How to Increase Website Conversions With Text
Your website’s homepage is like the exterior of a house. The appearance of a house from the outside is typically an accurate indicator of what lies inside. If the bricks are sturdy and the side paneling intact; if the bushes are trimmed and the lawn is mowed, you’d assume that the carpet in the living room is without specks of dirt and the dining table is shiny and smooth.
When visitors first land on your homepage, you want to give them both the manicured exterior and the well-kept interior. For today’s Wednesday Drive, however, we are going to pay close attention to that exterior because oftentimes, this is as far as many of your visitors may get in your website.
When deciding what type of information you should include on your website’s homepage, the secret is to balance your business objectives with your buyer personas’ objectives. Sometimes, the goals of all parties will be the same. For example, you would want to book more rides and your potential clients would want to book a ride. Other times, however, your prospects’ objective may differ from your sales goals. The most effective website copy will account for the similarities and differences between the needs of your company and the needs of your clients.
To increase the conversion rate of your homepage and increase the amount of prospects within your sales funnels, follow these copywriting tips.
WEBSITE COPYWRITING TIPS
1. Focus on your headlines.
After examining dozens of luxury transportation websites, I noticed that most headlines fell into one of two categories. In the first category were the headlines that used the adjective “premier” to describe the company’s services. In the second category were the headlines that incorporated a combination of the business’ location with the word “transportation.”
SEO considerations likely guided the text choices for the headlines. But, it is important to note that writing specifically for your buyer personas will help you naturally enhance SEO value while also providing a more accurate picture of the solutions your company delivers to clients.
To make a promise to your clients, write an emotion-driven headline.
EXAMPLE: Transportation you can count on. An experience you can enjoy.
To differentiate yourself from competitors, use a headline that introduces your unique value proposition.
EXAMPLE: Getting you to your destination 15 minutes early since 1956.
Instead of using adjectives to describe your service, provide a concrete benefit a prospective client would receive when booking with you. Show, don’t tell.
2. Demonstrate trustworthiness.
While coming across as a trustworthy partner in a transaction is important for any industry, it is especially vital in the transportation and travel space. As a limousine operation, your services are directly related to people’s safety and time - two items we all care very much about. If your homepage visitors don’t trust you after perusing your site, you will lose conversions. The good news is that there are a couple of ways you can easily convey trust right on the homepage of your site.
First, choose your wording wisely. In an analysis of travel and transportation websites, one organization found a group of words that establish a trusting connection between companies and their potential prospects.
Integrate the following words into your homepage copy:
Enjoy
Team
Guide
Planning
Recommend
Save
Policy
Award
Second, find your most compelling reviews and add a visual testimonial or case study section to your homepage. Every week, you are likely receiving reviews from sites ranging from Yelp to Facebook. Put the feedback you get from your clients to good use on your site. I love the example from Cobb Pediatric’s homepage below because not only do they single out a few testimonials, but they also use a clear call-to-action button which leads visitors to a page with more reviews.
(Source: http://www.cobbpediatric.com/)
3. Write with positive language.
You may believe that homepage visitors will get a kick out of your subtle slam to Uber, but research has proven otherwise. If your site has just one percent of negative language on it, you could see up to a 25% decrease in your conversion rates.
In an industry like ground transportation, it doesn’t serve you well to remind people of the frustrating parts of travel. Instead, you want to position your services as the solution website visitors need to achieve an optimal experience. The most effective way to accomplish this is through writing with positive language. Check your homepage copy to see if you’re currently using positive phrasing to explain your suite of services.
4. Be intentional with calls-to-action.
The main purpose of a call-to-action on your homepage is to move visitors through the sales funnel. While it’s best practice to direct landing page (or sales page) visitors to one action, your homepage is a little different. Here, you have more opportunities to leverage call-to-action buttons by using them to signal leads to other parts of your website depending on their specific interests.
For this reason, each section of your homepage should cover one idea - not several. Instead of cramming a ton of information into several paragraphs in one section of your homepage, break out the content through text and visuals. Then, include a call-to-action button at the end of each section that relates specifically to the content in that section. For example, the call-to-action you add after details your services should lead to a page where a visitor could find more information about all of your services or a particular service.
Below, I’ve included a great example of using two calls-to-action in the headline of your homepage. Giving prospects two choices right up front can help you capture conversions from visitors who are still unsure whether they want to book with you.
EXAMPLE:
Now that you have a better idea of the ways you can write the text on your homepage, you’ll need to start considering the hierarchy of the content you write. Numerous factors go into establishing the most effective homepage structure for your limousine business, but if you fill out this worksheet I put together , you’ll get a clearer idea of how you should organize your content.
BONUS CONTENT: 3 LIMOUSINE COMPANY HOMEPAGE STRUCTURES
1. The You Structure
Your company services a targeted geographic location. You are fairly well-known by your ideal prospects. But, your current homepage buries your booking platform. It’s so difficult to book a ride with you that you lose conversions due to the confusion.
The You Structure alleviates that problem by placing the booking form at the top of the page - directly after the headline (which should communicate what your company does and indicate the problems you solve for clients).
2. The We Structure
When in doubt about the order of your content, opt for the We Structure. Organize your content starting with a headline that addresses the pain point you solve for clients. Then, position your services as the solution in a section provides an overview of your offerings. The next section of a site with the We Structure should cover your process - from booking a ride to dropping your client off at their ultimate destination.
In the final part of your homepage, highlight your specific value propositions, demonstrate trust through social proof, and then conclude with a guide or some other type of freebie material to collect the email addresses of leads who weren’t quite ready to book.
3. The They Structure
Take your buyer personas and make them the spotlight of your homepage text and design. This structure is perfect for the luxury transportation operation that provides a variety of services on both the corporate and retail fronts. In the section following the headline and optional sub headline, you would convey your services, but from the perspective of your buyer personas.
The 3 structures I’ve introduced in this article are various ways you can tell the story of your company and increase conversions through the text on your website’s homepage. When you organize the content on your site, the layout of every section counts in the quest for conversions. However, research shows that we remember the first and last items we see after reading a sentence.
When you view your homepage from this lens, what do you find? What is the first message you are giving to website visitors? What about the last message? Give potential clients a tour of your “house,” guiding them through your story and your services in as specific a manner as possible. If you write your copy to serve your target prospects and organize your messages in a logical way - mirroring the thought process of your buyers, you’ll get higher conversion rates.