.
Keeping it simple and straightforward
Focus on your product or service. Don't confuse your prospective buyers or visitors
A killer headline
It's the single most important part of your content or sales letter. If you are writing sales copy, try and spend at least some real-time on your headline than on the rest of the matter combined.
Your offer
Lead your customer through an exciting copy until you arrive at an irresistible offer. Start with an attractive benefit and reinforce with credibility. If necessary, try to reinforce with more benefit and more credibility.
Sub-headings
Have at least one sub heading per page. 90% of your visitors will not read through your content, but will definitely scan your headline. Out of the balance 10%, a few of them will read your first paragraph and then scan your sub-headings. So it is important that you have a set of sub-headings that will explain to your visitors something about the site. On the other hand, if you have a sales site, try and add sub-headings that will intrigue your reader to read more, or return later or perhaps even place an order.
History
Every product, every company, every brand has some history. So it would be nice if you can write about the history of the niche as a whole. This section will take a lot of work to compile, but once done it would rarely need updating.
Tips
Visitors always want information to maximize their use of a product or service. If you have tips on about how to do something quicker, cheaper and better, then you can write an article about it and stick it up on your website. This provides a good method for cross selling. If there's a product that will help a user, then you can write about that product and provide your affiliate links so the user can buy it. The advantage of this section is that it doesn't take much to set up, plus there is no need for regular updates. The bonus is that you make money through affiliate marketing.
Triggering emotions
Reinforce emotions your customer is already feeling. You will never have a truly killer copy until you understand your customer’s emotions about your subject. Once you have identified a few of their emotional buy triggers, then expose that emotion and build on it.
Having an irresistible offer
Once again, you can triple or quadruple your sales by fine-tuning your offer to include more perceived value. Include something personalized (Like a consultation with an expert), something that they will get again and again (updates) all increase the perceived value of your product.
In short, give your customers buying incentives so they'll make repeat purchases. Offer them discounts, free gifts, bonus points, etc. Alternately, give your prospects extra incentives so they will order quicker. It could be free shipping, a faster shipping option, free gift-wrapping, etc. Work on these areas first, as they will make the most impact on your bottom line.
Linking
If you are a website owner and you have begun exchanging links, you know how time consuming it can be. After all, you know that getting links to your site is important because it brings in traffic, helps you find strategic partners, and enhances your Search Engine rankings. However, the category of ‘volume’ link partners, which are the fastest and least time-consuming, is fast losing its place. Search engines have now begun to prefer original content to links brought from link exchanges or from web owners who offer multiple-link packages.
Articles
Search Engines love, if you have articles in your website. They are constantly checking for fresh content and your job is to give it to them. Adding new articles as you write them is great because they are loaded with keyword content that relates to your website and helps improve your popularity with search engines. You'll get your article published all over the web if you submit your article to an e-zine publisher that has a free content directory on their web site. They'll allow their visitors to republish your article.
Blog
Tell people about your site whenever you get a chance. Those people will tell other people and so on. It's a cheap way to multiply your advertising. Blogging is a great way to achieve this. Blogging is another way you can connect with your visitors, only that it is more personal. It becomes more like a two-way conversation, and you have the freedom to ‘almost’ write anything. To put it simply, blogging is good, as long as it remains within limits.
You can post news and updates and you don't have to write as much you would for a review but you do need to keep this section updated at least monthly, if not weekly. You can also post information about your site and its developments on your blog. Moreover, the content doesn't have to necessarily be related to the niche of your site. You could include info on your family, talk about a political satire or even about a recent holiday that you’ve taken. You can, if you want also add photographs – Basically it is personal and it's a good place for the person behind the website to step forward and show their human face. It helps your visitors identify with the 'man behind the machine'.
Blogs also allow visitors to post comments on certain posts you've made, so it is also a way that your visitors can respond directly with you too. Besides, you have to only post when you have something interesting to say.
Closing line
Unlike with a website, in a direct mail campaign the mailer knows, based on test mail-outs what to expect and therefore what his return on investment will be. They basically write and re-write until they have the content that gets the desired response.
But this is not so with web copy
With a website, you have done what the direct mailing marketer does, tested, experimented and then spent the money rather than following the theory that more visitors equals more sales.
As a closing line...
"When you become detached mentally from yourself and concentrate on helping other people, you will be able to cope with your own issues more effectively"
In other words, try not to continuously proofread your copy or content, always asks someone else for his or her views. The easiest method is to either discuss your site at a forum or send it randomly to colleagues, and ask them, what they think of your web-content.
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