You’re the master of SEO and your website is consistently at the #1 position on Google’s SERPs.
You have tons of daily site visitors.
Thousands. Even millions.
Sound like huge success to you?
It’s not.
Because here’s the thing: Site traffic is COMPLETELY USELESS unless you’re converting your visitors.
Yup. Maybe you have 1,000,000 site visitors.
But those numbers mean nothing compared to your competitor who has 10 site visitors who all convert.
It’s in the conversions that you see real success.
So, how do you convert visitors into buyers?
It all begins with getting leads.
In this ultimate guide, I’ll teach you a proven formula for pulling in thousands of leads from your site.
I’ll show you how to create a LEAD MAGNET.
Don’t have a lead magnet right now? Or do you have a bunch of them that aren’t pulling in the numbers you expected?
Read this guide and find out:
Why you ABSOLUTELY need a lead magnet.
How DigitalMarketer pulled in 35,859 leads with a single lead magnet (I dissect this exact piece and show you why it worked so well).
A step-by-step guide on how to create a lead magnet of your own, based on this powerful example.
How Brian Dean boosted conversions by 785% in one day by using an easy-to-create lead magnet (the content upgrade).
How to create your own content upgrade.
Examples, tips, and images to inspire your creativity.
And more!
Ready to dive in?
[bctt tweet=”Ranking for 100,000 high search volume keywords ISN’T a huge success UNLESS you’re converting that traffic. What do you need to convert visitors? The humble lead magnet. More on the Write Blog via @JuliaEMcCoy ” username=”ExpWriters”]
What Is a Lead Magnet?
A lead magnet is simply a gift you offer your audience in exchange for their contact information.
It’s super effective because people LOVE getting free stuff.
Take the following experiment of the Amazon gift card.
People were asked if they’d rather get a gift card for free worth $10, or a gift card worth $20 for only $7.
Which one would you pick?
If you were in it for hard value, you’d pick the $20 gift card for $7. Right?
The graph shows that people always go for higher value UNLESS something is offered for free. Then they all go for the free stuff.
This is exactly how a lead magnet works. It cashes in on people’s magnetizing attraction towards freebies.
Here’s exactly how it works:
Build something your audience will adore. Let your knowledge about them guide you. Ebooks, webinars, checklists, cheat sheets, and content upgrades are all fabulous ideas.
Create an opt-in form on your site. You can do it easily with either Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
To get your freebie, your audience has to sign up with their contact information on the form.
Once your audience signs up, they can immediately download your lead magnet.
Lead magnets offer your audience huge value for nothing. Or almost nothing. All they need to do is share their contact information with you.
There’s one problem left, though. What if no one cares about your freebie?
Because yes, not all lead magnets are created equal.
There are lead magnets everyone is dying to grab and download…
This powerhouse managed to pull in 35,859 leads in only two months.
Amazing!
By now you’re wondering: What made it so special? What made 35,859 people desire it? Can I make one just like it?
YES, you can.
This is why I will dissect DigitalMarketer’s lead magnet for you. I’ll:
Show you the elements that made it super successful
Give you a step-by-step guide to creating one just like it
Inspire you with other examples of amazing lead magnets
Let’s get started!
[bctt tweet=”@DigitalMktr pulled in 35,859 leads in 60 days with one powerful lead magnet. @JuliaEMcCoy breaks down why it worked so well, AND shows you how to create your own high-powered lead magnet ” username=”ExpWriters”]
1. The Ultra-Specific Lead Magnet Opt-In Form: Where It All Begins
It all starts with the opt-in form.
Why?
You will never convert a single soul if your opt-in form looks boring or generic.
You don’t know EXACTLY what you’ll get, so why risk signing up for something that’ll only clutter up your email box?
Okay. Let’s once again look at the opt-in teaser for The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library.
What do you see?
That’s right. Ultra-specificity. In particular…
Specific Numbers
Numbers convert like crazy. And there are tons of powerful numbers in this content. “8 BRAND-NEW examples,” “11-word ad that netted $208,485,” and “110,422 leads for just $1.76 a piece.”
Notice the numbers aren’t even rounded off. That gives them an extra punch of power and specificity.
Specific Benefits
Those who download The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library get:
Examples of successful Facebook ads by DigitalMarketer
An 11-word ad formula they can use (for ANY market)
A trick that will turn deserting leads into customers
A question formula that increases conversions while saving money
Inspiration from the top three Facebook ads that generated 110, 422 leads for $1.76
So the number one rule in creating a lead magnet opt-in form?
Be ultra-specific.
Let’s look at other examples of opt-in forms that follow this rule.
This one is clean and completely fluff-free. It goes straight to the point with these specific promises:
You’ll improve your marketing
You’ll get 20+ templates and resources
Exercise: Sit down to create your own lead magnet opt-in form.
Ask yourself: what EXACTLY am I offering my audience?
Why would they care, or want it?
List the ultra-specific features and benefits of your lead magnet. They don’t have to be wordy or fancy, as long as they directly hit a need or desire.
[bctt tweet=”How to create your own lead magnet opt-in form: Ask yourself: 1️⃣ What EXACTLY am I offering my audience? 2️⃣ Why would they care, or want it? 3️⃣ List the ultra-specific features and benefits of your lead magnet.” username=”ExpWriters”]
2. The Lead Magnet That Isn’t for Everyone
If you want to be successful, you must create a lead magnet that turns people away.
Wait, what?
Why would you want to turn people away?
Don’t you want to get three million hot leads you can email immediately?
Yes, of course you do, but on one condition. These leads need to be people your brand can help.
Let’s look again at The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library.
People who are already enjoying spectacular success with their Facebook ads
It shoots straight at people who want more success with their Facebook ads.
Now, imagine you were in charge of creating this lead magnet and you titled it “10 ways to be more successful at marketing.”
Vague much? You’d not only be turning away TONS of people you WANT on your email list, you’d also be cluttering that list with an audience who’s not for you.
So, before you do anything, you need to know EXACTLY who you want on your list, and then go and create something for them.
Exercise:
Pick a specific segment of your market (it doesn’t have to be everyone).
Dig into a specific problem they’re facing (remember, it’s just one lead magnet. You don’t have to tackle ALL their problems).
Think how you’ll solve that problem with a specific solution.
Create that solution neatly packaged in a lead magnet.
Ta-da! Your lead magnet idea is ready.
3. The Lead Magnet That Promises Instant Gratification
Myth: You need to spend months of intense effort creating a huge, value-rich lead magnet if you want to gain success.
Actually, the opposite is true.
The shorter the lead magnet, the better.
Why?
For one thing, your audience wants instant gratification. They downloaded your lead magnet to solve a specific problem, and the sooner it’s solved the better.
Also, getting your audience’s contact information is just the first step on a long buyer’s journey. If they’re taking forever to consume your lead magnet and they’re not even sure if they’re happy with it, how can you convert them with your emails and other content?
The ideal flow looks like this:
Your audience downloads your lead magnet
They consume it in 10-20 minutes
They love it
They wait expectantly for your first email
They love the email, and wait for the next one and the next
They convert and buy your product or service
So, although it seems like a great idea to write a 300-page lead magnet, don’t do it. You’ll only waste time (yours and your audience’s) and get nowhere near your goal with all the effort.
Here’s an example of a lead magnet that’s tons of work (both to create and go through).
I mean, 20 weeks before your audience decides whether they love or hate you?
Now, look at our winner, The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library.
Here’s the table of contents. It’s brief, well-ordered, and succinct. You know exactly what you’ll get and where to find it.
This lead magnet runs on for 31 pages, but each page has no more than a few lines of text. Plus, it’s full of images and examples that are engaging and easy on the eye.
How long does it take to get through the entire lead magnet? 10-15 minutes.
Of course, this doesn’t mean your lead magnet should be thin. You should pack it with the biggest value you can give.
But make sure your audience can consume it in one sitting. And when they’re done, they can hit the ground running and implement what they learned right away.
Exercise:
Practice cutting all useless content from your lead magnet.
Make it as short as you can without sacrificing value.
Just because your lead magnet is free doesn’t mean it should look free.
Let’s look at The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library in terms of design.
Just like any well-planned and attractive book, it doesn’t start off right away with the first information-packed page. This one starts with a nicely-designed cover. It uses DigitalMarketer’s custom colors and design for branding.
The content itself is divided into chapters, and each chapter is designed with professional-looking graphics. There’s even a whole page dedicated to each chapter title.
Within the content, there are beautiful images that resonate with the text.
Notice the page footer with the chapter title and page number included.
This lead magnet is professional to a T!
What does a carefully, beautifully designed lead magnet make your audience feel?
Special, of course. You’ve put together an amazing resource to help them solve a nagging problem or reach a desired goal. That in itself is enough.
But then you’ve gone ahead and designed it so it’s attractive and easy on their eyes.
And you’ve done all this for FREE.
If this doesn’t make them get warm, fuzzy feelings for you, I don’t know what will.
It has a well-designed cover, even down to the copyright date. People feel like they’re getting HUGE value for something as tiny as their email addresses.
Exercise:
Think of how you’ll design your lead magnet to make your audience feel special. Make it neat, professional, and super attractive.
5. The Lead Magnet with the Perfect Idea
Now, let’s take The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library apart and look into each section for ideas on how to build our own.
1. Lead with an Example
The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library is a case study. It shows how much success DigitalMarketer got using the ads in the library.
You can use this great idea when creating your own lead magnet.
Identify the problem people are facing. For instance, maybe they want to bring more traffic to their site.
Base your lead magnet on how YOU brought more traffic to your own site. Outline practices that worked and others that didn’t. Show people how to do what you did.
You can also interview influencers in your industry and create a lead magnet based on their success. Show your audience exactly what these influencers did to get to where they are now.
2. The Style
The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library goes smoothly from the introduction into six sections. Each section explores a certain type of ad DigitalMarketer used, with an image of that exact ad.
The sections explain the ideas, strategies, and insight that went into creating each ad. Then, the success the ad garnered.
Tip: As much as possible, show exactly what worked with specific numbers.
3. The Promise
The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library delivers exactly what it promises in the opt-in form. Nothing more, nothing less.
Remember, it’s not enough to get people’s email addresses. You need to wow them with your lead magnet so you won’t lose their attention when it’s time to engage with them through email.
Deliver exactly what you promise. It’s that simple.
4. Easy-to-Digest Format and Tone
There are HEAVY-hitting stats in this lead magnet, but they don’t make it a heavy lead magnet.
In fact, The Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library is easily digestible, friendly, and conversational.
Take a look.
You almost feel like you’re sitting beside a friend, chatting about something he/she is excited about.
It certainly isn’t yawn-inducing like this.
Tip: Know what your audience talks like and address them in that style. Make them feel like they’re conversing with a friend.
5 Steps to Create the Ultimate Lead Magnet that WORKS (Every Time)
Ready to build your own high-converting lead magnet?
1. Research Your Audience
You’ve heard this tons of times and it’s super obvious, but it simply can’t be stressed enough.
Do research on your audience.
But for a lead magnet, it’s slightly different.
You need to solve ONE SPECIFIC problem your audience is worried about with ONE SPECIFIC solution (your lead magnet).
Once you’ve found a way to do it, you’re already halfway there.
2. Get Ultra-Specific with Your Goals
Resist vagueness at all cost. Come up with a single specific outcome and build your lead magnet around it.
Example: This lead magnet will teach my audience how to lose 10 pounds in a week while enjoying tasty dishes every day.
Make sure you deliver your promise. If your audience doesn’t lose this weight by following your road map, you won’t impress them.
3. Create Your Lead Magnet
Spark up the creativity! Make your lead magnet stand out. Make it something your audience craves and desires.
Use simple sentences, bullet points, and short paragraphs.
4. Cut, Cut, Cut!
You want your audience to digest your lead magnet in one sitting. If it’s too long or bulky, cut paragraphs and even whole pages from it. Be merciless. The shorter your lead magnet, the better.
5. Design with Graphics and Images
Never offer a lead magnet that’s a plain Word doc. Add attractive images and graphics to your content, or hire a designer to do the job.
But for me, the best ones are ebooks, content upgrades, and cheat sheets.
[bctt tweet=”@JuliaEMcCoy’s favorite lead magnets: ⭐ Ebooks ⭐ Content upgrades ⭐ Cheat sheets. Get her complete lead magnet guide here ➡” username=”ExpWriters”]
Let’s look at each one briefly.
1. The Ebook
The Ultimate Facebook Ad Library is an ebook.
Why is it so effective?
Ebooks are perceived as high-value, and they aren’t usually free. When you offer one for no cost, people immediately feel they’re getting great value for nothing.
Did you know there are nearly 6 billion – a whopping 5.8 billion Google searches – every day? That’s 70,000 searches per second, or two trillion per year. (This number doubled over the lockdown, originally at 3.5B at the beginning of 2020.)
We rely on Google for the answers to almost every question we have, whether it’s a word searched out of mere curiosity or in consultation before making a big life decision.
Google gets it. With several core updates occurring each year, plus hundreds of tiny ones, it’s constantly tweaking its algorithms to provide more authoritative, relevant, helpful content to readers.
Over the past several years, Google’s updates have sought to refine the way its algorithms understand what we mean when we type queries into its search box. In 2020, optimizing your content for search intent is the best way to stay relevant and at the top of the SERPs.
Here’s what that means, plus my best pro-tip on how to optimize for search intent. Let’s go!
Did you know? Our content writing team adheres to Google’s search intent algorithm rules, and we even conduct SEO and content strategy research to find the perfect keywords to write your content around. Go Content Shopping.
[bctt tweet=”In 2020, optimizing your content for search intent is the best way to stay relevant and at the top of the SERPs. Here’s what that means, plus @JuliaEMcCoy’s best pro-tips on how to do it, now on the Write Blog.” username=”ExpWriters”]
How to Optimize for User Intent and SEO
Once upon a time, it used to be super easy to figure out what keywords you needed to shove into a webpage to get it to the top of Google. And to nobody’s surprise, that’s exactly what people did.
Remember the era of spam content that flooded every search query, sending you leapfrogging down the results list to find something readable?
Yeah, Google wasn’t impressed, either.
The changes they made to the search algorithms forever redefined the way we write and publish content. To get in Google’s good graces and rank highly, your content must now be expert-level, authoritative, and trustworthy. Google’s evaluator guidelines call this E-A-Ting, and they expect content creators to serve up something good!
However, E-A-Ting is only part of the story. If we look at Google’s mission statement, the first thing mentioned isn’t stunning, well-researched content from high-quality domains, but something else entirely. Google, first and foremost, wants to:
Users want to E-A-T only what’s relevant to them. Source: Google.
Well, that’s interesting. Let’s break down what that means.
What Is Relevance According to Google?
If you’ve ever written and published an amazing article full of high-quality citations and unique, witty tips only to watch it coast along smoothly at position number 6 for the chosen keyword, you know the frustration that Google’s algorithms can inspire.
Seriously, you did everything right. So, what gives? ♂️
Here’s where you went wrong. Google wants to make sure that users get served only the most expertly written, authoritative, trustworthy content but the search engine isn’t optimizing its algorithms for quality.
It’s optimizing them for user experience.
That means it only wants what users are actually looking for to rank in the top results for a query. We refer to that as search intent, or “what the user meant when they typed that question into the search bar.”
As it turns out, user intent in SEO is huge. For example, if we search for a guide to eating kimchi, we get results that look like this:
If we’re looking for a guide to eating kimchi, we probably want to know how to eat it, not necessarily recipes for preparing or cooking with it. Source: Google.
It seems to follow a pattern, doesn’t it? ️
If we scroll through the results, however, we start to see articles on other topics that technically rank for the keyword:
How to pair different types of kimchi with various dishes
The benefits of eating kimchi at different times of the day
A schedule for eating kimchi to cure your digestive problems
How to identify kimchi that’s spoiled
These are all ostensibly “guides to eating kimchi” yet they appear on the second, third, even fourth pages of Google. Why?
They don’t contain the information that people are looking for when they query Google with those keywords.
Google can tell via metrics when a page isn’t relevant to a user’s query. Specifically, they pay attention to whether people seem to be clicking on a link, scanning its contents, then hitting the back button and clicking on the next link. Backlinko refers to that as “pogo-sticking” and if Google catches that happening a lot, it’ll drop the page’s SERP.
What can we take away from all of this?
[bctt tweet=”It’s possible to have expertly written, authoritative, and trustworthy content that’s irrelevant to the person searching the keywords for which you optimized. In 2020, that’s almost as bad as junk content.” username=”ExpWriters”]
4 Types of Search Intent
In general, people search on Google for four different reasons. There’s a lot already written on search intent around the web, so I’ll summarize.
The most basic type of Google search involves queries for more information about a topic. According to research by Penn State, about 80 percent of all Google searches fall under this category.
Informational searches become commercial searches when people have enough information on the solution they’re seeking, and now wish to compare solutions that already exist. It’s the difference between “what is kimchi” and “best kimchi brands.”
Once someone’s ready to buy something, they’ll use transactional searches. That “best kimchi brands” search will become “buy Amazing Kimchi Brand online.”
People do navigational searches when they want to find something on a specific site. So… “Express Writers login” would reflect a navigational search intent, as would “return policy site:AmazingKimchiBrand.com.”
A solid content strategy addresses all four types of search intentions in your content and your web pages. We’ll look more closely at how to do that next.
3 Ways to Optimize for Search Engine With What You Already Have
Ready to roll up those sleeves and flex that relevant expertise in the search engine?
Optimizing for search intent is important because it helps ensure your content – and thus your brand – get in front of readers who are actually looking for what you have to offer.
Remember, Google wants to serve up the best possible user experience. It’s your job to make sure that your content helps Google do that. To get started, I recommend that you:
1. Conduct a Content Performance Audit
Take a good look at the SERPs of what you’ve already got up and check if there’s room for improvement. You may need to revisit the search intent if a piece of content:
Is of high quality but seems to exhibit middling performance in the SERPs.
Has no obvious search intent that you can identify when you read it.
Isn’t ranking well at all.
Used to rank really well but suddenly dropped.
Bounces a lot in its rank.
2. Apply the Bucket Topic Strategy to Analyze Your Content
In my Practical Content Strategy Course, I talk a lot about the Three Bucket topic strategy. In essence, your content should ideally do one of three things: improve your SERPs, foster sales and connections, or grow your brand. I mention that if the piece of content doesn’t meet one of those three goals, it’s spurious to your content strategy efforts.
If you’re struggling with identifying the search intent of a piece, the Three Bucket topic strategy can help. To use it:
First, identify into which of the three buckets the piece of content should go. What is the overall purpose the content serves?
Then, identify what specific business or reader needs the piece of content addresses. Consider whether the content does something like provide solutions for pain points your readers have, or whether it convinces them why your product is superior to the competition.
Finally, analyze whether the keywords you’re trying to rank for align with the content’s purpose and the needs it addresses. For example, if you have a blog article that’s ranking for “local diet guide for vegetarians during winter” yet your content is all about why readers should buy the vegetarian supplement you sell, your SERPs will suffer due to relevance.
3. Investigate Opportunities for Multimedia
Got a great article? Augment it with a great infographic or a video.
Visuals are one of the biggest traffic drivers in 2020. Some 87 percent of marketers report that video and visuals boost traffic. At least 80 percent of them report seeing a spike in sales, too.
Images and video also give you an opportunity to get more bang for your buck with SEO. They’re known to increase backlinks (by as much as 178 percent according to Venngage). They also give you a chance to get more keywords on the page with alt tags.
Tips for Creating (or Recreating) Ultra-Relevant Content to Please Search Intent
So, you’ve found content to optimize. Great! Whether you’re revamping current content or you’re creating all new content, make sure you’re working with search intent in mind. Your SERPs will thank you for it. Here are five pro-tips I’ve collected over the years that work.
But before we start, I want to give a BIG shoutout to Britney Muller at Moz, whose amazing search intent guide is absolutely worth reading.
If you want to rank well in #SEO, you must understand search intent. @BritneyMuller shares a checklist ✅ in this new #WhiteboardFriday that can help you do just that!
Nail your search intent classification first. Sometimes, your keywords will make it obvious what the search intent will be. For example, “what is a lepatata” is clearly an informational search.
However, sometimes you may have long tail keywords where the search intent isn’t clear, like… “SEO keyword research tools 2020.” Is that informational or commercial? Maybe both?
You should optimize for one intent. But if you find yourself unsure of which direction to go…
2. Study What’s Ranking and Why
Some sites may have had quite a scare with Google BERT last year, a major update that attempted to make certain search results much more relevant to searchers. Sites that had previously benefited from large amounts of relatively irrelevant traffic suddenly found their traffic dropping off … until they fixed things.
While you’re doing your keyword research, pay attention to what type of content is ranking. For example, if “royalty-free stock photo” is your keyword, then results may look like this…
… Your article on what a royalty-free stock photo is probably won’t rank very well. The prevailing search intent is to find stock photos, not learn about them.
3. Put the Most Important Information First
Don’t you hate it when you land on a page and the information that you’re looking for is buried some three-fourths through the article? Me too.
When you go to structure your content, make the user experience an easy one by putting the most important information first. This often takes the form of:
A direct answer to the reader’s search query or question. (Informational.)
The information for the specific action they wanted to perform. (Navigational.)
A clear indicator of the next steps in acquiring a solution. (Transactional.)
How the solution solves the reader’s problems. (Commercial.)
(PS – you have full permission to throw out all those icky essay writing habits you learned in school. Content writing is a totally different (and way more fun) beast! Break down those stale conventions and craft intoxicating content. My one-week intensive Pro Writing Class shows you how. Get in here.)
4. Make Your Content Scannable
HubSpot once found that 73 percent of all people admitted to skimming a blog’s contents. (But I know you’re reading every word of this. )
People are going to do it, so you might as well make it easy for them. Make your content easy on the eyes by:
Using 14 pt font or larger
Applying headers and sub-headers generously – using the keywords in them!
Deploying bullet lists
Leveraging the power of images
Breaking up paragraphs
5. Always have a CTA
Round out your helpful, informative content by making it easy for readers to take the next step. Whether it’s to download an ebook, to schedule a consultation, or to sign up for a newsletter, capitalize on the attention you’ve captured by calling them to action.
Choose Expert Writers to Craft the Content Your Audience Craves
Over the past decade, Google has steadily refined its ability to deliver helpful, authoritative content that its users are actually looking for – and that’s great news for those of us putting out high-quality content every week!
However, with the search engine increasingly favoring sites that help it deliver an awesome user experience, it’s becoming more important than ever to optimize for search intent. Now you know how to do so – go forth and answer the questions your readers are really asking. Happy ranking!
Content comes in many different types – make sure you’re getting the one that works for your strategy and search intent! Check out our Content Shop now to discover your next piece of killer content.
A 500% increase in daily visits to the Vitamix pages
A 20% increase in revenue
32% of visitors returned to the Vitamix pages after their initial visit
AMAZING! We all want results like that.
But here’s the thing. Not all landing pages are created equal.
There are good landing pages, OK landing pages, and landing pages which are just well…meh. Plus, there are landing pages that make you want to pull your hair out and throw a tantrum.
And then there are the landing page unicorns. The ones that stand out, give you a huge boost in conversions, and get your brand front and center in the minds of your audience.
These are the ones I’ll teach you to make in this guide, using a unique formula: P.A.S.T.O.R. –one of the most underrated, yet best formulas in copywriting existence, created by legend Ray Edwards (author, How to Write Copy that Sells). Hint: Ray wrote copy for Tony Robbins, Jeff Walker (author of Launch), and many other globally-famous entrepreneurs.
This blog is a good one.
Ready?
What is a Landing Page?
According to Unbounce, a landing page is “a standalone webpage, created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign.”
It’s called a landing page because it’s where users “land” when they click a link from an email, an ad, or your blog.
Unlike other webpages, landing pages are created with a single goal in mind. It can be to sell a specific product, get users to sign up for a webinar, collect email addresses, and so on.
[bctt tweet=”A landing page is where users ‘land’ after clicking a link from an email, an ad, or your blog. They’re created with a single goal in mind: To move users to an action that benefits your brand ♀️ ” username=”ExpWriters”]
Let’s look at how a landing page fits into the buyer’s journey.
Look at this email from AWAI (American Writers and Artists Inc.) In the middle of the email, you’ll notice a link inviting you to check out the program award-winning author Donna Baier Stein created.
If you click the link, you’ll be taken to this landing page.
This lengthy landing page is packed with useful information, benefits, and testimonials.
Its number one (and only) goal? To sell “Write Your First Novel or Memoir Now!” for $497.
Why Do You Need a High Converting Landing Page?
You already have an informative website and blog. Aren’t these enough to convert buyers? Why spend extra time and energy creating landing pages for each product or service you offer?
Here are three reasons you absolutely need landing pages.
Reason 1: You’ll Stop Throwing Leads Away
Go back to AWAI’s email above. Now, imagine your ultimate dream is to write the next New York Times Bestseller. The email appeals to you because it promises a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
But what if you clicked on the link in the email, and it led you straight to AWAI’s homepage? You’d see this.
Sure, the homepage promises you’ll learn how to make a living as a writer. But there’s no mention of the specific course that caught your eye in the email. You’ll have to dig it up yourself.
If you’re like a ton of users, you’ll either:
Get distracted as you look for the course through the navigational menu
Leave because your interest has faded and you don’t have time to look for the course
So, if you link directly to your homepage from emails, your blog, or social media? You’re throwing hot leads right out the window.
Reason 2: You Can Get Powerful Insights into Your Marketing
Landing pages are amazing because they help you measure the success of your marketing efforts.
You can collect information on your audience.
You can measure the percentage of people who convert.
You can compare different marketing offers.
Reason 3: You’ll Increase Conversions
Your website’s homepage is distracting. And that’s not a bad thing. You don’t want to leave out a single piece of sizzling information about your brand, right?
But there’s a downside to a fully-optimized, information-loaded homepage. When users visit it, they get distracted. A web page can have an attention ratio of 20:1, 30:1, or worse (God forbid) 150:1. This means there are 150 things to do distracting users from the one thing they should do.
On the other hand, a high-converting landing page has an attention ratio of 1:1.
[bctt tweet=”Why do you need landing pages for your website? 1️⃣To stop throwing away leads. 2️⃣To get powerful marketing insights. 3️⃣To increase conversions. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
How to Make a High Converting Landing Page: 12 Tips You Absolutely Need to Follow for Success
Now you’re convinced you need landing pages for your marketing campaigns, let’s dive into how to create a landing page that converts like crazy—following the formula of one of the most powerful copywriters in existence.
1. Stick to a Proven Formula for Long-Form Copy with The P.A.S.T.O.R. Formula
Have you heard of legendary copywriter Ray Edwards, or read his amazing book How to Write Copy that Sells? He is the communications strategist and copywriter for some of the most powerful voices in leadership and business—New York Times best-selling authors Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen (co-authors of Chicken Soup For the Soul), Jeff Walker (author of Launch), just to name a few.
In How to Write Copy That Sells, Ray Edwards introduces the powerful P.A.S.T.O.R. framework for writing copy that works.
P.A.S.T.O.R. stands for:
P: Person, problem, pain
A: Amplify
S: Story or solution
T: Transformation and testimony
O: Offer
R: Response
Let’s look into them one by one.
1. Person, Problem, Pain
Do extensive research on your audience. Discover the problem they’re facing and imagine the pain they’re feeling because of it.
2. Amplify
In a few short sentences, describe the consequences your audience will experience if they don’t solve their problem.
Here’s an example from Bottom Line. It outlines the consequences of not knowing the secrets airlines keep from passengers.
3. Story or Solution
After outlining the problem, tell a story of someone who solved it using your solution. Of course, it should be 100% genuine.
4. Transformation and Testimony
If you’ve made customers happy in the past, reach out to them for testimonials. Genuine testimonials powerfully inspire readers to take action.
In fact, 88% of customers trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations from a friend!
5. Offer
Describe the solution you’re offering to solve your audience’s problem. When outlining what you’re selling, focus on the benefits your product offers rather than its features.
Don’t say, “My product can run 12 miles for each liter of gas you buy.”
Instead, say, “You can save $XXX a year if you buy my product.”
6. Response
The bottom of your landing page is where you ask your reader to buy your product. Remember, your CTA must be clear, concise, and attractive.
2. Craft Copy Specifically for Your Target Audience
Your landing page must speak directly to your target audience. You have to know exactly who they are, what they’re looking for, and why they landed on your page.
Let’s go back to the Vitamix example above.
Vitamix is a premium brand, making it pricier than its competitors. Since it doesn’t usually give out discounts, this landing page is targeted at comparison shoppers wanting to know why they should make the extra investment in a Vitamix blender.
No wonder this landing page gained the company a 20% increase in revenue!
When you know your audience, you’ll know what questions they’re asking and how to answer them.
3. Stick to Your Custom-Designed Brand Imagery
Your brand imagery is everything consumers see, taste, hear, smell, and feel about your business. Not surprisingly, a huge part of brand imagery is your logo and custom colors.
When designing your landing page, choose your colors, design, and font carefully. Make sure they go seamlessly with your brand imagery.
For instance, can you guess whose logo this is?
Even without the wording, you can recognize Pepsi’s signature logo and colors from a distance.
Now, what if Pepsi designed a landing page with a pink background and yellow font? That would be confusing!
Since you don’t want to confuse your readers, stick to your custom-designed images and colors when you design your landing page.
4. Don’t Leave Out the Images
Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text. In fact, 90% of the data transmitted to our brains is visual!
So, when you meet your audience with a landing page stacked with text, you’ll hear them yawn. They’ll think about wading through your long, heavy paragraphs “later.”
You don’t want that. You want people to be hooked the moment they land on your page. The secret to achieving this is through compelling images.
Exciting fact: adding a video to your landing page can increase sales by 80%!
What’s more, 74% of consumers who watch a video about a product end up buying the product. Wow!
Here’s an example of a landing page that’s a smooth combination of video, text, and images.
Source: coaching.copychief.com
Of course, you can’t just slap on any random video onto your page. These three tips will help you make your video relevant and powerful.
Appeal to the emotions. People buy things for emotional reasons. So when you create video, tell a story, highlight pain points, and show how your brand is the solution to your audience’s problems.
Make sure your video is purpose driven. Don’t add a random video to your page simply to make your visitors laugh. Instead, closely sync the purpose of your video with the purpose of the landing page itself.
Keep the video short. Between 1-2 minutes does the trick.
6. Grab Readers’ Attention with a Killer Headline
Scary fact: while 80% of visitors will read your headline, only 20% will finish reading your content.
This means you have to magnetize readers with a powerful headline that’ll have them reading to the very end of the page.
Go all out. Shock them. Scare them. Make them dream about a life they once thought impossible.
Since it’s not easy to describe Mailchimp’s services under 20 words, they added in two extra sentences to explain what they do for their clients.
8. A/B Test Relentlessly
No matter how well you follow the rules, you’ll never know how to get the best out of your landing page unless you do A/B testing.
How is it done?
The principle is to create an alternative version of your landing page. The alternative will be slightly different from the control. For instance, the control might have testimonials at the top of the page while the “challenger” has testimonials at the bottom of the page.
To test the two against each other, note how each one performs.
How many times should you do A/B testing?
The more, the better! In fact, we’ve revised the landing page of my course The Expert SEO Content Writer 15 times!
Is all the hard work worth it?
Of course. By far, this is my highest-converting landing page. Its conversion rate is around 8-10% from organic traffic. No paid ads involved!
9. Make Your CTA Irresistible
You put all the time, effort, and creativity into your landing page with one goal in mind: to make your readers click on your CTA.
So, what can you do to compel them to do it?
Naturally, great copy comes first. No matter how amazing your CTA looks, no one will click it if they don’t believe in what you’re selling.
When you’ve perfected your landing page copy, it’s time to work on your CTA. Here are three tips to keep in mind:
Always make it a button instead of a link.
Use action words. Tell readers what to do.
Don’t be boring. Instead of saying “join now,” say, “jumpstart your business today.”
10. Match Your Landing Page Length with How Much You’re Asking
How long should a landing page be?
200 words? 500 words? 1,500 words?
The truth is it depends.
There are successful pages that aren’t longer than a few paragraphs. And there are landing pages which run to thousands of words and are filled with testimonials, bulleted lists, stories, video, and more.
The key when choosing landing page length is to consider how much you’re asking buyers to give you.
Asking them for a few dollars or an email? You can go for a few short, compelling paragraphs.
Asking them to buy your online course for $2,000? You need a longer piece to give them proof that your course is worth the cost.
11. Make Buyers Feel Safe with a Guarantee
Don’t want buyers to hesitate for too long wondering if they should buy or not?
Offer your product or service for free!
For a limited time, of course. You can either:
Give them a limited-time free trial, or
Offer them a money-back guarantee
Here’s an example of a great limited-time free trial.
Your knowledge of internet grammar is important to the perceived quality of your online content.
When you know your stuff, you portray yourself as sharp, smart, savvy, and updated. Readers trust you. Haters (if you have any) can’t point out your flaws.
But becoming an expert in capitalization isn’t poring over a heavy grammar book and memorizing rules.
Internet grammar is far different than the grammar we learned in school and college.
And these grammar rules are fluid at best, and constantly in flux.
There’s a fine line between appearing uneducated (foregoing solid grammar rules) and outdated or irrelevant (being the only person in your industry stubbornly sticking to obsolete rules, or that essay style instead of online content writing).
So, how do you avoid common pitfalls in writing and capitalization for the web?
The best way is to refresh yourself on the basic capitalization rules for online writing. Do this often so you don’t get outdated.
[bctt tweet=”Internet grammar is FAR different from the grammar we learned in school & college. There’s a fine line between appearing uneducated and outdated or irrelevant. Learn these 6 capitalization rules via @JuliaEMcCoy and avoid both! ” username=”ExpWriters”]
6 Capitalization Rules to Use When Writing for the Web
You don’t want your audience to see you as sloppy or uneducated because you don’t follow the capitalization rules sophisticated online writers use.
But also, you don’t want to appear as overly-conventional as your college professor was when he discussed the Oxford comma.
Keep these six simple rules in mind to avoid either extreme.
How to Capitalize Words that Have Entered Common Usage
Remember when the word scuba was first introduced to the English language?
Back then, it was SCUBA, short for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. A mouthful, I know!
But like a ton of new English words, SCUBA soon became generic and common. It was decapitalized and transformed into “scuba.”
Rule: Don’t capitalize words that have entered common usage.
Here are a couple more examples.
1. Internet
When it first appeared, the world “internet” was capitalized.
Computer Hope stresses that because it’s a proper noun, it should be written with a capital “I.”
However, experts disagree.
As the word internet made it into mainstream language, the number of savvy online writers using the decapitalized version grew.
Here’s a quote from Stephen Wilbers dating back all the way to 1995.
So, while stricter grammar rules demand “internet” be capitalized, we can now safely write it in lowercase letters.
[bctt tweet=”Yes, it’s true – according to capitalization rules, you can safely write ‘internet’ in lowercase. (@APStylebook and @ChicagoManual approved ✔)” username=”ExpWriters”]
2. Web
“Web” is a shortcut for “World Wide Web.” Because it’s a proper noun just like “Internet,” it first appeared in the English language with a capital “W.”
Later, it joined “internet” and became decapitalized.
Grammarly also says that both e-mail and email are correct.
How do you choose which one to use?
Choose e-mail if you’re an academic writer, grammarian, or the owner of a scholarly blog.
Choose email if you want to appear relevant, mainstream, and modern.
Choose a style guide to follow. For example, if you follow the Chicago Manual of Style in your blog, always spell it email instead of e-mail.
Choose a style you like and be consistent. Don’t use the different spellings interchangeably.
[bctt tweet=”Is it e-mail or email? Is it e-commerce or ecommerce? Learn what you need to know so your online writing always fits your brand style and tone of voice ” username=”ExpWriters”]
How to Capitalize and Pluralize Common Online Terms
Writing for the web is tough because you’re constantly bumping up against internet language you’re unsure how to capitalize.
For example, do you write it SERP or S.E.R.P?
How do you pluralize it? SERPS, SERPs, or S.E.R.P.s?
Is “keyword” capitalized?
1. SERP and SEO
These acronyms are HUGE if you’re a blogger in the content marketing field. Since you’ll use them a ton of times, it’s important to know how to write them early on.
So, do you spell it S.E.O. or SEO?
According to the AP Stylebook, you shouldn’t place periods in an acronym unless it’s a proper name.
So it’s U.S.A. and J.K. Rowling, but SEO, SERP, and PDF.
2. Rules on the Internet’s Common Nouns
Unlike “internet,” “blog” is a common noun. Words like “data,” “website,” and “keyword,” are also common nouns.
Always keep them in lowercase letters unless:
They’re part of a proper compound noun. Example: Nancy Blog.
They come at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Keywords are important for SEO.
Good so far?
3. How to Pluralize Acronyms
Pluralizing an acronym can become awkward if you miss the rules.
For instance, is it SERPS? Or SERP’S? Maybe SERP’s is a better idea?
Take note of the rule: Add a lowercase “s” to pluralize an acronym.
So it’s SERPs, JPGs, and PDFs.
Use SERP’s and PDF’s to show possession. Example: All my PDF’s links are broken.
How about pluralizing an acronym ending in “s”?
Since SOSs is just confusing, use an apostrophe to write the plural form. SOS’s.
Rule: You can use an apostrophe to pluralize acronyms when it assists readability.
[bctt tweet=”Writing for the web is confusing. ❓ Do you write it SERP or S.E.R.P? ❓ How do you pluralize it? SERPS, SERPs, or S.E.R.P.s? ❓ Is ‘keyword’ capitalized? Get all the answers ” username=”ExpWriters”]
How to Capitalize Brand Names
Imagine yourself deciding to mention your favorite brand in a blog post.
Do you just capitalize it normally, like any other proper noun?
Yes, if that’s how it’s copyrighted.
A great example is ours, Express Writers. It’s capitalized just like any proper noun would be.
The logo spells it “mailchimp,” so do you use all lowercase letters when mentioning it in your writing?
Looking at the URL, you’ll also notice all the letters are lowercase: mailchimp.com.
But neither are correct for use in writing.
The secret is to go down to the bottom of the page. Beside the company’s copyright sign, you’ll see the correct capitalization of the brand.
“Mailchimp” is the right way to capitalize it, not “mailchimp” or MailChimp.”
How to Capitalize Words in Titles
Want to mention a beloved book in one of your blogs?
Here’s how to capitalize it properly.
Capitalize the first and last word in the title.
Capitalize all nouns, verbs, and adjectives (even short verbs like IS and ARE).
Don’t capitalize articles, conjunctions, and prepositions. (However, remember to refer to the style guide you’re using. Some style guides say you should capitalize prepositions and conjunctions with more than five letters. Example: through and beyond.)
The tricky thing about grammar is nothing is set in stone.
As William Strunk, Jr. says in his book, The Elements of Style, “Writers will often find themselves steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.”
The good news is there are tried-and-true ways to avoid grammar gaffes and to publish perfect writing every single time.
Select a style guide that resonates with the kind of writing you do. (Examples are Microsoft, AP Stylebook, and The Chicago Manual of Style). Then, follow its updates and integrate them with your writing.
Follow experts in your industry and be aware of how they capitalize, spell, and pluralize words. Stay up-to-date with all their new blogs so you don’t miss anything.
Take into account the tone of voice of your own writing. Do you write scholarly content? Or fun, trendy, personalized content?
It’s not easy to draw the line between the gauche and overly-scholarly. But the rules above (and the others you’ll find later) will keep you from falling into either extreme.
Need polished, profitable content for your brand? Visit our Content Shop to get the details.
“less is more.” It may sound crazy, but it’s true — you can earn up to $100,000 a year writing 20 words (or less) per day! If you’re really good, you can land a job at a huge company like Facebook, Google, or Spotify. You don’t even need a B.A. in creative writing, nor do you need tons of experience crafting Shakespearean prose. So, what kind of writing is this? How do you get into it? In today’s blog, I’ll introduce you to UX writing. ? I’ll show you exactly what UX writing is, how to learn it, and what you need to become an excellent UX writer. I’ll give you examples of great UX writing, techniques you can use in your work, and more! Since I can’t wait to share this with you, let’s dive in right away! ??
What is UX Writing?
“UX writing” is the short term for user experience writing. In other words, it’s the kind of writing that guides users as they interact with a product. Here’s how it’s different from copywriting and technical writing.
Copywriting: Persuasive writing that urges people to buy something.
Technical writing: Writing that conveys technical information into text.
UX Writing: Writing that guides people as they use and enjoy a product.
You’ll be surprised to know that by now, you’ve already come across tons of examples of UX writing. Here they are:
Call-to-action buttons
Error pages
Sign up forms
Menu labels
Terms and conditions
All the micro-copy across the web you barely notice (but desperately need)
[bctt tweet=”UX writing is the short term for user experience writing ??. It’s the kind of writing that guides users as they interact with a product or page. Think error pages, call-to-action buttons, sign-up forms, and menu labels. ” username=”ExpWriters”] [bctt tweet=”True or false: As a writer, you must write thousands of words per day to earn a comfortable living. ? NOT true, especially if you’re a UX writer. What is UX writing? @JuliaEMcCoy explains ✍” username=”ExpWriters”] Let’s look at three great examples of work done by UX writers. This is Google’s error page…Source: google.com
…and AWAI’s signup page for their free webinar.Source: awai.com
Notice how short, succinct, and to-the-point the content on these pages are?
What You Need to Become an Excellent UX Writer
If you’ve looked over the examples and thought, “Hey, I can do this!” you’re perfectly right. You too can do UX writing. And like I mentioned earlier, you don’t need a special degree, a BA in creative writing, or even what people call “writing talent.” Here are five things you do need to do UX writing.
1. Empathy
As a UX writer, you’ll need to be your target audience’s closest friend. This means you must know them deeply, including how they talk, what they want to see, and the specific way they react to words. This will help you craft the right content to guide them through your (or your client’s) product.
2. The Willingness to Work Closely with Others in a Team
UX writers don’t work alone. They collaborate closely with project managers, developers, technical writers, and designers to give users a flawless, enjoyable experience.
3. A Curious Mind
A UX writer’s day is filled with questions. What will work? What won’t? How can I put a smile on users’ faces as they use a product? Only a curious mind will keep you asking the tons of questions you need to perfect UX writing.
4. Open-Mindedness
A close-minded person who’s always 100% sure of his/her opinion won’t thrive in the fluid, changeful world of UX writing.
5. Creativity
As a UX writer, you’ll have to translate business-centric jargon into friendly, attractive words. A spark of creativity will make it feel effortless. [bctt tweet=”What do you need to become an expert UX writer? 1️⃣ Empathy 2️⃣ Teamwork 3️⃣ A curious mind 4️⃣ Open-mindedness 5️⃣ Creativity” username=”ExpWriters”]
How to Learn UX Writing (4 Ways)
There isn’t a single correct path towards learning UX writing. And that’s great! It means you can take the road that’s most exciting and comfortable to you. Here are four great options.
1. Go on Your Own Online Adventure
Go everywhere you can on Google. Visit your favorite websites like Airbnb, Mailchimp, and The New York Times. Read every word on their call-to-action buttons, sign up pages, and menu labels. Here’s a super example from Mailchimp’s signup page.Source: mailchimp.com
Then, visit websites you’ve never heard of before. Check out their products and sign up for their offers. Take note of what you like and what you don’t like with their UX writing. If you constantly steep yourself in the beautiful, good, bad, and ugly of UX writing, you’ll soon be able to come up with your own rulebook to guide you in your future career.
2. Read Blogs on UX Writing
Go for blogs written by authorities in the industry. You can start with everything written by John Saito, former YouTube UX writer and current Product Designer at Dropbox. Don’t stop there! The internet is teeming with tons of blogs full of tips and tricks on the trade.
“Between them, Kate and Nicole have written for many of the web’s most valuable and respected companies. Their commitment to clarity and kindness is the result of their experience, and it makes them extraordinary teachers.”
4. Sign Up for a Course
To do be an effective UX writer, you need the skill to think behind content. A great way to learn this skill is to sign up for my Content Strategy and Marketing Course. In this course, I teach you how to create a blueprint that’ll guide every single piece of content you write. A much-needed skill if you want to go into UX writing! [bctt tweet=”How to become a UX writer? @JuliaEMcCoy recommends studying your favorite websites, reading UX writing blogs like @saitojohn & signing up for training like contentstrategycourse.com ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
3 Top Techniques for Powerful UX Writing
Of course, your success as a UX writer depends on how well you do the job. There are amazing UX writers, great UX writers, and UX writers who are just, well…meh. Here are techniques to help you stand out.
1. Be a Minimalist
With UX writing, less is more. Your goal isn’t to WOW people with your beautiful prose. In fact, you don’t even want to draw attention to your choice and flow of words. As a UX writer, your #1 goal is to help users do what they came to do. That’s it. Being a minimalist with words helps big time.
2. Be Personal
Don’t talk to people like they’re robots. More importantly, don’t talk like a robot. You want to connect to people on a personal level so they don’t hit snags as they use your product. Here’s an example.Source: uxdesign.cc
3. Be Crystal Clear
Users read your UX content so they can accomplish what they came to your page for. They don’t want to end up confused, worried, or even afraid they’ll end up making a mistake. For instance, if you’re creating a payment form, you need to give users assurance they won’t “accidentally” pay for something they didn’t want to buy. Here’s how Airbnb gives their guests confidence to proceed to the next step.Source: airbnb.com
You don’t need experience to start earning great UX writer salary. You only need to show what you can do, and you’ll start earning a nice living writing micro pieces of content. So, exactly how much can you earn as a UX writer? According to Career Foundry, a junior UX writer can earn an average of $75,000 a year. Not bad at all! And the longer you work in the field, the more you’ll earn.Source: invisionapp.com
[bctt tweet=”UX writers have the potential to earn $75,000/year, on average @careerfoundry – And, the longer you work in the field, the higher your earning potential ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
Where to Find Work as a UX Writer
UX writing hasn’t been around that long, but this doesn’t mean it isn’t flourishing. In fact, huge companies like Airbnb, YouTube, and even Google need UX writers to create their micro-copy. Here are five places you can go to find UX writing jobs:
Remember, since UX writing is a relatively young practice, there are companies that won’t use that term in their listings. They’ll use “technical writer,” “content writer,” or even “content strategist” in their job offers.
Moving Forward: An Amazing Career Path You’ll Love
So, it’s true. You can earn a six-figure income writing tiny, tiny pieces of content. And you don’t need a special degree or tons of writing experience to start. All you do need is a curious mind, the willingness to work with a team, a handful of great tips, and the courage and determination to take the first step. At Express Writers, we specialize in all kinds of content. Visit our Content Shop to find out more.
Source: medium.com
Source: google.com
Source: booking.com
Source: awai.com
Source: mailchimp.com
Source: uxdesign.cc
Source: airbnb.com
Source: invisionapp.com