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Writing For Higher Conversions (Part 2) Tim Ash - SiteTuners.com - Aug 4, 2009

In my last article on Writing For Conversions, part 1, I covered the structure of effective writing. In this article I will focus on the other key elements -- tone and style.

Tone

As I discussed earlier, the reality for most Internet surfers is that they are constantly subjected to a barrage of promotional messages and advertising. As a basic defense mechanism, they have learned to tune out most hype. Perhaps you do have to be somewhat crass to get them to your landing page. For whatever reason, they have ended up there. But as I advised in the "Keys to Creating Awareness" section in Chapter 4, you should now stop screaming at your visitors. You are no longer (for the moment) competing for their attention with other websites. So you need to change the focus to the task that they are trying to accomplish.

Your visitors detest marketese. Unfortunately, your landing page was probably written in this kind of over-the-top promotional style. It usually involves a lot of boasting and unsubstantiated claims. If your company is the "world's leading provider" of something, you are in good company. A recent search on Google turned up 8.58 million matching results for this phrase. Your claims are probably not true anyway, but even if they are you can use different language to make your point.

Marketese may be (barely) acceptable in your press releases when you are trying to puff up your company and accomplishments. But on your landing page it spells disaster. Marketese requires work on the part of your visitor. It saps their energy and attention, and forces them to spend time separating the content from the fluff. It also results in much longer word counts. You are missing an enormous opportunity by not creating a hype-free zone on your landing page.

How to Avoid Writing in "Marketese"

• Do not use any adjectives.
• Provide only objective information.
• Focus on the needs of your audience.

Save your visitors the aggravation and only tell them what they want to hear. Your editorial tone should have the following attributes:

This is doubly true for link text or button text. Your visitors need to have a clear understanding of exactly what will happen when they take the action of clicking on something. Text links should describe the content on the target page. Unhelpful link labels such as "click here" are a wasted opportunity to focus the visitor's awareness on an important available option. Also, link text is used by search engines to help people find information. If you use good link text, then you will be helping your own cause. Buttons should accurately describe the intended action. For example, many e-commerce sites mistakenly put "Buy It Now!" buttons next to products when the actual action is "Add to cart." Another common mistake is to use the label "Order Now" when you really mean "Proceed to Checkout." This causes unnecessary stress and anxiety for visitors as they try to figure out the threat or opportunity presented by your button. It is always best to remove the hesitation and assure them that taking the next step is a small and safe action

Format

Since people don't read the Web, the format of your writing should support their opportunistic scanning behavior. Use the following guidelines to help you write scannable text:

• Write in fragments or short sentences (don't worry about grammatical correctness if you have made yourself clear).
• Use digits instead of words to write out numbers (e.g. "47" instead of "forty seven")
• Highlight important information-carrying words (do not highlight whole sentences; stick to 2- or 3-word phrases).
• Use clear, emphasized titles for page headings and important subheads.
• Use ordinary language (avoid industry jargon and acronyms that are not widely understood).
• Use active voice, and action verbs.
• Use bullet lists instead of paragraphs.
• Keep lists between three and seven items (the limit of human short-term memory "chunking").
• Do not use more than two levels for lists or headings.
• Use descriptive link text (describing the information on the target page).
• Use supporting links to maintain present supplemental information and "see also" cross-referenced information.

If you review your website or landing pages with a critical eye and faithfully implement the recommendations above, I can guarantee that you will make a better and more persuasive connection with your visitors. This in turn should make your cash register ring more often.