A Common Word Not To Use When Trying To Get A Response From Your Web-Pages (and almost everyone does it!)! – Chris Cardell
This week’s Internet Profit Strategy might seem a little specific and esoteric… but I promise you it’s vitally important.
We often talk about copywriting in general terms, simply because most business owners get it SO badly wrong they can massively increase their results simply by applying some very general principles to the way they write their web pages (for example, by having a headline, subheadings, an offer and a call to action).
But what we tend not to realise is we can vastly improve (or conversely completely destroy) response by using the wrong words. No joke: a single “wrong” word can stop your website visitor dead in their tracks just at the point they were going to give you their details (or even their money!).
And the most common one of these is “form”, as in “Fill in the form below and we’ll send you the information”. The trouble with the word “form” is it sounds so official. We get forms from the tax-man and the government. They imply contracts, obligation and commitment. They put us off. So a far better way of phrasing this kind of thing is like this: “Just leave your details below, click the button and we’ll take care of the rest”
How easy and gentle does that sound compared to the other one?
Here are some more “bad” words you want to avoid, and the ones you want to use instead.
Sometimes you might have to re-cast sentences, but it’s always worth it:
“Sign up”. Instead write “join us” or “subscribe” or “claim”
“Buy”. Instead write “When you own” (we want to own stuff… we just don’t want to pay for it)
“Price” and “cost”. Instead use “amount” or “sum”. Caveat: you CAN use “price” and “cost” when you’re talking about your competitors.
“Contract”. Instead use “paperwork” or “agreement”.
These might seem like small details, but believe me they all add up and make a huge difference to the way your website visitors are going to respond to your pages
Ultimately it’s going to increase response and increase profits. So watch your words – and watch your bank account grow as a result
No Comments
This entry is filed under Chris Cardell.
You can also follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Or perhaps you're just looking for the trackback and/or the permalink.