How to write a page that converts

Struggling to write a home page or landing page that converts?

This is the challenge that every marketer faces, so you’re not alone. There is one major mistake websites across the web make: they only talk about themselves.

These pages scream “Here’s our widgets, our features, our products… please give us money.”

The problem is, your customers can’t see themselves in this messaging. But they can see themselves in a story that puts them at the center. Read on for a story-based approach to copy that will convert!

People may remember the occasional jingle, but they rarely remember web page copy. More often than not, we leave websites feeling confused about what they do rather than excited or encouraged to do business with them.

Telling a story that puts your customer (and not you) at the center cuts through that clutter. It speaks directly to your target customers and inspires them to take action instead of turning them off.

Every good story has the following elements:

Watch any movie or read any book and you will see this formula at work. It’s how our brains are wired to think and share stories. It also works extremely well for page copy!

Here’s how to break a landing page down and incorporate each of these elements of a good story into your copy.

The banner/header section of your website/page is the most important piece as it will dictate whether visitors to your website leave right away or continue on to learn more.

The banner section needs to do 3 things:

Avoid jargon and marketing-speak here - if you confuse your visitors you run the serious risk of them leaving and not coming back.

You just made a BIG PROMISE to your visitors, so now we need to back it up with social proof. Logos and testimonials are great here!

If you opt for testimonials, try to keep them short and impactful and include images of your customers for maximum effect!

We made a promise, we backed it up, and now we need to show your visitor what is at stake. Stories need conflict, that’s what makes them interesting!

Your reader has a problem. We want to call attention to that problem because:

We use a simple heading “Overwhelmed by SEO” and a short video to do this, but you can use text, images, or a combination! Basecamp does a great job at this:

Now we get to talking about you! Notice how far down the page this is? That’s because everything we’ve talked about so far is your customer:

And now we demonstrate how your product/service can solve that problem.

We just showcased your solution, so let’s pivot back to your reader again.

You made a pretty big promise, so back it up by demonstrating authority and empathy with your reader. We do this by showcasing case studies and testimonials, but this is a great place to demonstrate credentials as well.

Let’s recap:

Now we need to call your customer to action.

We recommend using a single call to action throughout the page (note we use “Sign up” in every section). You will want a dedicated section to call your customers to action as well and give them a plan to achieve the promise you made them.

This plan should be no more than 3-4 steps, for example here’s ours:

Writing copy that converts is hard but with practice, iteration, and lots of empathy for your customer, you can succeed. Here are a few tips for success: