Copywriter’s Checklist for the Best-In-Class Conversion Copy

Learning to write high-quality conversion copy might be the best decision for any result-oriented copywriters who aim to increase their clients’ sales. You might not believe it, but even a single word may change your text’s performance. That’s why you must be extra mindful of your choice.

Find out how to create the best conversion copy with our copywriting checklist based on hundreds of Livepage’s successful case studies and extensive expertise in providing copywriting services for SEO.

What is Conversion Copy?

Conversion copy is persuasive written content that motivates readers to take specific actions, such as purchasing a product or signing up, ultimately driving desired conversions. It requires an understanding of the psychology of decision-making and a good knowledge of marketing tricks. If implemented correctly, conversion copywriting can be a turning point for your digital and email marketing, sales copies, and advertising campaigns.

How do you achieve that? Let’s review crucial elements of conversion copy that will help you reach out to your audience.

7 Essential Methods to Become a Conversion-Focused Copywriting Pro

Here are the main points on how to create a conversion copy that makes users sign up and buy your company’s product. Note that while these methods are fundamental for success, many copywriters neglect using them. That is, checking all the boxes in our list will help you stand out among other writers.

1. Write Strong Metadata

Metadata, which is often overlooked, plays a crucial role in capturing the attention of your target audience. Metadata includes the title tag, meta description, and URL of a web page. These elements are the first things users see on search engine results pages, and they heavily influence click-through rates (CTR).

1. Title: ensure your title summarizes the text, incorporates relevant keywords, and drives curiosity.
2. Description: highlight the value readers will gain by clicking it using action-oriented language and a call-to-action like “Read now!” or “Click for more!”.
3. URL: keep the URL clean and well-structured with an implemented keyword to boost SEO performance and make it readable.

You should always preview these elements to see them from a user’s standpoint. This SERP snippet optimization tool is one of the ways to preview your metadata.

2. Use the Right Headings

The next step in our checklist for excellent copywriting is using the right headings. They are essential to break up the text, make it more visually appealing, and guide the reader through the content. People usually skim through the text without reading it in detail, so your headings should give a general idea.

1. Follow the hierarchy: there should be one H1 heading that covers the whole text, divided by H2 headings to structure ideas, and H3 headings for further subdivision inside the H2 tags.
2. Use subheadings: they are needed to introduce the idea after an H1 or H2 heading and explain the value provided in each section.
3. Use attention-grabbing techniques: implement numbers, questions, “how-to” forms, and other approaches that drive curiosity.

You can use this title generator to get some ideas. We recommend using this tool only to get a foundation to generate your own headings because it doesn’t always provide 100% ready-to-use results.

3. Keep Things Clear

Clarity is king when it comes to conversion copy. Your message should be crystal clear to your audience. Nobody wants to spend their time thinking and analyzing your webpage. People need a fast, simple, and effective solution here and now.

1. Define the target audience: you need to address the right people, considering their needs, desires, and language. It is a must for the message to hit their hearts.
2. Structure sentences and paragraphs: try to keep your sentences short and without complex structures. Also, follow the “1 paragraph = 1 idea” rule to ensure people follow your idea.
3. Use logical transitions: each point should smoothly connect to the next, creating a coherent narrative that leads the reader toward the desired action.

One of the tools that may help you with clarity is Grammarly. It can help you find redundancy and simplify complex sentences. However, just like with any other tool, don’t follow its suggestions blindly. You are the one who knows the needed style and voice, so you decide on the final version.

4. Balance Features and Benefits

While you might want to highlight as many features of your product as possible, that’s not always what attracts users. Features describe what your offering is, while benefits explain what it does for the customer, and you need both.

1. Ask yourself, “How does this feature make the customer’s life better?” to transform features into benefits and make it more reader-focused.
2. Use real-life examples and stories to illustrate your product’s positive impact on the customer’s life.

This is one of the most important points of the copywriter’s checklist for creating conversion copy because that’s what usually sells. By emphasizing the benefits, you create a stronger emotional connection with your audience, increasing the probability of conversion.

5. Follow the Brand’s Tone of Voice

Every brand has a unique personality and tone of voice. It’s essential to maintain consistency in your copywriting to reinforce the brand’s identity and build trust with customers. Wouldn’t it be strange if Forbes suddenly started writing in a goofy style using puns?

1. Study the brand’s style guide. Many companies have a document that indicates what they want to sound like with all their dos and don’ts. Here is an example of Starbucks and their ToV.
2. Create a style guide. If your company doesn’t have a style guide, then you’ll have to do some research. Analyze the brand’s previous materials and look for some similarities. Ensure your text conveys the appearance your company requires.

Sometimes, companies don’t have a style guide and don’t use a consistent voice. This might not be critical, but you will probably lack recognition and brand awareness without a clear ToV. That’s why it is best for you to define a certain guideline to follow in all your copies.

6. Use Relevant CTAs and Microcopy

Of course, our copywriter’s checklist for conversion copy can’t omit CTAs and microcopy. These are the linchpin of conversion-focused copy. According to HubSpot, personalized CTAs increase conversion chances by 202%, so they aren’t just good-to-have.

1. Use clear and action-oriented CTAs. Don’t leave room for ambiguity. Some classic CTA buttons are “Buy Now” or “Click Here”, but you might want to add value to them, like in “Get Started for Free”.
2. Pay attention to microcopy. This includes all messages like errors, tooltips, and confirmations. Effective microcopy can reduce friction and anxiety, encouraging users to proceed with the conversion process.

A single word is capable of drastically changing your conversions. For example, Veeam changed “Request a quote” to “Request pricing,” which netted a 166.66% increase in CTR. Add this point to your copywriter’s checklist to make conversion copy that works.

7. Add Social Proof

Humans are inherently social creatures. We tend to trust the opinions and actions of others. That’s where social proof comes in as a powerful tool in conversion copywriting. According to the Spiegel Research Center, pages that display customer reviews get from 270% to 380% of increased conversions.

1. Show customer reviews. These can indicate ratings, written reviews, and even videos.
2. Be genuine and transparent. Fake reviews will only damage your reputation, so make it easy for your customers to see that it’s a real review and encourage them to share theirs as well.

In landing pages, a common strategy is to indicate a star rating at the beginning of a page and a detailed review at the end. For blog content, you can experiment with any approach, but a common practice is sharing both closer to the end of the article.

Conclusion

Becoming a conversion-focused author with our copywriter’s checklist is “Mission: Possible” if you are committed to using clarity, consistency, and marketing techniques. However, if you want to stay on the fast track and not waste your time and money on experiments or don’t have an in-house copywriter, you can always lean on Livepage. We have years of experience writing copies and providing content services, such as b2b blog post writing services that bring leads and convert.

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