Convert Every Click: Make More Money Online with Holistic Conversion Rate Optimization

Chapter Seven

Conversion-Centric Copywriting

First, let’s define the word copy. Copy is all the text that makes up your headlines, offers, value proposition, product descriptions, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and e-mails—any writing involved in your marketing and sales. When people used to ask me to explain conversion rate optimization (CRO) to them, often I’d broadly explain that roughly half of CRO is about tweaking and testing design and layout on a web page, and half is about the message and words on the page. That’s not to be taken literally, but it does do a good job of explaining the importance of copy when it comes to CRO.

With HCRO, I now talk about the three elements of the Psychological Conversion Checklist: relevance, credibility, and value. In most cases, it’s difficult to pass all three checkpoints with graphics alone; you need copy. It works the other way, too. Sales letters on a white background without visuals are usually not enough. If you look at a website in a language you don’t understand, you will know how difficult it is for you to evaluate the website without copy that represents relevance, credibility, and has enough value to convert into a sale. Even if the website has a great visual design, you’ll probably miss something without the words.

While there’s a time and place where more copy converts better, generally speaking, there’s less tolerance for words. So well-written, persuasive copy can affect the page significantly. What you say in the space allotted ...