Are You Using the Right Words on Your Landing Pages?

Today's website review makes for a great example because the page we're looking at does so many things right. On this landing page, design and layout are on point and this gives us an opportunity to hone in on some of the finer details of copywriting.

Watch the video to see what we find and how you can improve the clarity and wording on your own landing pages.

More...

Getting The Big Picture Right

The website we're looking at today is this one. In many website reviews, we talk about design, layout and avoiding visual clutter and distraction.​ Clear, focused visual design is crucial for any website that's supposed to convert well, so it's no wonder it comes up often.

The easiest way to make sure you have these big picture design fundamentals in place is to leave design work to designers. And the cheapest way to do that is to use pre-designed templates and themes.​

Once you have a clear and focused design in place, the words on your pages become the most important lever for conversions.

Readability Before Copy

There's one more design factor we need to touch upon: readability.

It doesn't matter that your words are well crafted and persuasive if they are too hard to read. In addition to the comments I made in the video, you can check out this post to learn more about readability: 3 things you can do to improve any landing page.

With that said, let's get into the tips for improving your words:

Avoid "Me, Me, Me" Messages

​We all care most about ourselves. That's why in our messages, we are prone to the "me, me, me" pattern.

"Look at my amazing product!"

"Marvel at my great website!"

"I put so much work into carefully crafting this offer!"

​The problem with this, of course, is that such a website is made for an audience of one: the website owner.

If you want to make your website appealing to your visitors, you need to switch from "me, me, me" messaging to "you, you you".​

Don't Rely on Empty Benefits

As marketers, we are always told that we should advertise benefits, not features.​ Not all benefits are good benefits, though. Not all benefits will convince your readers to sign up or make a purchase.

The worst kinds of benefits are empty benefits.

What is an empty benefit?

Let me give you an example:

"Our product is fast and easy! Get it now, it's cheap!"​

There are some claims that are so common that they don't sound very appealing anymore. Everyone claims that their thing is fast, easy to use and will help you save time and money. Don't rely on such claims as your main benefits.

If your main benefit is something that no one would ever take the opposite position to, it's empty and weak. Typically, this type of benefit tries to appeal to everyone and ends up appealing to no one in particular.​

Are You Saying the Same Thing Again Same Thing Again?

It's important to have a clear focus in your message, but not to point where you keep repeating yourself.

Look at the copy on your page and for each heading and each paragraph, ask yourself: what's the core idea that's being communicated here?

If you find that the exact same core idea is being communicated over and over again, just in different words, your page suffers from redundancy.​ Cut out those repetitions to make for a cleaner, shorter (and probably more effective) page.

Know Whom Your Page is NOT For

​You need to know your target audience.

That's not news to you, if you've been doing online marketing for a while.​

But what about this:​ you need to know who isn't in your target market.

See, even if we try to focus on a target niche, most of us can't help but try and please everyone. Sure, my online course is made for beginners, but it's also for more advanced users. For men and for women. For young and old. Really, everyone's welcome!

We wrongly believe that we can reach more customers by appealing to a wider audience.

Here's an exercise to fix this problem: write down a description of some people whom your offer is most definitely not for. Then, write your copy in such a way that it's unmistakably clear that it's not for them.

By excluding some people, your offer becomes more relevant and interesting to people in your target audience and you'll end up attracting more, not fewer, customers.​

Your Turn to Write Better Words

Which of these tips can you apply to your website today? Let me know in a comment!

Also, if you have any questions about today's review or any suggestions, comments are welcome!​

P.S.: If you'd like to get your website reviewed in a video like this as well, you can submit it here. Our list of submissions is long, but if you get lucky, we might pick your site for a future video!

P.P.S.: To learn more about the super simple "5 second test" mentioned in the video, click here.