Web Copy is the Batman of Your Conversion Funnel

Web copy is like Batman. How? Let me explain.

Unbounce analyzing 40k landing pages revealed copywriting is 2x more effective than design (28% vs. 13%).

Use copywriting because it solves your One Reader’s problems like Gotham’s cape crusader, which converts them on any digital platform. Batman and converting web copy rely on their intelligence, research, resources, and mastery to solve the One Reader’s problem.

1. Web copy prevents the crime of losing traffic by building a conversion funnel around your website’s message
2. Copywriting drives qualified leads to your product page or service page by optimizing your offer

Where would your ROI be without losing those visitors that don’t buy or sign up for the email list?

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll learn how to

But how does your company cut through the clutter? Be a detective like Batman and research your One Reader. You’ll discover all the answers you need to know. Your website’s images, videos, and impressive design are essential. But cohesive messaging is the best way to persuade your One Reader. 

Do you underestimate the conversion power of your website copy? Can you imagine converting people from a Google search, a Facebook ad, or a social media post into brand loyalists? Again and again.  

“Your copy is your online salesperson.”

Joanna Wiebe, Copyhackers.com

You converted them because you solved your One Reader’s problem with real tangible solutions. Consumers are smart; rely on your intellect to get conversions. To convert more visitors, make their journey less confusing by matching your web copywriting with their expectations. 

Translate your audience research into ROI by using your web copy to connect your One Reader’s needs and desires. Web copy doesn’t leap over your competitors in one bound. It won’t make claims your product/service is bulletproof, or the worse-magically changes lives. 

Start outlining your conversion goals to write converting copy.  

Determine the Goal of Your Web Copy

Breaking news… your web copy is a 24/7 salesperson. Use web copy to drive qualified leads from your social media posts to your online content to your email list, and close the deal with email copywriting. You’ll get the desired action you want if you ask yourself:

Batman is Always Laser-focused on the Goal

To create high converting web copy:

1. Think about your One Reader’s journey through your sales funnel
2. Define the purpose of your web copy
3. Find out what you want your One Reader to do after landing on your website

The answers to your questions will help you develop the focal point you want to convey.

The Ultimate Goal of Web Copy

To get your One Reader to take action every word must push your audience to continue reading (Joseph Sugerman’s Axiom 2). You have to create a slippery slope.

According to the six-figure copywriter Jacob Mcmillen,

• Websites for service businesses should have a lead form
• Sites for products should be a direct purchase (short buyer cycle) or email sign-ups (long buyer cycle)

The 3 Critical Elements of Converting Traffic

To achieve your conversion funnel goals:

1. Put your One Reader first
2. Focus on generating trust
3. Write for a genuine person

Focus on how to get your One Reader to the end of the funnel with your web copy. Make your One Reader the hero of your brand’s story to increase your conversion rate optimization.

Determine the Focus of Web Copy

Focus on your One Reader to craft persuasive web copy—picture whom you are writing for, then make the most beneficial point. Your audience doesn’t care about your company’s services or products, just themselves.

How do you focus on your One Reader?

1. Think about the challenges and problems they face and how your product/service provides the solution
2. Lead with that solution/point, so the visitor doesn’t have to scroll

Use your One Reader’s language to influence an emotional connection then they’ll buy. Selling is understanding people. You must show empathy. Trust converts; create a positive user experience.

Focus on Your One Reader

To make that connection speak to your One Reader’s

The Life-Force 8

In Cashvertising, “Dr. Direct” describes humans’ innate desires as the Life-Force 8 as:

1. Survival
2. Food and Drink
3. Freedom from Fear, Pain, and Danger
4. Sexual Companionship
5. Comfortable Living Conditions
6. To be Superior
7. Care and Protection of Loved Ones
8. Social Approval

The foundation of your messaging research is one or two of the desires, along with your One Reader’s level of awareness.

5 Stages of Awareness

Determine their stage of awareness.

And then their level of intent.

You can focus on your product/service after you determine their level of awareness and their intent level.

Convey your Product/Service to Your Audience

Connect your product/service’s benefits to a well-told story. 95% of our purchasing decisions happen subconsciously, so desires/needs influence online behavior. 

Always include:

Summarize it all into your USP to convince your One Reader to buy. 

Unique Selling Proposition

Your web copy has to convey your unique selling proposition; try to sum it all up in one or two sentences. Follow it up with the information your One Reader needs to know to buy from you. 

How will your product/service make their life better? Do research to find out. That’s what the Dark Knight would do.

How to Find & Write Web Copy that Converts

Be like the world’s greatest detective; find out what makes your One Reader tick. They leave clues everywhere on the internet and when they engage with you. But how do you find these clues?

“Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.”

David Ogilvy

Start with Voice of Customer Research

The best way to write converting web copy is to find messaging by mining reviews and comments. 

1. Look through Reddit, Amazon, Quora, and customer support emails
2. Identify the problems you identify as the most common to optimize your offer
3. Find the message that speaks to transformational change and adds more satisfaction to their lives

Sell Futures, Not Features. Show Benefits with Outcomes.

To sell your products/services, focus on translating the benefits you provide to your One Reader into tangible value. Solve their problem/pain with your USP.

Since features are facts about your product or service, they can’t do much selling. 

However, benefits sell well because they showcase what your product does for your One Reader. 

1. Turn your most relevant benefits into value propositions
2. Think about the “benefit of the benefit” when they use your product
3. Emphasize the value that your offer promises your One Reader
4. Then guarantee that benefit to strengthen your offer

“Buy this product, for this specific benefit.”⁠

Rosser Reeves

Your unique selling proposition should communicate your values and your mission.

• Translate all the features of your product/service into a benefit for your visitors
• State the high-level purpose of your business

To find the right one think about their:

Ask yourself:

To increase your conversion rate, entice your visitors with selling points that say a lot with a little. 

Summarize Your Story in Your USP

Unique selling propositions are unique, desirable, succinct, memorable, and specific.

So when crafting a website page (for example), capture your unique selling propositions in the:

The USP contains the one feature of the product that most stands out as different from the competition, and is usually a feature that conveys unique benefits to the consumer.

Dr. James Blythe

Your web copy’s superpower is empowering the hearts and minds of searching consumers.

1. Find out your One Reader’s pain points
2. Understand the feeling behind the pain
3. Start a conversation with your audience
4. Get them emotionally involved by speaking in their language
5. Match the benefit of your product/service that solves their problem
6. Highlight the most desirable value propositions
7. Find the best value proposition to convert up 3x more leads

Turn Voice of Customer Research into Web Copy

Think of your web copy as a billboard; don’t tell the audience your entire story. Writing copy for the web requires focusing on the “Rule of One.”

Tell your One Reader:

Speak to their needs and wants by picking a classic direct response copywriting formula to insert your messaging in a way that will convert. Establish trust, rapport, and credibility by showing you understand their needs, mood, and personality. 

With your messaging be:

1. Vivid (specific)
2. Personal 
3. Direct
4. Intentional
5. Clear
6. Credible
7. Concise

Bonus: Be Empathic 

Useful, urgent, unique, and ultra-specific web copy leads your One Reader to your site. 

Revising your Web Copywriting

74% of web users pay attention to the quality of spelling and grammar on company websites so remember to edit your content. Get help with 13 plus editing tools.

The Layout of Web Copy

Writing for the web means you’ll use organic posts, paid ads, SEO, or emails to drive your One Reader to a designated page on your website. Once they are there, your website copy has to carry their attention to the finish line.

On average, visitors to a page will read only 20% of its content. You need to structure your page so that the most important points stand out. They can click away at any time, so follow a proven format to make a quick impression. 

The Hero Sections Help Capture Your One Reader

The hero section is the visible part of the web page when the audience first lands on your site. It should include the header and the subheader. 

It can be the entire page or as small as a banner. Sell your brand with the value propositions you created for your audience. Experts strongly encourage an image but it’s optional. 

Optimize your hero section with the highest priority pain point to help people know they have arrived on the right site.

5 Essential Hero Sections Types

Choose a type of hero section based on what you learned from your audience research. You can use a typical Hero section template to frame your messaging to convert visitors.

1. The Value Proposition: Express the value of the brand, product, or feature
2. Problem-based hero: Lead with where your One Reader is 
3. Dreamstate-based hero: Lead with where your Oner Reader wants to be 
4. Segment-specific hero: Certain type of One Reader (ex. Managers)
5. Campaign level hero: Showcases the product like a traditional ad

Header

Use your header to explain what you do; keep your header within 6-12 words. Write a full description of what you’re selling.

Hook the Readers 

You have to prioritize the benefits your audience needs the most.

Add your company’s

You have to prioritize the benefits your audience needs the most.

Subheader

Use your subheader to describe how you do it. 

• Keep your subheader within 10-13 words
• Explain how you uniquely solve your customer’s issue

The Social Proof; Proof Bars

Build trust and credibility with a collection of social or data proof to convert your visitors (provide your usp). Social proof can increase newsletter sign-ups by 20%. 

A common practice is to have customer testimonials (social proof) before the call to action. 88% of B2B marketers agreed testimonials are the most effective content to convert your audience. Or your social proof can be data, examples, statistics, reviews, etc.

You should insert your social proof several times throughout the website and follow up with CTAs.

Always Close with a Call to Action (CTA)

Your call to action tells your audience the ideal step to take. You should start with a well-placed call to values. You must set up the value of the action you want the One Reader to take. Optimize your CTA and sell the click by detailing what your One Reader can expect next. 

“Amplify the value, not the action.”

Joanna Wiebe

CTA – Web Button Copy

You may have a CTA in the hero section, or you may not. It depends on the needs of the website copywriting. Personalized (or ‘smart’) call to actions perform 202% better than generic ones, per HubSpot. Use a button to call them to action when it is time for your One Reader to decide. 

Design the button to be “big, bright, bold, and blindingly obvious.”

Ann Handley

CTA Common Examples You Shouldn’t Use

Take your CTA to the next level by telling your One Reader what action to complete with intentional copy that matches what you stated in the headline.  

Visuals & Website Copywriting

Large images paired with informative copy is a common technique used. The picture you use should reinforce the messaging of your copy. Visuals give the visitors’ eyeballs a rest. 

Above the Fold

The fold describes a web browser window’s bottom border. The fold is the HERO section but could include more.

Below the Fold

You must provide more value below the fold before they buy. You have to include a lot of social proof.

Elements of Scannable Web Copy

All web copy should have these copywriting elements to enhance the One Reader’s experience. 

Your One Reader scans web pages in an ‘F’ pattern. They read the third word on a line far less often than the first two. You can expect this and position your most important copy at the start of the line. 

Types of Web Pages

You should tailor the goal of your web page based on its purpose. Each web page should tie into the overall purpose and intent of your website. Each page must work together in complete harmony to convert visitors efficiently. But you shouldn’t include your landing pages, lead generating pages, sales pages, etc. 

The Most Common Types of Web Pages:

Use Web Copy to Get Traffic to Your Website

Every day, 27 million content pieces get posted, shared, and commented on across the web. Social media posts, SEO, paid ads, and emails will drive your One Reader to your website. Please don’t send them to your home page, “75% of site traffic will leave after only seeing your homepage,” according to Demand Curve’s Julian Shapiro.

Optimize Your Website for Search Engines 

Use owned, earned, and paid media to help get your website seen.  61% of the internet users research products they want to buy, according to HubSpot. 

The Importance of Key Phrases in Web Copy

Start your Keyword research by creating a list of words that describes your business, products, and services. Look for long-tail keywords⁠⁠ to determine what your audience is searching for.⁠

1. Type in a keyword associated with your niche
2. Find the most popular long-tail keyword
3. Insert the key phrase in your website copy

Use the following tools to help

Select the Keyphrase Based on

Put your Keywords in

Backlinks Help Web Copy

Links directed towards your website are a vital part of your site’s ability to rank higher. The more, the better, and it screams to Google, you are popular.

Web Copy in Meta Descriptions

The meta descriptions of your blog posts are a snippet that summarizes a page’s content. Search engines show the meta descriptions when the keyword is in the description. You have to keep it up to about 155 characters, according to YoastSEO. It’s also an HTML tag. You can improve your Google ranking by using your focus keyword throughout the meta description. 

Google needs fresh content and updating landing pages. You have to create valuable content for your readers. HubSpot has a list of 31 examples; click here.

Web Copy in the Footer

If your One Reader made it to the footer, it shows they have interest in your service/products (or they automatically scrolled down).

Add:

Web Copy & Blogging

It is shareable content for social media to drive your audience to your website. You should define your distribution channels and create a content calendar. You’ll see the advantages of having a content marketing campaign to generate traffic back to your website.

Tools to Help Measure Web Copywriting

There are a vast number of tools to use to increase the effectiveness of your web copy. I’m just recommending Google Analytics for now.

Key Performance Indicators of Website Copywriting

You have to measure everything and based your web copy on data. KPIs are measurements that have exact numerical values to measure the performance. 

Limit your measurables to the 5-8 most important metrics. You can use the KPIs consistently to improve the effectiveness of your web copywriting.

Be Batman! An Overview of Web Copy

Your website can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. It sells your company 24/7. 

Web copy improves conversion rates because it sells futures, not features. Engaging web copy reveals the value of your product/service by connecting to your One Reader’s deepest desires. 

1. Think automated sales for your products/services, and you can provide value with blog posts and lead magnets. 
2. Build your email list! 
3. Sell your products to your hard-earned customers. 

You can be Batman and heroic enough to heal your audience’s pain points. All you need is to have relentless determination to rise to the online sales challenge.

Web copy is a sales tool. Sell with what you have in your tool belt!