How do you create a sales page that sells? It’s simple.
Customers put themselves (their family, friends, etc.) first when making purchase decisions. Do the same (i.e., genuinely put them first) and, in no time, you’ll be convincing them to buy whatever you’re selling.
A perfect sales page is one that genuinely puts customers first. It zeroes in on a specific need your customers have, and convinces them that your product or service is a best-in-class provider for that need.
Today, every business says they “prioritize customers over everything” they’re doing. But you can always test the validity of their claim by looking at their sales pages, product pages, or services pages. See what a customer-first sales page looks like below.
What is a sales page?
You probably get it by now, but just so we’re on the same page with the definition: A sales page is a web page that you create to sell a specific product or service.
It’s that simple, really. We’ll cover how it’s different from a landing page down below, but for now, let’s look at what a customer-first or customer-focused page looks like.
What does a good sales page look like?
Here are two sales page examples that we’ve found which follow the customer-first rule in their approach:
Example #1: SEO blueprint by Glen Allsopp
Why makes this page customer-oriented?
There are many reasons this page rates as one that zeroes in on customers and their specific problem with SEO, but I’ll point out two of them:
- The headline speaks directly about a common problem that marketers face every day with SEO — “I want cutting-edge SEO tactics that are actually ranking websites.”
When a marketer (or anyone really) who’s struggling with SEO lands on this page, the first thing they’re seeing is a thought, depicted in the headline, that they think every time they sit down to work.
Even more, besides the customer-pain-focused headline, Glen uses the entire page to address even more SEO challenges that marketers face daily. For example, in the first paragraph (pictured below), he touches on how a marketer’s job isn’t only to drive traffic from search engines but drive the type that converts into revenue.
This is true for most (or all) marketers. They’re all trying to drive search traffic with the end goal of increasing traffic for their businesses.
- Another factor that makes this page a customer-first one is its layout. The page is aligned to the center and doesn’t have pop-ups disturbing the smooth scrolling.
It also has images throughout the page that engage visitors, persuading them to read further down the page.
Example #2: Marie Forleo’s Everything Is Figureoutable
Like in Glen’s example above, Marie immediately grabs and holds the attention of her visitors using a headline that spells out what they long for; they want to break out of pessimism and be able to be optimistic about their lives and projects. Hence the title “Everything Is Figureoutable.”
Three things you need to write a sales page that actually sells
There are lots of variables that go into selling anything. Your reputation in the industry is one factor, site speed is another, and the list goes on. But there are two key things you need to write a page that does the job of selling your product or service well:
1. Your customer’s idea of heaven
To write a page that sells, you need to address what your customers regard as heaven — as it relates to what you’re selling. For example, in the SEO blueprint page example, Glen’s customer’s heaven is “having tactics that actually rank websites.”
So by writing “I want cutting-edge SEO tactics that are actually ranking websites” in his headline, Glen paints a picture of his customer’s heaven.
It’s the same strategy in Marie’s example. Her customer’s heaven is to get to a place where they’re blatantly clear about their lives and are literally unstoppable.
So she’s simply telling them, through her book title, headline, and everything else on her sales page, that her product (book) will help them get to the heaven they seek now — where they have the mindset that: “EVERYTHING IS FIGUREOUTABLE.”
Being a great salesperson is this simple sometimes. Understand your prospects’ idea of heaven and promise that they’ll reach their heaven by buying your products. (Of course, make sure it’s a promise you can keep.)
2. Prove your worth
Creating a high-converting sales page isn’t all about copywriting. Your copy will almost always sound empty if it’s not backed up with proof of your worth.
And when it comes to establishing one’s worth, there are only a few materials better than testimonials and case studies. But more importantly, they must spotlight the heaven your product or service provides.
In Marie’s example, she has a testimonial of where one of her book customers spotlights how the book is a “knock-out punch to whatever is holding you back.”
It’s the paradise her customers crave that the testimonial showcases and that makes it a more powerful testimonial to prove Marie’s worth.
[Bonus] Follow up, follow up, and do it again
I know, I know; this guide is about creating a web page for sales, not sending follow-up emails. But when it comes to anything sales, follow-ups are a staple. Several studies have shown that it takes at least five follow-ups to win a sale.
It’s been a powerful sales strategy for so many years. For example, when a potential customer bounces off at your checkout page, it doesn’t always mean they’re not interested in buying your product or service.
Sometimes, it’s just that something came up and they couldn’t continue. Or that they simply got distracted by another tab opened on their computer. Sometimes they intend to continue later but then forget or never get around to it (and this happens a lot; you’ve probably done it several times). In this case you should send abandoned cart emails.
In the end, you can’t rule out follow-ups from your sales process.
When do you need a sales page?
The obvious answer: you need it when you have something to sell — especially when the product or service you’re selling is new on the market.
Other typical cases you’ll need a sales page are when:
- You have a promo to run
- You’re partnering with another brand to sell something
In these cases, and any other sales-related ones, you want a page that focuses on nothing else but convincing your audience to buy your service or product, using all the elements (layout, copy, language, CTAs) that facilitate sales conversions.
The difference in sales vs. landing pages
The main difference here is all sales pages are landing pages, but not all landing pages are sales pages.
This means: while the goal of a sales page is singularly to sell something and nothing more, a landing page focuses on conversions — whether that means converting people into email subscribers or selling a product/service.
Should your sales page be long or short?
This has been a long term debate over the years, but really the length of your sales page would depend upon:
- The price of your offering (product or service)
- How sceptical your prospects naturally are
- The complexity of your offering
- The level of competition in your industry
- And so on
For example, Glen’s SEO blueprint has a long page of at least 1,000 words, while Marie’s page is a shorter one of only a few hundred words. Yet, they both do a great job of explaining their offers.
A long sales page
There are many reasons why you would need to have a long page. But, taking the example of Glen’s page, some major reasons are that:
- The price of his product ($597 and $4,597 plans) is relatively high –– customers need more info on offers with a higher price.
- Glen’s customers are also relatively sceptical people because of the number of ineffective SEO products in their industry. So he had to debunk many myths and explain why his product is different.
A short sales page
Analogically, let’s look at Marie’s example here. Her audience is people who want to become unstoppable in life. They want to be more optimistic about life, having a mindset that every challenge, situation, or project they find themselves is figureoutable. This type of audience is much “less techie” than Glen’s and the niche isn’t as filled with as much scepticism as Glen’s niche. Hence, a shorter page works great.
Conclusion
In the end, you want a sales page that promises customers an escape from hell and an ushering into their desired paradise.
To recap, the way to go about this is to:
- Make your sales page focused on your customer’s idea of heaven
- Make your page layout visually enticing so your prospects stay engaged
- Prove your worth using testimonials and case studies
- Let your page be as short or long as it needs to be to convince prospects to buy
Do you have any tips on writing your sales page copy or the landing page’s design? Let us know in the comments!