Make Your Sales Copy Scannable

It’s a fact that the majority of the people who surf the web only scan what they see. This has been proven over and over in many studies. It has also been shown that once a viewer has lost interest in what you are saying, they will click away from your site and will more than likely never return.

So, how do you gain the readers attention and keep them on the hook long enough to get your point across?

Make your copy scannable.

To  do  that,  you  have  to  understand a few things about the viewer whose attention you are so desperately trying to  grab. 

First,  you  must  understand that the average Internet surfer only stays on a page for approximately five seconds before determining whether or they are interested in the pages content. That means your copy has to get really interesting, really fast.

Second, you have to know that only about 20% of your copy is going to get read. The rest will simply be scanned. While it might sound frightening or frustrating, it’s a fact. So don’t get upset when  the  greatest piece of  literature that you have ever created gets cast away like yesterday’s  news.

Instead try to focus on how to make your copy more easily consumed by an impatient audience.

Knowing  which sections of  your copy are practically guaranteed to get read, and working to reinforce them, will allow you to see your conversions increase dramatically whether your copy is geared toward online or offline promotions.

HEADLINES

There  is  nothing  more  important  to the success of your copy than a great headline. They are and should be the first  impression on a reader’s mind. You know what they say about first impressions.

Your headline will be the first thing to get read and can have a huge impact on whether any of the other copy gets read or not. It’s common for marketers and advertisers  to  make  minute  changes to their headlines and triple their conversion rates.

Headlines should stop the reader and make them delve deeper into your copy.

SUBHEADS

Subheads are a great way to get your copy read. Even the most dedicated scanners will read the content attached to well crafted and interesting subhead.

It  doesn’t  matter  if  you  are  writing as article, a book, a newspaper, a magazine or a Web page, almost everyone will read the subheads and if hooked will linger on to consume the paragraphs that follow. If you create exceptional subheads, one of two things will  happen…

1. The  viewer  will  be more likely to continue reading the copy.
2. If written well subheads could be enough to convince him/her to buy.

BULLETS

Bullet lists are a great way to grab a reader’s attention. It would stand to reason that if most readers are scanners, then they are looking for short, concise bits of information that they can digest quickly and easily. A lot of the pickiest readers have been known to only scan a page for bullets.

So choosing not to utilize them could be detrimental to the consumption of your copy. Knowing that you have their attention for a few seconds, you should always make sure that your first bullet point is extremely powerful and enticing.

Your bullet list should be short enough to entice the viewer to read all of them but long enough to include all of the benefits that you are trying to get through to the reader.

TESTIMONIALS

Testimonials are almost always going to get read. They give the reader an insider’s look into what you are selling. They also give you an incredible source of credibility.

There’s nothing you can do that is going to be more compelling than allow the reader to hear the truth straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak. To make it even more enticing, try to offer these testimonials in either audio or video.

Being able to see or hear the true emotions will prove to be a very powerful weapon in your copywriting arsenal.

PS’s

The PS is another hot spot to take advantage of. This important piece of real estate is a great place for repeat offers, bonus reminders, guarantees or one final sales pitch before your reader decides to act or not. So make it count.

Understanding the tendencies that your readers will have and focusing on strategies that attract even the pickiest reader will give you an incredible foundation   for   writing   copy   that gets attention, gets consumed and ultimately creates sales.