[10 min read]

How to Write Website Content to Get More Customers

by Sam Gordanier

Tell a simple story

Storytelling has a unique ability to draw your audience in, build a persona for your business, establish a relationship, build credibility, and make the transition from prospect to customer seamlessly. In particular, on the path to conversion, your content has the unique ability to address all of your readers objections through story. Crazyegg lends advice by stating that your visitor will always take a step back to state their objections before purchasing something. Something your written content has to do is successfully pre-empt those objections.

What will the most common objections be? “It’s too expensive”, “Upkeep is too hard”, “It takes too much time” etc etc – cut your customer off by showing them within your story that those objections aren’t true. Write about why you got into business, why your product/service is so different, and what it can do for your reader. Tip: Don’t know where to source possible objections? If you have a sales team, tap them for this, they have a direct line to your customers and will have heard plenty of objections to go around (no matter how good your product/service is).

A simply written story can act as a means to establish initial credibility of your business in the eyes of your reader.

“Storytelling is powerful. It draws readers in and engages them. And the honesty and transparency involved in storytelling is one of the top ways you can build your credibility and authority even in your web copywriting.”

After your story has sparked their initial attention, has built some credibility, let other elements of your content cement your trustworthy status.

Build up your credibility

Once you have their attention and initial trust, your well crafted website content will have the ability to cement your credibility with your audience so they feel more comfortable sticking around, and hopefully, taking action. The importance of credibility to website visitors is highlighted by the Nielsen Norman Group in their research they found that credibility is important for Web users, since it’s unclear who is behind information on the Web and whether a page can be trusted.

The best way to quickly establish this credibility is to have your content a) answer all possible questions, and b) reinforce your value through the use of testimonials/reviews.

Since 81% of Canadians will do research online before making a purchase decision, make sure you answer all possible questions so your audience feels informed enough to be comfortable taking action. Answering common questions, particularly in the form of a FAQ page, has been proven to be one of the best ways to increase your website content’s conversion rate.

“The more certainty you can provide your target audience, the more likely they are to become your customers. Before you start writing [content] for your landing page, ask your customer service team for the most frequent questions asked by customers. Turn them into a FAQs section for your landing page that you can use to pre-emptively answer common questions.”

Now that you have an informed readership, reinforce your small business’s value, along with your content’s conversion rate, by presenting testimonials/reviews. It’s said that approximately 90% of consumers trust online reviews, and while you’d like to help, you just can’t vouch for your business quite like a customer can – so let your satisfied customers write for you. The use of testimonials has a unique power of boosting conversions:

“Testimonials produce conversions like nothing else can. It’s impossible to write copy as good as your customer. Why? Because good copy depends on the source, not just the style and substance. Testimonials are compelling because they show the customer what she will experience if she uses your product or service.”

You have their attention, now use your content to quickly (and easily) tell your audience how they can take one final action – a conversion.

Be bossy – Tell them what to do

Your website content has – so far – appealed to how people read, caught eyes with your headlines, used design to keep eyes on the page, you told a simple story, and you established credibility. The next (and final) step is to let your website content give one final push towards a conversion of your choice.

If you want your audience to do something (whatever you decided is your final conversion) you have to tell them what to do, and present them with an easy way to carry it out. This is your Call to Action (CTA), and according to Hubspot Academy, the purpose of your CTA is to attract visitors and turn them into leads.

The placement of your CTA on your website’s page is imperative so that it’s seen by the highest number of viewers. So, where should you place your CTA? At the end of a post, on the sidebar, and/or floating banner in the corner. Hubspot Academy continues with a few simple tips to get the most conversions from your CTA, it should have:

1. Content that compels you to click the offer: a couple of words, no more than five is ideal.

2. Begin with a verb like “Download” or “Register”.

3. An easy-to-find spot that follows organically from the flow of the webpage.

4. In a contrasting color from the color scheme of the webpage, while still fitting in with the overall design.

5. An icon large enough to see from a distance, but not so large as to detract attention from the main content on the page.

6. A statement saying exactly what the visitor will get if they click on the CTA and go to the landing page.

Your website content has successfully appealed to, enticed, and informed your visitor. With your effective Call to Action, your content has completed all requirements to becoming beneficial to your small business by pushing your audience towards your business’s end goal – conversion.

Key Takeaways

1. The sales funnel does not apply – The four stages of the sales funnel (awareness, interest, desire, action) aren’t completely dead, but the predictable nature of leads once they enter it certainly is.

2. Scanning is the new reading – shift the focus of your web content from being catchy and creative to simply being clear

3. Catch eyes and leads with your headlines – concisely tell your audience what’s in it for them

4. Combine written content and design to keep eyes on the page and enhance how your company is perceived.

5. Tell a simple story – draw your audience in, build a persona for your business, establish a relationship, build credibility, address objections, and make the transition from prospect to customer seamlessly.

6. Build up your credibility – have your content answer all possible questions, and reinforce your value through the use of testimonials/reviews.

7. Tell your audience what to do – let your website content give one final push towards a conversion of your choice.

For your website content to work towards your business goals, it has to effectively reach out, keep attention, and land with a conversion. In order to do that, you have to shape your text into something that appeals to both how online audiences read, and how they behave. Simplicity is king in the eye of an audience who tends to scan, rather than read.

For your content to lead to conversions, you need to get your audience’s attention with a strategic headline, draw them in with your design, tell a story to convey your value, boost your credibility, and tell them exactly what to do. With these tips from the pros, your website’s content will realize its potential as a way to reach out to leads and boost conversions – further bolstering your small business website as the backbone to helping you be a better business today.

This article was just one more way you can use your website to help you be a better business.

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