As you review your website and list the changes that need to be made, one of the most important is the messaging – all the text and graphical content that greets your site visitor.  Messaging has a huge impact on conversion and web site ROI.

First, Is the information 'chunked?'  People skim websites and will rarely read what they have to see, and only if they resonate to their skimming within seconds of landing on the page.  I've written about this in the past.  Check the archives.  But make sure a visitor can absorb the highlights in 8 seconds or less.

• Make prominent use of headlines and sub-heads.  (The search engines love the H-1 and H2 tags)  Consider continually testing headlines.  They're often better after a revision or two.

• Make sure that paragraphs are only 2-3 sentences long and 4-5 lines tall in most cases.

• Use bullet points, bold text and yellow highlighting judiciously.

• Use images that make sense and support your text.

• ALWAYS talk about your benefits and not so much features and make them prominent.

• Put your best information 'above the fold.' It may not get seen if they have to scroll down and they may not scroll down unless they like what they see.

Second, Does it say what you want it to say?  Have your benefits or terms changed?  Are pricing and product descriptions up to date?  Are there any typos?

• Use the visitor's terms.  (I saw an example last week where the site owner wanted to use the term 'telephone' but his visitors only used 'phone."

• Make sure that the appropriate keywords are spread thruout the page content, especially in headlines and bullet points (which are an excellent way to present a benefits statement.)

• Avoid cliches, like "Our friendly, knowledgeable staff…." or "We're dedicated to your satisfaction."  Being knowledgeable and dedicated may be benefits.  Just pick a better way to say it.

Third, Is there a standard font for similar sections of the site?  We'll address this further when we discuss design, but don't go crazy on fonts.  Typically, one or two standard types are sufficient.  Make sure that "main page content" is all in the same type and size of font.  Use other fonts for testimonials or sidebar information.

Fourth, Are their any grammatical mistakes?  Your going to find a bunch. (I have made 2 on this line alone)  By all means use your spellchecker!

And finally, How can it be improved?  Assuming you've got it chunked, what would help?  Adding a case study?  People resonate to them.  Adding testimonials?  They give you credibility.

Treat every page on your site as a landing page. If it's optimized properly for search engines, there should be several points of entry to your site.  Use the ideas above to convert that traffic to a paying consumer!

– Kurt Scholle, The Website ROI Guy!

In my most recent post, I discussed an overview of website content creation, which is a key factor  in creating web site ROI.  Let’s drill down a bit and discuss the use of different types of bullet lists as a technique for presenting information  in the attention deficit work of web surfing.

Successful websites (vs. most other sites) convey
the benefits of buying a product or service.  One of the more effective ways of doing that is by using
a bulleted list. 
Think of a bulleted list as a bunch of headlines or benefit statements.  

Bullet lists can be used to resonate with someone’s interests, like this for a service industry (Landscaper);

“By using our services, you”ll achieve:”

o       
A better looking yard.

o       
Ease of maintenance.

o       
More value for your home.

o       
A vacation spot you can use daily.

…or create an authority bullet list to
present facts;

“According to a recent survey of teens and
their use of news, 65,000 were asked, “Where do you get most of your news?”

o       
48% TV

o       
18% Newspapers

o       
14% Word of mouth

o       
9% Online

o       
7% Radio

o       
4% Magazines

Use bullets to tease;

“Click here for case studies of people (or
organizations) who used our services to:”

o       
Drive traffic to their website.

o       
Improve customer interactions.

o       
Increase conversions of prospects to sales.

Bullets can also be used to ask questions
that engage your viewers and promote contact that leads to a dialogue;

“Here are some questions you may have:”

o       
How much will this cost with a customer configuration?

o       
Are the terms negotiable?

o       
What payment options do I have?

o       
When can you deliver it?

Bullets are also a great way to express
information found in compound sentences. 
It’s easier to digest and easier to assimilate during that initial 5-8
second skim of your site.  You can even use bullets as website navigation – links to deeper information in a section of a website.

More on copywriting tips and techniques coming soon to a monitor near you!

– Kurt Scholle, the Website-ROI-Guy