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Internet Marketing – Content & Copywriting Services
Turn Your Web Site into a Marketing Animal!
a Lion…not a lamb – with great Web Content
Get their ATTENTION! Create a relationship with your visitor. Solve a problem. Make his/her life easier or more enjoyable. Fulfill a need or “want.” Give them something of value. Make them an offer they can’t turn down – or are at least intrigued by. Give them a reason to choose you versus competitors. Tell it clearly. Talk to their “pain” points. Appeal to the positive feelings they have about themselves. Be honest. Don't be boring!
Read ‘em and Weep. Yes, the WORDS are critical!
Marketing online, successfully, all starts with the words that you have on your site. End of story. Without the words, the other valuable content you may have (and need) just won’t work nearly as well – whether that also includes images, audio, video, etc. Words evoke visions, emotions, thought, and connections – and are key to every site (although lousy on most). Also those words (in html vs. Flash still) are critical for search engines. Oh, and good copy online is also good copy offline – and vice versa. As one of my mentors, Perry Marshall and others have said, “The common thread of great web marketing is great copy writing.” That is, great content.
HOOK Your Visitors with Compelling Content that gets them to ACT
Compelling content generates a tangible interaction with the visitor so that you are both trading something of real value. Your visitors get e.g. a product or service…or something that interests them or improves their business, etc. You get a contact or other information from the visitor online or via phone (or an e-commerce sale). The more compelling the content on your website the better, but the quality of that content trumps quantity. And really effective, compelling content gets visitors to visit your site multiple times. Then you’ve really built a relationship that has a much better chance of paying off.
You do NOT have to be an e-commerce player to offer compelling content and be quite successful online. It’s one of the many myths about Search Engine Optimization (AKA Search Engine Marketing). If you are an e-commerce player and are selling widgets or services online via credit card, you’ve got to have good stuff at good price points for your target audiences. That is definitely compelling content. But if you don’t directly transact things online, there are still plenty of things to offer on your site to “trade” so that you minimally get some level of contact information from your prospects (and e-commerce sites should try to grab folks who don’t buy immediately, as well):
- A quote for a custom service or product
- A subscription software demo, or other trial for a period of time
- A free sample audio/video piece—or other free sample(s)
- A free newsletter subscription (and access to the newsletter archive)
- A free “white” paper on a current important topic
- A library of free, valuable, proprietary information (for “members”)
- A free Q & A service for visitors to ask you questions of you or your experts
- A free “checklist” or guideline that shows part of your business approach
and expertise (without giving away trade secrets) - A free analysis or assessment of a piece of your visitor’s business
- An appointment for a demo or sales presentation online or offline
- A free sample or promotional thing
- A membership to an interactive online group
See examples on several of Ranseen Marketing client sites
PS even if you are an e-commerce player, you’ll need to try and grab those visitors who may not buy on the first visit (and most web visitors don’t). You still need compelling content.
First, Take the YOU vs. WE Test…
Writing good ad copy, online or offline, is tough work and a lot of skill, and that’s why you see so little of it -- but especially on websites where copy is almost an afterthought or a hand-me-down, outdated print brochure. BTW, it’s a complete myth that good copy offline and good copy online are different. They are the same. The advantage of web copy, though, is how easily changeable it is compared to static print, etc.
The tendency online is to get caught up in your own underwear and focus solely on describing your own company and your own stuff. Rather 9 out of 10 sites do NOT talk directly to their visitors as if they understand at all what their customers need and want. So the content is typically boring, out-of-date, politically correct, or even deception (not as in selling pure hype). You’ve got to grab them with words more than anything—and depending on your products and services use levels of well written information as well as audios, videos, images, etc if those enhance the customer experience. Having a dialogue with them versus telling them about “you” is only the first step.
On your homepage and your other key website pages just count the times that you use the word “you” or “your” versus “our,” “we,” “me,” “us,” “my,” or “I.” The latter group typically wins hands-down, and it should be just the opposite. One of the best introductory books on website copy is the Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords, by Perry Marshall. It’s a lot more than great information about Google Adwords – it’s an amazing marketing manual that’s a great primer on writing outstanding online copy.
Just Build it, though, and They Will NOT Come
Great web site content by itself won’t get it done. You’ll need the right types of folks and enough of them need to find your site. Location…Location…Location…is critical on the Web, just like in real estate. Read more about Web Location as a key component of Online Success.
Ranseen Marketing specializes in writing web site copy that will get the attention of the right visitors and get them to ACT – and intertwining that content with Search Engine Optimization (SEO, AKA SEM or Search Engine Marketing) to drive visitors of the right types to your site.
Is online marketing online a likely good avenue for you to grow your business? Take a quick survey and find out. Read more about our Services. If you have any questions, please contact us by email or phone – 615-661-6042.