Conversion Copy: Why It Can’t Be Overlooked

What Is Conversion Copy?

Put simply, conversion copy is copy that is written to persuade a shopper to take a specific action, most commonly to make a purchase (although this can be to sign up for an email newsletter, to click an ad, to subscribe to a blog, and so on).

This is different from SEO copy, which is written with the purpose of improving your rank in search results. However, conversion copy and SEO copy can be used in unison to accomplish both goals: to persuade shoppers while improving search engine rank.

Why Is Conversion Copy Important?

Conversion copy is often taken for granted. Most if not all marketers agree that conversion copy (or writing copy that drives sales) is extremely important, but in today’s world it typically plays second fiddle to things like SEO, social media, and site design.

The reality is that your sales copy is the final thing that stands between your potential buyer and them deciding if they’re ready to make a purchase.

In other words, you can have the most beautiful site in the world; you can rank #1 on Google; you can gain 2 million followers on Twitter…

But at the end of the day, if your copy isn’t written to engage and persuade your buyer, then all of your effort across all of your channels will be for nothing.

At this point, you be asking two questions:

1. Where can I use conversion copy?
2. How do I write copy that converts?

We’ll tackle these one at a time.

Where Can I Use Conversion Copy?

This type of copy isn’t just for a product page. It’s massively beneficial across all of your channels, and it needs to be considered for each of those channels as they are all ultimately trying to lead to the same thing:

More sales.

I saw this ad from TechRepublic on LinkedIn:

This ad has two goals. The first is drive more traffic to techrepublic.com. The second is to increase TechRepublic memberships.

But is this ad’s copy as effective as you think it could be?

I think this would be more effective:

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Why do I think this copy is more effective? First, it begins with a vague question. Protected from what? This forces the reader to continue onto the next sentence if they want to know what I’m talking about. (Hint: they do.)

Next, it agitates the problem and lets the reader know exactly what’s at stake: hours of work and very important data that, if lost, could lead to serious problems.

Lastly, it clearly lets the reader know what we’ll give them in return for their time: the knowledge about what this attack is and, more importantly, how they can stop it. The real ad simply says we have more details and to learn more.

These are the types of considerations that need to be made when writing any copy. For product pages, for ads, even for SEO — it doesn’t matter. Conversion copy is versatile and can elevate anything you touch.

How to Write Copy that Converts?

I’ve written extensively on the subject of writing copy that boosts conversion rates. There are a number of considerations that need to be made.

But I recommend starting with our article about a key part of any ecommerce site’s audience — healthy skeptics. If you don’t gain a deep understanding of this part of your audience, then your copy likely won’t can’t be as strong and persuasive as it could be.