Super Copywriting Guru Bob Bly says you need to go through these eight steps before writing your website copy:
1 Write down your marketing objective
Is it to generate leads? Build a database of names with email addresses? Give your business a storefront on the Web? Put your product catalog online to eliminate the time and expense of mailing printed catalogs?
2 Quantify your objectives
Do you think having an e-commerce site can increase your sales 10 to 15 percent? Are you looking to attract a million visitors a month? If you don’t know what these numbers should be, make your best guess.
3 Make sure your website has the information your visitors need
If you are selling a product, the prospect won’t buy it unless there is a clear description of each item along with its features and benefits. If you are selling a service, the customer must be able to get a price on the site or at least be given a phone number or e-mail address to contact for an estimate.
4 The prospect may be able to get all his questions answered while on your site
The easiest way to do this is with a frequently asked questions – FAQ – page. The FAQ page lists the most common questions visitors as, along with the answers. A number of software products now allow visitors to interact with a customer service rep while viewing sites, either via 3-mail, on the phone or “live” through instant chat.
5 Use tools that can quantitatively measure site activity
Compare actual performance against your stated numerical objectives. An increasing number of software applications can measure everything from how long visitors spend on each page on the site, to how much and how often they buy.
6 Add strategic hyperlinks and site maps to guide visitors
For instance, if you sell health supplements and have an articles library on nutritional supplements, you might link articles about specific applications to pages describing the particular models that handle each application best. Don’t be afraid to aggressively lead your visitor toward the solution you want to sell – not just the nice free stuff you give away.
7 Study competitive sites carefully
Creatively use site features and web techniques they are using to sell products similar to yours (no plagiarizing, of course!) Despite the emphasis on creativity among programmers and designers, creative adaptation of marketing techniques that are already working for others is more likely to result in your own success. Make sure, however, that you do not steal or plagiarizing copyrighted content or artwork.
8 Take a tip from the Yellow Pages
When people open the Yellow Pages, they have an immediate need and are looking nfor a solution. So the ads are heavy on content, light on fancy design or marketing fluff. Your site visitor may not have as immediate a need as the Yellow Pages user, but she still has some interest or she wouldn’t have come to your site. So while prize-winning Web design is fine, copy and content that SELL are even more important.