The marketing spend of businesses on content has been increasing consistently year on year. This is especially true post-Covid, as more and more businesses have realized the importance of establishing an online presence.
In fact, it’s being touted that companies should spend 25% to 30% of their marketing budget on content. After all, content marketing can generate up to 3 times the leads as that of outbound marketing while costing 62% less.
No this brings with it its own set of challenges. Anyone can churn out content and put it up online. However, if that content isn’t created with the purpose of driving conversions, whether that is garnering leads or sales, it is worthless.
So, if you’re wondering why uploading pages and pages of content hasn’t gotten you any boost in sales – well, the answer is simple. You haven’t thought out all the factors that turn casual readers into customers or clients.
So let’s begin this journey and analyze conversion friendly content, with examples and tips to help you along the way.
Contents
Introducing the LIFT Model
Before we get to writing content that converts, let’s discuss a methodology that I feel should be at the forefront of your content marketing strategy i.e. the LIFT model.
This model has an overarching input on driving content in the right direction and will remain a central theme as we take a deep dive into this subject.
The LIFT Model, in short, helps propel your value proposition with the assistance of Urgency, Relevance, and Clarity. Any Distraction or Anxiety will decrease or nullify the effect. Let’s dissect the idea to fully understand how it works.
Value Proposition
Central to the LIFT model, the value proposition is the reason customers choose your product or service. Mathematically, it’s the benefits customers perceive from getting your product minus the perceived costs. Aim to maximize your benefits and minimize costs – your conversion rate’s success relies on it.
Relevance
Be the solution to your visitors’ woes. If your site is visited by someone who does not find a solution based on the link they clicked on to get to your page, they’ll bounce within seconds.
Clarity
The phrase, ‘less is more’ best fits the concept of clarity. Your content and design should be easy on the eyes; it should be easily comprehendible. A mix of text combined with great visuals does the trick. Make your point clearly, don’t beat around the bush.
Anxiety
Put your visitors at ease with your brand. Prove your credibility with sources, awards, testimonials, and certificates. Let them know they are in trustworthy hands. This is not just important for users but also search engine algorithms.
Distraction
A lot of content marketers struggle with finding a balance in their content. How much is too much? It doesn’t always make sense to generalize ideas to attract a wider audience. While it’s tempting to have your visitors learn about all your offerings, displaying too much at the same time only overwhelms them.
Urgency
You can tempt your visitors to make decisions based on your tone, limited time offers, or statements such as ‘while stocks last’. They may bring their own urgency to the table, for example, around Mother’s Day – you can expect people looking for gifts. Use it to your advantage to speed up conversions.
Using these elements as our base, let’s move on to our 4 tips to create converting content
Tips to Create Conversion Friendly Content
1. Titles Matter – Relevance
Titles are Entrance Doors – First Step to Creating Content that Converts
The first thing any prospective visitor / customer sees is the title of your page on their search engine. Remember, they aren’t on your page yet.
Your title has to be honest, engaging and get to the point of what you’re offering. Take the time to assess the titles of your pages for conversions. One way to do that is by running them through an SEO ranking tool and study the data presented to you.
Go through these steps to understand what your customer wants in terms of relevant content:
- Get into the shoes of your customer: would the title encourage them to click on it based on what they were looking for?
- Have you used relevant keywords on the topic which would be most likely to be searched for?
- Does your title include or hint towards a solution?
- Does your Title and Meta Description provide a summary of what lies ahead?
You only have a few seconds to have someone look at your door sign and step in. And no one wants to enter and stay in a great-looking candy shop only to find dairy products – be consistently relevant.
This doesn’t only apply to web pages either. Even your articles and blog posts need to have catchy titles that address problems to reel readers in and drive conversions. Our experienced article writers focus on being relevant while staying true to your brand’s essence.
Good Example: This page does a great job at maintaining relevancy through its titles and pages. The title gives you a solution with SEO-optimized phrases such as “Lose Weight Without Dieting” in the mix. The article also stays on topic throughout, convincing visitors to stay on and browse longer to find answers.
Bad Example: In the example below, we see how the site misses the mark with their post on the same topic (weight loss). Their title is a mouthful and tries to address to types of audiences at the same time – those who want to go green and those who don’t want to diet.
2. Give Solutions, Not Explanations – Value Proposition and Distraction
Do Not Educate – Just Help and Give Solutions
When someone finally enters your place of business (read: site), they want solutions to their problems. Most people do not have the time to learn about the intricacies of how you do what you do. For example, try to expand on the benefits of your offering instead of listing its literature.
Make it easier for visitors to find the benefits of your product or service and convince them that the cost is practical. The best approach is to guide them through their problem and recommend a well-suited solution. You want come across as someone who has their interest at heart – be personal and empathetic.
Keep the following tips in mind when providing solutions:
- Does the solution fit the searched issue?
- Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
- Are you trying to ‘sell’? Or are you trying to ‘help’?
Good Example: This page is all about getting right to the point. You get what you wanted no strings attached!
Bad Example: This webpage gets lost in talking about the background of the situation rather than getting into the solution part.
If you want us to help get you conversions through great writing that focuses on solving problems, our web copy writers is there to help.
Stick to the Topic
It is exciting when someone is browsing through your content and there is that likelihood they could make a purchase decision at any point. It seems like a great idea to show them even more offers at that time; ‘what if they like more of your products?’
Do NOT give into temptation and bombard your visitor with links, ads, or redirections to other offerings.
The last thing you want is to lose a prospective customer because you distracted them.
You can, however, give links to complementary products, not to ‘boost sales’, but to help the customer get the best answer to their problem.
Good Example: This automotive site does a good job with their content. They discuss solutions and try to help users. Their focus is not on issues but rather on answers that users were looking for when they clicked the title, with an accessible “book and appointment” button at the end.
Bad Example: This site spends too much time explaining the problem and misses the point of the content itself. Someone with car problems wants to know how to get out of the mess as soon as possible. Also, the CTA is bound to get lost in all this noise.
3. Have a Clean and Interactive Interface with Visuals – Clarity and Urgency
Less is More: How to Make Content Conversion Friendly
Imagine having someone come to your shop for their laptop to be repaired. Now imagine having them navigate through multiple floors searching for the correct department with no assistance. That is what a cluttered webpage looks like when the navigation and clarity is not taken into account.
It takes 2.6 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website and stay on or leave. You can’t take traffic for granted. Traffic is hard to get, but it will leave just as quickly if you haven’t provided a clear and appeasing interface for them to navigate through.
Keep the following tips in mind when creating a page:
- Does the page look cluttered (design elements)?
- Does the content have a flow?
- Are visual aids available to support the text?
Good Example: This homepage is easy on the eyes.
Bad Example: This one is so unappealing!
Every Click Matters – Don’t Let Users Wander Off
A report by Contentsquare, with a whopping sample size of 7 billion user sessions, found that people stay on a webpage for approximately 62 seconds. If someone has chosen to click on your presumably well-designed page, you have about a minute to grab their interest and make a conversion.
In order to speed up the conversion, you can add subtle urgency in your tone and your CTAs. For example, you can give a limited time 10% discount for Christmas Shopping.
Good Example: Apple does this better than anyone. To the point and smooth to navigate through. Take a quick browse and you’ll see, you get exactly what you ask for with each click.
Bad Example: The example below although not bad per se, could be. It’s too cluttered, and the first impression on the site provides no clear direction. With so much to absorb in the first few seconds, users might feel compelled to look elsewhere.
4. Correct CTA Placement is Key When Making Conversion Friendly Content – Anxiety
Resonate with Your Customer: Keep it Personal and Helpful
Your content should be in personable, targeted, and human. You must make an active effort to implement this on all pages of your site: you’re talking to a person on the other side of the screen.
This one-way communication should resonate with the consumer – so that it can lead towards two-way communication i.e. a conversion.
Make sure your content resonates by paying attention to the following criteria:
- Does your content make an emotional connection?
- Are you talking to a specific person who is on your page?
- Would the user on the other side trust you based on your story?
Good Example: The page keeps it one-on-one and helps users throughout.
Bad Example: The tone in this example doesn’t connect on any level.
Use Your CTA as a Piece of Advice, Not a Product or Service
When asking someone to purchase a product or service, you have to believe that it is of value. Think of it as recommending a purchase to a family member or friend. If your writing does not sound sincere, you are not focusing on conversion driven content.
Check out this article that highlights how writing compelling sales copy for your products can lead to a boost in sales.
Develop trust and engage with your audience. Give them cues to reach out to you, assuring them that your aim is to address their worries. Having this tone throughout your content will ensure that your customers come back to you – an expert friend – asking for guidance.
Good Example: Shameless plug time – CDP focuses on helping clients, and that is why they come back for more. The goal is not to complete tasks but rather to help users find solutions to their marketing needs.
Bad Example: The page here does not do much to connect in its CTA. Instead, by pushing for ‘sales’ without providing a human touch, they miss the mark in their domain.
Drive Conversion Through Content – Let Our Content Team Help You
Content should be created to convert, but with subtlety and not with that aim alone. Content should be created to help users out. It should provide answers in a relaxed and open setting.
Do not attempt to make a quick sale while someone is browsing. Instead, try to help your audience feel at home, as if they are talking to a friend who knows what’s best for them. Let them come to you for help; you just focus on the helping.
To get the most out of your content, you need high-quality personalized content. Our content writers can help your content rank higher and give you great conversions.
