Top 21 Ways to Make More Sales Online ( Part 3)

If you're trying to make money online, sooner or later you'll have to deal with it: conversion. This intimidating topic - is how to get more buyers from the same amount of traffic.

The only reason the conversion is intimidating is that there are a lot of places where you can get lost. Most of them are not so difficult to solve, but any of the thousand small problems can prevent you from getting the conversion you should have.

I don't have a hundred tips for you today, but I have only 21 to get you started.

Here are 21 fixes - some small, some big - to make more sales online.

Compare apples to oranges. Don't compare the cost of your product with that of a competitor - compare it to another category of items that cost much more. For example, compare your online course with the cost of individual personal counseling.
For this reason, it is always a good idea to have at least one item at a platinum-selling price. They make anything else you sell look pretty affordable.
Make the page or order form easier to understand. Complicated order pages make customers nervous.
Remember to repeat the offer on your order page. Don't expect customers to remember all the details of what you just (almost) sold. Declare these benefits again.
Include a phone number that people can call for questions. I know this is difficult to manage, but it can increase your response by a staggering amount.
Include a photo of what you sell, if you can.
Is there a lot of fun browsing away from your customers? (Worst of all, it's cheap-looking ads that lure people in for a penny or two.) Get rid of it. Focus the reader's attention on this one-column, distraction-free format.
Put a caption on any image you use. Subtitles are the third most-read element of the sales copy, by title and PS. The caption must indicate a convincing benefit to your product or service (Even if that benefit does not match the image.
While you're at it, connect the image to your shopping cart.
Make the first paragraph incredibly easy to read. Use short, strong, and convincing sentences. A good story can work wonders here.
Does your presentation match your offer? If you have a luxury vacation, do your graphics and language feel luxurious? If you sell teen fashion, is your design fashionable and cute?
Are you trying to sell from a blog post? Instead, send buyers a well-designed landing page.
Halfway through a launch, and sales are unbearable? Come up with an interesting bonus and announce it on your list. Frank Kern calls this "master".
Are you asking the prospect to make too many choices? Confused people do not buy. You should have at most three options to choose from - something like "silver, gold, or platinum".
Look in the copy for anything vague. Replace it with a concrete, specific detail. The specifications are reassuring and make it easier for your prospect to see you using your product.
The numbers are the most reassuring of all. Translate whatever you can into numbers.
Look for any place in the copy that might cause your prospect to say "No" or "I don't think so" in silence. Restore that place. You want the prospect to nod in agreement the whole time he reads your letter.
Don't be afraid to repeat yourself. Prospects often don't read every word in the sales letter. Find ways to restore your motivation, the most important benefits, and the guarantee.
Indicate a really interesting benefit at the beginning of the copy, then explain it later in your sales letter. (Watch out for curiosity-based headlines, though, because they don't traditionally convert as well as benefit-based or news-based ones.)
Use the two magic words of the persuasive copy.
Successful marketing does not sell products or services - it sells great benefits and ideas. What's your big idea? What are you really selling? If you're not sure, go back to the ten human needs in issue 11 above.