How To Write Persuasive Subject Lines Three seconds and 40 characters. That's all you usually have to work with when trying to get and hold the attention of someone reading email. And, with user behavior changing so much in response to overwhelming amounts of spam, the attention spans of email readers are getting shorter. Needless to say, it's vital to make the most of your introduction via the email subject line. Email marketing powerhouse DoubleClick.com conducts annual surveys with regard to user behavior when it comes to email. A couple of the statistics from their latest findings are interesting. The second biggest motivator in opening email is the subject line. (The first is the "from" line.) Because subject lines are often truncated at around 40 characters -- and because email readers usually have their index fingers poised over the delete button -- we're left with about three seconds and approximately six words to make an impression. So what works? Which types of subject lines have proven to be successful? Here are my top three. Make An Offer It's an old sales cliché that still holds true in the fast-paced world of cyberspace: Lead with your best offer. Whether a product, a service or a proposal, you want to tell people up front about your deepest discounts, your fastest delivery or your grandest idea. Get their attention right off the bat, and you'll likely have your message read. (It's even better if your offer happens to be time sensitive.) Examples include:
State A Benefit Since the majority of consumer and B2B customers live in the "what's in it for me" world, benefits always make powerful subject lines. Telling the readers what the end results of their actions will be helps them visualize the need for your product or service. Here are a few examples based on the subject lines above:
Evoke Curiosity We're all nosey to a point. Our curiosity gets the best of us, and we want to know more. That's not only true when it comes to watching movie previews on TV. It's also true for email as well. Some of the best subject lines hook readers by piquing their curiosity, and then reel them in to read the entire message.
Of course, the key to writing the best subject lines is knowing your target customers, making the topic relevant and testing, testing, testing. I mentioned a "couple" interesting facts from the DoubleClick email survey. The second is that relevancy is a major player. Over 55% of respondents said they deleted email that wasn't relevant because they considered it spam. DoubleClick also reported that the average open rate was 27.5% (for text or HTML messages). That gives you a baseline to gauge your success. Not every type of subject line will work for every campaign. Testing is vital. And it's easy enough to do. One of my favorite ways is to set up a Google AdWords campaign and judge the clickthrough rates. This quickly (and cheaply) tells you which subject lines will work and which won't. You can also test your subject lines by sending your emails to a smaller test list before broadcasting it to the entire group. Whichever styles of subject lines you choose, make sure you know your target audience so you can develop relevant subject lines. Then test and test again until you've created subjects that are highly persuasive and deliver record-breaking open rates.
Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy
that impresses the engines and your visitors at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Be sure to also check out Karon’s latest
e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of
Your Copy)” at http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword. Common Mistakes That Can Kill Your Web Copy Sometimes learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do. Copywriting is no exception. I oftentimes see copy that is well written, but obviously created by an amateur. How do I know? One or more of the following five mistakes was made and that killed the copy… dead. Once you understand why these mistakes are, in fact, mistakes, you can easily avoid them. It isn't like they are complicated concepts. It just takes someone to bring them to your attention so you can guard against them. Pull up your site in a browser and follow along. See if you've made any of these mistakes on your site. #1 - Writing Without Knowing Your Target Audience This is, without a doubt, the biggest mistake of copywriting and the #1 killer of conversions. Why? I'll answer with a question. When you write a letter (or email), do you just start writing and decide afterwards who you're going to send the letter to? Of course not! So why, then, do so many people just jump in and start writing website copy without having a clue about who they are writing to? It makes no sense to me. How can people possibly communicate with their site visitors if they have no idea who they are, what they are looking for, their preferred communication style, what problems they face, how they hope to use the product/service to solve those problems and countless other information? Truth is, you can't. Take knowing your target customers to the extreme. Find out everything you can about them. Then combine all that info to create an imaginary person (or imaginary people) who fit the profile of your target audience members. You can even name them if you want to. Then - with every sentence - write to that person (or persons). #2 - Writing Without Knowing the Product/Service Like it or not, you're a salesperson. That means you have to know all the details of the product or service you're writing about. How else can you convincingly convey the information to prospects who visit the site? Ask your client for samples of products, use of the services or access to member areas of a site. Using or taking part in what your client is offering to his/her visitors will make a huge difference in the quality and persuasiveness of your copy. Nothing comes across as well as copywriting that has been created from experience. #3 - Writing About the Company Instead of To the Site Visitor They don't care. Who? Your site visitors. They don't care about your company. Rather than hear about how long you've been in business and that you're the specialists in this, that or the other thing, they'd rather find out how your product/service can benefit them. If your home page starts with something like this, you're in trouble: "ABC Company is the specialist in [insert industry here] with over 20 years experience. We provide [fill in the blank] with our extensive knowledge and helpful service. Dedicated to providing the highest quality, we guarantee our work with a 100% money-back promise." You're we-ing all over yourself! The customer has the money. Don't you think the copy should at least acknowledge him/her at some point? Rather than using we, us and our so much, turn it around. Talk to your site visitors instead of about the company. Let them know you understand their needs and have answers to their problems. Don't ignore them by talking only about yourself. #4 - Outlining Features Instead of Benefits or End Results Features are nice, but benefits and end results make the sale because they clearly explain why the customer will be better off after buying your product or using your service. One of the biggest selling factors in copywriting is the ability to tell the customer what he/she can do with a product or service. Take a tip from the infomercials. They don't simply tell you that a rotisserie cooker rotates as it cooks a chicken. No! They tell you that this rotisserie cooker can bake a whole, marinated, Italian herb chicken that's juicy, moist and succulent. That the seasonings slowly seep into the meat so you get bite after tender bite of flavorful chicken so good you'll beg for more. Who cares that the thing has a pointed, metal prong that rotates a chicken while it cooks? You're buying it because it can deliver that wonderful whole, marinated, Italian herb chicken! #5 - Neglecting the Medium Does it make a difference as to where your copy appears online? Isn't all Web copy the same? The answers are "Yes" and "No." Landing pages are not the same as home pages, which are not the same as catalog pages, which are not the same as sales letters, and so on and so on. Don't neglect to find out the differences between these and the other types of Web copy. They all have special considerations that should be studied before you begin writing. Now you can add these five "don'ts" to your favorite copywriting checklist. Avoiding these mistakes will give you a better shot at reaching your visitors on their level and converting them into repeat customers.
Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy
that impresses the engines and your visitors at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Be sure to also check out Karon’s latest
e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of
Your Copy)” at http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword. Are You Asking the Right Questions in Your Copy? It's a common approach to writing copy. You begin by asking questions. Why? To evoke thoughts in your readers' minds, to stir up emotions, and to get customers thinking in the way you want them to think. But have you ever thought about how you phrase your questions? Are you doing it in a way that will have the greatest impact on your readers or are you just throwing questions on a page? Behaviorally speaking, not everybody responds in the same way to the same questions. Those with different communications styles will relate in a variety of ways depending on how you phrase your sentence. Using the DISC Behavioral Profile, let me explain what I mean and show you how you can start asking the right questions in the right way to suit your customers. D = Dominance Those who fall in the Dominance category of the DISC profile are described as: in control, powerful, confident, visionaries, and risk takers. These people can be managers, CEOs, high-ranking military personnel, entrepreneurs, and the like. Those who are considered high in Dominance want to stick to business. They expect the facts to be presented logically. They want presentations to be clear, specific, and to the point. This group of people will respond better to specific "what" questions. For example, let's say we're developing a headline for an ultra-fast printer. You wouldn't want to write a headline that asks, "How Do You Cure a Need for Speed?" That question is vague; it's not specific, and it begins with the word "how." CEOs, upper management, and others in this category aren't the least bit interested in "how" you do anything. They are visionaries. They look at the big picture, not the little details. Details are somebody else's job! Instead, try rewriting that headline to include the word "what" and to be specific, like this: "What Cures a Need for Speed?" You can see a similar relation in other behavioral styles (I, S, and C) and the types of questions people in each prefer. I = Influence Those high in Influence are generally found in the sales field or other fields that require a lot of people/social interaction. They move fast and want to focus on people-oriented tasks. They love to give their opinions and to be asked for their thoughts on a matter. They love to be the center of attention. This group responds well to "feeling" questions. Not just about themselves, but also about others. For example: "Remember the excitement you felt when _____?" or "How would your child feel if _____?" S = Steadiness Those in the Steadiness group want to be seen as people - not a number. They appreciate logic, a touch of personal interaction, and they are detail-oriented. They are generally slow decision-makers and are not wild about taking unqualified risks. Those who fall into the Steadiness category make up 40% of the general population and come from all walks of life. People high in steadiness would be likely to respond better to questions beginning with "how." Possibilities include "How many times have you wished ____?" or "How often do you ____?" They also respond well to questions that make them think, like "Is your copy getting results?" They'll likely want to know what you can do about it if the answer is "no." C = Compliance When describing someone who falls into the Compliance category, these phrases come to mind: critical thinker, prepared, quality-oriented, incredibly detailed, specific, and slow decision-maker. You'll generally find these types working as engineers, bankers, accountants, scientists, and the like. Those high in Compliance will respond best to questions including statistics and questions that force them to look at all sides of an issue/problem. For example, "68% of All Drivers Pay Too Much for Auto Insurance. Are You?" Another idea is "Widget or Thingee... Which Makes the Most Sense?" Phrasing your questions in a way that allows your target customers to relate only makes sense. When you hit a nerve - people will respond. Asking the right questions... in the right way... within your copy will get you one step closer to closing the sale. Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly
Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by- tep Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Creating A Search Engine Copywriting Plan Search engine copywriting has become an extremely important part of the overall search engine optimization process. However, in addition, search engine copywriting has developed into a misunderstood craft. Shoving keywords in anywhere they can possibly go is not considered search engine copywriting. The process is more defined than that. Successful SEO copywriting takes planning. Any half-hearted efforts at writing copy geared strictly toward the engines will usually result in a decline in your customer's experience at your site. What's the best way to write SEO copy? Starting with a plan is always a good idea. Keep in mind, these are guidelines of techniques that can be used *IF* they make sense for your site visitors. I never recommend writing solely for the search engines. In the case of search engine copywriting, the customer is truly #1. 1) Use Three Keyphrases Per Page - Not a carved-in-stone rule, the guideline of three keyphrases per page gives good variety and helps keep the copy from sounding too repetitive. I always choose keyphrases first - before I write - because they can have a direct impact on the focus of the page. 2) Have 250 or More Words of Copy - The length of your copy depends on several things: Your target customer's preferred communication style, whether the product is new to the marketplace, if a detailed explanation needs to be given, site design and many other factors. However, the 250-word minimum gives enough room to get your message across and offer an effective level of keyword support. Remember though, it's all about the customer. If your target customers prefer longer copy, write longer copy. If they like shorter copy, write shorter copy. 3) Write In Natural Language - "Natural language" is a term popular in SEO copywriting. It means that the reader should not be able to (or should barely be able to) detect what keyphrases the page is being optimized for. The copy should flow as if it were not written with the search engines in mind. You don’t want the copy to sound forced or stiff. When you generate ideas for the page copy, keep your keywords in mind. Ask yourself whether you can use them in the copy in such a way that they won't be obtrusive. 4) Use Keyword Phrases In Headlines and Sub-headlines - IF it makes sense to do so. You will not blow your rankings if you have no keyword-filled <H1> or other <H> tags. If your headline sounds stupid with keywords in it, don't use them. There are countless sites online that rank highly which have no keywords in the headline. 5) Use Keyword Phrases Once or Twice Per Paragraph - Again IF it makes sense. Remember what I keep repeating? None of these guidelines are carved in stone. Read your copy out loud. If it sounds stupid or forced, take out some keywords or find ways to rework them so they flow more naturally. 6) Use Keyword Phrases In Bold, Italic or Bulleted Lists - IF it makes sense to do so. Don't automatically bold or italicize every instance of your keywords. It will make your page look stupid, and your visitors will wonder what kind of drugs you've been doing! 7) Do NOT Use Keyword Phrases As Substitutes For Generic Terms - For example, do not replace every instance of the generic word "cruise" with the keyphrase "Mexico cruise vacation." Your copy will sound ridiculous.
8) Use Keyword Phrases As Anchor Text In Links - This is certainly not always possible. If your primary keyphrase is "Mexico Cruise Vacation," you absolutely should not write every link to include that phrase. However, if you can include keywords in anchor text within body copy or in text navigation links, you might score a little extra credit. 9) Test and Track - Lastly, and above all, please remember, it may take some tweaking to get your page to convert the way you want it to. All customers are not the same, and all sites are not the same. All keyphrases are not the same. There is no magic bullet. You'll have to test and track and see what works best for you. Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Writing To Overpower Your Competition
None of these other
groups is trying to raise funds to save the purple spotted toad of northern
Antarctica, but they are trying to get individuals to donate to their causes.
That makes them all your competition. Just like with any
other type of copywriting, list the benefits of the purple spotted toad. Why is
he important to nature, how will the ecology suffer with his demise and what
will happen to the rest of Antarctica if he becomes extinct? All of these are
vital to convincing your audience that they should favor you with their
contributions instead of some other organization. Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)." By Karon Thackston Copyright © 2004 - Published Mar. 2005
Five Sections of Your Copy Guaranteed To Get Read PS's Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)." By Karon Thackston Copyright © 2004 - Published Mar. 2005
Increasing Conversions Through Action-Oriented Copywriting Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Creating a Powerful Sales Letter using Four Main Ingredients
Steven Boaze, Chairman, is The Owner of Boaze.com Corporate Web Solutions. Steven is the Author of two successful Books, thousands of articles featured in radio, magazines newspapers and trade journals. Steven has 25 years experience in journalism, copywriting, certified Web Developer. SEO Copywriting Makeover: Good Rankings but No Sales Part 2 of 2 In Part 1 of this article series, we looked at a local home security site that had fairly good rankings but whose conversion rate was lacking. (You can see the original copy here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/topsecurity- original.pdf.) Here in the conclusion, you'll see how several changes helped maintain this company's good rankings while improving their site's lead generation abilities. The Rewrite My first thought with the rewrite was to stop making "trust and urgency" the undertones and instead make them the obvious focal points of the copy. As usual, I started with the headline. The previous headline was: When every second counts, turn to Top Security, Inc. who has been securing Orlando / Central Florida homes and businesses for 689,453,910 seconds. I wanted something more direct so I changed the headline to: Top Security, Inc. of Orlando Security Systems From a Trusted Neighbor This included one of their keyphrases and also made it perfectly clear this company was local and trustworthy. For the introductory paragraph, I wanted to get the visitor's attention and hold it long enough to make a point: That security is something you need to think about now, not later. I opened with the following: "If only I’d called you sooner." "I never thought this could happen to me." These are just a few of the many comments we have heard from our customers in Orlando. Security systems suddenly became a top priority for them, but not until after they’d experienced a frightening break-in or a devastating fire. After these disasters, our Orlando neighbors were convinced that burglar alarm and security issues should be a forethought, not an afterthought. The copy does not beat the visitors over the head with the fact that they could be hurt, face losses, or experience some other frightening situation. It simply plants a seed of "what if" and moves on. This section of the copy also lends support to the keyphrases Top Security wanted to rank highly for. Because "Orlando Security Systems" can be an awkward phrase to repeat, I split it up in several instances to help the flow of the copy stay natural. The remainder of the page speaks to the facts that Top Security is local, has longevity in the community, is right around the corner, and offers several other benefits national security companies simply can't (or won't). Benefit after benefit is listed and explained in order to drive home the fact that a local company can – and will – provide exceptional service. You can see the current version here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/topsecurity-current.pdf. All throughout these sections of the copy, keyphrases are reinforced in the copy. When applicable, keyphrases are used in bold phrases or others that include special formatting. However, I never forced keyphrases someplace they didn't fit just for the sake of doing it. Keyphrase placement has to meld with the copy, not overpower it. The call-to-action for the home page was simple. It asked three questions dealing with the biggest complaints about home security that users or potential users have regarding dependability, false alarms, and price. The Results The high rankings Top Security had prior to the SEO copywriting makeover were retained for most terms and even increased for a few others. While that's great, what's more important is that lead generations from the site increased, which gave Top Security, Inc. a broader customer base and the potential to make more sales they previously would not have been able to make. It just goes to show that, even if your site has high positioning, copywriting can play an incredibly important role in bringing growth to your business. After all, what's the point of having good rankings if you have no sales? Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)." By Karon Thackston Copyright © 2004 - Published Jan. 2005
SEO Copywriting Makeover: Good Rankings but No Sales Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Super Verbs" Really Move Your Copy Run or hustle? Eat or devour? Move or scurry? You can boost the power of your copy by boosting the quality of verbs you use. Verbs show action, and the way you describe that action can have a dramatic bearing on your readers. Why would you want to fill your copy with complacent words when you can conjure emotions and visual imagery in the hearts and minds of your readers? Sure, "run" and "hustle" both indicate that someone is moving fast. But "run" is a dull, ordinary verb while "hustle" evokes definite images in your reader's mind. Hadn't really thought about it? You should! You can choose commonplace verbs like "talk," "make," and "like," or you can electrify your copy instead with verbs like "chatter," "discover," and "adore." Look at these examples to see what I mean: Before
After
See the difference? The latter paints a more vivid picture of the comforter than the former. Review this one... Before
After
What's the difference? Why are the "afters" so much more powerful than the "befores"? Because compelling verbs were used. Verbs bring the action to your copy. They give the reader (or at least they should give the reader) something to envision. You need Super Verbs to entice your readers. For example, instead of just "get into bed," we say, "leap into bed." Instead of "being cold" and "heat things up" we say, "shivering" and "snuggle." When you read that, you begin to envision what action is taking place in a very specific way. Where do you find these Super Verbs? Everywhere you look! Here's a short list. You can also visit free sites like http://www.thesaurus.com for more. Verbs vs. Super Verbs
Take some time to go beyond the ordinary. Find a few Super Verbs to use in your copy in order to boost excitement and interest in the products/services you write about. That added attention, which Super Verbs bring, can easily correlate to additional sales. Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Does Your Copy Look "Fake" to the Search Engines? From the early days of search engine optimization, keywords and content have always been vital to achieving your goals. Starting back in the days when we used to shove every slightly relevant keyword into our META tags, it has been obvious that search engines love text. The more complex and sophisticated the engines have gotten over the years, the more complex and sophisticated many writers have gotten with their search engine copywriting. Supposed formulas, saturation levels, and other mysterious concoctions have been developed to help us outsmart the engines. What we should have been doing all along was writing for the visitor first and the engines second. Why? Because creating a site that's loved by visitors has become a prime factor in linking, ranking, and marketing as a whole. And now, it has become vital to search engine copywriting--especially since the engines are making great strides with more personalized and efficient searches (such as semantic search). Rather than just reading the copy on your site, engines are heading in the direction of being able to determine and "understand" what a page is about. Working semantic *intranets* have been in place at various types of organizations for years, and research continues to implement this type of search capability for the Internet overall. The ironic thing is, as the search engines get more complex, the "formula" for SEO copywriting is getting simpler and simpler. Write Naturally Rather than working yourself into a tizzy about how many keyphrases go where, and what percentage of your net words are keyphrases, and so on... just relax. As SEO gets more advanced, your copy plan needs to get more elementary. In the future, search engines will be looking for Web pages that reflect a natural tone with the copy. Is it obvious that keyphrases are being shoved in wherever possible? Does every headline/sub-head, image tag, and comment tag have a keyphrase included? Does the copy sound fake, unnatural, and stiff? Then spiders and bots will recognize it, and (in theory) flag it as something to be wary of. Want an example? Take a look at this lovely piece of copy I found while surfing just the other day. (I've replaced the keyphrases used in the original copy with the word "wherever" so as not to embarrass the site owner.) Wherever Holiday Rentals
Let's suppose someone walked into your brick-and-mortar travel agency and asked for help. You would most likely ask the person what he was seeking. He would reply, "Holiday rentals in Wherever. What can you show me?" Would you honestly take off on the spiel above? Can you see yourself talking to a real client face-to-face and saying, "We offer Wherever holiday rentals in Wherever and can find you many apartments, villas, and houses in Wherever"? I don't think so. Who Cares? Writing using natural language has always been important to your visitors. If your site sounds silly due to overuse of keyphrases, you lower yourself in the view of your prospective clients. You want to make sure your visitors are smiling and not rolling their eyes after they read your copy. Otherwise you greatly reduce the chance of making sales. Now that the engines are becoming more and more sensitive to natural language when dealing with copywriting, this element is going to become very important for another reason... rankings. Tips for Writing In Natural Language 1) Vary your keywords/phrases. For example, if a keyphrase you particularly want to target is "14k gold jewelry" also consider researching keyphrases like "14k gold watches" or "gold wedding bands" or others along those lines. This will give you a variety of phrases within your copy. 2) Read it out loud. When you read your copy out loud, you'll get a better sense of whether it sounds unnatural. If you wouldn't say, "We make 14k gold jewelry and have made 14k gold jewelry for 10 years. If you need 14k gold jewelry, just view our catalog" out loud then don't put it in your copy, either. 3) Break up keyphrases. As searchers get more knowledgeable about finding what they want in the engines, they use longer and longer search queries--some of which just don't make any sense. For instance, I recently had to use the phrase "real estate Pittsburg downtown." Since this search string was not easily worked in as that exact phrase, I broke it up. One sentence I used it in read, "When looking for commercial real estate in Pittsburg, check the downtown listings first for exceptional locations and prices." The words are still in the same order with minor breaks in between. When you can't use a phrase "as is," this is a very viable alternative. Keep in mind the direction search engine optimization is taking. The closer you can get to writing in natural language, the better off you'll be. It only makes sense to create a site now that will last through the long haul, especially when that site will have a better chance of favorably appealing to the engines and your visitors. Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors with The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Home Page | Site Map | E-Book | Link Directory | Submit a Link | Article Directory | Submit an Article
Resources / Links Internet Related / Business Opportunity / Jobs - Employment / General Links How to Start an Internet Business Marketing - Advertising / Search Engine Marketing / Free Service Links / Other Links / Work at Home Opportunities |