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How important is copy to your Web site? Find out by removing the copy. This interesting tool turns all copy into X's and O's leaving just the design.

I'm giving away free copies of my book Your Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Website Formulas of The Conversion Scientist. There are no strings attached.

Starting December 15 and running through December 19th, my book will be completely free in the Amazon Kindle Store. Just click on "One Click Buy" during the promo dates, and it'll be delivered right to your Kindle free of charge.

Don't have a Kindle? Never fear. You can read it on the Amazon Cloud Reader on your computer, or through the free Kindle App available for your Smartphone or iPad.  

  So what is this book I am offering for free? It's called The Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Website Formulas of The Conversion Scientist™. It gives readers the foolproof formulas to creating a website that not only gets the right traffic, but converts that traffic to customers, returning customers and advocates.  

Some of the great things you'll learn in this book:

- Identify the unique customer creation formula for your site. - Set up your own digital conversion lab to measure your progress. - Develop landing pages for your site that actually deliver. - Charge your marketing "batteries" to reduce your advertising expenditures. - Communicate authoritatively with designers, developers, and executives.

So please, do not buy this book.  

Go over to the Kindle Store and get your copy absolutely free. Your website will thank you for it.

Earlier this week, one of our partners sent over some copy for me to review. In one of the headlines, they had used the term "end-to-end," as in, "An end-to-end solution for your problem."

I told them that terms like "end-to-end" are cliche, and have basically lost all meaning because of overuse. My friend asked, "Why is that?"

This article from Copyblogger answers that question. Our brains are designed to filter out the familiar, the predictable or what is perceived as familiar and predictable.

Read on to find out how you can save your copy from the parts of the brain that keep your messages from getting in.

The "sales letter" is a style that is used in particular situations to convert. You may never need one. However, the four P's of copy are a golden nugget in this article. They should guide your copy in any landing page situation, sales video, etc. They are: PromisePictureProofPush

My advice to my clients is to put as much (or more) effort into your images as you put into your copy on a web page. Here are some great tips on how to craft images that work with your copy to advance your value proposition.

I'll be presenting on Killer Conversion Copy at @convcon in Chicago, and one of my basic premises is "Killer copy comes from killer copywriters." If you are deciding how get your site to perform better, this list of copywriter attributes is spot on.

You can still save on Conversion Conference Chicago June 25-26. I hope to see you there.

Juxtaposition, or "where" something is placed on a Web page has lots to do with "what" you say on that page. I find that I can only develop copy and headings so far before I have to see how they will interact on the page. I have to do a mockup. Well, there is another place that our titles and copy show up, and it is a very competitive context: Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). So, I was glad to find this handy little tool that let me see what my title, description and URL look like on a Google SERP. Now if only @SEOmofo could add the the page preview feature as well for a complete picture

I've always argued that wireframes should come later in the web design process after copy and persuasive elements have been established.

Zakary Kinnaird argues there may be no good time for wireframes.

I can't test wireframes, esp. if they contain Lorem Ipsum copy. So wireframes lock in design elements before we even know what visitors prefer. Good comments as well.

I've always wondered why copywriters don't get involved in the visual presentation of their stories. I've not met one yet. Designing around Lorem ipsum copy, or writing copy without understanding the visual limitations of a page is crazy. So, yes. Please hire copywriters and start a new generation of writers that get the visual component of their craft.

 @KISSmetrics offers a fantastic tour of landing page best practices. They offer 50 points with an example for each from businesses that have been successful on the Web. From seductive headlines, to creative copy to building trust to design, you will be inspired for your next landing page development task. 

Dustin Sparks is another fixture in the Conversion epicenter we have here in Austin, an epicenter that includes both Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg.

Dustin provides a very comprehensive and easy to consume list of the landing page mistakes that are costing businesses money across the Web. To find out how you can get a free copy of the Kindle edition of my new book join my Friends of the Author list now.

 @conversion_team-I'm speaking about "flipping" you message when writing copy that converts at #convcon West in San Francisco. Basically, "flipping" prevents "blending" your message, which makes it lose impact and relevance.

The catch is that you must understand something about the Web visitors that you're flipping your message toward.

The Conversion Team has a solution, and this article does a great job of helping you get an actionable understanding of how to write for your visitors in a persuasive and relevant way.

Bryan Eisenberg is a great teacher and is one of the fathers of conversion science. In this post, he asks his audience to make recommendations on pricing tables, those pages that ostensibly help us to choose the right product for us.

Here are my suggestions.

The main purpose of a page like this is "Help me choose." Choice, as it turns out, is a conversion killer, so these pages can be very helpful. This page needs to tell me which is "The best value." A badge would be helpful, probably on the most expensive item.

The little "signal bars" are unique and may be helpful, but don't really tell me at a glance what I want to know.

The copy is unhelpful. Instead of "Essential productivity..." how about "Great system for a tight budget." Instead of "Yield better results..." how about "Good value ready for your network." Instead of "2nd Generation Processor..." how about "This system has the power to do heavy number crunching, video editing and graphics."

There are too many prices here -- four to be exact. I say, pick two: Savings and total price. Crossing out "Starting price" is a proven way to communicate value.

Finally, put the coupon code near the "Customize & Buy" buttons to give those transactional shoppers an extra push.

What do you find frustrating about this page?

 @peeplaja - This is about as complete a summary of home page best practices that I've ever seen. Peep could have made this an eBook. There are some great examples, specific recommendations and tons of links to other resources. This ambitious post covers:Map out buyer personasCraft a value propositionBuild a connectionUse proper visualsDefine most wanted actionCreate call to actionWrite user oriented copyAdd trust elementsTest lengthCheck load speed

 @KISSMetrics - David Ogilvy is experiencing something of a renaissance these days as his experience and research in offline marketing are proving true in online marketing. And we need him. Images are an abused medium on the Web, and this article points out mistakes that you are probably making.

There are some real nuggets here, such as "Captions under images are read on average 300% more than the body copy itself" Ask your designer what research he has for his decisions.

This is an important article, and you should read it before you blindly follow the advice of lazy designers.

 @thisissethsblog Trust is one of the key ingredients in the Chemistry of a Landing Page. Seth Godin underlines the reason in his short, pithy way.

If you don't have their trust, why would they believe any of the other elements on the page?

Your copy?

Your claims?

Read the most important question on Seth's blog.  

This would be funny if I didn't see copy like this on site after site.

@pallavkaushish offers a nice check list for things to test. However, you should use this list to develop a list of hypotheses. Rather than just testing these, use your analytics to see if these might really be the problem.

I would add one more to the top of the list: headlines and copy around calls to action. This has proven more effective than testing CTA buttons for us.

This is just one example of how copy on techniical topics can be made fun, interesting and easy to read. Split-testing is an important tool, but notice how Danny presents the topic and keeps you reading. This is how your site should work.

This is a great overview of Landing Page best practices complete with examples. You'll find a lot in common with our Chemstry of the Landing Page presentation. Headlines and Ad Copy Clear and Concise Headlines Impeccable Grammar Trust indicators Call to Action Buttons Lose the Links Visuals (images) Above the Fold Always be testing