How to Write Sales Copy That Converts

Today I’m going to show you how to write a high-converting sales copy.

In fact, these 11 techniques have helped me write several 7-figure sales pages. Like this one:

So if you want to create copy that leads to more leads and sales, you’ll love the actionable copywriting tips in this post.

Let’s dive right in.

• 1. Write an Eye-Grabbing Lead
• 2. Format Your Copy For Skimming
• 3. Focus on Benefits Over Features
• 4. Test Long-Form Sales Copy
• 5. Use Compelling Language
• 6. Add Effective Social Proof
• 7. Highlight Common Objections
• 8. Use a Super Clear Call To Action
• 9. Use Simple Words and Phrases
• Bonus #1: Include a Risk Reversal
• Bonus #2: Write a “Last Chance” Section

1. Write an Eye-Grabbing Lead

It’s no secret that your headline is SUPER important.

That’s because it’s the first thing someone sees when they land on your page.

The thing is:

Your headline is only one part of keeping someone glued to your sales copy like superglue.

The other?

Your lead (also sometimes spelled “lede”).

In other words, this part:

Why is this so important?

Let’s say that you wrote the PERFECT headline.

That grabbed your reader’s attention. But they still have to decide whether or not to keep reading.

And they’ll largely make THAT decision based on your lead.

Which is why I actually spend more time on my lead than my headlines. I’ve seen firsthand that headlines are relatively straightforward to write.

(All you really need to do is focus on the benefit your product brings to the table. And you’re good to go.)

But leads are trickier.

Your lead needs to make your reader say: “Hmm. Interesting. I’ll scroll down and learn more”.

And the best way to do that? A little story.

For example, here’s a lead from one of my sales pages (an online course that teaches people how to get more traffic to their blog):

See how that works?

My lead is a story of how I got an impressive result. Which makes the reader want to learn how I did it.

That’s all there is to it.

2. Format Your Copy For Skimming

A lot of people think copywriting is all about putting words after words.

At some level, that’s true.

But there’s a HUGE element of copywriting that a lot of people forget:

Formatting.

Formatting is the way that you structure your sentences. And paragraphs.

As it turns out, the right formatting can make a BIG difference in how well your sales copy converts.

Specifically, you want to use short sentences. And paragraphs that are about 1-3 lines.

In other words, you want your copy to look like this:

Not like this:

This is especially important for long-form sales letters.

(Which I’ll talk about later.)

Many long-form sales letters are 10k-20k words.

No one in their right mind is going to sit down and read every single word of that.

Which is why you need to format your copy so that it’s easy for people to skim.

Now:

You don’t necessarily need to worry about formatting as you write your sales copy.

(Otherwise it can be hard to get into the flow.)

Instead, I recommend writing your copy. THEN editing it later on for formatting.

Specifically, you want to:

• Turn long sentences into 2-3 short sentences.
• Remove any unnecessary words from your sentences.
• Limit paragraphs to 1-3 sentences.
• Turn a list of ideas into bulleted lists.
• Use transition lines (like “Check this out:”) to keep people scrolling down the page.

Which leads us to…

3. Focus on Benefits Over Features

“Benefits over features” might be the most important copywriting rule on the planet.

Why?

Because people don’t buy things for their features. They buy them for the specific benefit that they’ll get from those features.

For example, take my blogging course.

The features of that course are things like the amount of material, the type of content (videos and worksheets), what each module covers… stuff like that.

And sure, I do mention those things on my sales page.

But I spend 10x more time talking about the benefits that someone will receive after they complete the course.

Specifically, that they’ll get more traffic.

And they’ll create a blog that improves their brand awareness, credibility and perceived expertise.

If you already have a sales page, I recommend reading through it right now. Spot any features that you mention. And turn those features into benefits.

Here are a bunch of examples to help you with that:

And if you haven’t written your sales copy yet, no worries. Just try to limit the number of features that you outline. Instead, focus almost 100% of the benefits that your product brings to the table.

4. Test Long-Form Sales Copy

A lot of people ask me: “What’s the perfect length for a sales page?”.

And the truth is: there is no “perfect” length.

How long your sales page is depends on dozens of things, like:

• Your target audience (B2B vs B2C)
• The type of product (SaaS vs course vs supplement)
• Your price point (higher price products need more info)
• Your brand
• Number of options (single plan vs multiple plans)
• Trial vs no trial (offering a trial means you don’t need as much copy. The trial makes it easy for them to try it out)

That said:

In my experience, most landing pages are WAY too short.

And they don’t include enough copy to help someone make a decision.

When I ask people why their landing pages are so short, they usually say things like: “people online have short attention spans”. Or: “I want to make it easy for someone to find my buy button”.

On the surface, these concerns make sense.

But in my experience, longer copy tends to convert better.

For example, this is one of my all-time best performing sales pages.

And it clocks on at 8,378 words.

That’s HUGE.

Most copywriting newbies would say: “That’s too many words! No one is going to read all that”.

And they’re right: no one will read all 8,373 words.

But they WILL stop and read the parts that are relevant to them.

Which means they can easily find the info they need to make a decision.

(That’s NOT the case with a 400-word landing page.)

So yeah, I recommend trying long-form sales copy. It’s not a magic bullet. But it can make a huge difference in your conversion rates.

So it’s worth testing.

5. Use Compelling Language

A lot of blog posts about sales copy tell you to use so-called “power words”.

As if there were a list of magical words that got people to pull out their wallets and buy from you.

LOL

Instead of worrying about a random list of “power words”, I recommend focusing on making your overall copy SUPER compelling.

Specifically, you want to use language that engages people.

And the best way to do that?

Write in a conversational tone.

Or put another way: Don’t talk at your reader. Talk to your reader.

Let me quickly walk you through a couple of real-life examples.

First, a snippet of copy from the sales page for my flagship course, SEO That Works.

See how the copy is like I’m having a conversation with a friend?

It’s not a hyped up sales copy.

And it doesn’t include a single “power word”.

It’s actually pretty chill.

And that’s why it works.

Second, a section from one of my other online courses.

Again, this is as conversational as it gets.

So yeah, I recommend writing all of your copy this way. Especially sales copy.

Of course, it’s OK to use a little bit of salesmanship now and again.

(It is sales copy after all… 😀 )

But the vast majority of your copy should be super conversational.

6. Add Effective Social Proof

Note how I say “effective” social proof.

Yes, some social proof is usually better than no social proof.

But not all social proof is created equal.

Specifically, you want to use social proof VERY strategically.

When you do, you’ll find that your social proof has an instant impact on your conversion rates.

Here’s exactly how to do it.

First, highlight people that your target customer can relate to.

In other words: don’t show off testimonials from experts.

Instead, you want to feature people that look, sound and act like your target customer.

For example, marketing agencies are the main target audience for my SEO course.

Which is why I have a bunch of testimonials from agency owners on that page:

Sure, I could have easily featured an “SEO expert” in that spot. But I knew that an agency owner would MUCH rather hear from a fellow agency owner than some random expert.

Second, focus on the benefits that someone got from your product or service.

This is the “features > benefits” rule applied to testimonials.

In other words, you want to highlight the benefit someone got from using your product.

(Not necessarily what they liked about it.)

For example:

That customer’s original testimonial was about 500 words. But I decided to pull out the important part: how much more traffic she got from using the strategies in my course.

7. Highlight Common Objections

No matter what you sell, people are going to have objections.

You can either address these objections head on.

Or pretend that the objections don’t exist.

Which approach do you think works better? 😉

For example, take a look at this section from a sales page that I wrote.

One of the most common questions that I get when I launch a course is: “When will you open enrollment again? I’m super busy right now. So this isn’t the best time for me to sign up”.

So I decided to address that question in a little FAQ page that I included on my sales page.

That way, I don’t pretend that people won’t have that objection (they will whether I like it or not).

And I give them a quick answer to why that objection is actually no big deal.

8. Use a Super Clear Call To Action

So at this point you should have some REALLY good sales copy.

Copy that grabs your reader’s attention.

Outlines the key benefits that your product brings to the table.

And addresses common concerns.

Now it’s time to make the sale.

Specifically, you want to include a VERY clear call to action (CTA).

What this CTA looks like depends a lot on your product.

But in general, you want to tell your prospect exactly what they need to do next.

For example, I explicitly state “Choose The Option That Works Best For You” right above the buy button here:

And this squeeze page from Ramit Sethy spells things out even more clearly:

So yeah, don’t hesitate to hold someone’s hand through the next steps.

What to do next may seem “obvious” to you. But it’s not necessarily obvious to the person on your page.

And the more clear your CTA, in general, the better your page will convert.

9. Use Simple Words and Phrases

Research by the Nielsen Norman Group found that straightforward language works best on webpages.

Even if you’re writing for domain experts in your field.

So you want to avoid fancy words. Or industry jargon.

Instead, use straightforward copy that people can easily understand.

For example, the SEO field is full or jargon terms, like “search engine visibility” and “link acquisition”.

But you don’t see me using any of these million dollar words on my sales pages.

Instead, I use straightforward terms like “traffic” and “revenue”.

Bonus #1: Include a Risk Reversal

No matter how good your copy is.

Or how many testimonials you include.

People are going to have doubts about buying whatever it is you’re selling.

Enter: risk reversals.

A risk reversal is essentially a guarantee.

And in my experience, this is one of the most important parts of any sales page.

(Especially if you sell a high-end product.)

Here’s a real life example:

A few things to note about that guarantee:

• Super clear terms: I lay out exactly how the guarantee works. And how long it lasts
• Why the guarantee exists: I outline why the product has such a generous, flexible refund policy.
• Mini CTA: Now that I’ve de-risked the purchase, I include a CTA “So even if you think SEO That Works might be the right investment for you, don’t be afraid to pull the trigger today” to encourage people to take action.

So yeah, you want to look at your guarantee as something to highlight on your page. Not an afterthought.

In my experience, the right risk reversal makes a big difference.

Bonus #2: Write a “Last Chance” Section

A last chance section is sales copy that’s a little bit more direct than the rest of your page.

You still want to use simple language. And write in a conversational style.

But this time, you’re really going for the close.

Let me show you what I mean…

Here’s a last chance section at the end of one of my sales pages:

This copy is less about the benefits of my specific product.

Instead, the goal is to encourage people to take action right then and there.

At this point my reader has seen everything my product has to offer: features, benefits, pricing, plants, case studies and more.

So there’s no point getting into the weeds with that stuff again.

Instead, I emphasize the fact that it’s time to make a decision either way.

And of course, point out why they should give my product a try. 😉

Wrapping Up

There you have it: my guide to writing sales copy that converts.

Now I’d like to hear what you have to say:

Specifically, let me know which tip from today’s post you want to try first.

And I’ll talk to you soon.