I talk a lot about writing sales pages and avoiding common sales page mistakes.
Today, I thought it would be fun to give you a little behind the scenes look at some of the the revising + editing strategies I use to look at my sales page copy to make sure that it’s going to do what it’s supposed to do: sell.
When clients send me their sales pages for Sales Page CPR, these are the four things I look at to assess the “health” of their sales copy. (You can totally use these strategies on your own sales page!)
Step 1 – Put yourself in an “outsider” mindset.
The trick here is to step outside of your personal connection to your sales copy and to look at it through the eyes of your target reader.
This is hands down my best strategy: good old empathy.
I always ask myself, “If I were so-and-so and I had this problem, what would my first impression of this page be?”
Go look at a piece of copy you’ve recently read and try it out!
Step #2 – Scan your headlines.
Headlines need to follow these 2 rules:
Rule #1 – If I only scan the headlines on your sales page I should a) know if your offer is for me and b) be able to say yes or no.
Rule #2 – When I read a headline on your sales page, it should only apply to your audience and no one else.
The way to check and see if your sales page headlines are up to snuff is to only read your sales page headlines and ask yourself: “Do I understand the offer from reading the headlines alone?”
If not, it’s time to beef up those headlines with some content!
Hint: Each headline should communicate the main idea of the section.
Step #3 – Check your How vs. Why ratio.
Which is more clear: the how or the why?
In other words, does your copy focus on the features or the benefits? The things I’m getting or the results of those things?
Ideally, you should have a 40/60 ratio. Forty percent of your copy should be about the how. This includes the calls, modules, worksheets, Facebook group and stuff like that.
The other sixty percent of your copy should focus on why the how matters. So what if I get 3 months of coaching…why should I care? So what if I get 6 calls with you… why should I care?
Check your copy: Is the how or the why more apparent on your copy? How can you get closer to the ideal balance?
Step 4 – Give the copy “room to breathe”
I read a lot of sales pages where some of the best copy is hidden.
Remember that people are not going to read your page word for word. (Go back to being in an outsider mindset… would you read your sales page word for word?)
Here’s how to fix this:
- Break your sales page into sections using my 14-part outline
- Break up any paragraphs that have more than 2 or 3 sentences
- Strategically use bold text, bullet points, subheadlines (and eventually graphics and images) to make important points pop.
Want to learn how to make sure that the first headline of your sales page sucks people in?
I’m hosting a free LIVE writing workshop on December 1st where I’m going to take you behind-the-scenes into the in-depth process I use to work on the critical first 20% of my (and my clients’) sales page(s).
