I have been reading Maria Veloso’s new book, “Web Copy That Sells.” She cites some interesting statistics on web copywriting that you would be wise to pay attention to if you want to attract more clients for your private practice:
- 79% of people scan as opposed to read on the web. This, once again, emphasizes the importance of writing copy that is scannable. e.g. has lots of headlines and sub-headlines, uses plenty of white space, and has short simple sentences and paragraphs.
- People on average are exposed to somewhere between 1599-5000 ads every day. Implication: You must make your copy stand out if you want people to pay attention to what you have to offer.
- 6 times more people read the average editorial-style article as opposed to the average ad. What this means is if you want better results, write your copy so that it reads like an informative article, instead of an advertisement.
- People are 5 times more likely to read headlines as opposed to body copy. Hint: Develop interesting headlines that speak to your target audience.
- Average conversion rates (% of those who visit your site who buy from you on the first visit) can be as low as .05%. This number goes up to 5% for skilled copywriters.
- Average rate for converting prospects into customers increases to 15-25 % with an opt in offer (e.g. newsletter). If this doesn’t convince you to have an opt-in offer on your site, I don’t know what will.
- Acquiring a new customer or client costs 5-10 times more than retaining an old one. I repeat: start your newsletter now if you don’t already have one.
For a summary on Maria’s thoughts on creating headlines go to: "Writing Scannable Web Copy."
For more information about webcopywriting for your private practice website, read, "5 Tips for Writing Attention-Grabbing Web Copy."
And attend my free Q & A Call, "5 Tips for Writing Effective Copy."
On this call we will discuss the importance of well-written copy and explore some basic copywriting methods that have been proven, over and over again, to increase results.
Date: Friday, July 15, 2005
Time: 9-10am Pacific (12-1pm Eastern)
Cost: Free
For more information on this free call go to my website on marketing a practice.
