1. The “so what” test … After you write your copy, read it and ask whether it passes the “so what” test. Copywriter Joan Damico explains: “If after reviewing your copy, you think the target audience would just respond with ‘so what,’ then keep rewriting until they’ll say something like, ‘That’s exactly what I’m looking for. How do I get it?’”
2. Use the key copy drivers … Make sure your copy hits one of the key copy drivers as defined by Bob Hacker and Axel Andersson: fear, greed, guilt, exclusivity, anger, salvation, or flattery. “If your copy is not dripping with one or more of these, tear it up and start over,” says Denny Hatch.
3. The drop-in-the-bucket technique … “You have to show that the price you are asking for your product is a ‘drop in the bucket’ compared to the value it delivers,” says copywriter Mike Pavlish.
4. Know your audience … Understand your target market — their fears, needs, concerns, beliefs, attitudes, desires. “My way to be persuasive is to get in touch with the target group by inviting one or two to dinner for in-depth conversation,” says Christian Boucke, a copywriter for Rentrop Verlag in Germany. “I also call 15 to 40 by phone to get a multitude of testimonials and facts, and go to meetings or exhibitions where I can find them to get a first impression of their typical characteristics. Ideally, I accompany some of them in their private lives for years. By this, I understand better their true underlying key motivations.”
5. Write like people talk … Use a conversational, natural style. “Write like you talk,” says Barnaby Kalan of Reliance Direct Marketing. “Speak in language that’s simple and easy to understand. Write the way your prospects talk.”
6. Be timely … “Pay very close attention to goings-on in the news that you can and should link to,” suggests Dan Kennedy. “Jump on a timely topic and link to it in useful communication with present clients, in advertising for new clients, and in seeking media publicity.”
7. Lead with your strongest point … “When I review my writing, or especially others, I find they almost always leave the most potent point to the last line,” says John Shoemaker. “So I simply move it to the first line. Instant improvement.”
8. The Tremendous Whack Theory … “I employ Winston Churchill’s ‘tremendous whack’ theory, which says that if you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever,” says Richard Perry. “Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time — a tremendous whack.”

Currently, I keep everything on my palm device … contacts, calendar, to-do lists, memos, etc. I rarely go anywhere without it. It’s nice to have all of this information readily at my fingertips. I plan to upgrade to an iPhone to pack even more of my life into one device. However, the device alone doesn’t make things simpler … it’s how I use it that does. Here’s my plan to simplify my to-do list …

1. As Zen Habits suggests, every morning (or maybe just before bed the night before), I choose one thing to get done … just one.
2. I commit at least four hours of my schedule to get that one thing done … during that time, nothing else takes precedence
3. On my handheld, I assign that task a ’1′ priority … everything else is a ’2-5′
4. I stick to my commitment
5. With my additional time, I look at ‘other stuff’ on my to-do list and see what I can knock out

If I don’t get everything else on my list done that day, oh well …

Simple.

1. Demonstrates industry expertise and participation – prospective clients visiting your site want to know what you can do for them and how good you do it. A professional blog allows the visitor to see, firsthand, your level of industry knowledge and activeness.
2. Improves search engine performance – if you write blog posts on a certain topic, you increase your chance of being find through online search. In fact, some search engines (such as Technorati) search only blogs. If you’re not blogging, guess what? … you’ll never show up on the search engine results.
3. Improve your practice by learning and exchanging ideas with your peers – you can learn from your peers by visiting and participating on their blogs, and vice versa, they visit and participate on your blog. Who knows … you just might learn something useful that you can apply and improve your practice.

Links to other content can be added on the site’s perimeter to satisfy secondary audiences.

I found several reliable sources for the ideal length for a web page …

I found this with a quick Google search: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html

This study is dated 2008. I doubt online reading habits have changed much since. Naturally, the longer the page, the fewer number of people who read all of the text. However, the sharpest decline seems to be at about 200 to 300 words.

I like a lot of what Bob Bly writes about writing. I found this excerpt on his enewsletter (http://www.bly.com/archive/?p=111):

According to web expert Gerry McGovern, the ideal length for a
page of web copy on a regular web site (not a landing page) is
300 words. He says 50% of visitors will read a 300-word page to
the end, while only 5% will scan 1,000 words.

Headlines should be 4 to 8 words, sentences 15 to 20 words, and
paragraphs 40 to 70 words. Hyperlinks should be in the right-hand
column, not embedded within the body copy. Reason: links in the
body copy distract readers, making it difficult for them to read
the paragraph.

Source: IntelBuilder

This provides a practical rule of thumb.

300 words seems reasonable to me. It gets tough to keeping online reader engaged for more than that. If I have more content than that on the subject, I need to either condense the content (always good to do anyway), spread the content to multiple web pages (yikes!), or encapsulate in a different medium (such as video).

The Four ‘U’s Headline Writing Formula

When writing a headline, strive to include the four ‘U’s in your headline (a headline writing tip I learned from copywriter, Michael Masterson):

• USEFUL: Be sure it’s written in a matter that explains what’s in it for the reader. e.g., “How to Save Time and Improve Service Quality at the Same Time”
• UNIQUE: Don’t be predictable. e.g., “The Most Important Business Lesson I Learned from My Plummer”
• ULTRA-SPECIFIC: Package your ideas or use. e.g., “The 17 Real Reasons Why 79% of All Small Businesses Fail”
• URGENT: Give the reader a reason to pay attention now. e.g., “What Top Professionals Are Doing Now with Social Media to Win Marketshare”

It’s tough to write a concise headline with all four elements. Shoot for 2 to 3 and you’ll do just fine.

Types of Headlines

I recently found this blog post on writing blog headlines:

http://www.blogussion.com/writing/headline-techniques/

This is a decent guide explaining different types of headlines:

• Headlines that leave you wanting more
• Ask an important question
• Promise to teach or solve a problem
• Goes straight to the point
• Exposes some sort of secret

I could write a book on headline writing. It’s certainly an art once you get into it. But the above tips keeps writing a good headline practical.

Conversion Sequence

C = 4M + 3V + 2(i-f) – 2a

Wherein:

“C” = Probability of conversion
“M” = Motivation of user (when)
“V” = Clarity of the value proposition (why)
“i” = Incentive to take action
“f” = Friction elements of process
“a” =Anxiety about entering information

[source & copyright: Marketing Experiments]

This formula resonates the “clarity trumps persuasion” mantra … in other words, it’s more important for your prospective clients to clearly understand your value proposition (what do you do for them) and how to act than it is for them to be sold to or impressed.

Here’s how each factor of the formula works …

M (motivation) – It’s pretty tough to sell something if the prospect doesn’t already have an existing need. Sometimes it’s your job to get the prospect to realize they have a need.

V (value) – Specifically explain how your product or service fulfills their need. Give proof it does it better than the competition.

i (incentive) – Provide an incentive for the prospect to act now … even if they’re not ready to buy (a free report, trial period, etc.).

f (friction) – A tossed salad of choices or multiple steps tends to frustrate the prospect. Have ONE clear, easy, and sequential call to action. Many times a simple phone number or email address suffices.

a (anxiety) – Remove as many reasons to not buy as possible … privacy, cost, pain, time, etc. Let them know you can be trusted.

Keep in mind … ‘conversions’ (not impressing friends) is why you have a website in the first place. Many web designers can build beautiful websites. I argue few, however, know how to build sites that optimize conversions.

“Tell me something useful I didn’t already know.”

It’s sage, simple, straight-forward journalistic advice with universal application … for social media, blogging, media, video, audio, all of it. If I want people to listen to me, everything I say or write must follow this rule. This can also be called the rule of relevancy, which has three ingredients (the three ‘I’s):

• importance (or interest)
• immediacy
• integrity

If what I have to say isn’t that, then I’m probably just babbling.

So, what makes for ‘relevant’ information? What do my readers want to read? Here are some suggestions in rank order of what generates the most interest and response (according to Blog Traffic Exchange):

1. quick tips
2. how to … tutorials
3. reviews/opinions
4. resources
5. interviews
6. best of …
7. personal story
8. news

1. Picture. What does the prospect want?
2. Promise. How does my product solve the prospect’s problem?
3. Proof. What evidence do I have that I do that best?
4. Price. What does it cost?
5. Push. What should the prospect do next?

I explain each step below …

Step 1: Picture

Usually in the headline and first paragraph, I illustrate the prospect’s ideal result. This gets the prospect engaged to read more. If done well, the prospect should be saying to himself, “yeah, that’s what I want!” However, this is not a feature of my product (or service). This, instead, is an emotional appeal. Tip: fear is one effective emotion to engage readers. More effective are envy and exclusivity.

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Step 2: Promise

Next, I explain how my product solves the prospect’s problem and delivers the ideal result. I usually do this by writing a bulleted list of features. I also briefly explain how each feature benefits the prospect.

Tip: try to tie every benefit back to the picture you established in step 1.

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Step 3: Proof

Next, I not only provide evidence that I do this well, but also evidence that I do it better than the competition. I can use credentials, statistics, client testimonials, case studies, and awards.

Tip: much like a police officer’s badge, graphics work well as ‘visual evidence’ … credentialing agency logos, photos of clients, graphs, awards.

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Step 4: Price

Next, I let the prospect know how much it costs (in time, pain, and money). Also at this step, I try to remove as many purchasing risks as I possibly can (unless, of course, I want to keep risks in place in order to qualify prospects). There are several ways to reduce purchasing risk:

• Guarantee (e.g., if you’re not satisfied, we’ll rework your case until you are at no added cost)
• Privacy (e.g., your information is kept strictly confidential)
• Time (e.g., the exam takes just 11 minutes to complete)
• Pain (e.g., the procedure is completely painless)

Tip: there are several ways to avoid ‘sticker price shock,’ to include:

• Incremental payments (e.g., 3 monthly payments of only $299 sounds better than $900)
• Competitor comparison (other practices charge as much as $7,000 … we charge just $4,500)
• Bundled value (e.g., for all of this you might pay as much as $4,000 … we offer it for just $1,750.)

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Step 5: Push

Finally, I remind the prospect of the picture and let the prospect know how to purchase my product. I keep it simple. Most of the time, it’s just a phone number or e-mail address. A long or complex purchasing process may hinder responses.

Tip: If I have a complex or expensive product, I also offer a lower-priced or free product. This lets the prospect get something now. In turn, this lets me keep in touch with the prospect. Information product downloads can work well for this.

Tip: I make sure the prospect knows who they are contacting. Me? A front desk person? I also let them know how soon they can expect a response to their inquiry.

Tip: Sometimes it helps to add urgency to the push if there’s a good chance the prospect won’t return once they leave your site (e.g., if you subscribe to my e-newsletter by January 30th, I’ll send you my free 105-page report).

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That’s the basic formula. Is it possible to do more or better? Sure. But this practical web writing formula establishes a solid foundation.