I’ve read a lot on the subject and with this mini copy class, I want to save you all the time I’ve invested in drawing the conclusions I summarise here.

We’ll see what kind of images work best on the internet and which ones you should avoid in any circumstances.

Because just as images can help you grab your prospects’ attention and enhance your offer, they can also do the opposite: that people ignore you or don’t get your message.

And to better understand how images influence people’s emotions we’ll look at some examples.

But don’t worry.

We aren’t only going to look at brands with huge advertising budgets, but also at the more mundane ones with whom we surely have more in common.

The main objective: to wake a sleepy audience up

Advertisers of decades ago already came to the same conclusion: the images that work best are those that catch the eye.

Those that break our default mental patterns and make us pay attention.

David Ogilvy, the father of advertising, said:

“What do work are photographs which arouse the reader’s curiosity. He glances at the photograph and says to himself, “What goes on here?” Then he reads your copy to find out. This is the trap to set. Harold Rudolph called this magic element “story appeal,” and demonstrated that the more of it you inject into your photographs, the more people will look at your advertisements. […]”.

If Ogilvy already thought like this before Instagram existed, imagine now with all these brands fighting to get our attention all the time.

We must elbow our way in – or rather use powerful images and copy – to get our prospects’ full attention.

Sometimes the images are so powerful that they don’t need much copy:

And others in which the copy is what will make the message stronger:

Sometimes the impact of the image is created by the headline.

It might be a nothing-special photo but it’s the headline what grabs your attention:

If you see that headline, you’re going to look at the ad for sure, because it’s shocked you. You ask yourself, but why is the waiter calling names to that customer?

The ad copy goes:

“Have you ever doubted the sincerity of an Italian waiter’s smile? Wondered what it was you said that made those Spanish shop assistants giggle? Or questioned why that French doctor gave you headache pills for food poisoning?

Haven’t we all? But imagine for a moment how different these situations might be if you could understand and talk to people when you’re abroad”.

The copy goes on talking about Linguaphone, a language school.

Here the image is nothing out of the ordinary but serves to illustrate and complement a powerful piece of copy.

The copy without the image wouldn’t work as well, and the image alone wouldn’t make people stop and read the ad.

Together, they tick all the boxes.

Let’s look at more examples so we can apply all these important lessons to our mundane businesses.

Want to attract attention? Choose the right images for your #website, #posts, and #ads. #copywriting #socialmedia #design #SmallBiz
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How to use images to help you sell more

Choose images that help you convey your Unique Selling Proposition.

A website with images converts better.

They break the monotony of the text and help your website visitors understand concepts faster.

You should add images that help you convey your Unique Selling Proposition.

Let’s look at how I do it on my website.

My USP is that I give businesses a unique twist by creating original and compelling copy.

And I do that by shying away from boring and repetitive content everyone is using. What I call Zombie Copy.

This image helps me convey my USP in a fun and memorable way.

Illustrations are a wicked way to be more likeable as a brand.

They help you stand out from your competition and convey your main benefits in an original and memorable way.

Lemon.io does it as well:

Lemon.io is a platform that connects developers with startups.

Their USP is that they make sure their devs won’t turn out to be a fiasco since they have to pass a series of tests before they can be part of Lemon.io devs pool.

The image of the CV in a trap help visitors grab their USP quickly summoning one of startups’ most recurrent pain points.

Lemon.io knows their prospects had bad experiences with developers in the past who weren’t as good as their CVs made them out to be.

Illustrations also give personality to your brand since they’re unique.

The illustrators and designers from La Bola Ocho created my website. Together we also work for clients who need copy and brand design.

If you need someone to design your logo, website, or packaging or help you stand out with funny and original illustrations, don’t hesitate!

Images to build credibility

When you’re a service provider it’s important to show your face. Even if you’re a team.

Prospects want to see that you’re real people so they can trust your company to solve their problem.

That’s why you should show your faces on your About page. Or even on your Home page.

Moreover, images of people grab more attention because humans feel attracted by other humans.

And this principle also applies to customer testimonials.

Whenever possible add a photo of the person talking about their experience after working with you or buying your product.

Want to attract attention? Choose the right images for your #website, #posts, and #ads. #copywriting #socialmedia #design #SmallBiz
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Attention-grabbing images on social media

Social media has become a battleground where millions of brands fight for attention around the clock.

It can feel haunting.

But if we want to survive as brands we need to make some space for our businesses in this overcrowded party.

We’ve already seen some tricks to win this battle such as using images with people in them.

But you can’t post selfies all the time because you’ll be considered a narcissist. (And there are already too many around).

Use this resource for some of your organic posts but when it comes to ads better use images that grab people’s attention by breaking mental patterns.

You can do this by choosing images that have that “story appeal” Ogilvy talked about. Images that aren’t too common so when looking at them people wonder “What’s going on there?”

Or you can use images that aren’t so out of the ordinary but complement the copy and awaken people’s curiosity, as we saw with the image of the Italian waiter.

I’ll give you a real example of a product I worked with recently to show you how important the image is to enhance the copy.

This Spanish brand sells tablets to feel less hangover after drinking. For them, I wrote some emails and ads for Instagram and Facebook.

The copy of one of the ads said:

FORGET IT. HE’S NOT GOING TO SLEEP 2 HOURS LONGER BECAUSE YOU HAD A BIG NIGHT.

Don’t regret it.

One tablet just before you start drinking and a second one before you go to bed and forget the word hangover.

100% natural ingredients. No side effects. Ask for Sayonara at your local pharmacy.

This is the image I proposed to enhance the copy:

It was just to give them an idea, they didn’t have to use this exact one I’d created on Canva.

I chose this image because the baby looks you in the eye with that mischievous smile that goes perfectly with the headline.

Moreover, baby images attract a lot of attention because of our natural instinct to protect them.

But oh no!! My heart dropped when I saw the image they’d chosen for the ad:

The baby’s back is turned so there’s no connection with the audience and no mischievous smile directed at the viewer.

Besides, there are too many elements in that picture that distract from the main point. The baby.

With this image, I’m sure the ad won’t work as well. Such a shame!

So remember: if you want people to pay attention to your organic posts or ads:

1. Choose an image that creates a connection with the viewer and enhances an already powerful headline.
2. Or a shocking image that breaks mental patterns and attracts all the looks

Like:

This ad is from an insurance company.

And yet most insurance companies still insist on using boring images and bland copy…

Want to attract attention? Choose the right images for your #website, #posts, and #ads. #copywriting #socialmedia #design #SmallBiz
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Images to sell an experience

And by experiences, I don’t just mean tours, amusement parks or festivals.

Often a product is also an experience.

Air stream knows this very well when selling their caravans.

They sell the experience you’ll live with it, not the caravan itself.

When selling experiences choose images that anticipate the joy of living that precise moment.

Images that generate the desire to be there and nowhere else.

Better show common and real people because it’s easier to identify with them. Models with perfect bodies and faces aren’t always the right choice, they seem too unattainable and therefore less relatable.

Want to attract attention? Choose the right images for your #website, #posts, and #ads. #copywriting #socialmedia #design #SmallBiz
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Images to express a benefit

Images can help you express all the benefits of your product at a glance.

A perfect example of what I mean here is this one:

This ad is for Keloptic, a French optician brand, created by the agency Y&R Paris.

It’s striking because it ticks all the boxes:

1. It breaks our mental patterns (we’ve never seen Van Gogh’s face so clearly in one of his self-portraits) and therefore it forces us to look and pay attention
2. and it expresses at a glance the main benefit of their product.

Images also serve to demonstrate other types of benefits.

For example, size, as Squareup does to show the compactness of their chip readers:

You can also demonstrate the size of your product by taking the photo from below and putting your product next to other objects that serve as a reference.

Burger King does it to show their burgers are big:

The before/after images work very well in many cases to show the benefits of your product or service. Like this one of a hair transplant clinic:

Which images not to use

• Don’t choose bland stock images. Like those of people working on a MacBook with a latte.

These photos don’t contribute anything and won’t help you stand out because you can see exactly the same ones in different places. They don’t compel any benefits, they aren’t striking and they don’t make people want to be there at that moment.

• Photos of large groups of people don’t work as well because it’s more difficult to identify with one of them.

Best use images of individuals or small groups.

• Be careful with images that are too heavy and slow down your website.

Use a plugin to optimise the images’ size. I use optimizador.io.

• Poor quality images. If you don’t want people to think your company is shoddy, watch out for those blurry, low-resolution images.

Don’t upload photos that have been sent to you via WhatsApp. They always lose in quality.

• Images of beautiful landscapes that have nothing to do with your product or service.

I see this a lot. Coaches, SaaS companies, plumbers, whatever, who randomly add in a picture of some snowed peaks and a blue lake.

These images serve no purpose to your business. Visitors haven’t landed on your website to look at pretty landscapes. They just want to find our quickly how you can help. Use images that make sense and help you express your value.

• Metaphorical images that confuse the message

Imagine you are a coach and you say on your website “Take the bull by the horns” and you decide to accompany the copy with a picture of a bullfighter.

This image may confuse your reader. What’s this? A coach or a bullfighting school?

Keep in mind that people often don’t read the whole copy, but scan it and read only single sentences.

Want to attract attention? Choose the right images for your #website, #posts, and #ads. #copywriting #socialmedia #design #SmallBiz
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To sum up

Before choosing an image for your website or socials ask yourself these questions:

• Is there a clear advantage? For example, does this image present my product or service well?
• Does it help people understand what I mean?
• Does this image create an emotional appeal? For example, does it help prospects visualise themselves using the product pictured?
• How does this image relate to my brand and does it appeal to my target audience?
• What message does this image send – if any?
• How will prospects respond to this image and will it change their opinion? For example, will it help facilitate the buying process?

If you aren’t sure about the answers to these questions, think again before uploading that image.

Maybe you want to choose a different one that better conveys what you want to transmit and that will attract your prospects’ attention.

I hope this mini-copy class has helped you better understand how to choose your images.

Now you know how important images are to enhance your copy and vice versa!

See you around!

Want to attract attention? Choose the right images for your #website, #posts, and #ads. #copywriting #socialmedia #design #SmallBiz
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Many of them fail to stand out from their competitors because they haven’t worked on the copy and they believe professional images are all they need to incite visitors to buy.

Yeah, if you are Zara.

But if you’re a little known brand, you’ll have to accompany those images with suggestive copy that will make prospects want to receive your products straight away.

And it’s not only the copy that is important, there are other factors that come into play too to make an ecommerce website work.

Let’s see each of them.

1.      A distinct brand voice

Having a unique brand voice is really important. You should work on yours at an early stage when you’re designing your packaging or logo.

Your brand voice is what will make people recognise you in a million and what will turn your customers into fans of everything you offer.

Creating an original and consistent brand voice might take you some time.

The more you know your target audience and your own product, the better you’ll be able to define that voice that makes you unique.

There are exercises that help you define your voice. These are 4 exercises I do with my clients:

• The celebrity
• The living room
• The dinner guest
• The list of adjectives

In this article I explain how to do each of the exercises. They’ll help you find your own voice, so don’t skip them.

Observe other brands in your niche and DON’T DO ANYTHING LIKE THEM.

This is a big problem I see all too often. Brands are scared of being different and they just copy and repeat buzzwords, colours, and techniques, that others are using.

And they expect to stand out doing this!

If you really want to get noticed you have to dare to do things differently.

It’s ok to get inspiration from others brands you admire. But it’s one thing to take some ideas and quite another to literally copy what they’re doing.

You probably know the brand Innocent, those smoothies you can find all over the world.

Innocent’s voice is recognisable among many other brands because they’ve worked on it from the start, when other companies in their niche were still in the status quo, thinking that what would take them to the podium was to spend lots of cash on TV commercials.

Innocent was created by a group of friends who wanted to do something different. Dan Germain is the copywriter behind its voice and one of the owners.

They started writing mini-stories on the labels of their smoothies and found that people read them and even wrote to them to tell them what they thought of the story. Sometimes they considered it shit and other times they loved it.

The point is that they were creating a conversation with the consumers and slowly building their own community of fans.

Since those early days when they were just a small team, many years have passed -more than 20- and now they’ve got a team of copywriters from all corners of the world who write in different languages.

They continue taking care of their brand voice by writing original copy for each country so as to adapt the message to each culture.

I don’t doubt their smoothies are excellent too, but it’s clear their brand voice has helped them a great deal to sell their products all over the world.

Dan Germain says in The Copy Book:

“In the beginning, we didn’t know what we were doing. We didn’t know how to make drinks, we didn’t know how to design packaging, and we had no idea about marketing. But we tried.”

So go ahead and try doing things your way.

Recommended reading: 5 essential components of a brand with personality

7 #design and #copywriting elements your #eCommerce can’t miss
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2.      A homepage that makes you want to stay

Some homepages are frightful.

A variety of elements following no logical order, cheesy headlines worthy of Valentine’s cards, not enough white space to breathe…

An eCommerce has to be a pleasant experience from the moment you land on it.

It’s just like in a break and mortar shop.

If you go into a shop and, as soon as you get in, you find several shelves of products stacked up that have little to do with each other, there’s no space to move around and you can’t find a shop assistant anywhere to ask about features and price, you most probably will get the hell out of there.

The same happens online.

Your website should be tidy and clean, with enough white space between images and text, well-designated sections, perfect images and copy specially crafted for your target customer.

A good structure of a homepage can look like this:

Avoid these mistakes if you want your website to attract more business:

Too many buttons

Your homepage is not your product page.

The goal here is not to nudge them to buy your products straight away but to get them interested in your brand so they’ll want to see what you have to offer.

Add your best products as a hook to get them to see more but don’t clutter the page with too many elements.

Although, there are brands that like to have their pages cluttered up and it might work well for them.

It depends on the style you want to give to your brand. (Minimalistic, Kitsch, Elegant, etc.)

The living room exercise in the first section will help you decide what you want the experience of your visitors to be like. But be aware: too many options can be overwhelming.

Too many different colours

I love colours. I feel they bring joy and my house is full of colourful Mexican and Peruvian cushions.

But this doesn’t work on a website.

Many colours can become confusing and hide call-to-action buttons (CTAs) those buy, subscribe, etc. buttons that you want your prospects to click.

Better choose 3 colours max and be consistent.

If you started using orange CTAs, then make them always orange, so your prospects can identify them quickly.

Elements that move too fast

Web designers love elements that move independently. But they often distract prospects from taking action.

Remember those times when you’re reading something and it suddenly disappears, and so does the next slide?

It’s stressful and annoying.

Let your prospects click next when they’re ready.

7 #design and #copywriting elements your #eCommerce can’t miss
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A bland headline

The headline and first few sentences need to summarise why people should stay and have a look at your shop.

Your headline needs to express in a few words what your customers will take away and why you’re different.

Here are some examples of original headlines and slogans to inspire you:

Firebox – is where you go if you want to buy an original present. Its headline says “Shop for the Unusual“

Woot – It’s an Amazon company that offers only products at discounted prices and its headline says “Don’t work to find deals. Let the deals find you“

Backmarket – A shop for refurbished products, its headline “Le (super) marché du reconditionné” – Translated – “The (super) market for refurbished”.

Pip&Nut – “Natural Nuttiness” and the subheadline “Award-winning natural nut butter”

Winning headline = Benefit + powerful/catchy words

Recommended reading – The powerful formula to create winning headlines

3.      A super well-organised main menu

When you have many product categories you have no choice but to add drop-down submenus.

If you have a lot of categories better to use a menu on the left margin with a search bar like the big fashion brands do.

Categories should be well organised following a logical order so visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for.

If you don’t have so many categories you can add your menu at the top of the page, but only if you have 5 categories max with 5 or 6 options each.

In case of more options, a side menu will be better. It doesn’t take the whole page when displayed and it looks cleaner.

Use the footer menu for the less important sections of your website (cookies policy, blog, address, opening hours, etc.).

4. Professional (static) images

Images in eCommerce are the second most important element.

You might be surprised by what I just said, but it’s true.

A pro image without a good story/description behind it may fall short and not motivate the purchase.

Later in this post, I give you a very clear example of what I mean. I talk about an eCommerce that makes its product descriptions its most important value, but we’ll see that in the next section.

The photos of your products have to be super professional, of course, and better if they don’t move on their own so prospects can take the time to look and click next when they want to see a different angle or another product.

Videos can work if you think your product needs to be demonstrated.

If you add a video set it on mute by default so it doesn’t play loud unexpectedly. Then people can click on the speaker button if they like.

If it’s an explanatory video, add subtitles for those who don’t want to unmute it.

7 #design and #copywriting elements your #eCommerce can’t miss
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5. Product descriptions that make you want to receive that product right now

Describing a product is an art.

There are online shops that only describe the features and materials of a product, without realising they’re missing a golden opportunity to show their brand’s personality.

And then there are brands like Loved Before that has made of their descriptions their unique value proposition.

Loved Before is an online shop that sells second-hand teddies. Their headline “Saving the Planet, one teddy at a time” already implies a big benefit. You’ll feel better buying a teddy from their shop because it’s a greener option.

The sub-headline reads “A soft toy adoption agency with a difference“.

They don’t sell used soft toys, but are an adoption agency for orphaned cuddly toys – a big difference!

Every soft toy they sell has a story behind it, just like Linda:

“Linda loves sleepovers, sleeping bags and eating sweets at night. But most of all she loves chatting all night long and falling asleep with her best friend.

Each cuddly toy has its personality described in a couple of lines.

Like Bobby:

“Bobby is not a morning bear, if you need him be sure to wait until the afternoon to ask him a question. Any other time you’ll just get a grunt.”

All the value of these cuddly toys lies in their personality described in a few words. Further down we can read the practical details, materials, measurements and weight.

Can you imagine the difference if they had only added the characteristics?

In this article, I give you more examples of brands that write excellent product descriptions and talk about the elements you shouldn’t forget to add.

7 #design and #copywriting elements your #eCommerce can’t miss
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6. A crystal clear purchasing process

Browsing your online shop has to be very easy. The instructions and messages that help your prospects navigate through the purchase process need to be crystal clear.

The field of copywriting that specialises in these messages is called UX copywriting. The acronym UX stands for “User Experience”.

UX copywriting focuses on making the user experience when visiting your website or using your App as pleasant as possible.

Words play a very important role when you rely on users to perform specific actions, such as buying a product or subscribing to a newsletter.

Words have to be well thought out and strategically placed to facilitate the process of buying or using a tool.

You should think of all possible situations that can happen, for example, “The purchase was successful” or “Purchase cancelled. The payment could not be made”, and always use clear, precise, concise and positive language.

Let’s take a look at these 4 language attributes that you should use in all messages and instructions on your website and App.

Clarity

Remember: you’re the expert so don’t assume your prospect already knows everything. You know your business and your website better than they do.

Help them navigate your site easily and find what they’re looking for quickly.

Write with clarity in mind and don’t leave out important information.

Use simple words that everyone understands, your website is not the place to show off your extensive vocabulary.

If you have to use a technical word people may not understand, explain it. Write like you speak. One trick to make sure you sound conversational is to read your text out loud to catch any expression that feels unnatural.

Precise language

People don’t want to have to think too much, so give them precise instructions on what to do next.

For example, don’t say:

Update your preferences to receive fewer notifications from us

Better:

To receive fewer notifications, go to Preferences > Email notifications

To be more precise and clear you also need to be consistent. Make sure you always use the same terms to describe the same objects or actions.

For example, if you use the word “newsletter” in one place, don’t call it “bulletin” in another. Decide which one you prefer and always use the same one.

By being consistent with your choice of words, you reduce the number of things your prospects need to understand and remember.

Concise language

Less is more (almost always). Try to be as brief as possible but always make sure the main idea is clear.

Use short sentences and watch out for wordiness.

For example instead of saying:

“If you haven’t already done so, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive special offers and promotions sent directly to your email inbox.”

Better:

“Subscribe to our newsletter to receive special offers”.

Try to express a single idea in each sentence.

Talk to your customers and not about yourself.

For example instead of saying:

“We are proud to announce that we have introduced 15 new products to our catalogue”.

Better:

“We’ve added 15 new products to the catalogue – check out what’s new!”

Positive language

Beware of negative language, it’s always less friendly and often longer.

Instead of saying:

“You can’t go on if you don’t identify yourself”.

Better:

“To continue, please enter your username and password”.

Sometimes we have to give bad news. This is when it’s better to use the passive voice, which it’s not the best option as a norm.

For example instead of saying:

“Your credit card has been declined. We have cancelled your order”.

Better to say:

“We haven’t received your credit card authorisation. Your order has been cancelled”.

Try not to make even bad news sound too negative and above all never blame the customer for what went wrong.

7.  A great incentive for subscribing to your email list

A customer who has already bought once from you is more likely to buy again. But you need to remind them.

That’s why you should work on your email strategy. If you want customers to subscribe to your emails you should give them a good incentive.

Most online shops offer a certain discount -almost always 10%- on the first purchase.

But there are other ways too:

• A small free gift with the first purchase. It doesn’t have to be something of great value, because… Who doesn’t love a freebie?
• A guide with a lot of value for your customer. Depending on what you sell, you can think of valuable content your customer would like to receive for free. Recipes, a guide to haircuts that best suit the different face shapes, a guide to travel by train. There are hundreds of topics that could interest your customers.
• Give a percentage of their first purchase to an NGO. Many people want to help but don’t know how to get involved, if you make it easy for them they’ll be more inclined to do so. They’ll feel better about their purchase.
• Playing roulette. I saw this on a site and I thought it was great because it gives the customer the opportunity to play and that anticipation before knowing what they’ve won will surely encourage many people to enter their email.

I hope these copywriting and design tips for your online shop or eCommerce will help you improve your website and sell more.

7 #design and #copywriting elements your #eCommerce can’t miss
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You’ve got that perfect product description and you’re ready to sell like hotcakes.

But now it’s time to introduce the price in the copy and you are stuck.

You haven’t added it yet and already feel you’ve grown scary fangs.

Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

It was the same for me at the beginning, as it’s for most people.

You want the price to reflect all the value of your product or service but you’re always afraid prospects will consider it too expensive.

Luckily, in copywriting there are some techniques to avoid sounding like an unscrupulous salesman and, above all, to make people feel they’re getting great value for a more than reasonable price.

Shall we see them?

Sell something that people want and don’t need

Very rarely do we buy things we genuinely need.

Most of the time we buy a product or hire a service because we just want it.

It’s much easier to sell something people want than something they need.

People should feel they’re free to choose whether they want to buy it or not. They shouldn’t feel we’re pushing our product or service down their throats.

The difference between selling something they need and something they want is both simple and complex at the same time.

Or rather, you need to do both.

Let me explain.

You have to:

First > Embellish your product, so people want it.

Second > Justify their purchase, so people believe they need it.

If you can convince them they want it, and then that they need it, you’ve got it.

And how do we get them to want it?

If you’ve written a great headline, followed it up with a compelling lead, conveyed all the benefits of your product, added powerful testimonials and justified the purchase with features and authority, you should have already put a very clear picture in your prospects’ mind of what your product or service will do for them.

You’d have achieved for them not to consider the price an issue, and that everything revolves around the value.

Sure, in an ideal world!

But the truth is that when it comes time for our prospects to get their credit cards out, they can’t help but worry about the price again and question whether they can afford it.

That’s why you need to present the price of your product or service in a way that makes it look like a bargain compared to the amazing value prospects will get.

And how do we achieve this?

There are several ways. Let’s look at the main ones.

How to introduce the price of your product or service so prospects don’t run away #copywriting #salespages #webcopy #ads #SmallBiz #marketing
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Introduce your product or service immediately after a more expensive one.

It’s psychological.

When you introduce an expensive product your prospect is already mentally prepared for what’s coming because they start to understand what kind of business they’re in – physically or virtually-.

If you’ve been to London you’ve probably visited Harrods, the luxurious department store.

You’re well aware that everything costs an arm and a leg there.

So you’re wandering through 500 pounds table linens and suddenly you notice a lovely, very British mug with little painted flowers and you see that it’s on sale for £19.99 which in Euros is about 24 €.

And you run to the cashier and buy it.

A 24 euro mug that you would never have bought if you had seen it at Zara Home!

But being in Harrods and seeing super expensive products made you consider that mug a bargain.

In your business, you can use a similar technique but without having to set exorbitant prices only for millionaires.

It’s about putting one of your most expensive products or a Special service and then the product or service you really want to sell.

When your prospect sees the product or service considerably cheaper than the previous one will think it’s a bargain and will be more willing to buy it.

Have you seen this technique with the label saying “most popular”?

It’s always the plan or package with a price in the middle, neither the most expensive nor the cheapest.

How to introduce the price of your product or service so prospects don’t run away #copywriting #salespages #webcopy #ads #SmallBiz #marketing
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Introduce the price in a smaller unit

This technique works very well for memberships.

Instead of introducing the price per month or per year, do it as a price per day, so it´ll make it seem much more affordable.

As, for example, some services and software do:

Note how they highlight the membership they are interested in selling, which is the Standard Edition.

Compare the price with an unnecessary but common product or service.

I’m sure you’ve seen this technique somewhere before:

“For the price of a latte”.

“For the price of a jumper that will become just another piece of clothing in your wardrobe”.

When your prospects put these things into perspective, they realise that their money could be better spent buying your product or service.

But be careful, you should compare it to something that isn’t an absolute necessity.

For example, don’t compare it to the cost of a loaf of bread because bread is considered necessary.

Or with something unusual that your prospect would never think of buying, such as “for the price of a pair of VR goggles” because they won’t feel related.

Add extras or bonuses

Sometimes adding a few bonuses, if it’s a digital product such as a course or an e-book, or small accessories or surprises, if it’s a physical product, helps to increase the perception of value and therefore the price seems more than justified.

An extra can be a webinar, a manual, lipstick, a sticker, etc.

They don’t necessarily need to be expensive things but knowing that these extras are free will encourage the purchase.

Because there’s nothing more magical than the word FREE.

It also helps to add the price of that free extra to give it even more value, and to present your digital product with an image that looks like something material as Udemy here:

Offer payment facilities

When your product involves a significant sum, think of all those prospects who are willing to buy but cannot afford it.

But what if they could pay for it in several instalments?

Then they will be happy to buy.

Think about it, it may be the solution to increase your sales.

Add the price in a smaller font

Some studies have found that adding the price in a smaller font size helps to create the perception that the price is not so high.

Psychologically, we are used to perceiving big things as big.

So a small price has to be small too.

Take the focus off the price.

Besides writing it in a smaller font, don’t emphasise it with flashy colours.

How to introduce the price of your product or service so prospects don’t run away #copywriting #salespages #webcopy #ads #SmallBiz #marketing
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Explain clearly what prospects need to do to buy

Your prospects are on a thousand things at once.

She is reading your sales page or ad, but she is also making sure the tomato sauce in the saucepan doesn’t get burnt, that her toddler doesn’t eat a cat’s hairball and thinking she needs to call her mum with whom she hasn’t spoken in days.

So don’t be afraid to state the obvious when you add your Call-to-Action buttons and when you explain how to pay.

Tell your prospect exactly what to do, how to do it and that you want them to do it right now.

When your prospect is about to take an action that will cost them money, time and effort, this level of detail gives them certainty and comfort about what to do next and what to expect.

“Click here to add it to your cart.

After you make the payment you’ll receive an email of confirmation. A day later you’ll receive another email with your tracking number so you can track your package.”

Having a good knowledge of UX copywriting will help you write all the messages your prospects need to read to understand what they need to do next.

If you want your reader to take action, use specific language with clear and concrete details.

Leave no doubt about what you want to happen. And don’t be afraid to be “too obvious”.

Remember, your prospects aren’t stupid, it’s just that they aren’t giving their full attention to your sales page or ad.

How to introduce the price of your product or service so prospects don’t run away #copywriting #salespages #webcopy #ads #SmallBiz #marketing
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It’s true. People don’t always read all the copy.

So how do you make sure that the person who lands on your website gets the key message to convince them that your product or service is better than the competition?

The copy is as important as the way it’s presented.

If you use tiny fonts, clumps of text, no room to breathe, no highlighting of ideas and no images, it will be almost impossible for people to read what you have to say.

That’s why it’s so important to know how to lay out your web copy.

In this copywriting lesson, we’ll look at the best techniques for making copy easy to read and scan.

What does scanning mean in this context?

It’s what you, me and everyone else does these days: we scan a page for the information we’re interested in without reading the whole thing, and if we don’t find it quickly, we walk away.

So let’s see how we can make people find the information they need and keep the key message of our sales copy.

Here we go.

The Headline

A weak headline which doesn’t attract the attention of your target customer is already a bad start.

The headline is the first obstacle you need to overcome, because if it isn’t powerful or compelling enough, you are not going to make your prospects stop and read the copy.

With the headline you allure your buyer persona into your universe by creating curiosity and teasing the benefit they can get if they read more.

There are many types of headlines but one of the formulas that works best is this one:

Tease the value of what you offer and embellish the benefit prospects will get.

This formula is what in copywriting we call fascinations and we use them in headlines but also in email subjects or product descriptions.

Recommended reading How to write fascinations

Headings

Once you’ve managed to make your prospects stay on the page, most of them will only stop and read what catches their attention.

If the copy is very well written and the person is really interested, they may read everything, but most of them will scan the copy looking for quick information.

So we need to highlight what we want to stay in the reader’s mind.

Headings help us guide the reader to where we want them to go, because they’re in a larger font, and even in a different colour, they won’t go unnoticed.

Use H1, H2 and H3 to summarise the key messages you want the reader to remember.

How to upload the copy to your website to make sure people read it #copywriting #uxdesign #webdesign #uxcopywriting
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Let’s look at an example.

Coach Accountable is an app for coaches to organise their work with clients. Clients can use the app to view materials, set reminders, etc.

Their home page is quite long because they need to explain why this app will improve people’s lives.

As there’s a lot of text, they use headings and colours to highlight the key points they want the reader to take away.

Italics, underlining and bold

Like everything else in life, if we overuse headlines, they will lose their power because they will no longer stand out and the reader will stop reading.

So we need to use other means of emphasising messages. We can use underlining, italics or bold.

In copywriting we often use this technique: from time to time we italicise a keyword that we want to emphasise in a sentence, we also do this to break up the monotony of the text.

Like here:

Bold words should be used with care because some people may only read those and not the rest, so they need to make sense on their own or make people curious to read the whole sentence.

How to upload the copy to your website to make sure people read it #copywriting #uxdesign #webdesign #uxcopywriting
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Short paragraphs and sentences

The Internet has changed the way we read. We don’t read a book in the same way we read a blog post.

When we search for information on the internet our brain is exposed to hundreds of images and messages, we are overloading it with stimuli, and that’s why it’s so hard to concentrate.

Help people concentrate on your copy by being concise and clear.

When writing for the web you sometimes need to explain a complex idea in a short paragraph. This isn’t easy, you learn with time and practice.

Paragraphs should be no longer than 4 lines and contain only one idea.

Avoid the passive voice and always use verbs in the active voice, the more vivid the better.

Break, jump, explode, conquer, win, flee, devour, love, explore, discover, risk, are examples of vivid verbs.

It all depends on the context, of course – selling fashion is not the same as selling a cancer research scanner.

But in any case it’s important to keep the reader awake and encourage them to take the action we want them to take (buy, contact us, subscribe to a list, etc.).

White space

With people spending an average of 6 hours and 42 minutes on the internet, with all the stimuli for the brain that this entails, you need to give them a chance to rest their eyes, so leave plenty of white space (or black space if you have a more sinister website).

This space will allow people to take a break and continue reading, but most importantly it will make the page look clean and tidy.

It’s like walking into a messy person’s bedroom and seeing everything lying around, clothes on the floor and on the bed, a desk full of junk, empty packets of crisps… You don’t know where to look and you want to run away.

The same thing happens to a person who lands on a website and sees endless blocks of text without any breaks, with thousands of messages competing for attention in no particular order, and with ads moving around the sides.

DON’T

However, if a site is tidy, with blocks of text in different formats, with some white space in between, with double columns for longer text, and without subscription boxes or annoying ads in the margins, the experience will be much more pleasant and you will be more likely to get your prospects to stay.

DO

How to upload the copy to your website to make sure people read it #copywriting #uxdesign #webdesign #uxcopywriting
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Images

Images add aesthetic value, space and help get the message across.

When scanning a page, we tend to pay more attention to the text if it’s to the right of an image.

However, it’s useful to alternate the position of blocks of text and images because people tend to zigzag when reading a web page.

Images should complement the message we want to convey by adding more information about the product or service.

There are some businesses that, in an attempt to look cool, upload images that add irrelevant information or even confusing, distracting the reader from the main message.

If you think an image doesn’t add anything to the main message or might confuse the reader, just don’t include it.

If you’re a freelancer offering services, adding a photo of yourself will increase your credibility.

Putting a face to your services will help people trust you.

Large font

Why do so many designers insist on using a tiny font size?

The size here DOES matter!

It should be between 16 and 18 px, never smaller.

If it’s smaller than 16px, people might be super interested, but they’ll feel lazy because it takes more effort to read.

If you manage to convey your value with concise copy capable of convincing your ideal customer in a few words, choose an even larger font like Lemonpie does here.

Choose a simple, clean font like Montserrat, the whole Sans family, Raleway, and the like.

If you like more personal fonts like Swanky and Moo or similar, don’t overuse them.

It’s fine to use them for a header or a more personal short message, like a signature, but don’t write all the copy on your site in these types of handwritten fonts.

They’re tiring and don’t encourage people to read more than a few sentences.

To sum up

Your web copy can be jaw-dropping, but if the layout isn’t right, not even your mum will want to read it.

Be mindful of how you upload copy to your website and always think about the reader and how they will read it: In a hurry. ALWAYS.

Remember:

• Headlines that arouse curiosity and embellish a benefit.
• Headings that summarise the most important ideas.
• Underlining, bolding and italics to emphasise keywords and messages
• Short paragraphs and sentences
• White space
• Occasional but relevant images
• Clear and LARGE fonts

See you around!

How to upload the copy to your website to make sure people read it #copywriting #uxdesign #webdesign #uxcopywriting
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Such mistakes prevent these websites from accomplish their main purpose, which is to win customers.

Whether they are selling a product or offering services, most businesses make these 5 mistakes, which, on the other hand, are very easy to correct.

They are mistakes of design and strategy.

No matter how good the web copy is, if the design gets in the way, it’ll be much more difficult to convert visitors into customers.

Design and copy must go hand in hand always.

A trendy and attractive design with wishy-washy copy which doesn’t touch prospects’ emotions won’t sell.

And if the copy is specific, clear and convincing, but the design gets in the way, preventing the person who lands on your website from reading it easily, the result will be just as disappointing.

A website works when it has compelling copy designed for the target audience and a clean and amicable design.

And by amicable I don’t mean funny, but a design which is a pleasure to interact with.

Because it’s intuitive and takes the prospect by the hand, guiding him to the next step we want him to take.

This step can be to contact you, to buy your product or to give you his email address.

If you want your website to convert avoid these 5 design and strategy mistakes that are sabotaging your income.

1. A home page that looks like a flea market

I’ve seen home pages you wouldn’t believe.

Some of them make you want to run away.

And this is precisely what happens to most prospects who land on a page like this.

Crowded text, lots of moving elements, blocks in different colours, margins offering several lead magnets, many calls to action placed together…

If you have a home page like this you’re throwing stones at your own roof.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is why that person has landed on your website.

They may have found you after googling some keywords, or they may have read a post on your blog and then gone to visit your home page.

Once you put yourself in their shoes you have to think about how you can help that person find easily what interest them.

If you add too many things to your home page you will confuse them and they won’t know what to do next.

Does she need to fill your contact form? Does she have to download your product demo? Or maybe look at what services you offer?

If you give her too many options too early on, she’ll most likely feel overwhelmed and leave.

Remember, your homepage have 3 main goals:

– Clearly show at a glance what you offer and what kind of customer it’s designed for

– Encourage prospects to click on links to your other important pages, such as your Services and About.

– Include an attractive CTA prospects will click to leave their email address in exchange of your lead magnet.

 Recommended reading How to create a lead magnet that attracts a whole bunch of customers.

All that information needs to be arranged in a logical order.

And it’s important to add lots of white space so people can breathe. This is called a clean website.

For inspiration take a look at these sites:

A freelancer: https://dayanamayfield.com/

An ecommerce: https://cocunat.com/

SaaS: https://balsamiq.com/

2. Carousel of testimonials

If you don’t listen to my advice on the other points, please at least listen to me on this one.

It’s something designers love…

Things that move.

But the truth is that no one wants to feel like they are on a merry-go-round.

I even get that same knot in my stomach when I try to read testimonials that disappear faster than what my eyes can read.

And I’m a fast reader! I’ve been watching movies in original version since I was 15.

Please don’t make your visitors dizzy.

Social proof is one of the most important elements of good copy.

If you want your prospects to trust you, testimonials are the best option to proof your value.

If you have great testimonials but people can’t read them, what’s the point?

So please ask your designer to leave them alone (static) and not get too excited by adding in too many elements that move (photos, slides, etc.)

Unless you are ZARA and have on your home page videos of models posing at home in a super natural way.

3. Drop-down menus

Sometimes you see menus that have 10 options…

Do you really think people are going to read every single one of them?

No way Jose.

Prospects aren’t going to take the time to read all those choices, and what’s more, seeing so many options is going to stress them out.

I know what you’re thinking, but I do offer different services and products and I need to show them.

Okay, I hear you. In this case you have 2 options:

– Add the different services in blocks on the home page with a short three-line introduction and a button that says “Learn more” which leads to the different product or service pages.

If you have more than 4 services, group some of them under the same block and then re-enter small blocks with the other services on the page you land on when clicking on the first block button.

Something like a Russian doll…

Same with products; group them into categories.

– The second option is to have a double menu that extends itself when you pass the cursor over it.

To get an idea, look at MailChimp’.

4. Images that can distort the message

Photos are very important. They make your website more visual and pleasant to the eye but you have to be careful when choosing them.

They should be relevant and help to convey the message you want your prospects to get.

I give you an example.

I once advised a client to change the photos of his website since they represented people in their twenties. However he’d told me that most of his customers were much older than that.

This client offers online education.

If a person lands on his website and sees those pictures of hip youngsters with green hair he might think that his classes are only for young people.

The prospect could think that there’s complicated technology involved that he won’t know how to handle and therefore he’ll probably leave.

Another example of this kind of mistake that I’ve often seen is photos that are confusing and out of place.

For example, you are a personal coach and have chosen as your headline on your home page “Take control of your life”.

And you think that a picture of a woman piloting a plane can illustrate the message.

But if someone takes a quick look at your website, that photo can confuse her. Is this a pilot school?

Remember, every person who lands on your website decides in milliseconds whether there’s something for them.

So your photos need to match the main message and also your ideal customer.

5. Social icons in the header

Many WordPress themes come with a pre-configured layout that adds links to your social networks in the header.

This is a strategic mistake rather than a design mistake.

Your main goal is to keep the person who has landed on your homepage as long as possible on your website, so you can convince her with your copy that your service/product is what she’s looking for.

But if you give them the option to leave and visit other pages before they know more about your business it’s like showing them the door.

You know what happens with social media, it’s like falling down the rabbit hole. Before you realize you’ve been watching videos of cats and people dancing in their pyjamas for hours.

So better not to tempt prospects to go on Facebook or Instagram or anywhere else.

If you’re active on social media and want to be followed, put the links in the footer and at the end of your blog posts.

This way you can make sure that when they go to visit your SM accounts they have read everything you want them to read.

Conclusion

Having a website that doesn’t convert is very sad.

Especially since it’s cost you time and money.

Great copy that touch emotions, with a clear and strategic design, will help you convert more visitors into customers.

These 5 mistakes are easy to fix.

Whether you designed your website yourself or a designer did it for you, in both cases you need to know the basic rules of copy and web design.

If you make one or more of these mistakes, correct them immediately if you want your web to be more pleasant to read and help you express the great value you offer.

Do you want to know more about copywriting and user experience-based design?

Subscribe to my list and receive 2 emails a month with everything I know about the subject.

See you around!

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