Why isn’t your web content converting into sales?

16th Nov 2007

by Marsha Maung

So you’ve invested some money in hiring a freelance writer to come up with some unique, original web content for your website and you’ve been feverishly pasting them into your website. You’ve done the right thing.

Are you also, by any chance hovering over the stats to see if there’s a dramatic increase in sales or not. Not on my fun-things-to-do list either, but hey, you’ve invested in a web content writer who can help you come up with content for your website and you’ve got to watch to see if they strategy and new content is bringing in the sales or not. So, yeah, you’re doing the right thing.

The equation begins to go wrong when you don’t see any difference with your sales when you’ve got all those web content on your website? Are you beginning to ask yourself where you’ve gone wrong and which part of the web content marketing strategy have you done wrong?

 For those who are unclear as to what I am talking about, I am talking web content marketing. Web content marketing is not a new concept in the search engine marketing and search engine optimization industry but ever since major search engines revamped their spiders or robots (programs that scour the web for links, content and, based on a set of rules and algorithm, rank the links they have gathered and present them to web surfers as ‘results’ in the search pages) to become smarter. When you hire a web content writer to write content for your web site, it’s logical for you to expect a positive change. I totally understand it when you tell me that you’re frustrated with the unchanged profit of your business.

So, the big question is this, WHY isn’t there a big difference? Why aren’t you making more money than usual since you’ve got a freelance web content writer to plump out your website? How come your competitors are doing the same thing and they’re making heckuva lot more than before?  OK, I’ll throw a couple of questions your way and it might shed some light on what you’re currently doing.

Lifeless web content is useless web content
If you hire a web content writer who writes like he or she’s watching the paint dry, you’ve just thrown your money down the drain. Look, the role of the web content writer is not just to string some words together in a manner that is both understandable to the readers and the search engines, but the web content writer is supposed to write web content for you so that it will MAKE YOUR READERS BUY. How do you expect the sales to increase when the web content is lulling your readers to sleep??

Your web content writer should be able to put together an article that is about 300 to 500 words in total, using specific keywords in strategic places, that is interesting to the readers. Listen, the ultimate target, remember, is not the search engine because the search engines can only bring you traffic. Nothing will change if the traffic that’s coming in finds nothing of interest in your website.

Is the web content calling your readers to action?
Web content writers who have spent some time writing sales letters should know this….the web content or sales letter should, first of all, connect with the readers. Then the web content is supposed to keep the readers interested in whatever they’re reading. Then the next thing the web content should do is to spark a fire within the readers….stir up a need to purchase, a want, a desire to purchase from you. Yes, a call to action. If you read enough sales letters, you’ll see that they use, basically the same formula. First, there’s the personal connection with the readers as in the web content will say something like, “Hi there, my name is Sam and I am just like you. I am now earning XXX amount of money…”. Then the web content writer relates a lot experiences, showcase some amazing testimonials. Then the web content writer skillfully puts in all the advantages and free stuff. Then towards the end, can you guess what the web content writer will put in? Yes! The call to action. As in “time is running out” or “this offer is valid only for 3 weeks from now” or something similar.

Even though you’re not writing a sales letter, the web content should do the same thing….that is, if you want to make more money out of the web content you’re putting into your web site.  Ask your web content writer to do the above and I promise you that you will see some difference. if you want to see a lot of difference, provide your readers with more valuable web content and you’ll soon see a gradual increase in your sales.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marsha Maung is a freelance blog content writer, freelance web content provider who has been in the business for eight years and counting. She resides in Selangor, Malaysia and is known as one of the first few Asian search engine copywriters who kicked butts! For more of her successful tactics of reaching top ranking in search engines, log onto http://www.marshamaung.com for samples and details. For dirty details on the life of a freelance writer, visit her personal blog at http://www.marshamaung.blogspot.com