Writing an effective sales page is an important task that business owners and marketers face. Unlike a FAQ page or homepage, a sales page has an important job of turning readers into buyers.
A well-crafted sales page can be the most profitable page on your site.
Executed poorly, and it can be a leading factor in poor sales figures.
Lucky for you, you don’t need to be a marketing expert to get it right. By following this guide, you can write a sales page that attracts attention, increases buyer trust, and propels conversions.
In this article, I’ll define exactly what a sales page is, explain its importance, outline the key elements to include, and guide you through a practical writing process.
I’ll also cover common mistakes to avoid while also sharing tips to make your sales page effective.
What Is a Sales Page?
A sales page is a dedicated webpage designed to sell a product, service or offer.
Think of it as your best salesperson working 24/7 to sell one thing really well.
It provides persuasive content that guides visitors toward taking a specific action, such as a direct purchase, booking a call or joining a program.
Sales pages usually come in two formats:
Short form sales pages
Often used for low-ticket products/offers and are crafted to be punchy, concise & focused.
Long-form sales pages
Often used for complex and higher value offers and walk the reader through every aspect in major detail with focus on persuasiveness.
The format of the sales page you decide to write must be based on factors such as your offer, what you are selling, its price point and your target market.
What to Include in a Sales Page
Every high performing sales page typically includes a few essential elements.
Headline
The headline is the first thing visitors see, so it is imperative and should grab attention immediately and highlight the main benefit of your offer.
For example, a headline like “Book More Calls in 30 Days Without Increasing Your Ad Spend” is specific and benefit-driven.
Lead/Opening
The next section in the sales page is the lead or opening section. This is where you briefly address your reader’s pain points or goals.
Deep market research into your target audiences is vital as his section should make them feel understood and motivated to continue reading.
Mechanism
Your mechanism or value proposition should explain why your solution works. In this section of the sales page, you highlight the unique process, method, or approach that sets you apart from competitors.
Bonus points if you can connect how your mechanism can solve a pain point for your target audience.
Social Proof/Evidence
Building trust is critical to a sales page as you want to establish credibility and reduce the purchase risk level of a potential buyer.
By adding proof in the form of written or video testimonials, analytics, case studies, or awards received. Having proof builds reassurance for the reader while also handling any objections or break down any walls holding back a purchase.
Your Offer
Your offer must have its own dedicated section. It must provide a clear breakdown of your offer that should include its features and benefits of your product or service.
You can also use this section to highlight its value, bonuses or extras that come with the offer.
Risk Reversal & Objections
Including a risk reversal, such as a guarantee, free trial, or no-risk clause that reduces hesitation and makes the decision safer. You should also address objections directly in a dedicated objections section.
For example, if readers worry about time, you might write: “Don’t have time? That’s exactly why this works”.
Having these two sections paired close together helps handle objections while slightly nudging the reader into making a purchase.
Call To Action (CTA)
The Final section is your call to action (CTA), your page must include a clear CTA. This should be direct and action orientated, guiding readers exactly what to do next. An example of a CTA might be: “Book Your Free Strategy Call Today.”
How to Write a Sales Page: Step-by-Step Guide
To write a well written sales page, use the following guide below.
Market Research and Audience Definition
Before we start writing it is imperative to start conducting market research and defining your audience.
You must Identify who you’re writing for, what they care about, their needs, what holds them back psychologically. You must have a clear understanding of their mind.
Their desires, goals, pains and hesitations so your message resonates and feels like we have known them for a lifetime.
Writing a Compelling Headline
The next part is writing a compelling headline that both leads with the benefit and but also pokes at your target audience’s pain point indirectly.
Keep the language concise, clear and make sure it promises a result that is meaningful to your target audience.
Create an Engaging Lead
The next goal is to create an engaging lead by opening with a question, scenario or relatable statement that aligns with your target audience’s desires, pain points or goals.
The goal is to make the reader feel seen and understood so they stay engaged and want to read on.
Introducing Your Offer or Product
After creating an engaging opening you now need to introduce your offer/product.
You must clearly explain what you’re offering and why it works with clear bullets highlighting the benefits, how using your unique mechanism is better, showing how it differs from other options.
Adding Proof
After that you must add proof. Share customer testimonials, case studies which highlight the positive impact of your offer or product, or even before and after transformations.
If you don’t have testimonials yet, hypothetical examples can still help build trust.
Depending on the sales page type you may want these scattered across the page or have a dedicated section solely to social proof.
Building an Offer Stack
Next, is to build an offer stack.
This means listing out the features, benefits and any bonuses included.
A common approach is to showcase the value price higher before revealing the actual price of your product or offer.
Handling Objections
Be sure to handle objections before they dictate a decision.
Anticipate common hesitations you may have found in your market research such as cost, time, or effectiveness and reassure potential buyers by breaking down how your offer/product negates the objection.
Including Risk Reversal
Be sure to include a risk reversal in the form of a free trial period, guarantees, results based payments or cancel anytime terms.
This reduces the perceived risk and makes it feel more safe and reinforces confidence in purchasing.
Ending With a Strong CTA
Finally, end with a strong CTA. In this section, go over your offer in clear, action oriented words.
Be sure to include multiple CTA buttons with actionable copy throughout the page so it’s easy for readers to act when they’re ready.
A good example would be “Book a Call Now!” which is persuading the reader to book a call.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Focusing on Features Instead of Benefits
Many underperforming sales pages all have common mistakes which can be avoided.
A common mistake often overlooked is focusing on features instead of benefits, buyers are more interested in their own outcome rather than features of a product.
Weak or Missing CTAs
Another common mistake is weak call to actions (CTA) and lack of CTA buttons. Call to actions should always be persuasive and potent.
The reader could be convinced at any moment of the sales page to make the purchase so having a button makes the process more convenient.
Lack of Proof
Lack of proof included in the sales page is also a mistake. Unsupported claims and statements that seem too good to be true feel risky and discourage buyers.
Overly Technical Language
Finally, avoid overly technical language. Of course this can be subjective depending on industry and target markets but a good rule of thumb is to keep the language concise, clear, simple and conversational.
Tips for Creating an Effective Sales Page
Keep It Distraction Free
To maximise the sales page conversions, keep your sales page distraction free by removing unnecessary menus or links.
Mobile Readability
Be sure to factor its readability and scannability on mobile devices when designing the page, many software’s have this feature to switch between desktop and mobile view.
Use Visual Elements
Visual aspects and content such as images, videos and color themes make it easier for the reader to digest information and helps make it more persuasive.
Regularly Optimise and Test
Regularly testing and optimising page layouts, headline structures and CTAs can greatly impact results your sales page achieves.
Establish Urgency
Another useful tip is to establish urgency with time limited offers or other scarcity methods to promote faster buying decisions.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier in the guide, your sales page shifts into your own digital salesperson.
By connecting proven sales page structure and persuasive elements, you can craft a sales page that sells effortlessly to interested buyers.
Some key elements to remember:
- Start off with a strong compelling headline.
- Resonate to your audience’s pain points.
- Explain your solution or offer clearly.
- Back it up with proof.
- End with a persuasive CTA.
By following these steps, your sales page becomes one of your greatest assets that drives growth for your business.
Overwhelmed, don’t know where to start or need an expert to do this for you? Our team can craft a high converting sales page for you.
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