There are two pillars to a successful online business.
One of them is traffic and the other is sales copy - the
text on your your website. That's what this article is
about - getting more sales from your website.

(1) Format. The fastest selling websites have the
following format: a one-page sales letter; a single
column of text occupying half the screen width; and a
maximum of 2 or 3 linked pages (eg. partners.html,
testimonials.html, author.html etc.)

(2) Headline. This should be in font size 4 or 5 and
offer a strong benefit. Writing a compelling headline
is a delicate balancing act - you need to grab your
readers attention but you don't want to strain their
credulity. Here are some tips on writing effective
headlines:
http:/ utorials.findtutorials.com/read/id/28

(3) Date. A date at the top of your page adds to the
feeling that your sales page is a letter, which makes
your page more readable. It also assures visitors that
your site is up-to-date and still relevant. Here is a
javascript code that will insert the current date:
http://www.ezine-writer.com/date-script.html

(4) Paragraphs. Keep them short - no more than 1 or 2
sentences per paragraph. It makes your page much
easier to read.

(5) Bolding and highlighting. If you emphasize certain
keywords your sales page will be much more effective.
It draws your readers attention to your benefits and
it also breaks up the monotony of the text. To highlight text,
use these tags:
your text
here

(6) Book covers. An attractive book cover will
increase your sales by up to 300% - so if you don't
have one, get one! Here are some websites that design
book covers:

http://www.killercovers.com/
http://www.ebookwow.com/
http://www.ebook-cover-art.com/
http://www.ebookcreators.com/
http://www.dynamitecovers.com/

(7) Testimonials. These will also dramatically
increase your sales. If you don't have any, ask your
customers for them. Every testimonial will always
contain a key phrase or benefit - make that phrase
leap out at the reader by using bold type. Always
provide the website and/or email address of the person
who wrote the testimonial. If you make the website URL
and active link, you'll get more testimonials - but
you'll also lose traffic when your visitors click on
those links.

(8) Bonus Gifts. Offering freebies with your product
is an old trick in web marketing - nearly everyone
does it. My advice is take the freebies off. Why?
Firstly, chances are the freebies you offer are also
being offered by hundreds of other websites - your
visitors have seen them all before and are not
impressed. Secondly, offering freebies sends the
message that your product is not really worth it on
its own.

(9) Unique Selling Proposition. You must differentiate
your product from your competitors' products. One way
to do this is to have a 'Warning' near the bottom of
your page that says "Do not buy an eBook on XYZ unless
it meets the following criteria..." And then list the
unique features of your eBook (or product).

(10) A Call to Action. This is the biggest cause of
lost sales. Most people procrastinate - so you must
create a sense of urgency. You can do this in various
ways - a price rise after a certain date, a price rise
after a certain number of copies have been sold, or a
bonus report for the next 15 orders.

(c) 2003 by Michael Southon

About the Author
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over
3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use
this simple technique to get massive free publicity and
dramatically increase traffic and sales. For more information
visit: http://www.ezine-writer.com/