Website Design and Promotion

A Unique Method of Using Testimonials

Testimonials are crucial to your online success. There are a variety of ways to gather and use them and John Jantsch describes a unique method for using testimonials in his recent post The Small Business Reverse Testimonial Referral Tactic:

When you receive a testimonial from a client, clip a very powerful sentence or paragraph and print (you can do this in-house with post card templates from an office store or StockLayouts) 10-12 postcards with you client's comment, a simple offer and your contact information. Then, send these cards to your client and ask them to jot a hand-written note and send them along to folks they think would benefit from this offer. (Yes, put postage on the cards for them.)

Whether you try John's method of using testimonials or use others, make sure you are collecting testimonials from your clients and customers on a regular basis. I ask all my clients for testimonials. Some I gather from comments they have made to me throughout our work together and others I glean from an interview I hold with them when we complete our work together.

Websites More Convincing Than Celebrities

A new report by AccountAbility shows that celebrity endorsements are second last (next to leaflets delivered to the home) in terms of convincing consumers to buy. At the top of the list is packaging (which, if you're a sole practitioner in a health and healing field, can be your website and other marketing material). It's nice to see that websites and other Internet sources come quite a bit ahead of celebrities. That knowledge could save you a lot of money! ;)

Though not a very strong influence yet, it's good to hear that certifications, such as Fairtrade do play a role in consumers' decisions.

The "How To.." Headline

Headlines  that begin with "How To" are known to be highly effective because people want information on how to do or get things (or at least think they do). Brian Clark at Copyblogger describes how to write a killer "How To" headline by focusing on the specific benefits.

Here are some of his examples:

1.    Double-Benefit Headlines

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Brian notes that double-benefit headlines such as the one above, have twice the power of a single-benefit headline. Further, this headline subtly implies that if you achieve the first benefit, you will automatically achieve the second benefit. 

2.    How To [Mundane Task] That [Rewarding Benefit]

How to get a Mortgage That Saves You Money

 In this example, Brian notes the importance of specificity in naming the benefit. The more specific, the better. I find this is one of the most challenging and most important aspects of writing a good headline. When seeing your headline, people need to be able to say, "yes, that is exactly what I want." It's hard to get them to say that if your headline is not specific.

3.    The "How To" Without the "To".

How I Improved My Memory in One Evening

This headline goes for the curiosity factor--evoking your prospect's curiosity so that he reads beyond the headline.

A great post. Reading it will help you write better headlines. After all, the headline is the most important aspect of your copy.  Without a compelling headline, no one is going to read beyond it. You can read the whole post here.

Search Engine Lingo

If you've ever wondered what certain terms you've heard in reference to search engine optimization are, here's a good post with the Jargon Explained.

The author has compiled a pretty comprehensive list from anchor text to XML. He explains cookies, spiders, white hat/black hat, and a host of acronyms. Some items you'll never have heard of, but others will make you say, "So that's what that is!"

Getting Your Site Indexed in Search Engines Before It’s Launched

Launching a new site is a lot of work and it can be very frustrating to have to wait several months before it’s indexed in google and the other major search engines.

Adam McFarland describes how to get your site indexed before it’s launched. The method he describes involves getting a web page up and then getting links from other sites pointing to your site. While he recommends getting a “coming soon” page with some information about your site and expected launch date, you can also get your actual home page copy up and then tweak it later when the rest of the content for your site is complete.

Adam recommends getting links from other blogs and websites. He also suggests writing articles for article directories as a method of getting links.  These are all excellent ideas. I have often noticed that once some of my clients get just one link from another site, their site starts showing up in the rankings.

Short Copy vs Long Copy: Settling the Debate

In the world of copywriting, people still debate how long copy should be in order to get maximum results.  While I prefer long copy myself and believe it works best, I think it's more important to focus on writing as much as it takes to say what you have to have say in order to get your prospective clients and customers to take action. You don't want to make your copy long for the sake of being long if it's not interesting or compelling. On the other hand, it shouldn't be too short either as it won't provide the information the buyer needs in order to make the decision.

David Garfinkel thinks he has settled the long copy vs the short copy debate once and for all. He gives an example of an ad for a job that a colleague of his wrote that was 461 words long! The response rate was impressive and David concludes that the debate is now closed on long vs short copy.

I disagree that the debate will now be over as too many people believe the myth that short is best and too much information is bad. However, I do agree with David on this:

How would those people know about this job if you didn't take the time ... and the words... to describe it to them in the first place?

Long, compelling copy fills in the blanks and leaves fewer questions in buyer's heads. If you can give them all the information they need to make a decision, there will be much less hesitation on your offer.