Learn how to write a sales page that resonates with ideal customers — and get my sales page copywriting framework so you never have to start from scratch.
When selling anything online, be it services, products, programs, memberships, or courses, sales copy is paramount.
Yes, web design is important — it sets the stage for an offer and creates context for its value and pricing — but the words, phrases, stories, and messages shared are what compels action and drives sales. Sales page copy — the text used to describe an offer, its benefits, and the potential transformation it delivers is critical to online sales success.
The copy used on a sales page is what helps visitors realize that they’re in the right place and they have finally found what they’ve been looking for. It’s what grabs their attention, reels them in, and helps them see that whatever you’re selling is something they need. It’s also what helps build the know, like, and trust factor that makes feel people comfortable spending money.
The quality of a sales page can make or break the success of an offer.
When done well, a sales page can inspire confidence, build excitement, and bring new clients and customers into your community. When done poorly, it can repel potential clients and customers and make them wary of spending money with you.
What’s the difference between a landing page and a sales page?
A landing page is a single webpage, free from distractions, that has one clearly defined goal. Landing pages persuade customers to take a particular action like signing up for an email list, registering for a webinar, opting-in for a digital download, or joining a group. A sales page is a type of landing page with the singular purpose of convincing people to whip out their credit cards and buy.
Everything you sell online needs a quality sales page that impresses the pants off of your ideal clients and customers and taps into their deepest, strongest emotions.
While ecommerce sites and low-end offers can get away with short-form sales pages because it isn’t as difficult to convince people to buy, high-end offers, complicated offers, or offers with significant commitments require long-form sales pages that provide all sorts of information buyers need to feel confident making a purchase.
Typically, the more expensive or obscure the offer is, the longer the sales page needs to be.
The problem is that lots of people talk about how important sales pages are for digital entrepreneurs and online businesses, but few actually tell you what to include in your sales page copy and how to create a sales page that converts.
Marketers and copywriters talk about calls to action, effective button text and microcopy, powerful benefit statements, and action verbs, and they tell you to use abstract copywriting formulas, compelling headlines, FAQs, testimonials, and social proof. But they do it in a broad, general way, that leaves people to interpret their advice and figure it out on their own.
So online business owners glean what they can from the “gurus,” copy parts of sales pages that they “think” are successful, spend hours upon hours on the design, and cross their fingers that their efforts pay off. This results in poor-performing sales pages that limp along producing little to no sales. Ouch!
A Sales Page Copy Framework
Every time you create a new offer, you need to create a new sales page.
Most of the time, I soft-launch with a short-form sales page so I can get to market fast, make some initial sales, get real feedback from actual paying clients and customers, and make any necessary tweaks as I work out any kinks. I then use what I learn and the feedback I get to expand my sales copy and build out the long-form sales page I’ll use for the life of the offer.
This eliminates the soul-crushing stress and pressure associated with those “it-has-to-be-absolutely-perfect-for-a-giant-launch-with-insane-expectations” scenarios where a sales page is tested for the first time during prime time. It also gives me the ability to create the sales page copy with real data rather than speculative assumptions.
I also rarely start from scratch when writing a sales page. Instead, I use a sales page content framework that walks people through the buyer journey, from problem and pain to the perfect solution to taking action. It guides my copywriting efforts and ensures that I don’t forget something important.
Here are the core content blocks included in my basic sales page copywriting framework:
- Deliver The Headline
- Set The Stage
- Highlight The Problem
- Show Empathy And Understanding
- Reveal The Solution
- Introduce Yourself
- Explain What’s Included
- Provide Valuable Bonuses
- Share Next Steps
- Handle Objections
- Give A Guarantee
- Define The Ideal Customer
- Recap The Goods
- Present A Call To Action
If you’re reading this list and thinking, “Great. But what does that mean?!” It’s okay! I’m going to walk you through the framework from start to finish…
Deliver The Headline
The headline focuses on what you’re selling. It makes a bold promise and communicates the potential transformation and possible destination. It also usually includes a supporting subheadline that clarifies the headline and answers the question, “What’s in it for me?”
The goal of the headline and subheadline are to help ideal customers quickly realize they are in the right place and have finally found exactly what they’ve been looking for. It makes the right people say, “I want that. How do I get it?”
Set The Stage
Once you have grabbed visitors’ attention and piqued their curiosity, you need a compelling introduction that draws them in, provides more details about the promise you made in the headline, and highlights what’s possible.
The introduction shows visitors that you get them, know what they desire, and understand what they want to achieve. It showcases the benefits of achieving their goal and reassures visitors that you can help them get there. It teases a solution and makes visitors want to scroll down and learn more but first it sets the stage for the obstacle in the way.
Highlight The Problem
Those who are perfect-fit customers for your offer have a problem, a pain, or a challenge — a reason they’re searching for what you’re selling. They are facing a frustrating obstacle that is preventing them from achieving something amazing or experiencing a transformation.
The problem should align with why your offer exists and what compelled you to create it.
Present the problem and communicate why it’s a big deal that needs to be taken seriously. Address the obstacles and hurdles in the way of their success and how each obstacle is holding them back, causing negative consequences, or preventing success.
Show Empathy + Understanding
Now that the problem is crystal clear, show empathy for visitors and the situation they are in.
- Show them that you’ve been in their shoes and know what it’s like.
- Demonstrate that you feel their pain, understand their frustrations and needs, and care about their success.
- Shine a light on what’s possible, paint a picture of the dream, and let visitors know they can do the same thing.
Reveal The Solution
Share the good news! Reveal that a solution exists and it is finally within their reach. Tell visitors exactly what the solution is and how it will help, and share every detail.
- Communicate all of the benefits and the value of each benefit.
- Communicate how it works and why is it better than any other solution.
- Communicate the big, juicy, emotional impact of the solution.
Introduce Yourself
Once hooked, visitors will want to know a bit more about the person behind the offer.
Help people get to know you, how you came to be an expert in this area, and why they should listen to you. Share your story of transformation — how you got from Point A to Point B — and how you came to create the thing you’re selling. Make sure people can see your passion and understand why helping them solve their problem is so important to you.
Explain What’s Included
Spell out in detail exactly what visitors will receive if they say yes and take action. Review why each item they will get is important and what the value is.
Remember, potential buyers want to know:
- Why should I care?
- What’s in it for me?
- How will this help?
- How will I benefit?
Provide Valuable Bonuses
Everyone likes getting something for free! Sweeten the deal and incentivize your offer with a valuable bonus. A limited-time bonus is the perfect way to move hesitant buyers off the fence and get them to buy.
A great bonus aligns with the big results visitors want to experience and supports your primary offer. The more relevant a bonus is, the more value it will have to buyers. Not sure what to include as a bonus? Consider pulling something out of your main offer and making a bonus!
Share Next Steps
Most visitors aren’t paying as much attention to the details as you think. They’re also far more forgetful than you think. That’s why visitors need crystal clear instructions on how to take action and what to do next.
- Invite them to take action and buy.
- Communicate any limitations, special offers, fast-action bonuses, or other special opportunities
- Tell them exactly what they need to do to next, step-by-step.
- Add a clear and obvious call to action.
Handle Objections
While prospective buyers are reading your sales copy, they may have doubts, concerns, or questions. They may also be skeptical or even jaded from a negative past experience. Address the most common objections and squash obvious excuses upfront in your sales copy with answers to some frequently asked questions.
A great way to do this is to say something like, “If we were sitting here having coffee, you’d probably have questions. But we’re not, so let me share some of the most commonly asked questions and answers with you.”
A great sales page FAQ is another opportunity to remind visitors what they’ll get and reinforce some of the most important benefits.
Give A Guarantee
When buying things online, especially when buying from strangers, people get scared of being tricked, scammed, defrauded, and taken advantage of. Set their minds at ease and provide peace of mind by providing a simple, easy guarantee that reduces or completely removes risk.
If you’re nervous about offering a risk-free guarantee or a 100% money-back guarantee, you can put limits on your guarantee. For example, if you’re selling a course and offering a 30-Day money-back guarantee, you can require students to show their work to get the refund.
Define The Ideal Customer
For those who may still be on the fence or questioning if this offer is right for them, provide insights on exactly who this offer is for and share the traits and characteristics of a perfect-fit buyer. Then flip the script and share who this offer is not for, along with the traits and characteristics that make someone a bad-fit.
Clearly communicating who the offer is and is not for can help weed out problematic buyers in advance and reduce or even eliminate buyer’s remorse and refund requests.
Recap The Goods
The sales page has covered a lot of information so far, and remember, clients are busy and forgetful so recap the critical information you want visitors to remember. This includes:
- A description of the item your selling.
- What is included and what the buyer will receive.
- The benefits of saying yes and the risks of saying no.
Present A Call To Action
Every sales page needs a powerful call to action. A call to action (CTA) is a phrase or statement that asks and motivates visitors to do something — a sales page CTA encourages and compels people to take the next step and buy.
When writing a call to action, answer:
- What does a visitor need to do?
- Why should they take action right now?
- What will happen next?
Quick Sales Page Additions To Improve Conversions
Once I have the core copy created for my sales page — each of the main content blocks that take visitors from problem to solution to action — I enhance the sales page with supporting content and social proof to ensure it converts visitors into buyers.
A few things I add to sales pages include…
Additional Calls To Action
You can’t rely on just one call to action at the bottom of the sales page.
The longer your sales copy is, the more calls to action you need to include. Instead of making prospective buyers scroll endlessly to find the call to action and buy button, repeat the call to action several times throughout the page so it is easy for them to take action and buy when they are ready.
Get Personal Through Video
If you really want to make a splash with your sales page, consider using video for the introduction at the top of the page and to communicate the more personal parts of your sales copy. Watching you on video, helps prospective buyers make a personal connection with you more quickly.
Subheadlines And Lists
Break up each block of content on your sales page into small pieces of content. Use headlines and subheadline to break up long-form copy and introduce a new section of copy, and use bullet lists, number lists, and checklists in place of paragraphs that include lists of items.
Honest Testimonials
You’ve probably heard this before but… When you say your offer is amazing, it’s salesy. When other people say it’s amazing, it’s social proof.
One of the best ways to get a potential buyer off the fence and persuade them that your offer is a no-brainer is to share honest, objective, recommendations, testimonials, success stories, and reviews from other people who have bought and found success.
- Include a photo with each testimonial so visitors can more easily connect with the reviewer and see themselves in their story.
- Sprinkle testimonials throughout the sales page between content blocks — especially next to each call to action.
- Feature testimonials that tell a before and after story.
Add Eye-Catching, Relevant Imagery
A long page full of lots of text isn’t something that anyone wants to read so break it up with visuals. This could be patterned backgrounds, colorful design elements, imagery, icons, illustrations, screenshots, examples, or product photography.
Just make sure that any visual elements added to the sales page are relevant and done with a purpose. You want all visuals to enhance the content not distract from it.
The Sales Page Success Secret
You might have read this blog post hoping to find the definitive answer to the question, “How do I write a sales page that converts?” But the thing is, there is no one right way to write a sales page.
People make buying decisions with their heart (emotions) and they justify buying decisions with their brain (logic). This means they first look at the benefits, then if the message resonates, they evaluate the features. With this in mind, the most important thing you can do is put yourself in your customer’s shoes and consider what they need to know, learn, and feel to be confident making a purchase.
