This article may come as a surprise to you.
Especially since it is written by a web designer. Let me explain......
Rescue Your Web Site from Boring Words and Poor Design.
The difference between a successful website design and a site that brings in zero or very little business is not how nice the graphics are, not the colors you choose. It's not the flashy animation, and it's not your precious company logo.
I'm not saying to remove these elements. Some of them are important. But they're mostly ego-driven. They are "me" messages, and have absolutely nothing to do with what you want your visitor to do.
And what is that you ask? The answer is of course. You want your visitors to buy something.
People who are considering doing business with you are only interested in one thing; "What's In It For Me?"
One of the first steps toward a successful website is writing copy that tells the reader what's in it for him, in a style that is easy to read.
Make More Cash
Study any website that makes money and I promise you'll see the following copy elements in place:
In the main body copy, the text color is always black with a white background, making it easy to read. This should be obvious, but it's amazing how many websites out there do not follow this very basic guideline.
Testimonials, and other secondary elements commonly use a contrasting font such as courier, courier new. The background in light blue, beige, or yellow shade to make it stand apart from the white background of the main body copy.
Verdana is the most widely used font for your body copy. This font was actually developed for use in the web. Times New Roman, Arial, and Georgiana are also popular. Never use more than two different font faces in your sales copy.
The use of yellow highlights, italics and bold font-style for emphasis.
Headlines and Subheads are usually a contrasting color from the black body text. A shade of red, dark green and dark blue are good colors. However, do not use more than three or four different colors.
Sentence and paragraph font size is commonly between 8pt. and 12pt. Never smaller than that, and never bigger.
Headlines and sub headlines usually between 14pt. and 18pt.
Paragraphs never justified. Most common is left-margin with no indent.
How To Write Successful Headlines
In your sales copy you need an attention-grabbing headline and a compelling sales message full of benefits, clearly describing what your product or service is all about.
Legendary copywriter Ted Nicholas author of 14 best-selling books including "Magic Words That Bring You Riches" has these excellent tips on writing headlines
"Start with a well thought out headline."
"Five times as many people read the headline as the body copy. It makes sense, therefore, to spend the major portion of your effort on headlines."
"A good headline motivates action by stirring an emotion"
"Write as many as 250 headlines before settling on one"
13 Proven Headline Words
Announcing...
Secrets of...
New...
Now...
Amazing...
Facts you...
Breakthrough...
At Last...
Advice to...
The truth of...
Free...
How would...
How to...
How To Write Attention-Grabbing First Sentences
Joe Sugarman (of blu-blocker sunglass fame) and author of best-selling book "Advertising Secrets of the Written Word" has these tips on writing first sentences;
"Keep it short, sweet and almost incomplete."
For example:
It's easy.
It had to happen.
It's time.
It's crazy.
The sole purpose of the first sentence is to get you to read the second sentence.
How To Write Attention-Grabbing Ending Sentences
"You must plant seeds of curiosity for the reader." "At the end of a paragraph offer a reason to read the next paragraph."
Using sentences such as.....
But there's more.
So read on.
But I didn't stop there.
Let me explain.
Now here comes the good part.
These tips represent just the tip of the iceberg on breathing new life into your half-dead web site.
We'll cover all of the other necessary elements in future articles. Stay tuned.
I hope that you have found this information to be helpful in your pursuit of excellence. Thank you for reading.
Regards,
Dave Peterson
About The Author
Dave is not only a Professional Website Designer. He also incorporates exciting state-of-the-art marketing strategies and expertise that help clients put more cash in there pockets. Providing great value to his clients.
Wood Dale Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareThey say the eyes are the window to the soul.... Read More
Web design is a very competitive area and there is... Read More
Flash is a powerful technology that can help you create... Read More
There is no doubt that reprint articles can serve lots... Read More
In this article, I will attempt to cover the basics... Read More
Want to see an excellently constructed website? As a writer... Read More
For many webmasters the title of my article may seem... Read More
It is common sense.The more time people spend at your... Read More
Building your first website can be very frustrating. It looks... Read More
Automating your online business is one of the most important... Read More
Even if you're not an accomplished webmaster you can still... Read More
What pages need to be included on your website? The... Read More
Navigation must be simple. Since it's the backbone of your... Read More
There can be zillions of reasons why your visitors return... Read More
I want you to imagine a lemon. In your mind's... Read More
Want to know what the worst thing to say on... Read More
Content is undoubtedly the most important element of a website.... Read More
Have you put a lot of effort, time, and money... Read More
The solution lies in creating a 'Database driven website', through... Read More
With an increasing number of employment portals emerging, it is... Read More
On the internet we don't deal with face to face... Read More
Creating an appealing, functional, and effective Web site is much... Read More
When you design a website how do you start ?Do... Read More
This article may come as a surprise to you.Especially since... Read More
1. Who needs an artists website?Not everyone! If you are... Read More
Antigo wedding limo ..Many Internet sites that try to sell you something have... Read More
Why is the quality of your text layout and design... Read More
Imagine you're going on a blind date. You've heard wonderful... Read More
Writing for your web site is not the same as... Read More
What the heck is going on lately? Most internet websites... Read More
If you own a web site or if you are... Read More
This is my second article on maximising web site viewability.... Read More
We've all seen them. Poorly designed web sites that make... Read More
1. Web site File Structure / File NamingMost search engines... Read More
Web Site Awards are given from other sites to reward... Read More
So your web site's online and you've got high rankings... Read More
If you are trying to sell a product or service... Read More
A highly effective website will always reflect its highly effective... Read More
As search engine marketers, we spend an enormous amount of... Read More
The "Wow" factor that accompanied the introduction of streaming media... Read More
First you need original content. Content is the heart beat... Read More
Most web designers and web design companies will try to... Read More
Part one of this article is available at ... Read More
So your web site's online and you've got high rankings... Read More
10 Basic Things Your Website Should Have ...__ all short... Read More
Good websites stand out from the masses of boring, hard... Read More
ASP.NET is a new programming framework from Microsoft for developing... Read More
I've written about META tags in the past, and I... Read More
With the advent of the Internet a whole new vista... Read More
Colors have long been known to have psychological affects on... Read More
Web Design |