How to make your website convert like crazy! Part 3

[philcoleman]

Another main principle: Understanding the difference between features and benefits.

Incredibly important but often misunderstood. No-one and I mean no-one buys anything because of its features. You don’t buy a pen because you can write with it. You buy it because:

• It can save you time. (Writing a shopping list will keep you structured in the supermarket and cut your time down by half)
• It can improve your love life. (Don’t believe me? Try penning an
• unexpected love letter to your partner)
• It can bring instant relief from that itch on your back that you can’t
• quite reach with your hand alone. (Come on! I can’t be the only one)

You always buy based on the benefits something will give you.

In my freelance copywriter days, I came across the simplest, most eloquent sentence to sum up how to write benefit based copy.

Want to know what it was?

“Don’t tell me about your grass seed, tell me about my lawn.”

Think about that for a moment. Has it dawned on you yet? No-one wants to know about your product.

They want to know:

• What your product can do for them.
• How it can improve their life (or lawn!).
• Save their time.
• Solve their problems.

In other words . . . how it can BENEFIT them. Simple don’t you think?

If you only remember one thing while writing the words on your site, do yourself a favour and remember that. Because telling your visitors the benefits of your products WILL help you sell more. It's that simple.

Think of when you go out to buy something. Take a couch for example. You don’t pay more money for one made of hardwood and the thickest, plushest fabric BECAUSE it’s made out of hardwood and the thickest plushest fabric, do you?

No.

You buy it because it will be stronger and therefore longer lasting and therefore you won’t have to spend your money on another one for many years and therefore you’ll have money to spend on . . . Get it?

You’ll also glow with pride when everyone’s impressed because you buy quality.
And we all like to glow, don’t we?

Its strength will also come in handy when your kids are using it for a trampoline and the hardwearing fabric will ensure it’s beautiful, expensive looks still impress your friends and family, long after the kids have been grounded for trampolining on your expensive, impressive furniture. OK?

Let’s try another one.

Why do people buy the products in High Profits?

So they can learn how to make money on the web, right? Wrong!

Oh OK, I get it. It’s so they can earn enough money to free them of their 9 to 5 shackles?

Ooo . . . better, much better.

Wait a minute . . . it’s so they can have the financial freedom to spend more time with their kids, enjoy their hobbies, never have the stress of worrying about unexpected bills again and free them from the drudgery of the 6am alarm clock?

Excellent! Fanfare please!

So why do they buy slimming products?

Er . . . to lose weight? Don’t be ridiculous.

No problem . . . I’m getting the hang of this now. Is it because they want to feel sexy again, soak up oodles of genuine compliments from friends and family, fit into the latest slinky fashions thereby feeling like a superstar and overdosing on feel-good endorphins and have the most attractive members of the opposite sex, taking their life into their hands and leaping over speeding cars to ask them out on a hot date?

YES! YES! YES! I’m impressed. You little copywriter you.

If you use these principles in your own copy, you’ll have higher response rates than if you don’t. Always tell people what your product or service will do for them, how it will change their life for the better and solve their problem NOW.

Start this process with your headline and you’ll successfully draw your visitors in to the rest of your message.

Next time we're off to the firing range . . . to discuss bullets.

Phil

[jonnyellins]

Great article Phil, I will be thinking more about the copy from now on!

[codexehow]

Great article . And many thanks.

[boi513]

Wow. This is just the kind of stuff I've been looking for.

[dian]

Really thanks for sharing those crazy stuffs.

[rmjnat]

This is great! Thanks

[Jimania]

Any website is not about a web design company showing off skills, and it's not about the company telling some boring story about how they started off in a basement. The story has to be all about the customer!

What will the product do for them? Make them wealthy? Attractive? Stylish? Trendsetter?

People want to know what YOU can do for THEM . . .

[jeanysplace2]

nice .. good day

[mycarhiredeals]

Very good post. With the help of these ideas I am also going to do modifications in my site. Thanks for share ideas for converting websites.